What does it mean that Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor?
Isaiah promises a Child whose birth settles the government of the world, and the prophet spells out His name in five parts. The question is what kind of person can carry that name — and whether the "Counselor" in it is only a future king's title or something a reader can draw on today.
The Name Describes the Person
In Scripture a name is not a label chosen for its sound. It tells you what the bearer is, and here it comes in five parts.
F. B. HoleNow, bear in mind that in Scripture a name is generally descriptive of the one who owns it, and not a mere label without such meaning, as names often are with us today. Then think about the meaning of "the Name" of the virgin's Son in its fivefold character. "Wonderful" — something singular or unique, altogether beyond ordinary human knowledge. "Counsellor" — one marked by wisdom, resource, and authority. He who is in the secret of the divine counsels and able to put them into effect.
Older translations print these as two names, "Wonderful, Counsellor"; the ESV joins them into one, "Wonderful Counselor." The writers quoted here take them one at a time.
Wonderful
The word points to something that startles. It is the language of miracle, and the greatest miracle is the birth itself.
Edward DennettThe first is "Wonderful," a word often used for what excites astonishment or admiration. Sometimes it is used to mean a miracle, and nothing so awakens attention as a miraculous display of power. And what miracle is so great as that of the Incarnation? What could produce such wonder as the fact that Immanuel could be born of a virgin?
It is not a title He outgrew. One writer sees the name confirmed every time someone looks closer at Him.
H J Vine"WONDERFUL" is the first word in the spelling of this fivefold name... No word could be more suitable, for the more we know of Him the more full of wonder we see Him to be.
Counsellor: the Source, Not a Consultant
Human advisers pass on wisdom they received. He is where good counsel starts.
H J Vine"COUNSELLOR." He will be the Source of all counsel for those who share the government and its benefits in that day. All counsel that is good has already come from Him, for He it is who has said, "Counsel is Mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. By Me kings reign, and princes decree justice."
Counsel That Can Be Carried Out
Advice is only as good as the power behind it. Isaiah's word for counsel covers guiding, advising, planning and purposing — and this Counsellor can do all four without failure.
Truth & TestimonyHow important it is that the One who is to sit on David's throne should have this Name and all the qualifications that go with the Name. He will be able to guide perfectly and to advise perfectly, and to plan and purpose perfectly. Such a Ruler will have an astounding and transforming influence over the whole earth. The instability and uncertainty of our times is an indictment of man's unhappy failure in government. Praise God that we have a prophecy like Isaiah 9:6 which focuses our attention on a Counsellor who will be able to carry out His plans and purposes.
He Stoops to Counsel Ordinary People
The same list that calls Him mighty God calls Him Counsellor — and that second title bends down to our level.
An Outline of Sound WordsAmong the glorious Names that belong to the promised Son of God in Isaiah 9 is that of Counsellor. How amazing it is that the One who is called "Wonderful… The Mighty God, The everlasting Father," and "The Prince of Peace," should stoop down to present Himself as the Counsellor of men. The psalmist, in Psalm 73:24, has written, "You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory." He had learned the value of the Lord's counsel, and relied on it for every step of his journey through the world.
He still speaks that way. To a church at Laodicea that thought it needed nothing, His word came as counsel rather than command — and it was counsel about their real poverty.
An Outline of Sound WordsWhen the professing church had reached its lowest depths of shame and folly, as seen in Laodicea, boasting of its riches and independence, not knowing that it was "wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked," the Son of God, as the "faithful and true witness," presents Himself as One who gives counsel, saying, "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich."
The Counsellor Who Lived by Counsel
There is one more turn. The Counsellor became a man, and as a man He took counsel from God.
An Outline of Sound WordsWhat is yet more wonderful is that the very Person who has stooped to give counsel to men was Himself a man in this world, and as Man, the dependent Man, could say, as expressed by His Spirit in Psalm 16:7, "I bless the LORD who gives me counsel." The Son of God in this world always relied on the counsel of His God and Father... there was only One who lived by every word of God, and that was God's own Son in this world.
Summary
- Wonder — "Wonderful" means a miracle, and the first of them is that God's Son was born of a virgin; the name holds because the closer you look at Him, the more astonishing He becomes.
- Wisdom — "Counsellor" means wisdom, resource and authority together: He is in the secret of God's counsels and able to put them into effect.
- Source — all good counsel has already come from Him; He is not passing on advice He received from elsewhere.
- Stooping — the One also named mighty God bends down to guide individuals, and even offers counsel to a church too self-satisfied to know it is poor.
- Government — the Counsellor who Himself lived by God's counsel will guide, advise, plan and purpose perfectly when the government rests on His shoulder.