- Isaiah 9:6, Is
Jesus the Everlasting Father?
"For a child
will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will
rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
(Isaiah 9:6).
Oneness Pentecostal believers deny the Trinity and teach that Jesus,
the Father, and the Holy Spirit are all one person. They
sometimes quote Isaiah 9:6 in their attempt to prove their
position. However, Isaiah 9:6
cannot be used to disprove the
trinity nor bolster their oneness doctrine.
When Isaiah 9:6
says that Jesus' name will be
called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, etc., it is
not saying that Jesus is the eternal Father, but that he has
the characteristics of God. In other words, Jesus has all the
attributes of God, including eternality.
In the ancient Jewish culture, names had
meanings. We can better understand this by noting American
Indian names such as "Running wolf" or "Fighting
Bear." The same with Jewish names. They had
meanings. Isaac, for example, means "laughter."
Noah means "rest" or "peace." So, when
Isaiah is speaking of the name of the coming Messiah and says
his name will be Mighty God, Eternal Father, etc, it is telling us
about the characteristics of the Messiah to come in a prophetic
manner.
If Jesus' name is "Eternal Father,"
then why don't we call Jesus "Eternal Father"? For
that matter, why don't we call his name "Wonderful
counselor," or "Mighty God," or "Prince of
Peace"? The text speaks of a name, yet has four things
revealed in the name. Again, this shows us that it is the
characteristics of the then-coming Messiah. The fact that the
Messiah would be divine is verified in Heb.
1:3, when it says, "And
He [Jesus] is the radiance of His [God] glory and the exact
representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of
His power..." This also explains why Jesus said, "...He
who has seen Me has seen the Father," (John
14:8). It was because Jesus so precisely represented God the
Father as His prophesied name reveals.
Furthermore, the oneness Pentecostal
people assert that God's name is really "Jesus." But,
if that is true, and if Jesus is the eternal Father as they claim,
then why don't they call Jesus "The Eternal Father" as His
name? Does it also mean that the mode that God is in right now
is that of the Father since His name is "Eternal Father" implying
He is always the Father. If that is taken literally,
then God is the eternal Father, and the true person of the Godhead is
the Father, not the Son as the Oneness people assert.
The oneness Pentecostal theology is incorrect
and improperly describes the true and living God.
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Theology
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