Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "godman"
Apples and Oranges – Part 1
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].
It was one of the most memorable days of my life, the day my son was born to my wife and me. Yes, on that day “a child was born to us”. It was not so memorable a day to me, the day presents were given to us for our child. Yes, on that day presents “were given to us”. It’s not that the gifts were unappreciated. Not in the least! It’s just that, well, on the one hand we had a son and on the other we had presents. I believe the distinction should be clear enough to everyone, don’t you thing?
In the context of this distinction, read Isaiah 9:6 once more. On the one hand a child will be born to us. On the other hand a son will be given to us. I fear the words are often understood to mean the same thing. But we know by the distinction we presented in the first paragraph that this is not necessarily so. Truth be told, in Isaiah 9:6 it is definitely not so!
We’ve descanted on the idiosyncrasies of Biblical Hebrew poetry in a prior post. We’ve also done this much more extensively in Volumes 1-5 of our Heavenly Citizens series. I encourage you to go to the Amazon website listed at the end of this post and purchase your copies. Dig into the solid meat and stuff your spiritual appetite until you are surfeited! You will mature spiritually much fuller and much quicker, if you study entire books of the Bible in context chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse.
But I digress. Let’s backtrack to Biblical Hebrew poetry’s idiosyncrasies. Today we write poetry by making the words at the end of lines rhyme, and by making the lines to have the same number of beats or measurements. For example,
Roses are red, violets are blue;
Sugar is sweet, and so are you.
That’s poetry to the average Occidental today. Not so with Hebrew poetry however! Hebrew poetry didn’t rhyme the words at the end of lines: it rhymed ideas between one line and another. This is another way of saying two lines run parallel to each other in some way. Sometimes the ideas are the same or synonymous, giving it the name synonymous parallelism. Other times the ideas are opposite or antonymous, affixing it with the name antonymous parallelism.
The day has been long and the sun is now setting. Let’s pause for supper at the Lord’s table and take our rest. We will continue on the morrow, if you please.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
It was one of the most memorable days of my life, the day my son was born to my wife and me. Yes, on that day “a child was born to us”. It was not so memorable a day to me, the day presents were given to us for our child. Yes, on that day presents “were given to us”. It’s not that the gifts were unappreciated. Not in the least! It’s just that, well, on the one hand we had a son and on the other we had presents. I believe the distinction should be clear enough to everyone, don’t you thing?
In the context of this distinction, read Isaiah 9:6 once more. On the one hand a child will be born to us. On the other hand a son will be given to us. I fear the words are often understood to mean the same thing. But we know by the distinction we presented in the first paragraph that this is not necessarily so. Truth be told, in Isaiah 9:6 it is definitely not so!
We’ve descanted on the idiosyncrasies of Biblical Hebrew poetry in a prior post. We’ve also done this much more extensively in Volumes 1-5 of our Heavenly Citizens series. I encourage you to go to the Amazon website listed at the end of this post and purchase your copies. Dig into the solid meat and stuff your spiritual appetite until you are surfeited! You will mature spiritually much fuller and much quicker, if you study entire books of the Bible in context chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse.
But I digress. Let’s backtrack to Biblical Hebrew poetry’s idiosyncrasies. Today we write poetry by making the words at the end of lines rhyme, and by making the lines to have the same number of beats or measurements. For example,
Roses are red, violets are blue;
Sugar is sweet, and so are you.
That’s poetry to the average Occidental today. Not so with Hebrew poetry however! Hebrew poetry didn’t rhyme the words at the end of lines: it rhymed ideas between one line and another. This is another way of saying two lines run parallel to each other in some way. Sometimes the ideas are the same or synonymous, giving it the name synonymous parallelism. Other times the ideas are opposite or antonymous, affixing it with the name antonymous parallelism.
The day has been long and the sun is now setting. Let’s pause for supper at the Lord’s table and take our rest. We will continue on the morrow, if you please.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Apples and Oranges – Part 2
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].
Consider the first part of Isaiah 9:6 as an example of Biblical Hebrew parallelism:
For a child will be born to us,
A son will be given to us.
The two lines are synonymous, brothers and sisters. What we have to realize, however, is that this doesn’t mean they have precisely the same meaning in all aspects. No! The two lines run parallel to each other by presenting much of the same meaning…but not all of the same meaning. Just recall the distinction we made when we began this post. To be “born” is not necessarily the same as to be “given”.
The latter part of Isaiah 9:6 identifies who the “child” and “son” would be. Those words point out that He was to be the Messiah, somehow a man and somehow God. Don’t believe me? Read the latter part of the verse again. Do they not specifically state that this person was “Mighty God”? And did the verse not begin by telling us “a child will be born to us”?
When was God born? Uh, that would be NEVER! Humans are born. Am I not right? So a human would be born to us, and this human would be “Mighty God”. Now where have we heard this before? Hmm. That’s a toughie. Let’s see. Was it in Aesop’s fables? No, that wasn’t it. Perhaps it is in the U.S. Constitution. Not so much. Ah, yes, I remember now. It is in the New Testament. Come to think of it, it is the most fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith!
The words “a child” and “a son” run parallel with each other, you see. The words “will be born” and “will be given” also run parallel with each other. But that is the extent of their being synonymous, dear friends. The Messiah later was born and named Jesus. The word Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah. The phrase Jesus Christ is not a name. Jesus is His human name, while Christ is His title. He is Jesus the Messiah.
Jesus was born a true human male, yes. A Jewish virgin Mary was His mother. But Jesus had no human father. The Holy Spirit miraculously impregnated Mary with the eternal Son of God. This is inexplicable to our finite minds, but the Bible teaches it straightforwardly enough. Either we believe it, which is the meaning of having Biblical faith, or else we don’t and remain in our sins.
In this context consider how much more is stated by Isaiah 9:6 than is at first blush ostensible. “A child is born”—that occurs every day, so we wouldn’t put much stock in the phrase if it stood alone. But it doesn’t! It runs parallel with “a son is given”. In light of the further revelation we have from the New Testament, consider Who this child is.
The “son” of Isaiah 9:6 is the eternal Son of God, which makes Him God. He exists from all eternity with God the Father. Our heavenly Father GAVE him to us. The “child” of Isaiah 9:6 is the human Son of Mary through a miracle by the Holy Spirit. This Person is both God and man simultaneously, fully, and thenceforth eternally.
The Old Testament presented many mysteries which could not be understood back in the day. The revelations in the New Testament explain them to us. Isn’t God good? Yes, He is…all the time. Let’s go visit with Him now and tell Him so.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Consider the first part of Isaiah 9:6 as an example of Biblical Hebrew parallelism:
For a child will be born to us,
A son will be given to us.
The two lines are synonymous, brothers and sisters. What we have to realize, however, is that this doesn’t mean they have precisely the same meaning in all aspects. No! The two lines run parallel to each other by presenting much of the same meaning…but not all of the same meaning. Just recall the distinction we made when we began this post. To be “born” is not necessarily the same as to be “given”.
The latter part of Isaiah 9:6 identifies who the “child” and “son” would be. Those words point out that He was to be the Messiah, somehow a man and somehow God. Don’t believe me? Read the latter part of the verse again. Do they not specifically state that this person was “Mighty God”? And did the verse not begin by telling us “a child will be born to us”?
When was God born? Uh, that would be NEVER! Humans are born. Am I not right? So a human would be born to us, and this human would be “Mighty God”. Now where have we heard this before? Hmm. That’s a toughie. Let’s see. Was it in Aesop’s fables? No, that wasn’t it. Perhaps it is in the U.S. Constitution. Not so much. Ah, yes, I remember now. It is in the New Testament. Come to think of it, it is the most fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith!
The words “a child” and “a son” run parallel with each other, you see. The words “will be born” and “will be given” also run parallel with each other. But that is the extent of their being synonymous, dear friends. The Messiah later was born and named Jesus. The word Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah. The phrase Jesus Christ is not a name. Jesus is His human name, while Christ is His title. He is Jesus the Messiah.
Jesus was born a true human male, yes. A Jewish virgin Mary was His mother. But Jesus had no human father. The Holy Spirit miraculously impregnated Mary with the eternal Son of God. This is inexplicable to our finite minds, but the Bible teaches it straightforwardly enough. Either we believe it, which is the meaning of having Biblical faith, or else we don’t and remain in our sins.
In this context consider how much more is stated by Isaiah 9:6 than is at first blush ostensible. “A child is born”—that occurs every day, so we wouldn’t put much stock in the phrase if it stood alone. But it doesn’t! It runs parallel with “a son is given”. In light of the further revelation we have from the New Testament, consider Who this child is.
The “son” of Isaiah 9:6 is the eternal Son of God, which makes Him God. He exists from all eternity with God the Father. Our heavenly Father GAVE him to us. The “child” of Isaiah 9:6 is the human Son of Mary through a miracle by the Holy Spirit. This Person is both God and man simultaneously, fully, and thenceforth eternally.
The Old Testament presented many mysteries which could not be understood back in the day. The revelations in the New Testament explain them to us. Isn’t God good? Yes, He is…all the time. Let’s go visit with Him now and tell Him so.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Apples and Oranges – Part 1
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].
It was one of the most memorable days of my life, the day my son was born to my wife and me. Yes, on that day “a child was born to us”. It was not so memorable a day to me, the day presents were given to us for our child. Yes, on that day presents “were given to us”. It’s not that the gifts were unappreciated. Not in the least! It’s just that, well, on the one hand we had a son and on the other we had presents. I believe the distinction should be clear enough to everyone, don’t you thing?
In the context of this distinction, read Isaiah 9:6 once more. On the one hand a child will be born to us. On the other hand a son will be given to us. I fear the words are often understood to mean the same thing. But we know by the distinction we presented in the first paragraph that this is not necessarily so. Truth be told, in Isaiah 9:6 it is definitely not so!
We’ve descanted on the idiosyncrasies of Biblical Hebrew poetry in a prior post. We’ve also done this much more extensively in Volumes 1-5 of our Heavenly Citizens series. I encourage you to go to the Amazon website listed at the end of this post and purchase your copies. Dig into the solid meat and stuff your spiritual appetite until you are surfeited! You will mature spiritually much fuller and much quicker, if you study entire books of the Bible in context, chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse.
But I digress. Let’s backtrack to Biblical Hebrew poetry’s idiosyncrasies. Today we write poetry by making the words at the end of lines rhyme, and by making the lines to have the same number of beats or measurements. For example,
Roses are red, violets are blue;
Sugar is sweet, and so are you.
That’s poetry to the average Occidental today. Not so with Hebrew poetry however! Hebrew poetry didn’t rhyme the words at the end of lines: it rhymed ideas between one line and another. This is another way of saying two lines run parallel to each other in some way. Sometimes the ideas are the same or synonymous, giving it the name synonymous parallelism. Other times the ideas are opposite or antonymous, affixing it with the name antonymous parallelism.
The day has been long and the sun is now setting. Let’s pause for supper at the Lord’s table and take our rest. We will continue on the morrow, if you please.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
It was one of the most memorable days of my life, the day my son was born to my wife and me. Yes, on that day “a child was born to us”. It was not so memorable a day to me, the day presents were given to us for our child. Yes, on that day presents “were given to us”. It’s not that the gifts were unappreciated. Not in the least! It’s just that, well, on the one hand we had a son and on the other we had presents. I believe the distinction should be clear enough to everyone, don’t you thing?
In the context of this distinction, read Isaiah 9:6 once more. On the one hand a child will be born to us. On the other hand a son will be given to us. I fear the words are often understood to mean the same thing. But we know by the distinction we presented in the first paragraph that this is not necessarily so. Truth be told, in Isaiah 9:6 it is definitely not so!
We’ve descanted on the idiosyncrasies of Biblical Hebrew poetry in a prior post. We’ve also done this much more extensively in Volumes 1-5 of our Heavenly Citizens series. I encourage you to go to the Amazon website listed at the end of this post and purchase your copies. Dig into the solid meat and stuff your spiritual appetite until you are surfeited! You will mature spiritually much fuller and much quicker, if you study entire books of the Bible in context, chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse.
But I digress. Let’s backtrack to Biblical Hebrew poetry’s idiosyncrasies. Today we write poetry by making the words at the end of lines rhyme, and by making the lines to have the same number of beats or measurements. For example,
Roses are red, violets are blue;
Sugar is sweet, and so are you.
That’s poetry to the average Occidental today. Not so with Hebrew poetry however! Hebrew poetry didn’t rhyme the words at the end of lines: it rhymed ideas between one line and another. This is another way of saying two lines run parallel to each other in some way. Sometimes the ideas are the same or synonymous, giving it the name synonymous parallelism. Other times the ideas are opposite or antonymous, affixing it with the name antonymous parallelism.
The day has been long and the sun is now setting. Let’s pause for supper at the Lord’s table and take our rest. We will continue on the morrow, if you please.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Apples and Oranges – Part 2
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].
Consider the first part of Isaiah 9:6 as an example of Biblical Hebrew parallelism:
For a child will be born to us,
A son will be given to us.
The two lines are synonymous, brothers and sisters. What we have to realize, however, is that this doesn’t mean they have precisely the same meaning in all aspects. No! The two lines run parallel to each other by presenting much of the same meaning…but not all of the same meaning. Just recall the distinction we made when we began this post. To be “born” is not necessarily the same as to be “given”.
The latter part of Isaiah 9:6 identifies who the “child” and “son” would be. Those words point out that He was to be the Messiah, somehow a man and somehow God. Don’t believe me? Read the latter part of the verse again. Do they not specifically state that this person was “Mighty God”? And did the verse not begin by telling us “a child will be born to us”?
When was God born? Uh, that would be NEVER! Humans are born. Am I not right? So a human would be born to us, and this human would be “Mighty God”. Now where have we heard this before? Hmm. That’s a toughie. Let’s see. Was it in Aesop’s fables? No, that wasn’t it. Perhaps it is in the U.S. Constitution. Not so much. Ah, yes, I remember now. It is in the New Testament. Come to think of it, it is the most fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith!
The words “a child” and “a son” run parallel with each other, you see. The words “will be born” and “will be given” also run parallel with each other. But that is the extent of their being synonymous, dear friends. The Messiah later was born and named Jesus. The word Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah. The phrase Jesus Christ is not a name. Jesus is His human name, while Christ is His title. He is Jesus the Messiah.
Jesus was born a true human male, yes. A Jewish virgin Mary was His mother. But Jesus had no human father. The Holy Spirit miraculously impregnated Mary with the eternal Son of God. This is inexplicable to our finite minds, but the Bible teaches it straightforwardly enough. Either we believe it, which is the meaning of having Biblical faith, or else we don’t and remain in our sins.
In this context consider how much more is stated by Isaiah 9:6 than is at first blush ostensible. “A child is born”—that occurs every day, so we wouldn’t put much stock in the phrase if it stood alone. But it doesn’t! It runs parallel with “a son is given”. In light of the further revelation we have from the New Testament, consider Who this child is.
The “son” of Isaiah 9:6 is the eternal Son of God, which makes Him God. He exists from all eternity with God the Father. Our heavenly Father GAVE him to us. The “child” of Isaiah 9:6 is the human Son of Mary through a miracle by the Holy Spirit. This Person is both God and man simultaneously, fully, and thenceforth eternally.
The Old Testament presented many mysteries which could not be understood back in the day. The revelations in the New Testament explain them to us. Isn’t God good? Yes, He is…all the time. Let’s go visit with Him now and tell Him so.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Consider the first part of Isaiah 9:6 as an example of Biblical Hebrew parallelism:
For a child will be born to us,
A son will be given to us.
The two lines are synonymous, brothers and sisters. What we have to realize, however, is that this doesn’t mean they have precisely the same meaning in all aspects. No! The two lines run parallel to each other by presenting much of the same meaning…but not all of the same meaning. Just recall the distinction we made when we began this post. To be “born” is not necessarily the same as to be “given”.
The latter part of Isaiah 9:6 identifies who the “child” and “son” would be. Those words point out that He was to be the Messiah, somehow a man and somehow God. Don’t believe me? Read the latter part of the verse again. Do they not specifically state that this person was “Mighty God”? And did the verse not begin by telling us “a child will be born to us”?
When was God born? Uh, that would be NEVER! Humans are born. Am I not right? So a human would be born to us, and this human would be “Mighty God”. Now where have we heard this before? Hmm. That’s a toughie. Let’s see. Was it in Aesop’s fables? No, that wasn’t it. Perhaps it is in the U.S. Constitution. Not so much. Ah, yes, I remember now. It is in the New Testament. Come to think of it, it is the most fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith!
The words “a child” and “a son” run parallel with each other, you see. The words “will be born” and “will be given” also run parallel with each other. But that is the extent of their being synonymous, dear friends. The Messiah later was born and named Jesus. The word Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah. The phrase Jesus Christ is not a name. Jesus is His human name, while Christ is His title. He is Jesus the Messiah.
Jesus was born a true human male, yes. A Jewish virgin Mary was His mother. But Jesus had no human father. The Holy Spirit miraculously impregnated Mary with the eternal Son of God. This is inexplicable to our finite minds, but the Bible teaches it straightforwardly enough. Either we believe it, which is the meaning of having Biblical faith, or else we don’t and remain in our sins.
In this context consider how much more is stated by Isaiah 9:6 than is at first blush ostensible. “A child is born”—that occurs every day, so we wouldn’t put much stock in the phrase if it stood alone. But it doesn’t! It runs parallel with “a son is given”. In light of the further revelation we have from the New Testament, consider Who this child is.
The “son” of Isaiah 9:6 is the eternal Son of God, which makes Him God. He exists from all eternity with God the Father. Our heavenly Father GAVE him to us. The “child” of Isaiah 9:6 is the human Son of Mary through a miracle by the Holy Spirit. This Person is both God and man simultaneously, fully, and thenceforth eternally.
The Old Testament presented many mysteries which could not be understood back in the day. The revelations in the New Testament explain them to us. Isn’t God good? Yes, He is…all the time. Let’s go visit with Him now and tell Him so.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Apples and Oranges – Part 1
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].
It was one of the most memorable days of my life, the day my son was born to my wife and me. Yes, on that day “a child was born to us”. It was not so memorable a day to me, the day presents were given to us for our child. Yes, on that day presents “were given to us”. It’s not that the gifts were unappreciated. Not in the least! It’s just that, well, on the one hand we had a son and on the other we had presents. I believe the distinction should be clear enough to everyone, don’t you think?
In the context of that distinction, read Isaiah 9:6 once more. On the one hand a child will be born to us. On the other hand a son will be given to us. I fear the words are often understood to mean the same thing. But we know by the distinction we presented in the first paragraph that this is not necessarily so. Truth be told, in Isaiah 9:6 it is definitely not so!
We’ve descanted on the idiosyncrasies of Biblical Hebrew poetry in a prior post. We’ve also done this much more extensively in Volumes 1-9 of our Heavenly Citizens series. I encourage you to go to the Amazon website listed at the end of this post and purchase your copies. Dig into the solid meat and stuff your spiritual appetite until you are surfeited! You will mature spiritually much fuller and much quicker, if you study entire books of the Bible in context, chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse.
But I digress. Let’s backtrack to Biblical Hebrew poetry’s idiosyncrasies. Today we write poetry by making the words at the end of lines rhyme, and by making the lines to have the same number of beats or measurements. For example,
Roses are red, violets are blue;
Sugar is sweet, and so are you.
That’s poetry to the average Occidental today. Not so with Hebrew poetry however! Hebrew poetry didn’t rhyme the words at the end of lines: it rhymed ideas between one line and another. This is another way of saying two lines run parallel to each other in some way. Sometimes the ideas are the same or synonymous, giving it the name synonymous parallelism. Other times the ideas are opposite or antonymous, affixing it with the name antonymous parallelism.
The day has been long and the sun is now setting. Let’s pause for supper at the Lord’s table and take our rest. We will continue on the morrow, if you please.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
It was one of the most memorable days of my life, the day my son was born to my wife and me. Yes, on that day “a child was born to us”. It was not so memorable a day to me, the day presents were given to us for our child. Yes, on that day presents “were given to us”. It’s not that the gifts were unappreciated. Not in the least! It’s just that, well, on the one hand we had a son and on the other we had presents. I believe the distinction should be clear enough to everyone, don’t you think?
In the context of that distinction, read Isaiah 9:6 once more. On the one hand a child will be born to us. On the other hand a son will be given to us. I fear the words are often understood to mean the same thing. But we know by the distinction we presented in the first paragraph that this is not necessarily so. Truth be told, in Isaiah 9:6 it is definitely not so!
We’ve descanted on the idiosyncrasies of Biblical Hebrew poetry in a prior post. We’ve also done this much more extensively in Volumes 1-9 of our Heavenly Citizens series. I encourage you to go to the Amazon website listed at the end of this post and purchase your copies. Dig into the solid meat and stuff your spiritual appetite until you are surfeited! You will mature spiritually much fuller and much quicker, if you study entire books of the Bible in context, chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse.
But I digress. Let’s backtrack to Biblical Hebrew poetry’s idiosyncrasies. Today we write poetry by making the words at the end of lines rhyme, and by making the lines to have the same number of beats or measurements. For example,
Roses are red, violets are blue;
Sugar is sweet, and so are you.
That’s poetry to the average Occidental today. Not so with Hebrew poetry however! Hebrew poetry didn’t rhyme the words at the end of lines: it rhymed ideas between one line and another. This is another way of saying two lines run parallel to each other in some way. Sometimes the ideas are the same or synonymous, giving it the name synonymous parallelism. Other times the ideas are opposite or antonymous, affixing it with the name antonymous parallelism.
The day has been long and the sun is now setting. Let’s pause for supper at the Lord’s table and take our rest. We will continue on the morrow, if you please.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Apples and Oranges – Part 2
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].
Consider the first part of Isaiah 9:6 as an example of Biblical Hebrew parallelism:
For a child will be born to us,
A son will be given to us.
The two lines are synonymous, brothers and sisters. What we have to realize, however, is that this doesn’t mean they have precisely the same meaning in all aspects. No! The two lines run parallel to each other by presenting much of the same meaning…but not all of the same meaning. Just recall the distinction we made when we began this post. To be “born” is not necessarily the same as to be “given”.
The latter part of Isaiah 9:6 identifies who the “child” and “son” would be. Those words point out that He was to be the Messiah, somehow a man and somehow God. Don’t believe me? Read the latter part of the verse again. Do they not specifically state that this person was “Mighty God”? And did the verse not begin by telling us “a child will be born to us”?
When was God born? Uh, that would be never! Humans are born. Am I not right? So a human would be born to us, and this human would be “Mighty God”. Now where have we heard this before? Hmm. That’s a toughie. Let’s see. Was it in Aesop’s Fables? No, that wasn’t it. Perhaps it is in the U.S. Constitution. Not so much. Ah, yes, I remember now. It is in the New Testament. Come to think of it, it is the most fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith!
The words “a child” and “a son” run parallel with each other, you see. The words “will be born” and “will be given” also run parallel with each other. But that is the extent of their being synonymous, dear friends. The Messiah later was born and named Jesus. The word Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah. The phrase Jesus Christ is not a name. Jesus is His human name, while Christ is His title. He is Jesus the Messiah.
Jesus was born a true human male, yes. A Jewish virgin, Mary, was His mother. But Jesus had no human father. The Holy Spirit miraculously impregnated Mary with the eternal Son of God. This is inexplicable to our finite minds, but the Bible teaches it straightforwardly enough. Either we believe it, which is the meaning of having Biblical faith, or else we don’t and remain in our sins.
In this context consider how much more is stated by Isaiah 9:6 than is at first blush ostensible. “A child is born”—that occurs every day, so we wouldn’t put much stock in the phrase if it stood alone. But it doesn’t! It runs parallel with “a son is given”. In light of the further revelation we have from the New Testament, consider Who this child is.
The “son” of Isaiah 9:6 is the eternal Son of God, which makes Him God. He exists from all eternity with God the Father. Our heavenly Father gave him to us. The “child” of Isaiah 9:6 is the human Son of Mary through a miracle by the Holy Spirit. This Person is both God and man simultaneously, fully, and thenceforth eternally.
The Old Testament presented many mysteries which could not be understood back in the day. The revelations in the New Testament explain them to us. Isn’t God good? Yes, He is…all the time. Let’s go visit with Him now and tell Him so.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Consider the first part of Isaiah 9:6 as an example of Biblical Hebrew parallelism:
For a child will be born to us,
A son will be given to us.
The two lines are synonymous, brothers and sisters. What we have to realize, however, is that this doesn’t mean they have precisely the same meaning in all aspects. No! The two lines run parallel to each other by presenting much of the same meaning…but not all of the same meaning. Just recall the distinction we made when we began this post. To be “born” is not necessarily the same as to be “given”.
The latter part of Isaiah 9:6 identifies who the “child” and “son” would be. Those words point out that He was to be the Messiah, somehow a man and somehow God. Don’t believe me? Read the latter part of the verse again. Do they not specifically state that this person was “Mighty God”? And did the verse not begin by telling us “a child will be born to us”?
When was God born? Uh, that would be never! Humans are born. Am I not right? So a human would be born to us, and this human would be “Mighty God”. Now where have we heard this before? Hmm. That’s a toughie. Let’s see. Was it in Aesop’s Fables? No, that wasn’t it. Perhaps it is in the U.S. Constitution. Not so much. Ah, yes, I remember now. It is in the New Testament. Come to think of it, it is the most fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith!
The words “a child” and “a son” run parallel with each other, you see. The words “will be born” and “will be given” also run parallel with each other. But that is the extent of their being synonymous, dear friends. The Messiah later was born and named Jesus. The word Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah. The phrase Jesus Christ is not a name. Jesus is His human name, while Christ is His title. He is Jesus the Messiah.
Jesus was born a true human male, yes. A Jewish virgin, Mary, was His mother. But Jesus had no human father. The Holy Spirit miraculously impregnated Mary with the eternal Son of God. This is inexplicable to our finite minds, but the Bible teaches it straightforwardly enough. Either we believe it, which is the meaning of having Biblical faith, or else we don’t and remain in our sins.
In this context consider how much more is stated by Isaiah 9:6 than is at first blush ostensible. “A child is born”—that occurs every day, so we wouldn’t put much stock in the phrase if it stood alone. But it doesn’t! It runs parallel with “a son is given”. In light of the further revelation we have from the New Testament, consider Who this child is.
The “son” of Isaiah 9:6 is the eternal Son of God, which makes Him God. He exists from all eternity with God the Father. Our heavenly Father gave him to us. The “child” of Isaiah 9:6 is the human Son of Mary through a miracle by the Holy Spirit. This Person is both God and man simultaneously, fully, and thenceforth eternally.
The Old Testament presented many mysteries which could not be understood back in the day. The revelations in the New Testament explain them to us. Isn’t God good? Yes, He is…all the time. Let’s go visit with Him now and tell Him so.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
