And His Name Shall Be Called Wonderful - Study Two
STUDY TWO
"And His Name shall be called Wonderful"
(The Name JESUS in the Old Testament)
We have, with the help of the Holy Spirit, established the fact that the name JESUS is to be found—and that very profusely—in the Old Testament. So now we want to proceed to show some of His titles as they are given to us by the “Holy men of God” who “spake moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21).
One of such titles is to be found in Isa. 9:6, that great prediction of Christ. The English translation translates that indescribably rich Hebrew word
PELEH into the word Wonderful. Well, for having to give one word for another, Wonderful is as good as any other of its synonyms in our enormously rich English language. For Christ is indeed Wonderful from every viewpoint. Both men and angels wonder at Him when they behold Him.
But the Hebrew word PELEH means very much more: it means marvelous, miraculous, mysterious, inscrutable, indescribable, incomparable, ineffable, secret, unfathomable. All these simply cannot be applied to anyone save Deity, for to apply them to even the greatest human being would be idolatry and blasphemy.
And since we cannot go into a detailed study of everyone of the above stated words as they are applied to our blessed Lord Jesus—for time and space would fail us, we shall devote the time and space we have to the word commonly used in our English Bible: Wonderful.
Christ was first Wonderful in His birth: never was any man born like Him. His birth was singularly miraculous (Isa. 7:14; Jer. 31:22). The word “miracle” finds utter fulfillment and its truest definition in the birth of our Lord. His birth was also prophetic. In this respect, too, the birth of Christ is incomparable. No man but Jesus could say, “Search the Scriptures; … they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). Neither could any one say, “Moses … wrote of me” (John 5:46). But Christ was able to begin “at Moses and all the prophets,” expounding “in ALL the scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). And of whom else could it be said, “to Him give all the prophets witness” (Acts 10:43), save our Lord Jesus? Yes, all prophecy, whether in direct utterance or in type, point to Him; and without Him all prophecy would be meaningless. The birth of Christ was timed by God and timely in its occurrence. “When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son” (Gal. 4:4). Christ is the center of time and history; for time ended with His birth and a new chronology was begun from His birth. We now speak of time and history as B.C. and A.D. Upon no other man’s birth was the world so dependent for its salvation as upon the birth of Christ. The birth of Moses meant the salvation of Israel, but the birth of Christ meant the salvation of the whole world. Christ was Wonderful in His birth because it was the most eventful birth in the whole world. When Isaac was born, a family rejoiced. When Moses was born, a nation rejoiced. But when Christ was born, heaven and earth rejoiced. For the birth of Christ meant the destruction of Satan (1 John 3:8), the abolition of death and the ushering in of immortality (2 Tim. 1:10), the redemption of man (Rom. 8:2; Gal. 4:5; 3:13; I John 3:5; Heb. 2:14,15).
Christ was Wonderful in His life: never did any man live like Him. Two things in the life of Christ stand out as two perpetual marvels: His purity and His poverty. He came “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Rom. 8:3), yet was without sin. To Him “drew near all the publicans and sinners,” and He was accused that He “receiveth sinners, and eateth with them” (Luke 15:1,2), and yet He never partook of their sin. He ever lifted sinners without ever lowering His standard of holiness. He alone of all men was able to say to his bitterest enemies, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” (John 8:46), and not fear in the slightest an accusing reply. The next wonder in the life of our Lord was His absolute, unqualified poverty. Was there anybody so poor as He? Yet He was the Lord of glory while on earth. It is He of Whom the Psalmist sings, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all they that dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1). But while our Lord was on earth, He was obliged to say, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20). It was that which made the apostle Paul exclaim, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might he rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). And it was this very thing that inspired the poet to write:
1. “There was reality
In Christ’s poverty;
Though rich in infinite amount,
Became He poor on our account.
2. “There was deep intensity
In Christ’s poverty:
Had He a place to lay His head,
E’en when ‘twas laid among the dead?
3. “There was loving sympathy
In Christ’s poverty:
His lowly lot on earth He choose
That He might share and bear our woes.
4. “There was liberality
In Christ’s poverty:
Forsook He not supernal wealth,
That we might have eternal health?
5. “There was active Deity
In Christ’s poverty:
With aim He died on Calvary,
That we might from our sins be free.”
About His Name shall be called Wonderful
Study One | Yeshua in the Tenach (The Name JESUS in the Old Testament)
Study Two | And His Name shall be called Wonderful
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And His Name Shall Be Called Wonderful
Original online page 1997 | Last update May 19, 2021