Isaiah exults in the coming of a royal son (or descendant) of David. The oppressors of Israel—the mortal antagonists, yes, but especially the dark foes of sin and death and hell—are ultimately taken away because a Child is born, a Son is given. Verses 4, 5, and 6 all begin with “For …”—these are all reasons for the rejoicing among God’s people noted in verse 3. Verse 6 introduces the greatest cause for rejoicing ever given and is gloriously rendered in Handel’s famous oratorio Messiah
Verse 6 is not specifically referred to in the New Testament. The first line refers to the first coming of Jesus, but the rest of verses 6 and 7 refer to the Second Coming. The full messianic mission was known and prophesied long before his mortal birth; it has always been important to see that mission in its complete context, what the Messiah would accomplish in his first coming and in his second coming.
Messianic prophecy: A Child is born, a Son is given.
Fulfillment: Only Jesus, the Messiah, fulfills this prophecy. 53 Yet many in the scholarly world, having no belief in the possibility of prophetic preview and disavowing any divine design, regard Hezekiah as the fulfillment of this prophecy. But was Hezekiah a great light? the mighty God? the everlasting Father? the Prince of Peace? Was there no end to his government and peace? Was he on the throne of David with judgment and justice forever
Hezekiah might in some other ways have been a type of the Messiah, but Hezekiah does not stand up to the description, nor could any mortal. This Son who was given is unique. Take away the divine Sonship, and Christianity has no foundation.
On the title Counselor: Think of all the money spent on counselors; if only people would turn to him, the Counselor, or to his agent counselor, the ward bishop. The Lord’s celestial self-reparation package, called repentance, is better than all the terrestrial self-help and self-esteem-building seminars, recordings, and texts. (However, in some situations, such as with pornography and other addictions, professional counselors are absolute necessities, along with full use of the gospel of Jesus Christ, including his representatives.) Jesus is also our counselor in a legal sense. He is our advocate with the Father. He will plead our case before him (1 John 2:1; D&C 29:5; 45:3; 110:4).
The name-title the mighty God, apart from all others, unquestionably defines the Subject of the whole prophecy. Despite the attempts of scholars to adjust the words to mean something like “one Mighty in Valor,” possibly to accommodate some private interpretation of this great prophecy, there is no allowable digression from the meaning of El gibbor—it means “the mighty God.”God himself would one day come into the world as a Child.
On the title everlasting Father: Jesus Christ is both the Son and the Father—the Son because he was begotten by the Father and submitted to the will of the Father, but also the Father because he is the Creator or Father of the earth; he is the Father of our flesh because our flesh is made from the dust or elements of the earth, which he created; he is the God or Father of the Old Testament and the Father or Author of our salvation; he has all the attributes of the Father; and by divine investiture he serves the role of the Father in all things relative to our salvation. By his sacrifice he became even more than our Savior; he became our covenant Father, and as we are spiritually reborn we become the children of Christ (Mosiah 5:7; 27:25; Ether 3:14; D&C 25:1; 34:3; 39:4).
On the title Prince of Peace: The Lord Jesus Christ is the personification of real peace; he leaves his kind of peace with us, not the world’s kind of “peace” that is won at the negotiating table or on the battlefield (John 14:27). Jesus fulfilled the typology established thousands of years before his mortal life: the city to which he would eventually come was a place originally called Peace (Shalem or Salem), and the man who reigned and ministered there was Melchizedek (literally, “King of Righteousness”), who was a type of the future Messiah and who was the first referred to as “Prince of peace” (JST, Genesis 14:33). For the present time, Melchizedek’s name-title is substituted, out of reverence for the name of the Son of God, when we refer to the Savior’s power—the priesthood, which is the power by which all peace is established. The Prince of Peace came in the meridian of time to the City of Peace (Uru Shalem, or Jerusalem) but was rejected. Since then, there has been no lasting peace in that place. He will come again, and he will establish enduring peace for all lovers of peace to enjoy.
Some years ago on a BBC television program, renowned Christian theologians were interviewed, followed by Elie Wiesel, the Nobel prize–winning Jewish author. Asked about Christianity, Wiesel quipped: “One thing we know. When Messiah comes there will be peace; Jesus came, and there is no peace.” 54 From this perspective, the Author of true Christianity is relegated to dismal failure due to lack of peace in this world. But Christ himself remonstrated, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). Inherent in the great plan of happiness is a period of testing, when the war between good and evil—begun in the premortal world—continues, and the absence of total peace persists until the adversary is confined eternally to outer darkness and all flesh is brought under the Savior’s dominion. The title “Prince of Peace” is, therefore, a prophecy of that millennial era, which assuredly will come.
On the expression “the throne of David” see Luke 1:32–33 Jesus, a direct descendant of David, was entitled to the throne of David, and his kingdom will last forever (see also Daniel 2:44a