The Nugget:
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
My Comment:
Isaiah 9:6 is a prophecy of the Messiah. The names and titles given to the Messiah in this prophecy are most significant and worthy of careful study. Those who deny the full Deity of the Messiah, such as the Muslims and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, can be answered rather decisively by a careful study of this verse. The Jehovah’s Witnesses argue that Jesus is called “mighty God” but never “almighty God.” The Scriptures, studied carefully, declare otherwise. Muslims argue “God is All-Powerful … But Jesus Was Not.” Today I addressed this second argument in a series of five that has been presented for discussion on the “Islam and Christianity Debate Group” Facebook page. See immediately below for what I trust will be an informative Bible study on this issue.
My Response:
Responding to the second point of Farid EL Moustain‘s excellent post above which said:
2- God Is All-Powerful … But Jesus Was Not
While Jesus performed many miracles, he himself admitted that the power he had was not his own but was derived from God when he said, “Verily, verily I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do…” (John 5:19). Again he said, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear I judge: and my judgement is just; because I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father which has sent me.” (John 5:30) But God is not only All-Powerful, He is also the source of all power and authority. That Jesus, of his own admission, could do nothing on his own is clear proof that Jesus is not all-powerful, and therefore that Jesus is not God.
I believe this argument is mistaken because it does not properly distinguish between the voluntary subordination of Jesus Christ to God the Father, and the essential equality of Jesus Christ to the Father. Subordination does not necessitate or imply inequality.
The Bible, and particularly the New Testament, repeatedly gives evidence that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was all-powerful. In theological terms, Jesus Christ is omnipotent.
The Messiah was predicted in the Old Testament by the titles given to Him to be All-Powerful, Almighty, or Omnipotent:
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Notice at Isaiah 9:6 the title “The mighty God.”
Considering the cross references to related passages of the Old and New Testament will show more clearly what this title indicates about the Messiah:
The mighty. Is 1:24. +Is 10:21 (*S#1368h). Is 44:6, 8. 45:3, 6. +Is 49:26. 60:16. Dt 7:21. 10:17. Ne 1:5. 4:14. 9:32. Ps 45:3. 50:1. **Ps 89:19. +Ps 99:3. **Je 32:18. Zp 3:17. Mt 11:21. Lk 9:43. **Ep 1:21, 22. +**Re 1:8n. Re 7:10, 12.
God. Heb. El, +Ex 15:2. Is 10:21. 12:2. 40:10. *Is 45:24, 25. *Ps 45:3, 6. *Ps 50:1. **Je 23:5, 6. Ezk 34:24. Zc 13:7. Ml 3:1. *Mt 1:23. *Lk 1:47, 76. **Jn 1:1, 2. +*Jn 8:24, 58. +**Jn 20:28. **Ac 20:28. Ro 1:20. **Ro 9:5. Phil 2:6. Col 2:9. *1 Tim 6:14-16. **Titus 2:13. He 1:2, 3, +**He 1:8. *1 J 5:20.
I will provide here the text of the most clear of these references. For the title “mighty”:
Psalm 89:18-19. Psa 89:18 For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.
Psa 89:19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
Jeremiah 32:18. Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,
Ephesians 1:20-22. Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Revelation 1:8. Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Revelation 1:8 contains an allusion or quotation from Amos 4:13 from the Greek Septuagint which is the version of the Old Testament frequently quoted from when the New Testament cites the Old Testament.
The English translation of the Septuagint text of Amos 4:12-13 which I have at hand reads:
“Therefore thus will I do to thee, O Israel: nay because I will do thus to thee, prepare to call on thy God, O Israel.
“For, behold, I am he that strengthens the thunder, and creates the wind, and proclaims to men his Christ, forming the morning and the darkness, and mounting on the high places of the earth, The Lord God Almighty is his name.”
Notice, therefore, that this Old Testament prophecy in Amos 4:13 states that “The Lord God Almighty” is the name of the Messiah, who is called Christ.
It is also interesting to note that a careful study of the LXX (Septuagint) usage and renderings show that “Almighty God” and “Lord of Hosts” were by them considered equivalent.
