Isaiah 9:6 - The Everlasting Father

It seems pretty straightforward, but what nuggets can we tease out of "The Everlasting Father"? The Hebrew word translated "everlasting" is ad. It means perpetuity, eternal, world without end. Perhaps the concept eludes us, however. You see, we might be able to grasp "without end", but the concept of "eternal" when applied to God is actually in both directions -- no beginning, no end. All creation has beginning. Not God. The Septuagint says He is the Father of the world to come, but the word is best translated not as "everlasting" (which implies a beginning without an end), but "Eternal."

The second word, Father, is the Hebrew word, ab. It means ... you guessed it ... father. For those, then, who would like to argue against the patriarchal stance of Scripture, this will be a problem. God is not "the Mother" or even "the Progenitor". He (male pronoun) is "the Father."

Note the title applied: the Everlasting Father. That should jar you once you think about it for a moment. This is about "the son", our Savior, Christ. He would be called "the Everlasting Father". For those who would like to claim that the doctrine of the Trinity is not biblical, that it is a fabrication of the 4th century church, they'll have to deal with this. In the Old Testament Jesus is referred to as the Everlasting Father. No, I'm not suggesting that the Son is the Father. I'm suggesting that the Son has the characteristics of the Everlasting Father. While opponents could argue that "the Mighty God" refers to a merely powerful being, together these two leave no doubt that the doctrine of the Trinity is an Old Testament as well as New Testament concept.

Now, I could turn this into a discussion of the qualities of a good father. There is, for instance, a prime factor of "father" found in Christ as that of Lifegiver. As Giver of Life, He has no equal. But I actually don't think I need to explain the qualities of a good father. I think we know what a good father is like. "But what about those people who had lousy fathers? Or none at all?" Strangely enough, I'm pretty sure they know what a good father is as well. Thus, we find that Christ has the characteristics of His Father, the best Father of all time.

When Jesus was talking to the Pharisees one time, He told them, "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires" (John 8:44). Now, clearly these people had fathers, and it wasn't Satan. Nor were they fathered by Satan as Jesus was by God. So in what sense did He mean that? He meant that Satan was their father in that they wished to do his will, follow his example, do his bidding. In the same way, then, is Jesus your Everlasting Father? Is He your life source? Is He your head? Is He the example you wish to follow, the will to which you wish to conform? The Everlasting Father, when you think about it, really expands into something much larger than you might have first thought, doesn't it?