The Promise of a Child

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders.” — Isaiah 9:6

In the year that King Uzziah died, the prophet Isaiah saw something wonderful. He saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the edges of His robe filled the whole temple. Above Him were shining angels called seraphim, each with six wings. And they were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory!”

The whole temple shook, and it filled with smoke. Isaiah was terrified. “Woe is me!” he cried. “I am a sinful man, and I live among sinful people, and I have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts!”

Then one of the seraphim flew to him with a burning coal from the altar. It touched Isaiah’s lips with it and said, “Your sin is taken away.”

Then Isaiah heard the Lord say, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?”

And Isaiah said, “Here am I. Send me!”

So God sent Isaiah to speak to His people. Much of what Isaiah had to say was sad. The people had turned away from God, and trouble was coming. Enemies would come and take them away to faraway lands.

But God also gave Isaiah promises, wonderful promises about the future, about a King God would send. Here are some of them:

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light,” said Isaiah. Someone was coming who would shine like the sun in the darkness.

“The virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.” Immanuel means “God with us”.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He will reign on the throne of David, and His kingdom of peace will never end.”

And Isaiah told of a Servant who would suffer for His people. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray,” Isaiah said. “Each one has turned to his own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the sin of us all. He was pierced for our wrongdoing, and by His wounds we are healed.”

Another prophet, Micah, even said where this King would be born: in the little town of Bethlehem, the town where David came from.

Who could it be? A baby who was “Mighty God”? A King who would suffer for His people? A Servant who would take away the sins of everyone? The people of Israel wondered and waited. They waited for hundreds of years.

Looking ahead to Jesus: Every one of these promises came true in Jesus. He was born of the virgin Mary in Bethlehem, and His name was called Immanuel (Matthew 1:23). He is the great light, the Prince of Peace, and the Servant who was pierced for our sins on the cross. When a man in the New Testament was reading Isaiah’s words about the Servant, Philip “told him the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35).

Read it in your Bible: Isaiah 6:1–8; 7:14; 9:2–7; 53:4–6; Micah 5:2

Dear God, thank you that you keep every promise you make. Thank you for sending Jesus, the King Isaiah promised. Here am I, Lord. Send me! Amen.