As we will see in a few days, much of the material in Isaiah 40-66 seems to fit best with the time period after the exile, or about 175 years after the time of Isaiah son of Amoz. This has led various scholars to propose that the first 39 chapters were written by Isaiah son of Amoz, and the remainder by an author whose name is not known, called “Second Isaiah” for lack of any other means of identifying him.

Yet it turns out that the book cannot be divided quite so easily between early and late. A great deal of the material in the first half of the book is already about the coming exile and the restoration afterwards (Isaiah 3:6-8; 6:11-12; 10:1-4, 20-22; 11:10-11; 14:1-6). From the very beginning of his work, Isaiah declared that the judgment would come because of the rebelliousness of our hearts (1:2-4). In fact, the reality of the coming time of exile was just as clear for Isaiah in about 720 BC as it would be for Jeremiah 125 years later.

Yet it is also clear that although Isaiah’s words were severe regarding the coming judgment, they were not God’s final word with regard to Israel. Embedded amidst oracles of exile we find a clear expression of deep hope, a great light seen by “those who lived in a land of deep darkness” (9:2). This light is messianic, coming to us as a person: “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (9:6).

That is an astonishing name, no matter how you look at it. It is anachronistic to call it a trinitarian text, since the evidence indicates that the term ‘trinity’ would not be invented for another nine centuries; yet we do need to note the striking language with which the passage names this son, identifying him as “Mighty God,” on the one hand, and “Father,” “Prince of Peace,” and “Counselor” on the other. That is, in about 720 BC Isaiah saw in his vision that the Mighty God – who is Father, Prince of Peace, and Counselor – would come to us in this messianic person who is born for us.

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Help us, O Lord: for even today we are the people who continue to walk in darkness so much of the time. Come to us, Prince of Peace, Holy Counselor, Everlasting Father: break the bar of bondage across our shoulders, and set us free to worship you, heart and soul, forever.