Wonderful Counselor
Names are important to us. We give names to our kids because they mean something to us.
Maybe it’s the name of someone we respect and love, and we are trying to honor them by naming one of our children after them.
It could be that we like the meaning of a name, and we are trying to say something about who our kid is or what we hope they will become one day. Whatever it is, it’s important to us.
As important as names are to us though, names in biblical times were even more important than today. Names express the essential nature of a person. In biblical times, a person’s character was his name!
700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah foretold of His birth and that He would be known by four names.
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9:6)
Through this prophecy, Isaiah was saying that these names would represent the Messiah’s nature and character. They would define who He was.
Over the next four blog posts, beginning with this one, we’ll break down the meaning of each name and discuss how that impacts us today.
WONDERFUL COUNSELOR MEANING
The first name or title that Isaiah said Jesus would have is Wonderful Counselor. What is the meaning of this title?
WONDERFUL
The title Wonderful Counselor is made up of two different Hebrew words that Isaiah used. The first word is “pele.” It is translated in our English Bibles as “wonderful,” but it’s not like you just had a bite of pecan pie and said, “Oh that’s a wonderful piece of pie.”
“Pele” means extraordinary, miraculous, or surpassing. It carries the idea of the supernatural or exceeding the limits of human understanding.
In other words, the first word of this title gives us the sense that this baby being born would not be a normal human baby.
COUNSELOR
The Hebrew word translated as “counselor” is “ya’ats.” It means one who advises, determines, guides, and plans.
So, when you put both Hebrew terms together, “Wonderful Counselor” combines the idea of doing something “wonderful, extraordinary, or miraculous” with the skill of “giving wise advice, making plans, providing direction, and giving instruction.”
Isaiah was saying that the baby Jesus would carry the title “Wonderful Counselor,” and that as He grew up, we would see Him begin to express the characteristics of One who gave supernatural counsel.
This, of course, is exactly what we see happen during Jesus’ earthly ministry as recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
In the gospel of Matthew, beginning in chapter 5, he begins to tell of a time he watched Jesus gather a bunch of people on a mountain to teach them. Matthew writes 3 chapters worth of things that Jesus taught that day. These things pertained to any and every area of life, and at the very end of the 7th chapter in verses 28-29, Matthew says this:
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
(Matthew 7:28-29)
The people noticed that there was something different with this counselor when they compared His teaching to others. They noticed that he spoke with authority, and He did speak with authority because He was the Author of all things.
Jesus, having created all things, could speak with authority on all things because He knew how they were created to function and work best.
OMNISCIENCE AND WISDOM
When we are talking about Jesus being the Wonderful Counselor, we are talking about two of His attributes as God, and those are His omniscience (meaning all-knowing) and His wisdom (all-wise).
And here’s the deal, if you know all things and you know how to use the knowledge you have in the wisest possible way, then that would pretty much make you the greatest counselor on anything and everything on which there is to counsel.
This is why we see Jesus as the Wonderful Counselor throughout the gospels teaching people and guiding them on all kinds of things. We see his disciples being “counseled” by Him and how He guided them along His path as He carried out the plans He and the Godhead had put together to rescue and redeem them and the rest of the world.
WONDERFUL COUNSELOR AFTER THE CROSS
Perhaps the most amazing thing is that Jesus’ wonderful counsel didn’t stop after Jesus' death on the cross. After His death, He was resurrected, ascended back to Heaven, and then sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in anyone who would receive His salvation by faith.
The apostles were the first ones we see in Acts who received the Holy Spirit and entered into a spiritual union with Jesus. Then with The Wonderful Counselor living in them, He became their guide to show them the plans He had for their life and empowered them to carry those plans out.
As you read the rest of the book of Acts and the New Testament epistles that some of the apostles wrote, you see The Wonderful Counselor teaching them about their new identity as the Church and how that played out in their lives.
Jesus even guided them on their travel plans, revealed the truth to them about the Gentiles and God’s love for all people, and taught them about relationships, suffering, persecution, mental health, finances, and the assurance of eternal life being spent with Him.
THE WONDERFUL COUNSELOR AND YOU
The good news for us is that this is what Jesus still does today through the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 16:13…
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.
(John 16:13)
If you’ve said yes to Jesus, then the Wonderful Counselor lives in you. The One who is the authority on all things speaks about the things going on in your life and reveals the truth about them and His plan for your life.
The question is, “Are you listening? Are you open to receiving His counsel for your life?”
For a lot of us, we are listening when it comes to big situations in our lives. I hear people more than anything else talk about seeking counsel from Jesus on which house to buy, which job to take, or who to marry. It is these big decisions that can steer the course of the rest of our lives that we often make ourselves available to the Wonderful Counselor.
Don’t get me wrong, you and I should go to Him in those situations because they can be big decisions, but, as I mentioned earlier if Jesus is the author of all things, then He is the authority on all things. He doesn’t just want to speak into the big decisions of your life; He wants to speak into every area of your life.
The problem of course, is that in our flesh, we often don’t want Him to speak into every area of our lives. We only want Him to bless us with the best job, the best house, or the best spouse; and we want to be the authority of everything else in our lives.
That is partly because our flesh likes being in control and partly because Satan lies to us and gives us the misperception that God doesn’t want us to have any fun. He convinces us that if we let Jesus be the authority in all areas of our lives then we will probably end up being a monk and doing nothing but reading the Bible and praying in some remote village of the Himalayan mountains.
The truth is that Jesus knows how you are going to be most fulfilled in life, what talents and abilities He gave you, and what passions He created you to have.
So, when you seek Him as the Wonderful Counselor in your life and you say yes to where He is leading, that is where you will find yourself experiencing satisfaction, contentment, and being most fulfilled. You find it in Him as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
CONCLUSION
As you focus on the birth of Jesus throughout this season, be reminded that He was born into this world carrying the title, Wonderful Counselor. Know that the Wonderful Counselor dwells in you if you’ve trusted in Him for salvation.
Be open to His counsel. His ways are the best ways. He is all-knowing and all-wise.
Seek Him first. Trust His guidance and depend on Him to empower you to carry out His plans through you.