The Prince of Peace and a Warless World

GOLDEN TEXT: “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.” —Isaiah 9:6

ISAIAH 2:2-4; 9:2,5-7; LUKE 2:8-14

JESUS was born to be The Prince of Peace, but the world has to wait for God’s “due time” ere the peaceful dominion of the Messiah will take control in the affairs of men. Failing to recognize this time element in God’s kingdom program, the vast majority of professed believers in Christ wonder why, after centuries of effort to establish peace, world wars still plague the human race.

When Jesus was born the angels announced, “Peace on earth, good will toward men.” In their disappointment, men have even distorted the meaning of this glorious prophecy, mistranslating it to read, “Peace on earth among men of good will.” But this is not what the angels announced. The assurance they gave was that there would be peace on earth because through the birth of The Prince of Peace, God was manifesting his good will toward the human race. Truly this was glad tidings of great joy, and the more so because through the gift of his Son God was also making provision for the condemned and dying race to obtain everlasting life.

The promise was that the “government” would be upon the “shoulder” of the One whom the Lord would send. The use of the word “government” reveals that the purpose of Jesus’ birth was not merely to stimulate in the minds of men certain ideals of peace, and an incentive to strive for good will among the nations. It indicates also that behind these lofty sentiments there was to be a genuine and powerfully organized “government” resting on the “shoulder” of the One who, after his resurrection, declared, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”—Matt. 28:18

The Lord promised that “of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,” and then added, “upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” God ruled Israel through her various kings, and King David was promised that this rulership would not be taken from his descendants.

But this kingdom did become greatly “disordered.” When the last king of Judah was overthrown the Lord said, “It shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.” (Ezek. 21:27) The “right” to this kingdom belongs to Christ, so in our lesson his “government” is shown to be the rebuilt Davidic kingdom, but, of course, on a much higher level.

From the standpoint of time, this rebuilding of the “tabernacle” or house of David, is scripturally shown to take place after the work of the present age has been completed. This is seen in Acts 15:14-17, where we are informed that first God visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name, that is, a people to be associated with Christ in his kingdom. It is “after this” that he returns to “build again the tabernacle of David.”

“The zeal of the Lord of hosts” performs all this. It does not depend upon human efforts. God’s zeal and power have already been manifested toward this end. He raised The Prince of Peace and the King of kings from the dead. A remnant of believing Jews, and Gentile believers who through the age have suffered and died with Jesus, are also raised from the dead to live and reign with Christ.

Together these constitute the divine family of sons who will be God’s ruling house, as mentioned in Isaiah 2:2-4—the “mountain of the Lord’s house.” That is why it is not until the “last days” that this kingdom is “established,” for its establishment had to wait until all the “sons of God” of this age had been called from the world and given an opportunity to prove worthy to reign with Christ.

But now this part of the divine plan is nearly completed. Soon the power and authority of the divine kingdom will become manifested, and then “many people [Micah 4:2 reads, ‘many nations’] shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion [Christ and his church in heavenly glory] shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem [the visible phase of the kingdom in the hands of the resurrected ancient worthies].”

The glorious result of this will be a “warless world,” for when the people learn the Lord’s ways “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,”

QUESTIONS

Why has the peace message of the angels seemingly failed?

What is revealed in the prophecies by the use of the word “government”?

In what sense will the kingdom of Christ be the re-establishment of David’s throne?

What is the “mountain of the Lord’s house”? and how is it established by the “zeal of the Lord”?

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