“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14).

What a fantastic prophecy, uttered seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus. Isaiah ministered in Jerusalem, the capital of Judea, otherwise known as the southern kingdom. The times were anything but peaceful then, or even when Jesus finally did make his earthly appearance as described by Luke.

In fact, you could say that peace had not been the ongoing state of Israel from the time that Adam and Eve had been evicted from the garden. Separated by sin, they were sentenced to a life of arduous work and danger. Evil ramped up throughout the world until God was so sorry that He destroyed all but Noah and his family in a flood. ^“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:5-8).

You would think that Noah’s family would learn, but after surviving the flood through God’s grace, his three sons went their separate ways. The family that God chose to bless as His People struggled to survive a famine by moving to Egypt (Genesis), then escaped Pharoah under the leadership of Moses (Exodus), grumbled their way through the wilderness until finally they crossed the Jordan and fought their way to conquer the Promised Land of Israel (Joshua). “Even then, they failed to fully obey God and were beset from enemies from all sides. After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, ‘Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?’” (Judges 1:1).

We read about the anointing of David to succeed Saul as king and how Saul had David on the run for many years until Saul himself died rather than surrender to the Philistines. David was a great king, but God did not allow him to build his temple because “You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight”  (1 Chronicles 22:8). God wanted a man of peace to construct the temple, not a man of war, because His house was to be “a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7).

From then on in the Bible we read about the division of Israel into the southern and northern kingdoms, how the northern kingdom was absorbed into Assyria and how the southern kingdom was overtaken by Babylonia. And then the Persians came, then the Greeks, and finally the Romans conquered the land. There was nothing but war, strife, military rule, and unrest. This prophecy from Isaiah was a welcomed promise; he could not come soon enough.

And then when Jesus did come, so many did not receive Him; and many outright rejected Him. Jesus has prophesied himself about coming strife. “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places” (Matthew 24:6-7).

However, Jesus also tells us “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” John 16:33).

The Apostle Paul, who experienced much suffering as he brought the gospel to the Gentiles, encouraged us by saying “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37). Even when we see the visions of wrath and destruction in Revelation, we are reassured that as believers, we are under the protection of God. “But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13).

Jesus represents peace because it is only through him that we can be reconciled back to God and experience the love, security, and abundant life that has been promised to us In Christ Jesus. We may enjoy peace from time to time, which is certainly a gift. However, one does not have to spend much time listening to or reading the news to know that peace is not the state of the world; and it is certainly not the state of being for those whose names are not written in the Book of Life. But, it is the state of mind we as believers are able to have as we trust in Jesus.

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you” (Isaiah 26:3).

In Christ,

Judy