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. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore… ISAIAH 9:6–7 (ESV)

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WAITING ON HOPE 

A 5-day series written by Bob Mendelsohn from Jews for Jesus 

The year: 700 BC 

We Jewish people are waiting for the hope of Israel. We have been longing for the Messiah since the announcement in the Garden of Eden of this person to come. 

Now Isaiah announces a new prophecy. The Messiah will be a baby, a boy, and He will stabilise the world’s government like Atlas on his own shoulders. He will have new names including Prince of Peace. 

Fast forward 700 years to Israel, specifically to Bethlehem. Approximately 0 BC. 

What do we see? The baby Jesus in the stable at night, lying in the manger. Perhaps we see His parents, Mary and Joseph kneeling or lying next to Him. Do you see the shepherds rushing from their pasturelands and even the sheep they were tending all joining together to see this newborn King called, in Hebrew, Yeshua? 

For this baby boy was the ‘Child who was born to us, the Son who was given to us’, that the prophet Isaiah spoke about hundreds of years earlier. But what do we think of this? What does it mean for this ‘Child to be born to us’? What does the Christmas story really teach us? 

Over the next five days, this study will explore the Jewish tradition and prophesy proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. A hope for the whole world, but one waited on for generations.