What’s in a Name?: Wonderful Counselor, Part 1

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. — Isaiah 9:6 (NKJV)

One of the joys and challenges which come with the being an expectant parent is the daunting task of naming the baby. Parents painstakingly go through the process of selecting just the right name. I can remember Charlene and I going through that long process when finally we found the perfect name that we knew was “it.” You see, with both of us being teachers, there were very few names that didn’t bring back a memory of some student from the past — some of them more than a bit unpleasant! Charlene had a few more years on me so her list of possibilities was a lot shorter than mine. We finally arrived at what we thought was just the perfect name. What we didn’t know was that two women at Living Stones were due to give birth to baby girls and had selected the same name selected for their daughters! We decided three little girls the same age with the same name was a bit too much. So it was back to the proverbial drawing board! I won’t go into all the details from there, but soon after that, God gave us the name for our first daughter, Selah.

So why are parents so consumed with this process? Why all the fuss over a name? Names are important. They help to define who we are and often, who we will become. Names help to give us identity and define our purpose or calling. This is why we researched the meanings of our children’s names carefully.  While I love our daughters’ names, and love how they sound, the meaning of their names carry even greater significance.

Like an expectant parent, Isaiah prophesied a coming birth several thousand years ago. However, this wasn’t the typical expectant parents scenario. He prophesied of a child to be born nearly 800 years later. He said “For a child has been born—for us! The gift of a son—for us!” (MESSAGE). And from there instead of saying, “you’ll name him Jesus,” he said His name will mean “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” In the next few weeks we’ll explore each of these name, but in the next few days, we’ll learn about our WONDERFUL COUNSELOR.

Author: Pastor Jon

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