A Promise to Ponder Volume 3, Issue 23

Isaiah 9:6 - 6 For 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.

   I have read this passage many times and have associated the government being placed on Christ’s shoulder as a bad thing. I have, through study, been proved wrong in this assumption. This actually denotes royalty. According to John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible – “…and its being said to be "upon his shoulder" is an allusion to magistrates having a key or rod laid on their shoulders, as ensigns of their office, or carried by their officers for them...” It shows the authority of Jesus. As you glance at the verses below you can see that Jesus has indeed been given great power and authority. It is encouraging to me to realize that the God I serve is Big and Mighty enough to not only bear my burdens, but the world and all that exists. Christ has been given a GREAT responcability, however we can rest assured that, as physical worldly leaders do sometimes, Christ WILL NOT lose control or make a wrong decision. How can we know that this will happen every time? The proof is in the pudding: Jesus has ALWAYS kept every promise He has made in the past. Look at this verse; it was a promise to the children of Israel hundreds of years before Jesus came the first time. You can read the New Testament to see that everything that is said about Him in this verse is true. So any time you read a promise in God’s Word; That’s a Promise to Ponder!!

Isaiah 22:21-22 - 21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

Psalm 2:6-12 - 6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. 10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed , ye judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry , and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Jeremiah 23:5- 6 - 5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Zechariah 6:12-13 - 12 And speak unto him, saying , Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying , Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: 13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

Zechariah 9:9-10 - 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

Matthew 11:27 - 27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

Matthew 28:18 - 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

1 Corinthians 15:25 - 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

Ephesians 1:21-22 - 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named , not only in this world, but also in that which is to come : 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Revelation 19:16 - 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.