Government

 The Hebrew word which we translate ' government' in  the verse  'and the government shall be upon His shoulders' is apparently only used twice in the OT.  In Isaiah 9:6 and in the following verse.  This surprised me greatly given that large swathes of the OT are given over to kings and their ways of ruling.  I may be wrong, but thats what Strongs concordance tells me and I have no reason to doubt Mr Strong 😀  The government of God gets its own unique word in scripture. 

Let's explore......


Rule, dominion, governance. This is the first thing Isaiah 'sees' when he prophesies the coming Messiah.  Dominion is an interesting word because it harks back to Genesis and the instruction God gave to Adam to rule over the earth, tending to it and yet making it conform to his will as its chief gardener.   Adam singularly failed to govern in the way God intended.  Isaiah reminds God's people that He hasnt given up on His original design for planet earth and for mankind's role on it. There is coming one who will do what Adam failed to do.  Who will exercise dominion over everything.

It is nigh on impossible for us to imagine what it might be like to have a world governed properly.  Wherever we look we see politics. Wars.  Self-serving corruption. Greed. Competition.  We see the resources of the planet being squandered for the benefit of the few. Many going hungry and homeless due to poor decisions, bad planning, moral inadequacy -sin.  When we think of ' government' we think of a handful of elected people who are just like us trying to steer economies through crisis after crisis.

This is not what the government of God looks like.

God's rule is LOVE

This is who He is and it is His sole motivation.  Just stop for a moment and try to imagine what it might be like living in a country where love was the primary motivation behind every decision made.  Impossible right?  We cant really start to imagine that, because it is SO far removed from our experience.  But if you have been fortunate enough to grow up in a good and loving family perhaps you can catch a glimpse of what the rule and reign of God is like.  It is a good good Father making excellent decisions about every aspect of life for His family.  Not as a benign dictator, but in loving collaboration with all members of the family who trust Him implicitly to be just and kind and right.  A Father who takes full responsibility for the decisions He makes.  A parent who only wants the very best for His children and will give everything, even His life to ensure their wellbeing.

This is what Jesus came to establish.  This is what we are waiting for at Advent.  This is what heaven must surely be like.



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