The birth of a child brings an air of excitement into a home and even beyond that, when it is the birth of royalty. It is an anticipated event that is heralded and involves much preparation.

The prophet Isaiah made a prophetic announcement to Israel of a birth that would be most unique, one in which God would be the center figure of human history. “

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. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this” (Isa 9:6-7 NIV).

Addressed specifically to the nation of Israel, this prophecy identified that it would be through the Jewish people, descendants of Abraham and his offspring Isaac, that Messiah would come into the world … “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:3 NASB).

The scope of Isaiah’s message revealed the total work and presence of the humanity of Christ in human history.

It encompassed God becoming flesh, the Work of the Cross in which Christ would pay for the sins of mankind, and the rule of Christ on earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In retrospect, as far as Israel is concerned, that prophecy remains unfulfilled.

Unfortunately, because of her rejection of the Messiah, the nation neither received the Christ as her Messiah-Savior, nor the kingdom promised. Both await a future day that will surely come.

The Apostle Paul explained Israels’ dilemma … “What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone.” As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame” (Rom 9:30-33 NIV).

John the Apostle, writing in Revelation concerning a time of great Tribulation, after the Rapture of the Church, reveals the horrendous hardships and persecution that Israel experiences.

“The dragon [Satan] stood in front of the woman [Israel] who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. and her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days” (Rev 12:4-6 NIV).

Under tremendous tribulation, the nation of Israel will reflect upon the words of Isaiah and recognize that the Child born and rejected by the people was indeed their Messiah. Jesus was and is the Christ, God’s Anointed though … “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isa 53:2-5 NIV). Through great tribulation, the nation will receive by faith their Messiah and experience the blessings of Christ as the Savior and King of the Jews.