Isaiah 9:6-7 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. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Hebrews 4:9-10 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
The majestic Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 9 culminates in a powerful declaration: “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Not might. Not maybe. Not if we work hard enough. It will be done — because God Himself is passionate to see it through. The Hebrew word for “zeal” here is קִנְאָה (kin’ah), which also means jealousy or burning passion. This is not passive interest — it’s the fiery determination of the LORD of Hosts to establish His Kingdom. The same fiery zeal that struck Egypt with plagues—shattering the power of false gods, that parted the Red Sea and made a way where there was none, that birthed a nation from the womb of slavery, and that drove the Son of God to the cross at Calvary — is the very zeal that will fulfill every promise declared in Isaiah 9.
This kingdom of justice, righteousness, and peace is not the result of human effort or religious striving. It is divinely initiated, sustained, and completed. That’s why the passage ends not with a command to act, but with an invitation to rest — an echo of Shabbat, the seventh-day rest established at creation and later given as a covenant sign to Israel. And yet, that weekly rest was always pointing to something greater: a future, eternal rest in the Messiah, our Sar Shalom (Prince of Peace).
The Book of Hebrews tells us there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God (Hebrews 4:9-10). This isn’t merely about a day off — it’s a prophetic promise that in Yeshua (Jesus), we cease from striving, just as God did from His works. In Messiah, the striving to earn your salvation is finished. The striving to prove, to fix, to control is silenced by the finished work of the cross. Yeshua didn’t just observe Shabbat — He embodies it. He is our rest. Our stillness. Our restoration. He is the Lord of Shabbat!
Every Shabbat you observe becomes more than a tradition — it becomes a prophetic rehearsal of what is to come: a world restored, a people redeemed, a King enthroned, and a kingdom at peace. In a world of exhaustion, He offers rest. In a world filled with confusion, He offers divine wisdom. In the midst of chaos, He reigns as our Sar Shalom.
So lay down your burdens, beloved. The Kingdom will not rise by your striving — but by the zeal of the Lord of hosts. Rest in Him. Worship Him. Trust in Him. Let Shabbat be more than a ritual — let it be your weekly return to the heart of heaven. For your King has come, and His zeal is accomplishing what no man can. He is your Shabbat. He is your Peace. He is your eternal Rest. And in Him, every storm will cease and every striving soul will find peace. Maranatha — our Prince of Peace is coming on the clouds of heaven!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]I could tell you about countless difficult and drawn out circumstances over which we have tried to stand firmly in faith until they finally came to pass. Sometimes we made it and sometimes we were weak and began to doubt. But God mercifully came through for us on most of these things, despite our lack of strength to stay faith-ful.
New Testament genealogies of Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus the Christ) all identify Him as the son of king David. It was universally understood from the Tenach (OT) that the messiah would be descended from David and that he would restore the Davidic monarchy to its ultimate and most universal expression, even that this king would reign and sit on the throne forever.
This weekend, the Jewish people will celebrate the festival of Purim. This holiday commemorates Israel’s amazing reversal in Persia during the reign of King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) when Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai gained victory for the Jews and protected them from annihilation at the hands of the evil Haman.
Over two decades ago, when I moved to Israel, I had the opportunity to spend considerable time with a pastor and his wife. This pastor imparted significant wisdom to me during that period, counseling me to “be like the children of Issachar,” he directed me to this specific passage in 1 Chronicles 12.
Over the past few days, I’ve been discussing the will of God and how to walk out His will daily in our lives. The Lord’s general will involves the development of our character and the ways in which we relate to Him and to our fellow man. Much of this is the same for every believer. But each of us is unique, and each has a potential life vision unlike any other. God has an individual will for every soul that belongs to Him, an individually shaped destiny which varies according to our gifting and calling and purpose in His Body.
As God worked on creation for six days and rested on the seventh day, so our seven day week is established on that pattern. If, as the scripture declares, with the Lord one day is as 1,000 years and 1,000 years as a day, then the seven-day cycle also finds expression in a great historical “week”. As we approach the 1,000-year reign of the Messiah, this “millennium” as it is called, (described in some detail in Revelation chapter 20), is clearly understood as a time of global rest, peace, and righteousness throughout the Earth.
The word for “restitution” in this passage is the Greek word – “apokatastasis”. This is the one and only place it is found in the New Testament. The word literally means to “restore again” or “to repair”. The plan of God in sending His Son Yeshua (Jesus) was to restore that which had been broken and ruined. The Lord’s saving work is a global repair job. Each one of us has come to Him already ruined by sin. But God’s will and His promise is to restore and renew us through His Son.