Avi 'Ad, Everlasting Father

We continue to examine the names for God from Isaiah 9:6.  Today we look at "Avi 'Ad," translated as Everlasting Father.  As I've been uncovering over the past week, sometimes in bible translations designed for today's modern English, we lose a deeper aspect of God's word by missing the intent behind the Hebrew words. This often happens when one language is translated into another.  Even the King James Version of the Bible fails to accurately portray Avi 'Ad, because it only capitalizes the word "Father."  As a result, many people tend to read the word "Everlasting" as only an adjective describing the noun "father." However, Everlasting and Father should both be capitalized.  They are both nouns for the name of God.  The phrase Avi 'Ad is a double noun to reinforce the concept of His name.

'Ad is the Hebrew word meaning eternal, everlasting, continual, and infinity."  God is eternal, with no beginning and no end.  Time is part of His creation. As 'Everlasting,' God declares by His name He possess a unique characteristic.  He alone has the trait of being everlasting, without beginning or end. In Isaiah 9:6, we see a proclamation of God's characteristic of eternity linked with His other exclusive attribute, Father.

God reveals from the name, 'Everlasting Father,' that He from eternity is the only person responsible for creation.   Interestingly in the Hebrew language, the word for Father is "Av," pronounced "Ab," from where we get the word Hebrew word "Abba," meaning "daddy."   However, in Isaiah 9, the word "Av" has an additional letter. The addition of the letter 'i' transforms Av into 'Avi.'  This single letter alters the word 'Father' to become a personal possessive noun.  Avi literally means 'My Father.'  Using the word Avi, God clarifies He has a personal relationship to us.  He is our father.

The name "Everlasting Father" is often understood to be solely the position of God the Father (Yahweh).  Rarely is the concept of Father associated equally with the Son, Jesus.  However, Isaiah 9:6 makes it extremely clear that the Son who has been given as a child to mankind is indeed the Everlasting Father.  There can be no separation between these two identities of God.  They are one in the same person.  The Eternal Father declared in Isaiah He was stepping into time, taking human form.  This is a wonder, an unexplainable miracle.  This is why humanity can stand in awe of the great mystery of the child who was born, the son who was given, whose name is the Everlasting Father. 

   The Everlasting Father was the Son born in Bethlehem. 

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