Name of God - Sar-Shalom: Prince of Peace
Sar-Shalom: Prince of Peace
Daily Verse: “For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
☆ Isaiah 9:6 HCSB
Let's Talk About It: In this verse, Isaiah is speaking of the Messianic prophecy of Jesus’ birth. Isaiah also speaks of the names that Jesus will be known by. Up to this point, Crystal and I have shared and dived into 43 names of God. All of which describe a characteristic and trait of our Lord. The names of God, in Scripture, were usually given because of one’s personal experience with God or having witnessed an act done by Him. Here, however, Isaiah is prophesying these names. This is telling us that Jesus will be or do all in accordance to the meaning of these names.
Today, we will be focusing on Him as the Prince of Peace. Sar-Shalom is derived from two Hebrew words. Sar, according to the Hebrew Strong’s Dictionary, means a head person (of any rank or class), a captain (that had rule), lord, and of course prince. By being the Son of the Creator, if we where to use royal titles to describe Jesus, that would obviously make Him, Prince. The Hebrew Strong’s Dictionary defines Shalom (shaw-lome’) as safe, well, rest, and peace. It is also seen spelled shalowm (same pronunciation).
What is peace and what does it mean to you? By definition, it means freedom from disturbance. It also refers to a period of no war or when a war/conflict has ended. Isaiah is speaking the prophecy of Jesus, in chapter 9, after prophesying about a judgement on his people. In this judgement, he speaks of a terrible war, and through Jesus, honor will be brought to the land as well as peace.
Thinking back to my last combat deployment, it had to be my worst one. When my unit first arrived at the area we were setting up as our Forward Operating Base (FOB), it was not in friendly territory. We were in what seemed like the middle of the city. We received, on the first day, a welcoming party of incoming mortars and rockets. We received so many incoming mortars and rockets that we had to request our own counter mortar and field artillery team to be set up on our FOB.
The enemy launched at all times of the day in random rotation. Sometimes it was during the morning and lunch, and sometimes late into the night. It had gotten to the point that many of us stopped taking cover and the sounds of the random mortars exploding within our FOB was as normal and expected as it was for the sun to come up the next day. I remember breaking down in my living quarters and praying for the Lord to please stop the bombings. I was desperate for a day of peace; at least one day where I did not have to worry if a mortar would join me for breakfast or tuck me in when I laid down to rest.
The Lord heard my cry. I remember the first day we experienced peace. I still get choked up thinking about it and it’s been a little over 18 years now. Who was I that the Lord heard my prayers in that moment? Why did the bombings briefly stop? I don’t have any of the answers, however, I do know Who is responsible. It was Jesus, Sar-Shalom…Prince of Peace, that brought safety and rest to our FOB those days. This is how I know Him as Sar-Shalom and one of the many reasons why I’m able to share with you this personal experience. Thank you, Lord, for giving us peace when a battle is going on all around us. – Kevin