Isaiah 9 and the Infinite Procreation Error of Full Preterism

ISAIAH 9:6-7 - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
[7] Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
(ESV)

Full Preterism (FP) advocates teach that the Christian age, which we will currently in, has no end, it will last for infinity.  This belief requires them to believe in “infinite procreation” and therefore there is an infinite number of people who will become Christians.

Since God is omnipotent can He create a rock that He cannot lift? If that question is answered in the affirmative then the nature of God is in contradiction with itself — and therefore God would no longer be God according to historical orthodox Christian theology.

Similarly we might ask, can God know all of a number that has no end? The dilemma in this question is apparent. No one can know all of something that has no end, because something that has no end, by definition, has no “all.”

In light of this, one might understand why the “infinite procreation” teachings of Full Preterists (FP) are dangerous. It is ultimately a denial of God’s omniscience. It denies God’s decree and foreknowledge of “all” the elect. It denies that “all” of the Body of Christ was crucified and resurrected with Christ because there is no “all” in infinity. It denies that the atonement of Christ covers “all” of the elect. It denies that Jesus’ death was once and for “all.”

I believe that the Bible teaches that God “knows those who are his.” If he knows them, he knows them all, entirely.

I’ve been reading Samuel Frost’s articles lately as he, as a Full Preterist, is trying to pursuade his fellow-FPs that “infinite procreation” is bad theology. He has been pointing out to his FP colleagues that FP needs to add a “consummation doctrine” or FP theology is not going to survive. He argues that FP begins with assuming a paradox and that is not a good way for a theological system to begin. LOL – I agree.

FP often reference Isaiah 9 when they are teaching “infinite procreation.”  The phrase “without end” occurs in Isaiah 9:7 where we read that the government or rule of Messiah shall “increase” (marbeh) and “shall not end.” FP claim that this verse teaches that God’s kingdom shall increase forever on into infinity. Once his kingdom is established, it will be established “forever” (LXX – unto the age; Hebrew – olam). Doesn’t “forever” mean “infinity”? No. Infinity means “never ending divisibility” and “imperfection”. An infinite thing is technically imperfect because it is never established.  God is not infinite, God is eternal, because that which is “eternal” is perfect and complete.

In Isaiah 9:7, “forever” refers to the quality of the kingdom. Once the “increase” (marbeh – used only 2x – LXX has “greatness”) is “established” it will not ever be unestablished. The Hebrew word marbeh is used only two times in the OT and means “greatness” or “abundance”. It is connected with other cognate words that definitely mean “abundance” and many translations follow that.

Contextually we know that Isaiah was living in a time when the “throne of David” was split in two, and the seat of Judah was to be taken away. Israel’s “increase” (her abundance) was “decreasing”. Yet, there would come one who would establish David’s throne “once and for all” and bring in the “abundant life” that gives “eternal” its spiritual aspect.

Preterists and FP alike understand, for example, that Is 65.17-ff is to be taken “spiritually” – that no one, literally, is going to live to be hundreds of years old at some point in the future. This means spiritual abundance. Yet, here, in Isaiah 9:7, “increase” is interpreted literally by FP to mean infinite procreation! The FP exegesis is thereby inconsistent.

It is the “kingdom”, the “throne of David” that is abundant, or given increase, and the increase it is given, once established, shall have no end. The picture is like a man who lives in a small house, but is promised a larger house – an increase, or more abundant room. When the time comes to establish the promise, his “increase” shall not ever be taken from him.

Furthermore, “increase” is a noun here in Isaiah, too. If there was, for example, a participle, “of the increasing”, we would have a different story, and the FP would then have a point. But, the prepositional phrase “to the increase” refers to “his rule”, his “power” (mishrah). He shall rule over all things (as opposed to just some things), and this rule over the increase of all things shall have no end. The “increase” is not volitive but static: it’s fixed. There is an “increase” that will be given to his government, and that “increase” shall not ever “decrease”. There is nothing here that speaks of infinitely produced things.

So what can we conclude from a proper exegesis?  We can conclude that Isaiah 9:7 speaks of “no decreasing and no overthrowing” of the New Covenant. This is a great promise because is reinforces the doctrinal fact that the New Covenant blessings do not end when Jesus returns to deliver the earth and its heirs from the curse in that “last day.” There will be a “last day” to the curse, a last day for evil to oppress God’s children, a last day for unrighteousness to corrupt God’s creation, a last day for the Devil to accuse. On that last day Jesus will judge all things and completely remove the curse and all its consequences. But there will be no last day to the New Covenant blessings for the New Covenant is everlasting.

The number of inhabitants in the kingdom is not referenced in this Isaiah passage.  But we know from many other passages of Scripture that there is a finite number of elect and God knows them all by name.  God has foreknown all the elect, predestined them to be conformed to the image of His son, and will draw “all” of the elect to Christ.  That means there is an “end” in the future to evangelism, an end in the future of the curse of sin upon God’s children, a day of consummation of Redemption, then we understand that that finite number of elect will go into eternity, living upon the “renewed” earth forever.

About the Author

Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers. Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University. You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.