In English, “counsel” means advice or consultation about a matter. On the other hand, “council” refers to a meeting about such advice or consultation.
The word counsel speaks of the advice itself, and the Greek word used in this verse, עֵצָה, translated as etsah, also means the advice itself, and the plan is only implied. Consequently, this verse refers to the advice itself among the persons of the triune godhead.
Now that I have explained how these two words are spelled and what they mean, you understand enough to read this article. If you don’t understand what I wrote in the first two paragraphs above, please read them again and again until you do.
The term “counsel of peace” appears only once in the Bible. We see it in Zechariah 6:13. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul writes of “a holy temple in the Lord,” which is the same as “the temple of the Lord” in Zechariah’s vision (Zech. 6:12-14). This refers to the elect’s human bodies.
Some biblical scholars say it refers to two different thrones and two different people: a king and a priest. Others believe it is a messianic prophecy about the offices of king and priest being combined in one person, unlike in Israel civilly up to that point. Nevertheless, this word counsel refers to the advice or consultation between persons, not the meeting or plan itself.
However, many, if not most, Reformed biblical scholars today believe the counsel of peace refers to the divine covenant among the Trinity regarding the Covenant of Redemption in eternity, before the foundation of the world. This covenant reconciles humans to God. The Covenant of Redemption was the pattern for all future covenants. The Trinity developed the Plan of Salvation and the roles they would perform in it.
The Trinity developed these roles as follows. The first person of the Trinity would be the heavenly Father. His job was to choose the humans who were to receive the benefits of the Plan of Salvation (Eph. 1:4). The second person of the Trinity would be the Son. The Father would give the Son the chosen ones as the guarantor of their salvation. The Son would form a second nature, which would be human, and live a sinless life on earth as a human so He could be a perfect sacrifice for the elect (Phil. 2:5-11). The third person of the Trinity would be the Holy Spirit. He would effectuate everything in the Plan of Salvation and provide comfort and understanding to Christians (John 14:26, 15:26).
We understand that the triune godhead had to develop a Plan of Salvation before creation. It had to be in place before sin came into the world. Therefore, the author of this article takes today’s Reformed theological position that the counsel of peace refers to the triune godhead’s decision to create the Covenant of Redemption and the Plan of Salvation.
The counsel of peace is the discussion that occurred among the Trinity in eternity. Out of it, the Trinity developed the Covenant of Redemption, which included the Plan of Salvation that would reconcile the elect, sinful humans with God for eternity.
