Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:10-25
Judah’s only hope for avoiding disaster during the 8th century BC was to recognize its uncleanness, trust the Lord, and serve Him faithfully as Isaiah did in Isaiah 6. Yet Judah would not accept the message Isaiah brought to Ahaz who did not even want to hear a word from God. Our verses today took place in about 735 BC. Years earlier, the king of Israel had paid tribute to Assyria to preserve himself and his country as the Assyrian Empire battled for control of strategic lands such as Palestine. This only lasted 13 years as the Assyrians overran the northern kingdom, taking many into exile in Assyria and diluting the Israelites with non-Jews who intermarried with the tribes of the northern kingdom. The strategy of the Assyrians was to force King Ahaz of Judah into an alliance with Syria against Israel or, if Ahaz refused, to put a new king in Jerusalem who would support their efforts. A frightened Ahaz had two options. He could trust God to protect him from the Egyptians, now aligned with Assyria, or he could appeal to Assyria for help. As Isaiah called Ahaz to trust the Lord, telling him to ask God for a sign that would assure him of divine protection, Ahaz refused because he had already decided to trust Assyria, not God. The Lord gave Ahaz a sign anyway: a virgin would bear a son called Immanuel. Immanuel means God with us. This son would be a sign that God was with His people and Israel and Syria would threaten Judah no more before the child reached maturity. The defeat of the Egyptians and Assyria while the child was very young would confirm the truth of Isaiah’s prophecy and the Lord’s presence. But the Lord’s presence to save Judah from Israel and Syria would be a mixed blessing. God would also curse faithless Judah by sending Assyria against Jerusalem. Seven hundred years later, God would give the fullest realization of this sign in the incarnation of His Son. This Savior’s name would mean “God with us,” and He would be God with us in His own person as well. This sign would be greater, for Jesus’ birth to a true virgin would be unquestionably miraculous. He would be a sign of eternal judgment for those who would reject Him. Scholars have long debated whether the original Hebrew of today’s passage is better translated “virgin” or “young woman.” This may be a worthy debate, but if we are not careful, we could miss this key point: just as the son born in Isaiah’s day was a sign of Judah’s destruction for unbelief, Jesus is a sign of our destruction when we do not believe in Him. Christ is God’s sign to us of blessing and cursing; blessing if we trust only in Him for salvation, cursing if we deny Him.
Source: S C Ball December 10, 2023
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