Notes
Introduction
Isaiah 7:14 ESV
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
A sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14. This has to be one of the most quoted and most familiar verses in Isaiah.
Does it sound familiar to you?
Itâs definitely familiar to a lot of us, and it gets quoted a lot especially at this time of year. Weâre now in the month of December, which means weâre into Advent: the days leading up to Christmas. In fact, last Sunday was technically the first Sunday of Advent.
This quote, and even this graphic, has a âringâ of Christmas to it, doesnât it? Or is that just me? I didnât make this graphic, but whoever did chose to put a star in it. Why? Thereâs nothing about a star in this verse at all! But there is a star in the Christmas story, and this verse is somehow associated with the Christmas story, and hence, someone decorated this verse with a star.
Why Verse 14?
Why has this one verse become so associated with Christmas?
Well, âChristmasâ is of course for Christians a celebration of Christâs birth. And in the gospel according to Matthew, he makes a very direct connection between the birth of Jesus and Isaiah 7:14:
Turn to Matthew 1, and weâll read just a little excerpt from the first chapter of Matthew, which he begins by calling it âthe genesis of Jesus.â The chapter opens with a âgenesisâ or âgenealogyâ of Jesus in the first 17 verses, then a summary of how his birth came about, beginning in verse 18:
Matthew 1:18â25 CSB
18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, âJoseph, son of David, donât be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.â
22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 See, the virgin will become pregnant
and give birth to a son,
and they will name him Immanuel,
which is translated âGod is with us.â
24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lordâs angel had commanded him. He married her 25 but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.
OK there is a LOT to unpack in that passage, and weâre not going to do that today. We are, Lord willing, going to explore Matthew in depth later next year. For now, weâre going to focus on the connection here to Isaiah.
For a lot of you, this may be a familiar part of the Christmas story. The angel appearing to Joseph and telling him Mary is going to give birth even though sheâs a virgin. And then Matthew, the narrator, steps in to make a note. Itâs almost like a âby the wayâ ⊠in case you didnât catch this connection, this hyperlink to Isaiah, all this took place to fulfill what Isaiah prophesied long, long ago.
Lost Context
So, as Christians, we like to read the gospels, because theyâre about Christ, and weâre Christians! Right? And thatâs great! We read Matthew and see that reference, and think âoh, cool! Isaiah made a prophecy, and Jesus fulfilled it! Awesome!â and we happily move on with the rest of the gospel story.
Meanwhile, that one, isolated verse in Isaiah has become awfully familiar to us, primarily because Matthew quotes it. And thatâs great!
But how many of you are familiar with the rest of the context surrounding that one verse?
I must admit that I really was not familiar with it until I really sat down to study it for this week. And, what I found is that the context is⊠well⊠there is a lot of context.
Today, weâre going to be looking at that context. Weâll be spending the rest of our time this morning digging our heels firmly into Isaiah chapter 7, so go ahead and flip back to Isaiah and find your way there if youâd like.
Even though weâre not studying every verse of Isaiah, we also donât want to study individual verses in isolation. And because this one verse has become so prominent, it is beneficial to understand what was happening when Isaiah gave this prophecy, and how it fit into the message he was actually giving at the time.
Slightly Broader Scope
The verse thatâs famous is verse 14. So letâs broaden the scope just a little bit and look at the 7 verses surrounding it, starting in verse 10:
Isaiah 7:10â17 CSB
10 Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz: 11 âAsk for a sign from the Lord your Godâit can be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.â
12 But Ahaz replied, âI will not ask. I will not test the Lord.â
13 Isaiah said, âListen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God? 14 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel. 15 By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good, he will be eating curds and honey. 16 For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned. 17 The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your fatherâs house such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah: He will bring the king of Assyria.â
OK, so we see now that the Lord is giving the sign specifically because Ahaz refused to ask for one. And Isaiah seems upset. And then thereâs this other stuff about the boy whoâs born, and what heâs going to eat, and somehow thatâs linked to Epharim and Judah and the king of Assyria. And thatâs all just really confusing.
AndâŠback up, who is this guy Ahaz, anyway, and why is God speaking to him through Isaiah?
This is not enough context.
Much Broader Scope
Weâre going to have to broaden our scope a bit more. Letâs back up to the beginning of Chapter 7.
This is where the scene really starts. Chapter 7 introduces a new train of thought, it gives the backdrop for what becomes the next major prophetic message in Isaiah, after what happened in chapter 6, which Mike covered last week. Letâs read from the beginning:
Isaiah 7:1â6 CSB
1 This took place during the reign of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah: Aramâs King Rezin and Israelâs King Pekah son of Remaliah went to fight against Jerusalem, but they were not able to conquer it.
2 When it became known to the house of David that Aram had occupied Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz and the hearts of his people trembled like trees of a forest shaking in the wind.
3 The Lord said to Isaiah, âGo out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, by the road to the Laundererâs Field. 4 Say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Donât be afraid or cowardly because of these two smoldering sticks, the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and the son of Remaliah. 5 For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted harm against you. They say, 6 âLetâs go up against Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it for ourselves. Then we can install Tabeelâs son as king in it.â â
OH, ok, that all makes sense! Right? You all followed exactly whatâs going on here, right? You can picture it all now! Theyâre by the road to the launderer's field!
If you do understand everything thatâs happening here on the first pass, then thatâs awesome. And you can probably just take a nap for the next few minutes.
Iâm guessing most of you are more like me; I read these first few verses about a dozen times trying to wrap my head around it. And even then, I had to look at some maps and read some commentaries before it all really made sense.
And even though it took some effort, I was really glad I didnât just give up and skim over it, because if you understand the political tensions being described here, the dialogue between God, Ahaz and Isaiah makes a lot more sense.
So, hopefully, I can help decipher this for you.
Deciphering the Politics
Now, Iâm going to bring up a map, and do some writing on the screen, and I apologize to anyone watching online, because you wonât be able to see it. So, Iâll try my best to describe what Iâm doing. But if you really want to follow along, I suggest getting a notepad and writing down a couple key things as I go, which will help unlock some of the nuances of this passage.
Hereâs a map of what the political scene looked like at the time of Isaiah. You have various people groups and kingdoms all fighting for territory and power. And bear in mind these orbs or blobs fluctuated a lot throughout history, as various empires rose and fell. But this is the general distribution of power surrounding Israel at the time.
Now, to connect this map to Isaiah 7, there are a few terms we need to clarify. This passage is just swimming with all kinds of names: names of people, names of kingdoms, names of cities. So lets wade through these names.
First of all, remember that this is the period during which Israel was divided into two separate kingdoms. And while âIsraelâ can sometimes refer to both the northern AND southern kingdoms, it can also refer to specifically the Northern kingdom, and the southern Kingdom is called âJudah.â So, you have Israel in the North and Judah in the south. But Israel can sometimes also refer to all the descendants of Abraham collectively. So, there is a third term that youâll find throughout Isaiah and other prophets, that refers specifically to the northern kingdom, and thatâs Ephraim. If youâre taking notes, write that down.
Ephraim = Israel/Northern Kingdom.
Judah = Southern Kingdom
Another tricky name used in this passage, which you might have noticed, if your translation is different from what I was reading, is that name âAram.â Some translations have âSyriaâ there instead. They are the same word, âAramâ is just the Hebrew word for âSyria.â So thatâs the next thing to write down, or take mental note of.
Aram = Syria.
Now, each of these kingdoms has a capital city and a king.
The capital of Judah is Jerusalem, and her king is Ahaz, grandson of Uzziah.
The capital of Israel/Ephraim is Samaria, and her king is Pekah, son of Remaliah.
The capital of Aram/Syria is Damascus, and her king is Rezin.
Now, Iâve color-coded Judah as green, Ephraim as red, and Aram as blue.
What we learn is that Ephraim/Israel is teaming up with Syria/Aram against Judah. Red and Blue make Purple, so purple signifies their alliance. To understand why THAT is happening, we need to zoom out on the map just a little bit more:
Notice Babylonia and Media over here, each quite large already, but they donât come in until much later in the story. Right now, theyâre not a threat to Israel and Judah and Syria over in the West. Right now, the imminent threat in that area is coming from this smaller, orange blob up here. Thatâs Assyria, and theyâre expanding to the west and making a lot of ground in the north. In response, Aram/Syria and Ephraim/Israel formed an alliance, to hopefully withstand the incoming threat.
Ahaz, in Judah, meanwhile had no interest in allying with those two kingdoms, and in fact plans to simply pay off the Assyrian king (Tiglath Pileser) rather than try to rebel against him.
Ahaz is terrified of the alliance because theyâre right at his front door! So in his mind, his only hope is that the Assyrian empire will send reinforcements as a reward for his loyalty.
A deciphered reading
Letâs go back to the passage here, with all these terms color-coded for reference. Using these colors, Iâm going to offer a deciphered re-reading of this passage in a way that makes sense to me. It may seem silly, but I found it really helpful:
This took place during the reign of Ahaz, the green king: The blue king Rezin, and the red king Pekah went to fight against the green kingdomâs capital city, but they were not able to conquer it.
Hereâs how it happened:
When it became known to the green kingdom that the blue king and red king had joined forces, the heart of the green king and his people trembled like trees of a forest shaking in the wind.
Yahweh said to Isaiah the prophet, âGo out with your son Shear-jashub to meet the green king at this specific location. Say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Donât be afraid or cowardly because of this purple alliance, the combination of the blue king and the red king. For the blue king, along with the red king has plotted harm against you, the green king. They say, âLetâs go up against the green kingdomâs capital city, terrorize it, and conquer it for ourselves. Then we can install a purple puppet king in it, who will cooperate with us.
Now, maybe you didnât need the colors to visualize whatâs going on in this passage, but Iâm a visual person, so I did! And hopefully, one way or another, you get the idea of the situation in which Isaiah approaches Ahaz.
Ahaz is terrified and God sends Isaiah to tell him not to be.
Godâs Promise
Reading on, Isaiah expounds on this message:
Isaiah 7:7â9 CSB
7 This is what the Lord God says:
It will not happen; it will not occur.
8 The chief city of Aram is Damascus,
the chief of Damascus is Rezin
(within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people),
9 the chief city of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the chief of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
then you will not stand at all.
Basically, God is saying âI will not let what the alliance overtake youâ God is not going to let this purple imposter sit on the throne in Judah.
But then he calls out Ahazâs faith. And the Hebrew uses a clever play on words, with the Hebrew word for âfirm,â saying, if your faith isnât firm, then you wonât stand firm. Itâs a lot more clever in Hebrew than in English, but the concept is the same.
If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. I like this translation, because it plays on the English word âstandâ instead, and itâs catchy. You could easily quote this one out of context all the time. If you donât stand firm in your faith, you wonât stand at all.
So, Godâs turning this reassurance into a warning. Heâs promised that the purple alliance wonât succeed, but then he also warns him to stand firm in his faith.
And finally, in the next few verses, we get to the prophecy.
Let me Prove it
In verse ten, God tells Ahaz to let him prove the validity of his promise:
Isaiah 7:10â11 CSB
10 Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz: 11 âAsk for a sign from the Lord your Godâit can be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.â
Itâs an invitation to ask for a sign, no matter how miraculous, astounding, or supernatural! Thatâs a rare opportunity!
Whatâs Ahazâs response?
âNah.â
Isaiah 7:12 CSB
12 But Ahaz replied, âI will not ask. I will not test the Lord.â
Now, at first glance, this might seem like the right response! Right? After all, Deuteronomy 6:16 specifically says âDo not test the LORD your God!â
But this invitation by God was not a test to see whether or not Ahaz would take him up on it. That command not to test God was in response to a rebellious sort of testing, whereas any time God actually Invites people to test him, although itâs very rare, he does actually want and expect that test. Itâs an invitation for God to display his power and sovereignty on a humanâs own terms, so there can be no basis for arguing against the validity of Godâs promises.
Itâs a rare and incredible invitation, and Ahaz says âNo thanks.â
It turns out that Ahaz had more faith in Assyriaâs ability to protect him than in Godâs. The fact that he had negotiated with them, or at least was planning to, shows that he feared Assyria more than he feared God.
Isaiahâs response makes it pretty clear that Ahazâs attitude and motivation was problematic:
Isaiah 7:13 CSB
13 Isaiah said, âListen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God?
Ahaz is trying the patience of God. So God just gives him a sign of his own. The famous verse 14, the star of the show:
Isaiah 7:14 CSB
14 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.
So, thereâs the sign. A virgin conceiving, and having a son named Immanuel.
Wait A Minute...
Ok⊠but we read earlier in Matthew that Jesus being born was a fulfillment of this prophecy. That was hundreds and hundreds of years later, how does that prove anything to Ahaz? What does it have to do with this whole situation with these different kingdoms?
OH, and hold on⊠Jesus is named Jesus (or Yeshua, to be exact). âYeshuaâ is a Hebrew name, fairly common, itâs the same name as âJoshuaâ and means âYahweh saves.â âImmanuelâ is a totally different Hebrew word, meaning âGod with us.â SoâŠif Jesus is named Jesus, how can he be the fulfilment of a prophecy of a boy whoâs supposed to be named âImmanuel?â
OH, and hold onâŠwhat about all this other stuff that Isaiah prophecies about this boy, none of this is included in our Christmas quotes:
Isaiah 7:15â17 CSB
15 By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good, he will be eating curds and honey. 16 For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned. 17 The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your fatherâs house such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah: He will bring the king of Assyria.â
âBefore he knows to reject what is bad and choose what is goodâ in other words, while he is still young. More specifically, it could be referencing the traditional Jewish age of accountability, which is the age of 12.
But then, whatâs up with the curds and honey? Well, I know that may sound like a pretty nice snackâŠwe like our cheese curd up here in the North Country. But in this case, itâs not a reference to feasting on delicacies, itâs a reference to the destruction of their agriculture, and the decimation of the population, and basically that being the only food available to eat. That becomes more evident in the rest of the chapter, which, by the way is full of the phrase âOn that day...â and if that doesnât mean anything to you, check out the message from a couple weeks ago.
But what do curds and honey have to do with Jesus? Did he eat curds and honey? Well probably. But letâs look at the next claim. Still before he knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned.
Hmmm. Jesus was born hundreds of years later, but those two kings and their kingdoms fell long, long before that, just a few years after this prophecy.
And then God goes on to turn the focus to Judah, saying Ahaz and his people will experience the Day of the Lord in the form of exile, and he goes on to elaborate throughout the rest of chapter 7 and into chapter 8.
Isaiahâs Sons
Well, it turns out that Isaiah did have another son, and he referred to his sons as signs that corresponded to his prophecies. Check out chapter 8, verses 3-4:
Isaiah 8:3â4 CSB
3 I was then intimate with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord said to me, âName him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, 4 for before the boy knows how to call âFather,â or âMother,â the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.â
WELLâŠthat sure sounds a whole lot like the boy from chapter 7, doesnât it? So is HE the fulfilment of the prophecy?
ExceptâŠhis name isnât Immanuel, either.
So...
That all happened way before Jesus.
So whatâs going on here?
Is this prophecy even about Jesus at all?
Should we be quoting it around Christmas after all?
WellâŠMatthew sure thought so! But how do we reconcile all these different pieces to the puzzle?
JK - But Really
Anyway, thatâs some food for thought. Chew on that, let me know if you figure it out. Iâd love to know.
Hope you have a great week! God bless!
Ok, Iâm kidding, I wonât actually stop there.
But I do have to say that this IS a bit of a puzzle, and it has naturally been the subject of much scholarly debate. And Iâm not here to tell you that I have a perfect answer to every question regarding this prophecy.
However, I also donât think we should view this prophecy as incoherent at all. I think our own vision can be clouded by our expectations, but that doesnât mean there is any discrepancy between Isaiah and Matthew, or between what God said would happen and what actually happened.
What About the Timeline?
First of all, what about the timeline?
Well, we have to remember that by nature, most biblical prophecy is crafted with multiple layers of meaning, and full of nuances that go beneath the surface.
We talked about this back when we studied Jonah, and we talked about it a couple weeks ago when we studied the Day of the Lord.
In the case of the Day of the Lord, I said that this phrase can refer to a past, present or future event, and that biblical authors can even use it in all three ways simultaneously.
Well, other prophecies can also have those multiple layers and multiple modes of application, and I think this is one of them. Itâs a prophecy that had an imminent fulfilment, through the Exile, as well as an ultimate fulfilment, through Christ. One fulfilment foreshadowed the other, and the prophecy is able to interact on both layers.
So, as far as the timeline, thatâs perhaps the easiest question to answer, and if youâve been with us for a while this hopefully isnât a big stretch of the imagination for you, because weâve been trying to inform our understanding of the prophets from a culturally honest perspective for quite some time now.
What About âVirgin?â
Hereâs another layer to dissect. There are two words in Hebrew which can be translated into the word âvirgin.â One simply means âyoung woman of marrying age.â In their culture, such a young woman could also generally be assumed to be a virgin. But there is also a more literal term in Hebrew, which corresponds to our literal use of the word.
The one used in Isaiah 7:14 is the one which means âyoung woman of marrying age.â
IF this prophecy were meant to point ONLY to the Messiah, then why wouldnât the more specific term be used? Is it because Mary wasnât actually a virgin?
No, the gospels are very clear on that, and in Greek the term that Matthew and the Septuagint use is a specific, literal term.
No, the intentional use of the more ambiguous term allows the prophecy to be applied on multiple layers. And this is where youâll find differing opinions as to how exactly the prophecy might have been fulfilled in the short-term: whether it was Isaiahâs son, or Ahazâs son Hezekiah, who was a Godly king. Either way, this term, rather than posing a problem with the prophecy, enriches the prophecy so as to enable both an imminent fulfilment, as well as an ultimate fulfilment through the virgin Mary.
What About the Name?
Finally, what about that name? Immanuel? That seems to be the the last major piece to the puzzle.
Nobody in the Bible is actually named Immanuel, that I could find. Latinized variations of it are actually popular in some cultures now, but none of Isaiahâs sons, and none of the kings of Judah were named Immanuel.
Then in Matthew, Matthew describes the angel instructing Joseph to name this baby âYeshuaâ or âJesus,â and then the very next verse says âand that happened to fulfill the Immanuel prophecy.â So obviously he didnât say the two different names as a problem. Why not?
Well, first of all, we canât hold too tightly to our English definition of the word âname.â
In Hebrew, the word for ânameâ (Shem) also means âreputation,â among other things. And the literal translation is âShe will call his name God with us.â Now, hold that thought, and compare that verse to this one:
Isaiah 9:6 ESV
6 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.
WHOAA! I know Iâm getting ahead of myself a little, skipping to chapter 8, but this is another Messianic prophesy, and this one is a lot less ambiguous. It talks about a child being born, and then the same phrase is used: âHis name shall be calledâ and then lists four different titles! So, itâs clear that when Isaiah talks about the ultimate child being born, the ultimate Messiah, and he makes a reference to his name being called something, heâs doing so in a way that assigns titles, roles, and attributes to this person and his entire reputation, not just the name that was on his tax forms.
The title of âGod with usâ certainly can be used to describe the way God was with Judah during the Assyrian invasion, when Israel was carried off and Judah remained for a much more extended period of time.
But in an even more literal sense, Immanuel can be applied to Jesus because when he came, he was, quite literally, âGod with us.â And his Spirit remains with us.
Conclusion
The hope of the exile is that a remnant will return. Return to what? For Israel, it was a return to their homeland. But in a broader sense, the real hope is a return to God. To a relationship with God, in community with each other.
God gave Isaiah a glimpse into his restorative plan: both in the immediate context and for his long-term strategy of becoming human to pay the price of redeeming humans from themselves.
Immanuel, God with us, is a promise of the re-creation of the Eden ideal, where humans and God walked together. It is the restoration of what was lost with sin and the renovation of hearts that have become hard from sin.
God with us is what creation was made for, and what it will one day be again (on THAT day of Yahweh), and in the meantime, he has shown us just how far he is willing to go to redeem his creation.