Isaiah: Immanuel

Isaiah 7

In Isaiah 7-12, the prophet emphasizes Judah's deliverance. Isaiah 7 describes how God safeguarded Judah from a Syria-Israel alliance. In the middle of this chapter, we find the prophecy of Jesus' virgin birth. How do the coalition against Judah and the virgin birth connect? We have some work to do. The first verses of this chapter provide a summary.

Isaiah 7:1-2
In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it.  When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. 

Pekah was Israel’s next-to-last king, reigning from 753 to 732 BC. The kingdom became increasingly weak, prompting Pekah to convince Rezin to join him. Together, they planned to conquer Judah, divide the land between them, and establish a puppet king. Fear enveloped the people of Judah, including their king, Ahaz, making them shake like trees in the wind. Consequently, God instructed Isaiah to meet Ahaz and convey, “Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands…” (Isa. 7:4). God assured Ahaz that the battle would not occur and that he should stand firm in faith (Isa. 7:7-9). 

To confirm his promise, God told Ahaz to ask for a sign as “deep as Sheol or high as heaven” (Isa. 7:11). However, Ahaz refused, stating that he didn’t want to put God to the test (Isa. 7:12). This was not a sincere answer. He likely didn’t trust that God could deliver, yet God gave him a sign anyway.

Isaiah 7:14
…Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

This will be our Anchor Point for Isaiah 7.

Bible scholars adhere to one of three views on interpreting this verse. The key word in this passage is the Hebrew term almah. Here, it is translated as “virgin” and can describe a sexually mature woman who is not married. In addition to being translated as “virgin,” the same word is sometimes translated as “maiden” (e.g., Gen. 24:43; Prov. 30:19) and “girl” (Ex. 2:8).

View #1: The boy was conceived after Isaiah spoke this message.
Those who hold this view believe this woman was a virgin when Isaiah delivered the prophecy. She then married, conceived, and had a son. Before the child understood the difference between good and evil (the age of accountability), the Syria-Israel alliance was destroyed. The boy, named Immanuel, reminded the people that God would always be with them. Ahaz would have known the mother, and the boy’s name, Immanuel, would have demonstrated that God’s promise was trustworthy. 

View #2: Strictly Messianic
In this view, the passage is focused solely on Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Joseph and Mary were engaged, but their marriage was not consummated until after the birth of Jesus (Matt. 1:18, 25). Matthew affirmed that Jesus’ birth confirmed Isaiah’s prophecy (Matt. 1:21-23).

Those who hold this viewpoint say that Isaiah was not speaking directly to Ahaz but to the house of David (Isa. 7:13), so the prophecy was given to the kingly line and the entire nation of Israel. However, Bible scholar John Martin notes the difficulties with this perspective.

However, if the fulfillment did not occur until Joseph and Mary’s day, how does the prophecy relate to Isaiah’s point that the Aram-Israel confederacy would soon be defeated? And how does the birth of the Lord Jesus relate to the eating of curds and honey (v. 15) and to the breaking of the alliance before the boy was old enough to know good and evil? (v. 16)^[1]

View #3: Double Fulfillment
The virgin Isaiah spoke about would marry, conceive, and have a child. While he was still young, the alliance between Syria and Israel would be broken. In 732 BC, Tiglath-Pileser III destroyed Syria. Afterward, Ahaz visited Tiglath-Pileser III, agreed to pay tribute to Assyria, and implemented symbols of pagan worship in Judah (2 Kgs. 16:7-10). In the remainder of the chapter (Isa. 7:17-25), Isaiah explained all that would happen due to Ahaz’s unfaithfulness. Judah would experience God’s judgment for Ahaz leading them far from God.

So, the virgin with child is set in a historical context during Ahaz’s day. A young woman who was a virgin when Isaiah gave the prophecy conceived and gave birth to a son whose name reminded the people that God was with them. Like many prophecies, this one has a double fulfillment.

When the time was right, God sent an angel named Gabriel to a young virgin named Mary.

Luke 1:30-35
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”  And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”

When Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant, he decided to separate from her. However, God sent an angel to speak to Joseph as well.

Matthew 1:20-23 
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 

To clarify, Isaiah 7:14 was fulfilled in Isaiah’s day and ultimately and perfectly accomplished in the virgin birth of Jesus—an essential doctrine of our faith—where God remained fully God and became fully man to save his people from their sins.

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Time in the Word: Read and reflect on Isaiah 7. Focus on our Anchor Point: Isaiah 7:14.

Talking to God: Thank God for Jesus, who took on flesh to die for our sins. 

Have Questions?
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