At Christmas we are used to hearing about the “sign of Immanuel” and that the “virgin will conceive a child.” Rarely does a Christmas sermon look back to the original context of the Immanuel passage. But Matthew may very well have intended his readers to remember the context of Isaiah 7:14 when he quoted it as fulfilled in the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
Early in the career of King Ahaz of Judah, he was threatened by two larger kingdoms to the north, Israel and Damascus. Isaiah 7-8 and 2 Chronicles 28 connects Ahaz’ idolatry to the attacks from the King of Aram and the King of Israel. It is this threat and response that will have a chilling effect on the politics of Palestine and the survival of Judah as a nation.
Perhaps the kings of Israel and Damascus sought to encourage Ahaz to join in the resistance to Assyrian invasion. In Isaiah we are told that they intend to put an unidentified “son of Tabeel” on the throne of Judah, someone that would be their “puppet” and would join them in rebellion against Assyria.
The Lord offers to give Ahaz a sign that these things will happen (Isaiah 7:10-16). Ahaz appears to take a high “spiritual” attitude by saying that he would not put the Lord to the test. The Lord, however, gives him the sign anyway – The sign of Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:10–16 (ESV) Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
The sign is that a woman in Ahaz household will give birth to a child, and before that child is old enough to “know right and wrong” the coalition of the two kings will be broken. The name of the child is significant – Immanuel means “God with us.” The Lord is saying to Ahaz that no matter how evil and corrupt your heart is, God is still with you and has a plan and a purpose in the world. God is still with you even though you are in no way recognizing his presence and protection.
The original context of the sign of Immanuel is God’s protection of his people at a dark and desperate time in their history. Judah was not faithful to the covenant at this time, yet God promises to protect them on account of the promises that he made to David.
The birth of the child is important because it gives Ahaz an indication that it is only a few years until the nation is saved. Perhaps the child is Hezekiah himself, a king who will be faithful to the covenant and be instrumental in Judah’s salvation from the Assyrians (2 Kings 19). But the name of the child is far more important, his name is “God with us.” Even at the darkest moment for Jerusalem, God is still with the nation and has a plan to save them out of a disaster so great it would effectively end the line of David.
This is the story which Matthew wants us to remember when he says “all this was fulfilled” in Matt 1:22-23. He is recalling the time when Judah was unfaithful and not looking to God for protection, yet God was “still with them” and would protect them because of his promise to David.
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I find it interesting that Isaiah 7:14 is so often used in the Christmas story to show that Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy of immanuel coming and being the representative of God with us. This verse is so common, yet the context is so rarely discussed. To us today this passage seems to be so clearly about Jesus the messiah, but when God was telling Ahaz this prophecy it was not thought of by him or the Jews as a requirement for the messiah to fulfil (Strauss, pg. 342, 2007). The Jews understood that God had a plan and protection over the line of Judah, but they could not imagine the significance of Immanuel and what God had in store. He did not just want to restore the line of Judah and preserve it, he wanted to give the whole world the opportunity to be restored from sin. God protected the line of Judah before Jesus came (possibly through Hezekiah), but Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of that passage. This is such a good reminder that even when we doubt or do not want to hear God’s plan, like Ahaz, God’s plan is perfect and unstoppable regardless. Ahaz did not want to acknowledge the greatness God had in store. I wonder how Ahaz’s life would have been different if he had responded to God the way God prompted him to and asked God for a sign. Even in Ahaz’ resilience and Judah’s disobedience God was so gracious. Even the fact that the Jews did not think of this passage was about the messiah shows the greatness of God’s plan. Had they thought that it was about the messiah then the idea of the virgin birth may have been dismissed when early Christians tried to say that the detail of the virgin birth was only in the Bible to prove the prophecy in Isiah true. Since this prophecy in Isiah wasn’t considered by the Jews to be about Jesus the idea of Jesus as Immanuel, born of a virgin was conserved and there was not a strong refute to why Mary wasn’t a virgin and why Jesus couldn’t be both God and man equally (Strauss, pg. 342, 2007). This passage is so powerful because it shows that God’s plan is so powerful and that he preserves his people and the truth when it seems impossible.
It is interesting that the verse is commonly heard of and read around Christmas but the context surrounding it is commonly looked over. It is an important passage and an even more important message to all believers. To know that, “God is still with you even though you are in no way recognizing his presence and protection” (Long, 2018), should be a relief to many Christians. While we know that God can be relied upon and that he is merciful and just, I believe these verses and the context behind them are still relevant today and should be discussed.
Sometimes our faith is not as strong as we would like, sometimes we begin to question some of the things we read in the Bible. But even in those doubts and even in the loss of faithfullness, God is still with us. He still finds us worthy of his love and mercy. It is a peaceful and encouraging message.
Hearing about the original context of Isaiah 7:14 is very intriguing. This is a passage that is so heavily associated with Christmas time and Jesus’ birth that we do not often look into the events that it was originally written about. Strangely enough, this passage was not even generally associated with the coming of the Messiah by first-century Jews (Strauss, 503). They saw Isaiah’s prophecy as a picture of God’s sovereignty over King Ahaz’s story, but did not anticipate its future messianic fulfilment. Strauss (pg. 503) describes Isaiah 7:14 as a “topological prophecy,” meaning that it has an initial fulfilment (through Ahaz and his family) and a culminating, ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. It was not until after Jesus came that his followers started to realize this.
What a blessing it is for believers today that we can see the full picture of this prophecy. In the original context, “the virgin” is a woman who is of childbearing age. In the gospels, Mary is a true virgin who miraculously concieves a child through the power of God. The first child is a sign to the people that God is still with them. Jesus is the incarnation of God who takes on literal flesh, and truly is among the people. The original child reminds the Israelites that they will soon be saved from their oppression. The coming of Jesus ushers in salvation for the whole world against sin, death, and hell. The parallels are beautiful and certainly would not be possible without the soverign hand of God guiding history every step of the way. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isa 55:8-9).