By Jeffery M. Leonard, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biblical & Religious Studies, Samford University
GOD WITH US
Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18–25
Few kings have found themselves so securely caught between the proverbial “rock and a hard place” as did Judah’s King Ahaz.
Looming to the east in the eighth century B.C. was the menacing Assyrian Empire. This was the nation famous for wiping out whole nations. Ahaz dared not pick a fight with the Assyrians.
And yet, closer to home were two kingdoms who insisted Ahaz do just that. Israel had banded together with the neighboring kingdom of Aram with the intention of launching a war against Assyria. They were threatening to kill the Judean king and replace him with someone more to their liking if he didn’t join their coalition. Ahaz found himself in a desperate position.
The book of Isaiah tells us the approach of Aram’s forces caused Ahaz’s heart to tremble “like trees of a forest shaking in the wind” (Isa. 7:2). While Ahaz was in this pitiful condition, the prophet Isaiah found the Judean king and gave him some quite famous words of comfort.
The virgin birth was foretold hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth. (Isa. 7:14)
Isaiah first reassured King Ahaz that he had no need to fear Damascus (the capital of Aram), Samaria (the capital of Israel) or the kings who ruled over them. Though these kings had banded together to depose Ahaz, their time would soon be at an end (Isa. 7:7). As further assurance, the Lord also gave King Ahaz a sign; through Isaiah He declared, “The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.”
In its original context, the sign given to Ahaz was that his wife (the “virgin” or “young woman” in the prophecy) would bear a son who would succeed him on the throne and continue the king’s line of royal descendants.
That son (the “Immanuel” in the prophecy) was none other than Ahaz’s famous son Hezekiah, the same Hezekiah the prophet calls “Immanuel” in Isaiah 8:8. All that Ahaz needed to do was trust in the Lord, and the Lord would protect the nation and bring to an end the threat that had come to its doorstep.
God fulfilled His promise through Mary’s pregnancy. (Matt. 1:18–19)
A consistent feature of the Old Testament is the fact that the words of each author tend to outlive their original context. A number of psalms, for example, were originally tied to the lives of particular Israelite kings (see Pss. 2, 18, 72, 89). But Israel continued to sing these “royal” psalms long after the monarchy had ceased to exist because the nation continued to look (and hope) for an ideal king who would come to lead the nation.
What was true for the psalms was true for the prophets as well. Words spoken by prophets like Isaiah took on new and unexpected meanings in light of the life of Jesus the Messiah.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Matthew’s teaching on the birth of Jesus. When it was first discovered that Mary was pregnant prior to her marriage to Joseph, a scandal was in the making; it would take an angelic intervention to convince Joseph otherwise.
Our faith, like Joseph’s, must be grounded in the truth that God is with us. (Matt. 1:20–25)
Though it may have been hard to believe, Mary’s pregnancy was not the result of infidelity.
On the contrary, much as He had done in Ahaz’s day, God had once again broken through into the life of His people and provided a sign of His continuing commitment to their salvation.
Just as the wife of Ahaz had given birth to a son who signaled God’s enduring presence with His people, so now He had given an even greater sign to the nation. This time a true virgin, Mary, would bear the true Immanuel, Jesus the Messiah, and that Immanuel — truly, “God with us” — would once and for all provide salvation for His people.
Share with others: