“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14, ESV)
Here we have one of the most famous prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures. Matthew quoted this prophecy in his gospel account and attributed it to Christ, Israel’s Messiah. Yet the truth of this prophecy has a broader meaning if we understand the context of the prophecy given through the prophet Isaiah.
The situation on the ground in Judah, the Southern Kingdom, was frightening. The Syrian king had made a pact with the Northern Kingdom, Israel, and they were threatening an invasion of Judah. Ahaz was Judah’s king at that time and Isaiah prophesied to Ahaz that the Syrian and Northern Kingdom would not come against Judah. In fact, they would experience defeat by another nation.
Isaiah offers to Ahaz an opportunity for a sign to affirm the truth of the prophecy. However, Ahaz rejected this offer stating that he would not test the Lord. While his response may seem pious to the casual reader, it appears to have been a response associated with his lack of faith. Isaiah then gave the king the sign that a “virgin” would give birth to a child who they would call “Immanuel.” To interpret this, we must understand that the Hebrew word for “virgin,” almah, can mean a virgin or a young woman of marriageable age. This would be someone that both Isaiah and Ahaz knew. The prophecy further indicated that while the child was still an infant the nations that Ahaz feared would be desolate (v15-16).
We find the fulfillment of this prophecy to Ahaz in chapter 8 of the book of Isaiah.
“And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”” (Isaiah 8:3–4, ESV)
We see the fulfillment of this prophecy in that Assyria defeated both Syria and the Northern Kingdom in about 732BC, which occurred about a year and 9 months after the prophecy of conception of this child.
So, what does this prophecy mean to us and how did it apply to Christ? First, Matthew uses this prophecy to show that Jesus was the complete fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy. The references in this verse to “Immanuel” and later to “Immanuel’s” land were clearly Messianic. These prophecies looked forward to the coming of a Messiah. However, in the context of Ahaz’s situation the child born to the “prophetess” clearly was not the Messiah. What this verse gives us is a prophecy fulfilled in two ways. It shows an initial fulfillment in the time of Ahaz and a complete fulfillment in the birth of Christ. Thus, the virgin birth of Christ was also a sign that Israel’s Messiah had arrived. It was the fulfillment of this prophesy giving through Isaiah.
The fulfillment of this prophecy at the time of Isaiah also is a type. We see in the child and the situation of the day a picture of the coming of Christ. Judah experienced the threat of some serious opponents who sought to conquer and defeat the kingdom. This sign pointed to Judah’s providential deliverance by Lord. Similarly, all people have faced the serious opponent of sin and death. The virgin birth of Christ was a sign that pointed to the Lord’s deliverance for all trapped as slaves of sin. The virgin birth pointed to the atoning work of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who would die on the cross to set us free from the power of sin, once and for all.
Renewing the Heart 