Last week I told you there were hundreds of prophecies concerning the promised Messiah and that Jesus, defying all mathematical probability, fulfilled them all. Today we have before us one of if not the most beloved Christmas prophecies of all time. In 7:14 the prophet Isaiah foretold, “14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah made this prophecy about 700 years before the virgin Mary placed her newborn son in one of Bethlehem’s mangers. And every year, as we prepare to celebrate Christmas, this prophecy is read to assure us that Jesus is the promised Messiah came to be with us so that we could be with God.
There are some who have tried to discredit this prophecy. The typical argument calls into question the Hebrew word עַלְמָה which is translated as “virgin”. Some have tried to suggest that the word עַלְמָה simply refers to a young married girl. However, there are a few things that make this objection absurd. For one, the scriptures never use the word עַלְמָה to refer to a married woman. Further, it wouldn’t much of a sign to say that a young married woman would become pregnant by entirely natural means. Finally, Matthew closes the argument for us by referring to Isaiah’s prophecy of the virgin birth in the context of saying that Mary and Joseph had not yet “come together”[1] and that “Joseph did not consummate their marriage until she [Mary] gave birth to a son”[2].
It is not surprising that the devil would try to call into question the legitimacy of this prophecy by creating an argument over the virginity of the mother. Because as long as we are talking about the mother we are not talking about the Son, the one Isaiah said would be called “Immanuel”. Now that is a word of which the translation is clear to even a first year Hebrew student. Technically it is the amalgamation of two Hebrew words עִמָּ֥נוּ אֵֽל. Thanks to Amy Grant we all know the word אֵֽלas in El Shaddaiea El Shaddai El-Elyon na Adonai - I’ll let Amy finish the rest of the song but thanks to her everyone knows the word אֵֽל means “God”. עִמָּ֥נוּ is a simple word that means “with us”. Together the words עִמָּ֥נוּ אֵֽל mean “God with us”. Now you understand why the devil would like us to spend our time arguing over Mary’s virginity. The last thing the devil wants us to be is comforted by the fact that God is with us.
The devil, through the efforts of ignorant men, has tried to discredit this beloved prophecy so that men question whether or not God is with us. But failing to discredit the prophecy among us the devil seeks to have it dismissed. In fact, the man to whom this prophecy was originally addressed did exactly that, he dismissed it. The man’s name was Ahaz.
Ahaz was the king over the withering remnant of Jesse’s tree. Ahaz was a real piece of work. He was the son and grandson of two God fearing kings who “walked steadfastly before the LORD his [their] God”[3]. Ahaz, however, decided to go a different direction. Ahaz made idols for worshipping Baals and offered his sons as sacrifices to pagan gods. He made a copy of an Assyrian altar he saw in Damascus and set it up in the Lord’s temple. Later he closed the temple and set up pagan altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. As one commentator put it, Ahaz “became one of the worst, most godless kings in Judah”[4].
This godless king found himself surrounded by two armies who were threatening to depose him and set up a puppet regime in his place. They had already killed 120,000 of Ahaz’s soldiers, carried off thousands of his people into captivity and plundered the resources of the kingdom. The end seemed inevitable for Ahaz, so much so that he was actually contemplating surrendering to the Assyrians in exchange for their protection. Ahaz and is people were filled with fear so the LORD, in an act of incredible patience to this godless king, sent the prophet Isaiah to calm and comfort them with an assurance that the LORD their God was with them.
Isaiah finds Ahaz frantically checking on the city water supply to ensure the city can withstand a siege and anxiously preparing for his negotiations with the Assyrians. Isaiah said to Ahaz, “11 Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” The LORD offered to give Ahaz a sign and He was willing to let Ahaz choose what the sign would be. Ahaz could have asked for anything. He could have asked for the earth to open and swallow his enemies or fire to rain down on them from the sky. The possibilities were limitless! Ahaz could have asked for anything, and the LORD would have done it so that Ahaz would know The LORD God was with him. “12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.”” Ahaz attempts to veil his defiance with a thin layer of false piety. Even though God is the one who told him to ask for a sign Ahaz suggest doing so would be wrong and refuses. Ahaz makes a feeble attempt at pretending to be religious, but in truth Ahaz was too practical to be religious and at the moment Ahaz was too consumed with his problems to care whether or not God was with him. You see, Ahaz didn’t really care if God was with him because Ahaz didn’t really care to be with God.
You ever find yourself acting like an Ahaz? God wants to be with you, but do you want to be with God? Clearly you don’t mind spending time with Him in prayer. You have already prayed once, and you are going to pray to Him 4 or 5 more times before the service is over. You also don’t seem to mind spending time worshiping Him. I mean you are here aren’t you. You made the effort of getting out of bed, threatening your children (or spouse) to get in the car, and even managed to put a smile on your face before you walked in the door. It seems you don’t mind spending some time with God on a Sunday morning but what about Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and all the other days of the week? Are you willing to be with God every day of the week in every aspect of your life? Or is that just not very practical? Do you find in the real-world you need to set your faith aside in order to make people around you more comfortable? Have you learned your religious principles are not realistically compatible with your work principles? Is it too idealistic to expect that the kindness you show to one another is the same kindness you show to the stranger on the street? Obviously, everyone here finds value in their religious beliefs, but are there some situations when they just aren’t very practical?
Ahaz certainly thought there were. As a result, he received a rather harsh rebuke from the prophet. “13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also?” Isaiah addresses Ahaz as “the house of David” to remind him of all the blessings the Lord has showered upon his family over the years. Promise after promise had been made and kept and yet Ahaz had the arrogance to act like he didn’t need God now!? Isaiah told Ahaz just exactly what his dismissal of the LORD’s presence was doing He was “trying the patience” of God. That is as dangerous as it sounds. Finally, and most chillingly, Isaiah no longer spoke to Ahaz about “the Lord your God” but instead called Him “my God”. Ahaz had made it clear that he did not want to be with God, so God gave Ahaz what he wanted.
If you ever find yourself acting like an Ahaz, I suggest you take the words of the prophet seriously and repent of all the times you have thought it impractical to be with the LORD your God. Repent, before the prophet stops referring to Him as “your God”.
Sadly, Ahaz wasn’t very interested in the sign the LORD offered to give. Thankfully, you are. So, allow me to do for you what the prophet wanted to do for Ahaz, allow me to comfort you with the assurance that the Lord your God is with you. He is with you here as you bow your heads and fold your hands in prayer and He is with you as you lift your voices in praise. He is with you every Sunday morning as well as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and all the other mornings, afternoons, and evenings of the week. He is with you every day in every aspect of your life. He is with you on the first day of school, when you take your driving test, and when you interview for your first job. He is with you as you stand at the altar making a forever vow, when you hold your first child in your arms, and as you help your last child leave the nest. He is with you as you sit in the doctor’s office, as you write out your last will and testament, and as you stand before the judgement seat of the King. The LORD your God is with you in all those moments and in all the moments in between. How do I know? Because the virgin gave birth to her child, she laid him in one of Bethlehem’s mangers and though she named Him Jesus, she called Him Immanuel because she understood that her child was the fulfiller of prophecy, she understood her child was the embodiment of God’s promise to be with us.
The baby Jesus is the sign the prophet Isaiah spoke of. He is our assurance that God is with us in any and every aspect of our lives which why in the season of Advent we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus, as our Messiah!” Amen.
[1] Matthew 1:18
[2] Matthew 1:25
[3] 2 Chronicles 27:6
[4] John A. Braun People’s Bible on Isaiah