Isaiah 7:10-16
Immanuel…God With Us…Kingdom Come…Restoration Begun
Background
Ahaz is not a godly king.
Ahaz, as king of Judah, is under siege from two other kingdoms (Syria and Israel…Northern Kingdom) and is seeking his help from Assyria rather than the Lord. Ahaz is also modeling his spiritual pursuits after those of the Assyrians, since he is in league with them militarily, he might as well be in league with them spiritually (See 2 Kings 16).
So, the Lord, being gracious, tells Ahaz (being gracious he speaks to Ahaz) that he will rescue him and to exercise trust (that would look like not going to the Assyrians for help).
The Lord even offers a sign to him that what has been promised would come to pass.
Ahaz refuses the sign on the grounds of “not putting the Lord to the test”, as if his spirituality being shaped by Assyria isn’t putting he Lord to the test.
The sign is that the new wife, probably of Ahaz, would conceive and have a son.
For the immediate audience the promise that the new wife of the king conceiving a prince would bring great hope because it would signal God’s faithfulness to David to keep a king on his throne and therefore hope of rescue from the immediate threat of Rezin and Pekah.
It is also likely that this virgin could be Isaiah’s second wife, since his first wife died after his son Shear-jashub was born. This son would be named both “Immanuel” and “Maher-shalal-hash-baz (see 8:1-4 and 8-10).
Optional Insight:
However, this “sign” had an immediate significance to Ahaz and the people of Judah. A woman who was then a virgin would get married, conceive, and bear a son whose name would be “Immanuel.” This son would be a reminder that God was with His people and would care for them. It is likely that this virgin was Isaiah’s second wife, his first wife having died after Shear-jashub was born; and that Isaiah’s second son was named both “Immanuel” and “Maher-shalal-hash-baz” (8:1–4; note vv. 8 and 10).[1]
However, Jesus as the interpretive key to the whole Old Testament causes us to see this passage the way Matthew does in 1:18-25, under the Spirit’s inspiration, as God’s promise to finally and fully secure David’s line with the real King, God himself, in establishing a kingdom that will never fade or fail or fall to any threat however great or petty (like Rezin and Pekah).
Optional Insight:
Of course, the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy is in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is “God with us” (Matt. 1:18–25; Luke 1:31–35). The virgin birth of Christ is a key doctrine; for if Jesus Christ is not God come in sinless human flesh, then we have no Savior. Jesus had to be born of a virgin, apart from human generation, because He existed before His mother. He was not just born in this world; He came down from heaven into the world (John 3:13; 6:33, 38, 41–42, 50–51, 58). Jesus was sent by the Father and therefore came into the world having a human mother but not a human father (4:34; 5:23–24, 30; 9:4).[2]
What do we need to see? What does it mean?
Matthew records this passage’s ultimate fulfillment as realized in Jesus.
1.1 Look at Matthew 1:18-25
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 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).
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.”
1.2 Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise (and all promises) to David to sit a king on his throne forever. Romans 1:3
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh…”
All the kings of the OT were preparation for Jesus as “dead ends” and “bridges” to lead us to Jesus.
1.3 Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise to establish God’s kingdom rule forever and in an increasing manner from his first coming until completed at his second coming.
Isaiah 9:7
“Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
1.4 In Jesus life, death, resurrection, ascension and sending of the Spirit God has come “near” to be with and inside of his Kingdom people. Thus Jesus is the fulfilling of every prophecy of the Scriptures. Acts 13:32-33
“And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus,…” (Goes on to quote as proof Psalm 2; Isaiah 55:3; Psalm 16; Habakkuk 1:5)
What do we do with this?
- Stand in awe of God, enjoy his grace in kindness and worship him for his faithfulness.
Sometimes applications are less about a list of “to do” items and more about our delight in, enjoyment of, awe of and worship of God above all things.
- God is not far off. He is near.
- The Kingdom has been tangibly established and all things are being reconciled back to Jesus from people to created order.
3.1 People are being raised to life, renewed and walking in the good works of bringing things back under Jesus rule. (Ephesians 2:10…referring to Ephesians 1:7-10)
3.2 Creation is groaning from its subjection to futility in longing for the full revealing of the sons of God so it can be free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:18-21)
- The world system has been turned upside down and now the values of God’s kingdom are the rule of law. Live by God’s values not a broken world system’s values.
4.1 Acts 2:14-41…Peter quotes Joel 2:28-32 regarding the sun going dark and the moon to blood as what was happening as the Spirit was sent from the Son.
(NOTE: the prophetic material of the OT is not to be interpreted literally but as types of what was to come. The NT authors present these things as being fulfilled in Jesus. So as the sun not giving its light would be a massive shift in created order so now men being indwelled by the God of the OT is a massive shift in the order of the systems of the world. The last is now first and the first is now last. The meek inherit the earth not the mighty. Everything has now changed.)
4.2 Live by God’s values for they are the values that count now. The world system is passing away.
4.3 The day has dawned because Immanuel has come, God is with us, the kingdom has come, and the restoration has begun.
[1] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Comforted, “Be” Commentary Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 33.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Comforted, “Be” Commentary Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 33.
Theology in the Dirt 