Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel ~ Isaiah 7:14


Isaiah was in the time of King Ahaz’s reign, which lasted for over 16 years. Hezekiah was twenty-five when he succeeded his father, King Ahaz, so at the time of this prophecy, Hezekiah was only about 9 years of age. The reason I tell you this is because some thought the wife of King Ahaz was meant by the “virgin” and Hezekiah was the son and child meant. Jesus himself was never called “Immanuel”, not as a proper name that is, though we do refer to him in songs of praise in this manner. It is though, a prophetic word, for “Immanuel” means “God with us,” and Christ fills that role, for he is the Alpha and the Omega. As John’s Gospel reads, Jesus was “in the beginning”. In later chapters, Isaiah 9:6 reads, “for to us a child is born, to us a son is given”…and in Isaiah 11 again a prophetic word reads, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse…the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him…”; words directly related to the coming Messiah. All these do pertain to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. There were many signs which those in the day of Jesus’ birth could have easily seen and then known that Jesus was the Christ. When Christ began his teaching, and healing ministry, the Pharisees, Saducees, the Priests of the land too should have known the scriptures well enough to see the resemblance between Jesus and the words prophesied, but they were too blind to know Truth. Today, people look for signs still, but again many are too blind to know that the birth of a babe in a manger celebrated at Christmas is the Saviour of the World who died and rose again at Easter. Many are too blind in their darkness to see the Light of Christ, to come and find peace, hope, love, and joy in the only one who can save them from all that binds them, that is, Christ, the Son of God. Praise God for the open eyes which do see the sign of Christ in the winter sky…Immanuel, God with us.

Pastor Julia

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