The Immanuel Prophecy

INTRO

Isaiah is the first book of our study on the Major Prophets. We’ll study five books total before we go back to the New Testament to study the rest of the epistles, then back to the Old Testament to study the ten Minor Prophets, and back again to the New Testament for Revelation. The rest of the study of Revive School seems to point to the end times. I don’t say this often, but because of what’s to come and because of how all these books fit together, I pray you don’t miss a day. There have been times when I’ve said it’s fine to miss a few lessons, but what we’re studying from now to the end of the year is important. Try to hang with us.

What I took away from yesterday’s study on Isaiah 5—6 is that Israel had rejected the word of the Lord—and they had rejected the coming Messiah. The first six chapters of Isaiah have a spiritual focus. The first five chapters tell the people that they need to get their lives together and focus back on God. In chapter 6, Isaiah’s lips were made clean so he could deliver God’s message. Constable explains that chapters 7—39 deal “with Israel’s major decision in Isaiah’s day. Would she trust in Yahweh or in other nations?”¹ In chapters 34—35, God’s message was that “trust in the nations would result in destruction, but trust in Him would bring abundance.”²

Nelson’s Commentary points out that chapters 7:1—12:6 “contains a series of prophecies related specifically to the Syro-Ephraimite wars—the invasion of Judah in Rezin and Pekah.”³ Ephraim was part of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the ten tribes of Israel. King Ahaz had to make the decision of “whether [Israel] had a message for the nations or not, and whether she would fulfill her mission to the nations or not. This decision is, of course, a decision that the people of God of all ages continually face.”⁴

In chapter 7, the prophet Isaiah brought five prophecies (messages) to show how God was working. Chapter 7 is also where our word for the book of Isaiah, Immanuel, is found.

TEACHING

Isaiah 7:1-9: Verse 1 explains that the first and second kings of Judah, Uzziah and Jotham, were dead, and Jotham’s son Ahaz was now king. Meanwhile, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel, waged war against King Ahaz and Jerusalem, and Ahaz couldn’t succeed. In verse 2a, “To the house of David” always refers to the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:16). When Ahaz and the people of Judah heard that the army of Aram already occupied Ephraim, their hearts “trembled like trees of a forest shaking in the wind”(v. 2b). When a leader acts afraid, so do the people who follow him. But remember the promise of the Davidic Covenant was still in place—it endures forever. There was One who would come to save them.

God sent Isaiah and Isaiah’s son Shear-jashub (meaning, “a remnant shall return”) to Ahaz (v. 3). Ahaz was at the city’s water system “seeking to secure Jerusalem’s supply of water in case of the siege (2 Chronicles 32:30).”⁵ Isaiah told Ahaz to calm down and not to fear the two “smoldering stubs of firebrands” (v. 4). Why should Ahaz not be afraid? Because God had already promised him as “the house of David” protection (Isaiah 26:3). Although Aram and Rezin had plotted against Judah to conquer it for themselves, God would not let it happen (vv. 5–7). In verses 8–9, Isaiah gave the first prophecy—within 65 years. Ephraim (which stood for ten of the tribes that made up Israel, the Northern Kingdom) will be so split up it will no longer be able to stand as a nation. This was both a promise and a prophecy. This prophecy was because of Israel’s worship of idols (Hosea 4:17). MacArthur explains, “In 65 years, they would cease to be a people, first through the captivity of most of them in 722 B.C., and, then, with the importation of foreign settlers into the land in 670 B.C.”⁶ (2 Kings 17:6, 17:24; 2 Chronicles 33:11; Ezra 4:2). Ahaz’s option was to stand firm with the Lord or to fall captive to the oncoming armies.

Isaiah 7:10–16: In verses 10–11, the second prophecy begins—Ahaz was told to ask God for a sign, but Ahaz refused (v. 12). MacArthur explains, “To encourage his faith, the Lord offered Ahaz a sign, but Ahaz feigned humility in refusing the sign.”⁷ Ahaz had already made an offer to the nations outside of Ephraim and Syria for help (2 Kings 16:5–9). Isaiah responded to Ahaz, again calling attention to the Davidic promise of God, and told Ahaz that he was trying the patience of the people of Judah (the house of David) and of God (v. 13). Therefore, God would provide the sign—through a virgin who conceived a son whose name would be Immanuel (v. 14).

Constable documents that a different understanding of this passage is possible. Isaiah had a second wife who was a virgin. After Isaiah’s first wife died, the second wife (still a virgin) gave birth to a son (8:1-4). The Hebrew word for “virgin” ('alma) refers to a young woman who is unmarried but old enough to be eligible for marriage. Possibly, “Isaiah's son Maher-shalal-hash-baz fulfilled the Immanuel prophecy initially. In Hebrew society, an unmarried woman of marriageable age would be a virgin . . . However, Hebrew has a word for virgin, bethula, so why did not Isaiah use this word if he meant the mother of the child was a virgin? Probably Isaiah used 'alma rather than bethula because he did not want to claim the virginity of the mother necessarily, but this word does not rule virginity out either.. . . God evidently led Isaiah to use 'alma so the predicted mother could be simply a young unmarried woman or a virgin. This allows the possibility of a double fulfillment, a young woman in Isaiah’s day and a virgin hundreds of years later.”⁸ God took on human flesh, having a human mother and God His father who sent Him to earth to give us hope (John 4:34; 5:23–24, 30; 9:4). Verses 15—16 explain what will happen to Immanuel, giving credibility to the theory that Maher-shalal-hash-baz was the temporary fulfillment of God’s prophecy.

CLOSING

Warren Wiersbe explains, “Orthodox Jewish boys become ‘sons of the Law’ at the age of 12. This special son was a reminder that Syria and Ephraim would be out of the picture within the next 12 years. Isaiah delivered his prophecy in 734 B.C. In 732 B.C. Assyria defeated Syria, and in 722 B.C. Assyria invaded the Northern Kingdom. The prophecy was fulfilled.”⁹ That boy could have been a foreshadowing of the Immanuel to come—when the Word became flesh.

8 Richard Niessen, “The Virginity of the ‘alma in Isaiah 7:14,” Bibliotheca Sacra 137:546 (April–June 1980): 133–50; Paul D. Wegner, “How Many Virgin Births Are in the Bible? (Isa 7:14): A Prophetic Pattern Approach,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 54:3 (September 2011): 467–84; quoted in Constable, pp. 74–75.