He Was Born to Be: God With Us

The kings of Aram and Israel were part of a Syrian coalition trying to defend the region from the growing threat of Assyria. As king of Judah, Ahaz was possibly a part of that Assyrian coalition. At the very least, he was leaning toward the Assyrians. In response to this nearby threat to their safety, Aram and Israel moved on Judah to claim their territory. In the face of this military force, King Ahaz was overwhelmed with fear.

God sent a message of comfort and hope to Ahaz through Isaiah and his son Shear-Jashub. Isaiah’s son name means, “a remnant shall escape”––the message Isaiah was to deliver. God promised that the city of Jerusalem would not be taken, and that these two kingdoms would soon fall. God promised Ahaz a sign to reassure him. The promise revealed God’s forethought and intentional design of a plan that would produce a very special baby.

The promise was assurance that Jerusalem and the Kingdom would be preserved, at least so much so that a very significant descendant would arrive. The fulfillment of the promise made to Ahaz came some 800 years later when Jesus was born. The plan was for Immanuel, “God with us,” to come and be with us through the womb of a young woman who was a virgin (Mt. 1:21b-23).

This passage supports the Essential Truth that God Is. The birth of Jesus, God as a man, arriving as a completely dependent baby boy, was the fulfillment of a restorative plan put together a long time before He was born. In fact, it was a plan put together even before time. God made us knowing He would have to restore what we broke. God made promises throughout the Old Testament about the coming of His Son (see Gen. 3, 22; Ps. 22; Isa. 53; and Mic. 5). Clearly, God had specific intentions to restore His people into beautiful relationship with Himself. Paul mentioned it with less ambiguity in Ephesians 1. There, he wrote that God intended for Jesus to be born and to die before time even began.

What love is this, that God, knowing we would betray Him, made us anyway? What love is this, that God, understanding He would have to come Himself to restore us, allowed us the opportunity to betray Him anyway? What love is this, that God, looking ahead to just the right time in just the right place with exactly the desired result, planned to come as a baby who would be caught up in political tension and victimized by His “chosen people” and murdered as the ultimate sacrifice by the very priests who supposedly resided as watchmen over His righteousness among the people? And God had the patience and mercy to pull it off. What love! It changes everything. He changes us when we recognize and believe.

This passage also supports the Essential Truth that Jesus is God and Savior.

Isaiah 7:14 The use of the word “therefore” tied these verses with the historical story of the Syrian conquest. King Ahaz of Judah was terrified at the looming threat to Jerusalem. His profound fear indicated his lack of trust in the living God who had so graciously stayed near to the people of Judah, even though they continued to act in disobedience toward Him. “Therefore,” God Himself went to extreme lengths to assure them of His everlasting love. In light of the political dangers, God made an elaborate promise––a baby was to be born of a virgin as a sign of God’s intention to always be near and among His people.

God’s promise was of a coming miracle––“the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” This would be a crucial component of this coming sign. The language used in the verse indicated both age and sexual orientation. A young girl who had never had sex would become pregnant with a son. It was not uncommon in eastern religions for at least one such distinctive description to be made about coming signs. However, this was unique enough that Ahaz’s attention would have been captured in the midst of a promise that his city would not be conquered.

It is necessary to note that there is much dispute between Jewish scholars and Christian scholars with regard to the Hebrew word commonly translated by Christian scholars as “virgin.” Jewish scholars translate the word as “young woman” or “young maiden.” Therefore, they suggest this is not a Messianic prophecy and not a reference to a virgin, for another word existed in the Hebrew language that referred to a woman who had not had sex before. However, Christian scholars argue that the word can be translated “virgin” with two main arguments. First, the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, translates the word to mean “virgin.” Second, Matthew quoted the verse from Isaiah (see Mt. 1:23) and referred to the mother mentioned as “virgin.”

Christian scholars further contend that the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6-7 supports the reference within Isaiah 7 as Messianic prophecy. In Isaiah 9, Isaiah spoke of a boy to be born on whose shoulders everything would rest. He would be called “Wonderful Counselor” and “Prince of Peace.” Isaiah stated His rule would never end. In Isaiah 7:14, the sign of a Son born to a virgin was given as assurance in the midst of very troubling times.

That Son would be called “Immanuel,” which means “God with us.” The title is significant. In Ahaz’s day, Jewish worship of God had become ritualistic, hypocritical, and insincere. Even the priests were hiding their sins behind routine worship, rather than striving for a thriving relationship with God (Isa. 1). Yet, God desired love relationships, not hollow religiosity. In the 800 years that followed before the birth of Jesus, the Jews began to wonder if God was actually with them: Had He left them as He had left King Saul? Would God keep His promises? Prophets reassured them that God would remain faithful even though the people had not. Yet, the people still wondered. Then, God fulfilled the Isaiah 7 promise through the birth of Jesus––God came to be with us. How forgetful the people had been. God, in His mercy, reminded them anyway that it was all part of God’s plan.

Isaiah 7:15 Curds and honey were common foods among the poor of Middle Eastern culture during Ahaz’s day and beyond, and were given to babies and young children for their development. Yet, Isaiah used the coming child’s diet to further explain the future. First, the verses and chapters that follow speak not only of the desolation of the land of Aram and Israel (the two Kings attacking), but also of Judah. After the desolation, planted crops and other food sources were devastated, and only curds and honey would be left to eat. Second, eating curds and honey would not only be for physical development, but spiritual development as well. The child, along with the people as a whole, would be reminded of their dependence upon what God gave them rather than what they could produce themselves. It would drive them back to being with God.

The latter half of the verse refers to the boy’s development in making obedient decisions. Immanuel would come and show the people how to listen to and obey God, rather than to ignore and disobey Him. God desired for His people to be restored to choosing good (the things of God and the ways of love) rather than evil (the things of self and selfishness).

Isaiah 7:16 The word “for” at the beginning of the verse indicates a cause and effect. Immanuel would be born, He would eat curds and honey, and He would be a sign of rejecting evil and turning to God because “the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.” Notice the contrast. God would be with Judah. God would make desolate anyone trying to force Judah out of this land.

Matthew 1:21b: As Joseph considered his options of breaking off his betrothal to Mary, an angel came from God in a dream, assuring him of Mary’s faithfulness. Rather, the angel explained that Mary had been chosen to carry the child conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Joseph, too, had been chosen specifically to be the earthly father to Mary’s son. As a Jewish father, Joseph was given the significant task of naming the child. The angel instructed Joseph to name the baby “Jesus” meaning “God saves.” The angel further explained that “Jesus” would save the people from their sins. This promise would have carried with it implications that this was the Messiah. Joseph must have been overcome with the significance of this moment and this birth.

Matthew 1:22-23 To put this into historical significance, Matthew reminded his readers of the prophecy of Isaiah about the coming “Immanuel” (Isa. 7–9). The name “Immanuel,” meaning “God with us,” may be the most basic and most accurate summary of the Gospel. This “good news” was the first of many prophecy references that Matthew included in his Gospel account. By recording the prophecy of Jesus as the promised Messiah, Matthew documented what Jesus was sent to do while He was with us.

God, in His infinite wisdom, could have used any number of ways to restore His people back to Himself. Yet, He chose the one way that cost Him the most . . . He sent His Son to be with us. John recorded, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). God’s love for us was overwhelmingly demonstrated through the gift of His Son to be with us.

Just as God sent Jesus to be with us, He provided the Holy Spirit to remain with us. The season of Advent gives us the opportunity to celebrate the gift of God’s presence in our lives. As learners consider Isaiah’s prophecy and Matthew’s interpretation of its fulfillment, challenge them to examine the depth of God’s love demonstrated through Jesus’ birth.