Incredible Birth

“Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 CSB)

In context, Isaiah 7:14 is part of a statement Isaiah made to King Ahaz, calling on Ahaz to ask the Lord for a sign at the time Judah was invaded by a foreign army. Ahaz refused to ask for a sign, thinking that would be testing the Lord, so Isaiah volunteered this one. The word “virgin” can mean “young woman,” so in that particular time the sign could simply have been that a young woman would give birth to a son, and before the boy was old enough to reject the bad and choose the good, all those foreign armies would be gone.

Since the word “virgin” can also simply mean “virgin,” however, this verse became one of the great prophetic verses pointing to a virgin birth in the future that would give rise to Immanuel, “God with us.” This verse prophesied to coming of the Messiah, God Himself, dwelling with us. John spoke of it this way in its fulfillment, “The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14 CSB) And, of course, Matthew quoted from Isaiah 7;14 to show that the fulfillment of the prophecy took place in the virgin birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:23)

A God who can do something like this is worthy of worship and awe, respect and love. He is trustworthy, in that He gives His word and carries it out in His sovereign timing. He is Someone in whom we can place our total trust. We can trust our very souls and our hearts to Him

Lord, You are truly worthy of glory, honor, and praise. You turn impossibilities into possibilities. You do that not only in carrying out Your word, but also in redeeming our lives. For that we thank You. Amen.