December 10 | Isaiah 7:10-14

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DAILY READING

Isaiah 7:10-14

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REFLECTION

God with Us

By Pam Mann

When we read this short passage, the messianic prophecy in verse 14 jumps out at us. We marvel at this cherished scripture that foretells of Jesus’ virgin birth. But there is also an early fulfillment of this prophecy in the lifetime of its first hearers.

At the start of chapter 7, Isaiah comes to King Ahaz whose heart is quaking with fear of impending invaders. Isaiah assures Ahaz that God has positive plans for his nation. However, Ahaz will be reassured. He refuses to believe that God is present and at work.

At this point, God tells Ahaz to ask Him for a sign of His faithfulness. “Nah,” says Ahaz, “I wouldn’t want to bother Yahweh.”

Of course, Isaiah can’t believe Ahaz’s response. (Note: When God tells you to ask for a sign, ask for a sign.) God knows how lame Ahaz’s faith is. God wants to build up Ahaz’s trust in His provision. Yet Ahaz is not interested.

God gives a sign anyway. This sign of Isaiah 7:14 has a double fulfillment. The first fulfillment comes in Isaiah 8 when a young woman bears a son. That child, however, gets a much longer name than Immanuel, a name which means The spoil (of war) speeds, the prey hastens. This means that the war that Ahaz dreads is coming. And then, God speaks of a future deliverer, described in Isaiah 9. This is another double fulfillment prophecy.

We can understand Ahaz’s bad attitude. He wants what he wants, when he wants it, and how he wants it. Who hasn’t felt like that at times? But when we have responsibility for the people of God and God’s work, it’s time to lose the selfish attitude and ask: “What does God want?”

If we really want God with us, we respect God as Lord of angel armies. He decides the tactics, determines the training routine, and gets the glory for what is accomplished. When He speaks, we listen and obey. When He holds back, we wait. We wait even for millennia, especially for Immanuel, our God with us.

This is why Matthew (Matthew 1:22-23) reads Isaiah with new eyes after he has met Jesus. He sees in Isaiah 7:14 more than a child born at the time of Isaiah. He sees Jesus, the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah. Like us, now that Matthew sees Jesus in the Isaiah passage, he can’t un-see it.

PRAYER

Thank you, Jesus, for being our Immanuel. You are God with us. Thank you for leaving the glory of heaven to become the perfect Lamb of God for our sake. We honor You as the Lord God Almighty, the God of angel armies, and we give ourselves to Your service. Amen.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PAM MANN

I first joined UALC when my husband (then my fiancé) and I were college students involved in youth ministry. God has used UALC to nurture our family’s faith, even in our years outside the U.S. I’ve participated in UALC ministries with kids, art, prayer, exercise, ESL, and Bible teaching. I do all the fun church things.

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