What Child Is This? (Isa 7:1-9:7)
By Dr. Hal Harless
Foundation Fellowship of Greenville
December 23, 2007
I. Introduction
A. Illustration
Many years ago a wealthy European family decided to have their newborn baby baptized in their enormous mansion. Dozens of guests were invited to the elaborate affair, and they all arrived dressed in the latest fashion. After depositing their elegant wraps on a bed in an upstairs room, the guests were entertained royally. Soon the time came for the main purpose of their gathering, the infant's baptismal ceremony. But where was the child? No one seemed to know.
The child's governess ran upstairs, only to return with a desperate look on her face. Everyone searched frantically for the baby. Then, someone recalled having seen the child sleeping on one of the beds. The baby was on a bed, all right--buried underneath a pile of coats, jackets, and furs. The very object of that day's celebration had been forgotten, and nearly smothered. Similarly, many people overlook the main point of Christmas--celebrating the birth of Christ.[1]
B. Today we are going to look at a remarkable passage announcing Christ's birth 700 years in advance. Read Isa 9:1-7.
II. What child is this?
A. Background (Read Isa 7:1-16)
1. Isaiah
a. The prophet, Isaiah, lived from approximately 767 BC to at least 701 BC and was a contemporary of kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.
b. Tradition asserts that he was the cousin of King Uzziah.
c. According to the Talmud, King Manasseh martyred him.[2]
d. His name in Heb. Yesha'yahu means "The LORD will save" and is from the same Heb. root (yasha, "to save") as Yeshua ("Jesus").
2. The Syrian threat (read Isa 7:1-9)
a. Under King Solomon's son, Rehoboam, the nation of Israel had split into two kingdoms, Israel in the North and Judah in the South.
b. In the reign of King Ahaz, an alliance between Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the king of Israel, threatened the kingdom of Judah (Isa 7:1-2).
c. God sent Isaiah to Ahaz with the message that this threat would not last (Isa 7:3-9).
1) In fact, Isaiah predicted that the kingdom of Israel would cease to exist before 65 years had passed. Ephraim was the most prominent tribe in Israel and so was used for the whole. The Assyrian invasion of 721 BC and the forced resettlement of other peoples in the area in 672 BC fulfilled this prophecy.
2) God warned King Ahaz, "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all" (Isa 7:9 NIV).
B. The sign (read Isa 7:10-16)
1. In order to increase Ahaz' faith, God invited him to ask for a sign, "Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven" (Isa 7:10-11).
2. Ahaz piously responded, "I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!" (Isa 7:12). This sounds good until you realize that God had commanded him to ask for a sign.
3. Isaiah switches to the plural as he says, "Listen now, O house of David!" (Isa 7:13).
a. The New English Translation captures this in their translation, "Pay attention, family of David" (Isa 7:13 NET).
b. Therefore, instead of just Ahaz, Isaiah addresses the entire line of David.
4. Isaiah prophesized, "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel" (Isa 7:14).
a. Isaiah always uses "behold" to refer to future events.
b. "You" is plural and refers to the entire line of David as in the previous verse.
c. The term "sign" means "signs, miracles, as pledges or attestations of divine presence & interposition."
d. "Virgin" is the Heb. 'almah. Some have tried to translate this as "young woman" (RSV, NRSV, JPS).
1) There are two Heb. words for "virgin": 'almah and betulah. Betulah means a grown-up woman who is a virgin, and 'almah means a young woman who is a virgin.
2) 'Almah is used seven times in the OT and none of them refer to anything but a virgin (Gen 24:43; Exod 2:8; Ps 68:26; Prov 30:19; Song 1:3; 6:8; Isa 7:14).
3) The LXX used parthenos ("virgin") to translate 'almah.
e. The Heb. Immanu-'El means "God with us."
f. Isaiah predicted that "before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good (his bar-mitzvah), the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken" (Isa 7:16).
1) This did not happen for 65 years (Isa 7:8) and so could not be referring to any birth at that time.
2) Therefore, the rabbinical theory that Isa 7:14 referred to Hezekiah cannot be true.[3]
3) This was fulfilled well before Jesus' birth.
5. This child born of a virgin is the son who is to be given to the house of David, the Messiah.
6. Isaiah proceeded to predict that the Assyrians to whom Ahaz had appealed for aid would destroy Israel and afflict Judah (read Isa 7:17-8:10).
a. They would attempt to overflow Immanuel's land (Isa 8:8).
b. This points to Immanuel as the rightful king, the Messiah.
c. Isaiah taunted all of Israel's foes:
You will be broken, O nations; you will be shattered! Pay attention, all you distant lands of the earth! Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered! Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered! Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted! Issue your orders, but they will not be executed! For God is with us! (Isa 8:9-10 NET).
d. Assyria's plan would not succeed because "God is with us" (Isa 8:10). In Heb. "God is with us" is immanu 'El.
C. Unto us a Son is given
1. Darkness (Isa 8:11-22)
a. Trusting in men rather than God (Isa 8:11-15)
b. Trusting in pagan religions rather than God (Isa 8:16-22)
c. The result will be "distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness" (Isa 8:22).
2. The Light (read Isa 9:1-2)
a. God punished the northern kingdom of Israel by the Assyrian invasion (Isa 9:1a).
1) The "land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali" were in northern Israel.
2) The influx of gentiles meant that "Galilee of the Gentiles" was not a pure Jewish district.
b. However, Isaiah predicted that "He [God] shall make it glorious" (Isa 9:1b-2).
1) Isaiah predicted, "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them" (Isa 9:2).
2) Matthew noted that
Now when Jesus heard
that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving
Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region
of Zebulun and Naphtali. This
was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: "THE LAND
OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN,
GALILEE OF THE GENTILES-- THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT
LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A
LIGHT DAWNED." From that
time, Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand" (Matt 4:12-17).
3) John records that Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life" (John 8:12).
3. The Joy (read Isa 9:3-5)
a. Multiplying the nation is part of God's promise to Abraham, "I will make you a great nation" (Gen 12:2).
b. "The gladness of harvest" is the rejoicing from a bountiful crop harvest.
c. "When they divide the spoil" refers to the division of the possessions of a defeated enemy. There is rejoicing from the victory and the enrichment.
d. Reasons for rejoicing
1) Defeat of all enemies: "Day of Midian" refers to Gideon's defeat of the Midianities (Jdg 6-8) (Isa 9:4).
2) Destruction of all stores of war materiel: War materiel will be trash to be burned (Isa 9:5).
3) The birth of the Son (Isa 9:6) ...
4. The Son (read Isa 9:6-7)
a. Government on His shoulders
1) This indicates that this promise is messianic.
2) In the Davidic covenant, God promised David that "your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever" (2 Sam 7:16).
b. Wonderful (pele') means "miraculous."
1) May or may not belong with "counselor."
2) His virgin birth is a wonder, indeed!
c. Counselor
1) Perhaps "wonderful counselor"
2) Messiah has the wisdom to solve all of the world's problems; all others will disappoint.
3) Jesus is our source of wisdom, "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Cor 1:30).
d. Mighty God (Heb. 'El gibbor)
1) 'El gibbor is also used in Isa 10:21, "A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God."
2) No mere human could be called by this name.
3) His is the same One who is called "Immanuel."
4) Paul writes that "from whom [Israel] is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever" (Rom 9:5).
e. Eternal Father
1) This goes with the previous title.
2) Micah prophesized, "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity. Therefore He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has borne a child" (Micah 5:2-3).
3) John writes, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1-2, 14).
f. Prince of Peace
1) The Aramaic Targum or translation has "Messiah of peace" (m'shika dishalma').
2) Jesus tells us, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful" (John 14:27).
3) One day, when the Lord Jesus Christ rules this world from Jerusalem, He will bring peace to the entire world.
g. His government
1) This forms a bookend with the beginning of verse 6.
2) It will increase forever.
3) It is on David's throne, i.e., messianic.
4) It is a kingdom of justice and righteousness.
5) It will last forever.
6) The power of God will accomplish this.
III. Conclusion
A. Let us remember that the baby born to the virgin that night is ...
1. The Light of the world.
2. A miracle and a wonder.
3. Infinitely wise.
4. The mighty God.
5. Eternal.
6. The prince of peace.
7. The king forever!
B. He has came once to bear our sins.
C. The next time He will come to rule forever!