Isaiah 7 -- Seeing The Trees Inside The Forest

It’s amazing what a good commentary can show you about a passage!  Here, it’s like seeing the forest but not the trees without it.  Verse 14 is so familiar to us:  “The virgin will be pregnant.  She will have a son, and she will name him Immanuel.”  We read this and think, “Oh! Wonderful!  The prophecy about Christ’s birth!”

Yet in the middle of this forest are the trees themselves.  The commentary I’m reading now, along with my previous commentary, agreed.  I read, “This sign had an immediate significance to Ahaz and the people of Judah.  A woman who was then a virgin would get married, conceive, and bear a son whose name would be ‘Emmanuel’.  The son would be a reminder that God was with His people and would care for them.  It is likely that this virgin was Isaiah’s second wife – his first wife having died after Shear-jasub was born – and that Isaiah’s second son was named both ‘Emmanuel’ and ‘Maher-shalal-hashbaz’.  Orthodox Jewish boys become ‘sons of the law’ at the age of 12.  This special son was a reminder that Syria and Ephraim [Israel] would be out of the picture within the next 12 years.  Isaiah delivered this prophecy in 734 BC.  In 732 BC Assyria defeated Syria, and in 722 BC, Assyria invaded Israel.  The prophecy was fulfilled.”

Father, I love seeing You put double and sometimes even triple meaning to a prophecy.  It’s so incredible how You weave things together over time like this!  It gives You glory when Your omniscience becomes apparent from prophecies like this.  I’m glad You are my God and I can trust You to absolutely know the future!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford