Isaiah 7

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel.  He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.  For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned.” Isaiah 7:14-16 (NASB)

Ahaz, the king of Judah, was in a desperate situation.  The apostate Northern Kingdom of Israel had partnered with their pagan neighbors, Syria.  Furthermore, the two were advancing toward Jerusalem, intent on sacking it.  While he was searching for a military or political solution, God sent Ahaz a spiritual solution in the person of Isaiah.  God was willing to deliver Judah by His grace, but only if Ahaz would believe His message (through His messenger) by faith.  Ahaz had a choice to make, and there would be harsh consequences if he chose wrongly.

“If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.” Isaiah 7:9b (NKJV)

As a sign that Isaiah’s prophecy was from God, the Lord promised to give confirming markers of progress along the path to Judah’s deliverance.  Since Judah’s greatest enemy was not Israel or Syria (rather, it was their own sinfulness), the Lord began with a prediction of the distant future, a virgin birth.  Then, the prophet works his way toward Judah’s more immediate threat: Israel and Syria.

Focusing for a moment on Judah’s (and the world’s) ultimate need for personal salvation and victory over sin, God gives, as a sign, the miracle of Messiah’s virgin birth.  The title “Immanuel,” translated as “God with us,” does not merely mean “God is on our side, so He sent us a leader.”  “Immanuel” speaks of the deity of Messiah.  Consider the prophet Micah’s announcement concerning the coming Messiah, the place of His birth, and Who He is:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting.” Micah 5:2 (NKJV)

Eternal in origin, yet born as a human child, Messiah Jesus had to grow up and learn as any boy.  The Living Word of God (John 1) had to learn the Word of God to “refuse evil and choose good.”  But, by the time He reached the age of accountability, He was fully trained, and no sin was found in Him.  (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Messiah’s humble upbringing, referenced as “eating curds and honey,” is in stark contrast to how the haughty leaders of Israel and Syria would be forced into humility.  “It shall be in that day that a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep; so it shall be, from the abundance of the milk they give, that he will eat curds; for curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.” (Isaiah 7:21-22)  It serves as a lesson to us: Be humble before the Lord through Jesus, or be humbled by the Lord!