Advent Day 14 Isaiah 7:14

“Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 ESV)

Up until today, we have seen the relevance of Scripture in relation to the miraculous birth of our Savior, Christ Jesus. Today, we will examine Isaiah’s first messianic prophecy, found in today’s text.

Isaiah lived approximately 700 years before the birth of Christ. As alluded to, Chapter 7, verse 14 is not Isaiah’s only messianic prophecy. Throughout Jesus' ministry, the Jewish people asked Him for a sign that He was the Messiah. The signs had already been given before Jesus completed His first miracle sign, according to John, at the wedding in Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine. (John 2:1-11) Later, as Brother Hanline takes us through the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke, you will see the fulfillment of this prophecy.

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” Mary was that virgin. While she did nothing but obey God. Her bloodlines, as well as Joseph, Jesus’s adopted father, fulfilled yet another prophecy regarding the bloodlines of the Messiah, and the everlasting perpetuation of the rule from the line of David. (Jeremiah 23:5, 2 Samuel 7:12-13, Isaiah 11:1)

Our verse today also says, “ and shall call his name Immanuel.” Immanuel means God with us. The etymology of Immanuel is Hebrew. “Imanu” (עִמָּנוּאֵל) meaning “God is with us,” and “El” meaning God.  We see “El” as part of the Scriptures elsewhere in the Bible, such as El Elyon, often translated as God Most High, and El Shaddai, commonly translated as Almighty God. We know this was fulfilled because Christ, the Son of God, through the immaculate conception and birth by Mary, Jesus, our creator, walked in creation. Not since the Garden has God walked with man. (Genesis 3:8)

During this Advent season, let us focus on the totality of God’s plan of redemption. A plan derived before time. Prophesied through God’s prophets and found in the sacred Scriptures.

This Advent, let us remember the purpose of the child of Mary, Jesus came not to condemn the world but to save it. (John 3:17) He came to call sinners to repentance as the Kingdom of God was near. We were purchased by His shed saving blood. By His grace, and our given faith in Him as the risen Son of God. We can come to salvation and be made righteous in the sight of God.

This is the real meaning of Christmas. This is what we celebrate, that Child of God came in the flesh to save a people out of His love for them, and that of His Father.

Grace and Peace.

Advent Prayer Day 14

Almighty God and Father,

We thank you for the gift of Your Son, Christ Jesus.

We are thankful that the love of God overflowed so much that it spilled over in the blood of Christ, washing us sinners clean, and giving us the right to be called children of God.

We thank You for our very lives, Lord, for it is You who plucked us from the pit, never to be taken from You again.

Every child is a gift, but the birth of the child Messiah is a gift beyond compare.

For Your glory, worship, and praise, we give You thanks.

In the precious name of Jesus, and for His sake, we pray, Amen.