Advent 14 | Maher-shalal-hash-baz 2024

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"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

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We have all have read the verse above and we know, for certain, that this is about Jesus. But did you know it’s also about someone else? Wait, what? Yeah, this is one of those situations where God makes a prophecy that has an immediate fulfillment and then a later fulfillment. This is another amazing example of God’s specific sovereignty over all of human history. The people of Israel needed something to give them hope and God gave it to them. What they didn’t know at the time was that this was also going to give hope to the whole world.

Signs of Deliverance

Here is what is happening in the context of Isaiah 7. The king of Israel, Ahaz, is freaking out because there are 2 other kings threatening war with him. So, God sends Isaiah to comfort him. That is where this prophecy comes into play. Let’s read it again but this time let’s go just a little bit farther.

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”" - Isaiah 7:14-17

What is Isaiah saying to Ahaz, and why is it important? God is foretelling the birth of a little boy. When this boy is really young the threat will be over. The whole point of this is to calm Ahaz down and let him know that he doesn’t need to be afraid. This is going to happen in his lifetime, and this is a sign for him that God is going to keep his word.

So Is This About Jesus or Not?

Yes. This is about Jesus, but first, it’s about Maher-shalal-hash-baz. You see the whole point of this sign is that it provides something tangible for Ahaz to see. That’s why we get the first fulfillment one page over in chapter 8. To understand this we need to know a little something about the Hebrew language (because the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew). You see the word translated as “virgin” doesn’t necessarily have to mean “virgin” and could just mean “young woman”. This little boy is actually born to Isaiah and his wife. God confirms this when he tells Isaiah that before his son is even old enough to say his parents’ names the threat will be over.

But you might be thinking, how then do we know that it’s about Jesus? Great question and there are 2 clear ways that we see this...

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