Isaiah 7:14

Commentary on Isaiah 7:14

The Text

Isaiah 7:14 (NKJV):
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

Context in Isaiah 7

Isaiah 7[i] records a tense moment in Judah’s history. King Ahaz faced the threat of invasion from Syria and Israel (the northern kingdom). Instead of trusting the Lord, Ahaz leaned towards political alliances with Assyria. Into this fear and unbelief, God sent Isaiah with a word of reassurance.

Isaiah 7:10–12 (NKJV):
“Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, ‘Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.’ But Ahaz said, ‘I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!’”

Ahaz’s refusal was not piety but unbelief. He did not want to trust God. In response, God Himself promised a sign that would transcend Ahaz’s immediate crisis: the virgin-born child, Immanuel.

Exegetical Insights

1. The Sign of the Virgin

The Hebrew word almah refers to a young woman of marriageable age, often implying virginity. The New King James Version rightly translates it as “virgin,” consistent with the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) and the New Testament’s use in Matthew 1:23.

Matthew 1:23 (NKJV):
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

This shows the prophecy’s ultimate fulfilment in the birth of Jesus Christ. While there may have been an immediate sign for Ahaz’s time (perhaps a child born in Isaiah’s day symbolising God’s presence), the Spirit-inspired text points forward to the Messiah.

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2. The Name Immanuel

“Immanuel” means God with us. This is not merely poetic. It is the heart of the gospel: God Himself comes to dwell among His people in the person of Jesus Christ. The incarnation is the ultimate assurance that God is not distant but present.

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3. Faith versus Fear

Ahaz’s unbelief contrasts with the faith God calls His people to. The sign of Immanuel is given in the midst of fear, reminding us that God’s presence is the antidote to anxiety. The promise of Christ is not abstract theology but concrete assurance: God is with us in every trial.

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Theological Teaching

• Christological Fulfilment: Isaiah 7:14 is a messianic prophecy fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The virgin birth is essential to Christian doctrine, affirming both His true humanity and His divine origin.
• God’s Initiative: Ahaz refused to ask for a sign, but God gave one anyway. Salvation is God’s initiative, not ours. This reflects the Christian emphasis on God’s sovereign grace.
• Incarnation: “Immanuel” encapsulates the mystery of the incarnation. Jesus is fully God and fully man, dwelling among us to redeem us.
• Trust in God: The passage calls believers to trust God rather than human schemes. Alliances, strategies, and self-reliance cannot replace faith in God’s promises.

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Application to Modern Christian Living

• Facing Fear: Just as Ahaz faced political threats, we face personal and societal anxieties. The promise of Immanuel reminds us that God is present in Christ, even in uncertainty.
• Faith over Pragmatism: Modern life often tempts us to rely on human wisdom or worldly alliances. Isaiah 7 challenges us to trust God’s word above all.
• Celebrating the Incarnation: At Christmas and beyond, Isaiah 7:14 calls us to marvel at the virgin birth and rejoice that God is with us in Jesus.
• Living with Assurance: Knowing God is with us should shape our daily lives—our work, relationships, and witness. We are never alone.

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Meditation Guide

1. Read Isaiah 7:14 slowly.
   “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
2. Reflect on God’s initiative. He gives the sign even when people refuse to trust Him.
3. Consider the name Immanuel. What does “God with us” mean for your current situation?
4. Pray with thanksgiving. Thank God for sending Jesus, the fulfilment of this promise.
5. Commit to trust. Ask God to help you rely on His presence rather than worldly solutions.

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[i] Isaiah 7

New King James Version

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

7 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it. 2 And it was told to the house of David, saying, “Syria’s forces are deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.

3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, 4 and say to him: ‘Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel”— 7 thus says the Lord God:

“It shall not stand,
Nor shall it come to pass.
8 For the head of Syria is Damascus,
And the head of Damascus is Rezin.
Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken,
So that it will not be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son.
If you will not believe,
Surely you shall not be established.” ’ ”

The Immanuel Prophecy

10 Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”

12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”

13 Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 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. 15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings. 17 The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah.”

18 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord will whistle for the fly
That is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt,
And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 They will come, and all of them will rest
In the desolate valleys and in the clefts of the rocks,
And on all thorns and in all pastures.

20 In the same day the Lord will shave with a hired razor,
With those from beyond the River, with the king of Assyria,
The head and the hair of the legs,
And will also remove the beard.

21 It shall be in that day
That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;
22 So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give,
That he will eat curds;
For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.

23 It shall happen in that day,
That wherever there could be a thousand vines
Worth a thousand shekels of silver,
It will be for briers and thorns.
24 With arrows and bows men will come there,
Because all the land will become briers and thorns.

25 And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe,
You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns;
But it will become a range for oxen
And a place for sheep to roam.