The Hope of Immanuel
An Ancient Prophecy
An ancient prophecy of hope, given in the midst of dark days, is still relevant for us today.
Please return with us to the 7th century BCE. In the Kingdom of Judah God is speaking to His people through the prophet Isaiah. We join the story in Chapter 7 where the audience specifically is King Ahaz.
“Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign, behold, the virgin [or young woman of marriageable age] shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call[1] his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
For faithless King Ahaz the words of the prophet probably were just a strange riddle. For Isaiah and the other faithful they were a beacon of hope in the midst of crisis. A child is promised whose birth will be an extraordinary sign. A special child whose name means “God-with-us.”
See also: Did Isaiah predict the virgin birth of Messiah?
Immanuel as SOS signal
Immanuel’s name reappears in Chapter 8. It serves as an emergency SOS signal at a critical watershed moment.
Isaiah has the God-given responsibility to announce the coming invasion of the mighty enemy force from the north.
Behold the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the river, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, and it will sweep into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breath of your land, O Immanuel. (Isaiah 8:7-8)
Isaiah’s descriptive imagery depicts Assyria’s onslaught as mighty waters of a river overwhelming its banks, sweeping away everything in its path. The waters will come to the neck. The powerful Assyrian army will overrun the land of Judah.
But at the invocation of Immanuel, “O Immanuel”, the picture shifts dramatically.
Be broken, you peoples and be shattered;
give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered.
Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
speak a word, but it will not stand
Because God is with us! [Hebrew: “Because of Immanu-El”] (Isaiah 8:9-10)
What causes such a change of fortune for the Jewish people? Immanuel. The land of Israel is His land. And He is the reason there is a future for Israel.
G-d’s commitment to the House of David
When Isaiah gives his prophecy about Immanuel, the House of David is threatened by a coalition of Ephraim and Syria. They want to replace David’s royal house with a puppet king of their choosing.
But that cannot stand because God has a special commitment to the House of David. God had promised the Davidic lineage would endure forever (2 Samuel 7). And therefore even though Ahaz was a faithless king the LORD offers him His support. But Ahaz refuses.
The result: Something worse than the coalition of Ephraim and Syria will come upon Judah. The terrible might of Assyria will overflow and devastate Judah (Isaiah 7:16).
Because of that “people[2] will feed on curds and honey” (Isaiah 7:15 NJPS). We might first think that sounds good. But it actually isn’t. It signifies this is the only food left, because all good agricultural land has been destroyed. (See Isaiah 7:21-25.)
But there is hope! The hope of Immanuel. There is an “until” in this prophecy of judgment. A future hope remains. “Until he (Immanuel) knows to reject the evil and choose the good” (Isaiah 7:15).
“Reject the evil and choose the good.” That’s a strike against Ahaz who definitely did not reject the evil and choose the good. His obstinacy left his people in even more dire straits.
But the prophetic word points to the hope of that special child who will definitely know to do what is right. As the vision unfolds, Isaiah describes Him as the root that will come out of the stump of Jesse who will be completely filled with the Spirit of the LORD and who will judge in complete righteousness (Isaiah 11:2-5).
Yes, the faithlessness of Ahaz brings Judah to an even worse situation in the near term. But because of God’s commitment to the House of David also Assyria will not completely sweep away Judah. There is hope beyond God’s judgment.
For to us a child is born!
Because of Immanuel Israel continues to exist – and has a future beyond the judgment of the Assyrian crisis. That is especially on display in Chapter 9 of Isaiah’s prophecy.
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them has light shone.” (Isaiah 9:2)
Why? Because a very special descendant of David will one day take his throne:
For to us a child is born,
To us a son is given,
And his name shall be called:
Wonderful counsellor[3], Mighty God, Father of eternity, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it. (Isaiah 9:6)
God will keep His promises to the House of David in the most incredible way. The Davidic line will come to an amazing climax in a child who at the same time is God Himself. Truly Immanu-el. God with us.
Immanuel’s peace will be unprecedented and limitless: The wolf shall dwell with the lamb (Isaiah 11:6) and The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9).
This is clearly the hope of the coming of the Messiah which Isaiah held out for the faithful in the darkest of times as a beacon of hope!
See also: The Mystery of Israel’s Messiah
Extra Secure Hope
For us today this light shines even brighter. Because although Isaiah used the past tense in the evocative language of prophecy to demonstrate the certainty of what was to come, for us today it really is an accomplished historical fact. God kept His promises to the House of David. Immanuel, the special prince from the House of David was born and given to us! He came in the person of Jesus the Messiah.
As Isaiah also prophesied, He suffered and died for our sins (Isaiah 53). But He also overcame death, to rise to the highest position possible from which He will come back to establish His kingdom of peace over the entire earth.
Times might still be dark. But we know the prophecies of Isaiah are not just a dream. The promised kingdom of peace is a bright hope which now is extra secure as the first installment of the Messianic prophecies has been fulfilled in Jesus’ birth, earthly ministry, substitutionary death and resurrection.
Because of these promises Isaiah said, “I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in Him” (Isaiah 8:17).
For those who trust in Him, there is light at the end of the tunnel. A light which Isaiah already saw. The light of Immanu-el.
And in the meantime we experience the reality of King David’s words in Psalm 23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear evil, for You are with me.
All because of Immanu-el who died for us and will come to establish His kingdom forever.
[1] We follow here the text of the Isaiah scroll of Qum’ran which reads וקרא instead of וקראת and should be translated in this context with an impersonal: “they will call.” Matthew seems to have had a similar text of Isaiah 7:14 when he quoted it in Matthew 1:23.
[2] The NJPS translation of Isaiah 7:15 is quoted here. The Hebrew יאכל is best translated in this context with an indefinite subject, the same way as וקרא in the previous verse if the text of the Isaiah scroll of Qumran is followed. Also in light of Isaiah 7:22, where the eating of curds and honey is explained, this reading of Isaiah 7:15 makes the most sense. It is not so much Immanuel, but rather the people in general, “all who are left in the land” (7:22) who have to eat butter and honey.
[3] Or “Planner of extra-ordinary things”, This is a divine title in the context of the book of Isaiah.
Did Isaiah predict Messiah’s virgin birth?
The short answer is yes!
Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel! (Matthew 1:23, citing Isaiah 7:14)
But since quite some controversy has swirled around this prophecy which is quoted on the first page of the New Testament it deserves more attention. Click to Read more..