A Hope Fulfilled - Advent DevotionalSýnishorn

Over 700 years before Jesus was born, the people of God faced a terrifying threat. The northern nations of Aram and Israel had decided to team up together to mount an attack against Judah. King Ahaz and the Judeans immediately entered a state of panic (the text says their hearts shook like trees in the wind! See Isaiah 7:2). The prophet Isaiah, however, quickly sprang into action with an important message: God will defeat their enemies, but the people of Judah must place their trust in him — “If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all” (Isaiah 7:9b). The prophet then told King Ahaz to ask for any sign from the Lord so that the king would put his faith in God alone. Unfortunately, Ahaz rejected the offer for a divine sign, but that did not stop God from giving one anyway: “See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). That was the sign that God would deliver Judah — a prophetic child would soon be born! Believers may recognize this verse from the Christmas story when the angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream (Matthew 1:20-23), but here in Isaiah 7:14, the prophecy also had a special purpose for Judah. For them, the prophet Isaiah was promising that a symbolic child would be born in their day, and before that child became a toddler, God would resolve the problem with the northern invaders. In other words, be patient and have faith!

The Hebrew term typically translated “virgin” in Isaiah 7:14 means “young woman,” not necessarily a virgin in the technical sense. But the term is broad enough to include the idea of an actual virgin, which is how it simultaneously forecasts the virgin birth of Jesus in Matthew 1. The prophetic child of Ahaz’s day may have been a royal son or even the son of Isaiah, and he would have been born to a mother and father naturally, not through miraculous virgin birth. As the story progresses, God indeed delivers Judah as He said He would. Little did King Ahaz know, though, that this prophecy of a symbolic child was not only a message about Judah’s present trouble but about the promised Messiah who would enter the world through a miraculous virgin birth, making it possible for God to dwell with his people once and for all — but that’s the topic of tomorrow’s devotion. The lesson from Isaiah 7 is clear: believers must stand firm in faith while waiting upon a faithful God.

Prayer

Sovereign Lord, your word testifies to your past faithfulness and future deliverances. Let your Spirit now quicken our hearts to see both. Be glorified in our faith-filled waiting. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

Jordan Jones, Ph.D., serves as assistant professor of Biblical Studies for the Regent University School of Divinity.