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NASB | Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Listen carefully, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (God with us). [Is 9:6; Jer 31:22; Mic 5:3-5; Matt 1:22, 23] |
Bible Question:
I agree with the virgin birth translation. But if it is only a prophecy of the virgin of birth of Jesus, (and it is a prophecy of the virgin birth of Jesus) what good is it for a sign to Ahaz? wdc |
Bible Answer: Hi wdc, Before I give you some quotes from McArthur's Study Bible and talk about your question, I wonder if the question/answer to whether it talks about a virgin or young woman is there because of the duality of the prophecy. The prophecy was for the virgin Mary's Child and also for the wife of Isaiah, the prophetess. Here are quotes from McArthur's Study Bible notes: 8:3. prophetess. Isaiah's wife was called a prophetess because the son to whom she gave birth was prophetic of the Assyrian conquest. 8:3. before the child. The time before the plunder of Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel began was very short. The Assyrians initiated their invasion before Isaiah's child learned to talk. That prophetic limit resembled the one set in 7:16, but there the prophecy was more far-reaching. Fulfillment of the closer prophecy verified the one relating to the distant future. 7:16. refuse the evil. Before the promised son of Isaiah was old enough to make moral choices, the kings of Syria and Epraim were to meet their doom at the hands of the Assyrians. 7:17. bring the king of Assyria upon you. Not only did the Lord use the Assyrians to judge the northern kingdom, He also used them to invade Ahaz's domain of Judah. This coming of the Assyrian king was the beginning of the end for the nation and eventually led to her captivity in Babylon. 7:18-25 The desolation prophesied in this section began in the days of Ahaz and reached its climax when the Babylonians conquered Judah. Its results continue to the time when the Messiah will return to deliver Israel and establish His kingdom on earth. End of quotes. Ahaz in Isaiah 7:12 said, "I will not ask [for himself a sign], nor will I test the Lord." Isaiah goes on and in so many words says that he is trying his patience and also God's. And the Lord Himself gives the sign that "He will be with us". 1) So the prophecy was dual in nature. It spoke of the virgin and the young woman. It spoke of the Child and the child. Isaiah 7:15,16, NKJ, "Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. FOR BEFORE the Child [sic] shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings. 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." Isaiah 8:4, NKJ, "FOR BEFORE the child [sic] shall have knowledge to cry 'My father' and 'My mother', the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria." 2) Ahaz had called on Assyria for help rather than relying on the Lord. McArthur's notes go on in chapter 8 about the waters of Shiloah and how they symbolized the dependance on the Lord. These waters were replaced with the overflowing banks of the Euphrates. And I go with the NASB for 8:8, "Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, it will reach even to the neck; And the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your [Or, Your] land, O Immanuel." It is God's land and "God is with us", even Immanuel. From the heart, Ray |