Read Is 7:10—8:8
Isa 8:1-8 Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’ (2) And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.” (3) And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; (4) for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.” (5) The LORD spoke to me again: (6) “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, (7) therefore, 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, (8) and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

You may wonder why are we looking at these verses and not 7:14. It is because unless we look here we cannot be certain of God’s promise of Immanuel there. The Lord has Isaiah take prophetic action. Isaiah goes to the prophetess and bears a son whose name means “In Speed Spoil, Booty hastens.” Such will be the case of the Assyrian invasion of Israel and Judah. In previous verses of chapter seven the Lord describes the invasion of Assyria into Israel and to Judah and the things that happen then. The Lord has foretold it.

As such that is what happened when the Assyrians invaded, conquered and exiled the people of Israel. Judah was not untouched either in the Assyrian campaigns. By 722 B.C. these things have occurred just as the Lord had predicted. The prophet cries “O Immanuel” harkening back to the previous verses in chapter seven for hope.

So now that the prophecies of the Assyrian invasion and conquest have been fulfilled just at the Lord has predicted, now we can take comfort in chapter seven. Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. It was a sign of comfort to Hezekiah that his enemies would be destroyed, namely Israel and Syria. God fulfills this prophecy in our age, the New Testament age. Because of the prophecy fulfilled concerning Israel, Syria and Assyria we can be certain that the Lord has fulfilled this prophecy also. The virgin, the Virgin Mary, did indeed conceive and bore a son in her virginity. He is called Immanuel, God is with us. For that is who Jesus is, God with us. The “with” here carries with it the force of not only being with but also “for” for if he is not for us, it matters not that he is with us. But in the person of Jesus we see God is with and for us because as the God-Man, Jesus conquers our enemies, not those of flesh and blood but spiritual ones. Jesus conquers sin, death and the power of the devil. He can do that because he is not only man but also truly God. He has promised to return at the end of the age and usher in his visible kingdom where righteousness reigns. O come Immanuel!

Lord we thank you for fulfilling your prophecies of the past so we may be comforted by the prophecies of the future. Grant us faith in your Immanuel, Jesus Christ, that we experience the redemption of our bodies on the day of his second advent. In Jesus’ name. Amen.