Advent 4 - And the young maiden will be with child...???

Anybody else excited about the texts (Isaiah 7:1-17 and Matthew 1:18-25) for this Sunday (Advent 4)?

I mean what's not to like? The Syro-Ephraimite Wars, Pekah and Rezin vs. Ahaz and Tiglath-Pileser III (really his name alone makes it worth it) and throw in a little prophecy action from Isaiah and you have a made for TV movie.

And of course everybody's favorite sign from Isaiah 7:14 "The Lord will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will be called Immanuel..."

But what really excites me is the opportunity to explain signs and prophecies.

By now everyone has heard that the Hebrew word for virgin "almah" can mean "young maiden." I love it when "enlightened" "scholars" present this to people in question form: "Hey, did you know that "almah" is usually translated "young maiden?" and then don't bother to explain any more. They just leave people wondering if Mary was really a virgin and if the virgin birth is really essential to Biblical theology and Christian faith. It's great to help people think through their faith with inductive questions, but let's not forget the devil is familiar with this method too: "Did God really say?" Asking questions is one thing. Sometimes people need answers.

Anyway, "almah" can be translated "young maiden." Big deal. The fact of the matter is the sign of which Isaiah spoke in 7:14 was, in all likelihood, given in the next chapter. Just read 8:3-10. Isaiah talks about "Immanuel." Of course, Isaiah named the boy, which he conceived w/ a prophetess, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (which we initially considered naming our first born :) )

So, the sign was given to Ahaz/Judah only 9 months after it was promised (not 700 years later when Jesus was born). The woman who bore the child was most likely a virgin until she conceived.

The sign, which was the child, pointed to the promise, which was God's promise to save His people. So, Immanuel (which means "God with us") was the sign given to verify God's promise which was to deliver His people quickly (and BTW, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means "quick to the plunder, swift to the spoils" (which would have fit our first child perfectly) ). Of course, Ahaz didn't do Judah any favors by seeking out Assyria's help instead of the Lord's - try like the whole land be ransacked, save Jerusalem, and that was only because the Lord miraculously intervened and killed 185,000 Assyrians over night with the wave of His hand.

OK, so what about Jesus? Well, here's what I love about signs and prophecies: Isaiah's prophecy was initially fulfilled in Ahaz's time and 700 years later, Jesus fully fulfilled it (some theological bigwigs call this "telescoping." Think a telescope being collapsed and expanded - there's more to prophecy than the little condensed telescope; you have to stretch it out). So, Jesus was Immanuel, the sign that "God (is) with us." And what did the sign verify? In other words, the sign pointed to something just like Isaiah's Immanuel pointed to God's promise to deliver His people quickly. Well, read Matthew 1:18-25. The angel tells Joseph the child will be named Jesus because He will save people from their sins. Jesus means "the Lord is salvation." The sign (Immanuel) verified the promise (Jesus) to save people from their sins.

And what about poor Mary? Was she a virgin? Just read the Greek. "Parthenos" unequivocally means "virgin." Mary was a virgin. As to why that's important, well, that's for another time.

Anybody else excited yet?



**Disclaimer: this was all off the top of my head, so please forgive and correct any mistakes.