This is the start of
a blog series recapping our youth group studies, covering the first prophecy of
Matthew 1, and its context in Isaiah 7,8, and 9. Our group uses a collection of
identical paperback bibles for the sake of locating passages by page number,
and when I make Bible references I will be sure to add YPB in the footnotes to
stand for “Youth paperback bible”. For any of my youth who read these series,
you guys are awesome! J
Just around Christmas
time I started our study in Matthew, aimed to focus on the life and words of
Jesus. Around this time of year, the Christmas story is a common story to hear,
especially for Christians. Ever since Thanksgiving is finally over, we have
been preparing for it, expecting it, and enjoying familiar tunes over our
Christian radios. We have gotten so used to hearing the gospel (and seeing it
through roadside nativities and season’s traditions) that we seem to gloss over
the real significance of Christ’s birth. As we opened Matthew 1, I wanted to
give a look especially at the included prophecies because their part in the Christmas
story isn’t widely known; but as our group is learning, the whole bible is a
linked story that points to the gospel and the Christmas story.
At the time of Jesus’
birth, the people of Israel were expecting a savior, but ironically they were
not expecting the Savior that came. They only had the promise of God through
prophetic writings to go by, and unfortunately these prophecies were
misunderstood. Granted, the books of prophecy in the Old Testament are
difficult to understand, but it’s cool that we can see clearer with hindsight
today since Jesus has already come and explained much. After all, the Bible
says that the prophet’s words serve those who hear the good news of Jesus more
than they actually served the prophets themselves. [1] In
hindsight, Matthew is able to better understand the prophecies of old, and he
includes them in the Christmas story for our benefit.
The Matthew 1(see
footnotes below if reading along! --> [2] )
Christmas story starts with Mary and Joseph, and the discovery that Mary is
pregnant before they were married. This of course was from the Lord, but the
culture of Israel would see Mary’s pregnancy as a shameful scandal. So the Lord
sends an angel to Joseph in order to tell him to accept that the pregnancy is
in fact a miracle from the Lord, and not the result of Mary’s sin with another
man. Here Matthew lists our first prophecy, originally coming from Isaiah 7:14[3]…
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.”
The context of
Isaiah 7 brings us to a complicated and confusing story, so bear with me! 700
years before Jesus was born, Israel was a divided nation represented by
“Israel” and “Judah”. The majority of the nation, “Israel”, had fallen away
from following the Lord, and although Judah yet remained with the Lord, its
faith was wavering. The king of “Israel” and the foreign king of Syria were besieging
Jerusalem, and God sent his prophet Isaiah to give a message of hope to Ahaz
king of Judah. Through Isaiah, God told King Ahaz that his enemies would be
swept away within 65 years, and that salvation would come through faith in the
Lord. However, the Lord knew that Ahaz was secretly putting his true faith in
the nation of Assyria, whom he had paid gold to attack his enemies. He pursued
Ahaz to strengthen his faith, with both a warning “If you are not firm in
faith, you will not be firm at all”[4]
and an offer to give Ahaz a sign. It’s not every day that God Himself shows
up at your door and asks you to ask a sign of Him in order that your faith may
be confirmed, but Ahaz chooses not to ask from a sign from God because of his
unbelief. God knows that Ahaz’s choices are going to be the ruin of Judah; for
the very nation of Assyria that Ahaz was trusting would later invade Judah and
conquer it, carting of its people to captivity, effectively ending the line of
Kings that came from David. God also knows that He had previously promised[5]
King David that his kingdom would be established forever, through our King
Jesus who has yet to come, so He gives Ahaz a sign anyway, the sign of
Immanuel, as a comfort and a hope to the house of David because one day God will
bring back Jesus to rule on David’s throne.
Even though Judah
was temporarily saved from Israel and Syria, all three of these nations were
conquered by Assyria by the Lord’s hand, as He says He will do in Isaiah 8:7.[6]
But one day there would be born a child who would come in power and would be
called “God with us”, or ‘Immanuel’. This prophecy is partially fulfilled,
because Jesus was born and through his life and death on the cross He became
our intermediary, an intercessor that can reunite us with God in relationship,
the most intimate personification of “God with us” ever. One day, He will
return to be “God with us” again, and will rule and reign with us on earth.
“And His
name shall be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
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 with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and
forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”[7]
When we put our faith in Jesus, He is able to
forgive all our sins and make us new in our hearts, so that we are pure and
holy in God’s sight. He is able to give us an intimate relationship with God
that starts now on earth as we seek Him in prayer, in the Word, and in honoring
Him with our lives. Even though our relationship is one that we have by faith,
we await the day when Jesus will return and we will see Him face to face, and
He will be “God with us” forever.
[1] 1
Peter 1:12, YPB 588.
[3]
Isaiah 7:14, YPB 330.
[4] Isaiah
7:9, “.
[5] 2
Samuel 7:16, YBP 148.
[6] Isaiah
8:7, YPB 330.
[7]
Isaiah 9:6-7, YPB 331.