“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 ESV
Reflection: how is it possible for a virgin to give birth?
I was listening to an interview the other day, with a man who grew up as what he called “a non-believing Christian”, but eventually found faith. He described this honest thought that, while he was attending church faithfully, listening to the same sermons as the others in church, he didn’t “feel” anything. He did believe there was anything beyond the physical, what he could perceive with his senses. And, he felt out of place, in a way, because others in church claimed to have “spiritual” experiences; beyond the physical. Much later in life, he ended up having direct experiences with the spiritual world, initially not in a good way. He certainly found out that the spiritual world is as real, perhaps even more so, than the physical world. But out of all of this, and with his knowledge of God through the Bible, he became an actual believer. What he painfully discovered was his own arrogance, thinking that just because he didn’t understand the spiritual world or have knowledge of it, didn’t mean that it wasn’t real.
I am wondering how many are in the same situation as this man, who is a CINO (Christian In Name Only). Who go to church, perhaps consider and call themselves a Christian, but deep down they are really skeptical whether any of this is really true. But, in case there actually is a heaven and a hell, just to be safe, they go along with what the church is teaching. Say the right things; do the right things. There is an interesting display of such questioning in today’s focus verse. Because, the verse speaks of something that is impossible in the physical, so it becomes a challenge for the translators. We read in the ESV translation “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14. Notice here
“The virgin shall conceive and bear a son”
Of course, this is an impossible thing, right? A virgin cannot conceive by herself. Now, we have the benefit of applying knowledge of the prophecy fulfillment in Jesus Christ. We read the angel’s message to Mary “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” Luke 1:31-35 ESV.
In Isaiah 7:14, the Hebrew word used for virgin is ʿalmâ which is only used 7 times in the Old Testament; two of which is by Isaiah. And it is almost exclusively used for the purpose of describing a virgin; never having been with a man. Yet, a few translations substitute “virgin” with “young woman”. Technically, ʿalmâ can mean young woman, but that of course puts the entire message and meaning here in question. So why in the world would some translators choose to use that, unless they themselves struggle with believing in a virgin conception and birth. It is so conceited to think that our thoughts are as God. Isaiah writes later “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV.
The sign that was prophesied through Isaiah, was fulfilled by the Lord in the fullness of time, the virgin birth of a Savior, of Immanuel “God is with us”. The greatest of miracles, something only God could do. While we can’t fully comprehend it, we can still believe it. And, if we seek Him with a pure heart, He will reveal Himself and His glory to us. ““Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8 ESV.
