Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14; 8:8; Matthew 1:23)

2022-12-16

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. (Isaiah 8:8)

Isaiah first asked Ahaz to request a sign of the Lord, where the king answered, “I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD” (Isaiah 7:12). It is not clear why he said this because he was a wicked man who tempted the LORD his whole life, and he was receiving grace here. Because he refused, the whole house of David, of which Ahaz was part, received a sign. Isaiah 7:14 was the answer. A virgin would have a child, which should remind all hearers of Genesis 3:15: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). This Immanuel is the Savior of the world.

There has been some controversy about the word “virgin,” as some scholars say that the Hebrew word does not necessarily mean “virgin.” However, the translators of the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament), translated before the birth of Christ, understood what it meant, as they used the Greek word for “virgin.”

Immanuel shall refuse evil and choose good. He would be without sin, though He would be tempted by Satan. Before He would come (and as we know, long before He came), the two kings Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel, would forsake their attack against Judah (cf. Isaiah 7:6-7).

Immanuel is mentioned again in Isaiah 8:8. The Assyrians would come and fill Judah, but they also would fail to take it like Syria and Israel failed. This happened during the days of Hezekiah. Judah is mentioned as being the land of Immanuel, though He Himself had not come in the flesh yet. However, it always was His land because He is from eternity past. The translation of His name is in Isaiah 8:10: “...for God is with us.” He truly is with us, as He was with Judah in the days of those invasions.

Jesus is Immanuel. Skeptics have said that this could not refer to Jesus because He was never called Immanuel except here: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Maybe we do not call Him Immanuel often, but we know He fulfills the translation of His name, for He has promised, “...lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). Jesus is God, and He is always with us.