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The Harvester Podcast is brought to you by the Florida School of Preaching. Listen weekly to take a dive into biblical topics and thoughtful studies on things that matter to our eternal souls.
Jesus gave his life a ransom number on
Calvary.
On Mount Calvary, cruel Calvary.
Pave the way by blood that we might win a
bright shining crown.
Praise his last name. Salvation has been
brought down,
O Lory. Praise the Lord's Lord.
Welcome to the Harvester Podcast.
We are happy that you have joined us today
as we continue our season
six study entitled Minoring in the Majors,
The Major Prophets That Is. And this is a
follow-up to our season number five,
which was Majoring in the Minors,
the Minor Prophets. And so in this season,
we're gonna have a group of lessons,
a few from each of the major prophet books
of the Bible and the Old Testament.
And today we're gonna be discussing Isaiah
chapter seven,
verses fourteen through sixteen.
And I am one of your hosts and with me
today is
George Beals.
and we're both with the South Florida
Avenue Church of Christ in Lakeland,
Florida, and we both teach at the Florida
School of Preaching,
as does Forrest Animaceres, who is not
with us today,
nor is Stephen Ford ~ with us today.
But we are continuing this study.
And the entitle is fulfillments plural,
fulfillments of Isaiah 7,
14 through 16. And the reason why we say
fulfillments is because it seems
the best evidence that we look at that
there are actually two prophecies in that,
often confused as just referring to one.
And Brother Beals, how about enlightening
us on some of that background information?
Well if we take a look at Isaiah seven
fourteen to sixteen itself perhaps you
Yeah, let me go ahead and read that right
here.
And I'll be reading from the New King
James Translation,
verse 14. Therefore the Lord himself will
give you a sign,
behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear
a son,
and shall call his name Emmanuel.
Curds and honey he shall eat, that he may
know to refuse the evil
and choose the good. For before the child
shall know to refuse the evil
and choose the good,
The land that you dread will be forsaken
by both her kings through verse sixteen.
So if you look at fourteen to fifteen,
here we have a messianic prediction.
This is many people have seen this
prediction,
and you notice that it says, Behold,
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall call his name Emmanuel,
which means God with us. That is a long
range prediction,
ultimately fulfilled in the first century
AD,
given that Isaiah itself is written around
the ~ eighth century BC.
So you get about a seven hundred year
prediction here,
~ looking down the corridor of time.
Whereas in verse sixteen, the verse
sixteen says,
For before the child shall know to refuse
the evil and choose the good,
the land that you dread will be forsaken
by both her kings.
Now it's interesting to think very
carefully about a ~
the year, the the number of years that it
takes for a child to grow,
that would just be a few years,
not not seven hundred years. So it
immediately as you think this through,
there appears to be a looking down the
corridor of time for centuries
for the fulfillment. Yet also in verse 16,
something that is going to be fulfilled
within the
few years that it would take a child to
grow into adulthood.
So right there we're seeing an indication
that there are two predictions here,
not one.
And I want to point out here, and I don't
know the right place to point it out,
so I'm just gonna point out right here,
that the importance of this study today
cannot be underestimated.
Because it was I don't know, a few years
ago when I first heard this
as George presented it to the congregation
here,
and a bunch of light bulbs went off about
wow,
because that best explains all the all the
potential problems if you view this
as one prophecy.
And I just ha have to say we have a I know
a preacher,
in fact he's one of our graduates several
years ago.
He actually doubted the scripture and he
he quit preaching.
He ~ he just went off into apostasy
because of misunderstanding of this verse.
He thought there's no way that this can
happen within the lifetime of those
~ that Isaiah's speaking to. In other
words,
this virgin shall conceive he thought must
happen within their their lifetime
in the s in the seven hundreds BC and he
saw that as a contradiction when
you put verse fifteen and sixteen there as
referring to Christ and so
he doubted the integrity of that prophecy
and thus the integrity of the whole Bible.
So this is very important that we study
this and pay careful attention
to what's going on here.
Well, another thing that adds fuel to that
fire is that some editions that follow
the old King James, for example,
the new King James in verse sixteen has
for before the child shall no,
the word child is capitalized.
that's true with another English
translation that
emerges out of the old King James.
that's suggesting then that verse sixteen
is a referen also a reference
to the Messiah seven hundred years down
the road.
So in other words, th this would lead the
reader to think that
in verses fourteen through sixteen of
chapter seven of the book of Isaiah,
there is just one prediction. All three
verses are talking about the same long
range
prediction.
and that does run into a problem because
again in verse sixteen it says,
For before the child and understand that
child is not capitalized in the original,
of course, for before the child shall know
to refuse the evil and choose the good,
the land that you dread will be forsaken.
That just seems i at the outset at a
different a different topic
and is something that's gonna be short
range.
Yeah, and as we know the the tr you know,
it's up to the discretion of the
translators whether words are capitalized
or not.
in the Hebrew text I don't know that they
indicate that.
And of course I'm looking at the n New
American standard here which says,
Before the boy will know enough to refuse
evil and good.
Boy is not capitalized. Right.
So many English translations do not
capitalize that child or boy in verse
sixteen.
However ~ two or three do, and that lends
~ confusion to the matter as well.
Yeah, and it ~ again it just shows the
influence again of the of the King James
the old King James Bible and some of the
other translations,
which is, you know, for the most part a
good influence and so I'm not
it is not dogging that, but I'm just
saying that sometimes we think that that's
that's the gospel, you know.
So maybe we can proceed then, having
raised that question,
and maybe that can be a kind of a
tantalizing question for our audience
to keep in mind as we go through.
And let's see if we can establish that in
fact in verses fourteen
to fifteen in Isaiah seven, we do have one
long-range prediction,
but in verse sixteen, they're talking
about a different prediction altogether
fulfilled at the time that Isaiah wrote.
So if I could just give a brief outline of
what's coming in this brief presentation.
Yes. ~ first of all just talk about
messianic prophecy in general,
a few words about that. When we say
messianic prophecy,
we're talking about the prediction of the
Messiah found in
the old testament scriptures in many
passages,
one of which is here in Isaiah chapter
seven.
And then we'll take a look at Isaiah 7,
verse 14 in particular, which is
referenced in the New Testament scriptures
at Matthew 1, 22 to 23. Thirdly,
we'll look at the Old Testament context of
Isaiah 7,
14 to 15. And then we'll talk about this
long-term prediction
and then short-term prediction.
And that should pretty much summarize
where we're going,
So on messianic prophecy in general,
it's helpful I think to point out some of
the what I would consider to
be the best helps that ~ are available in
print on this.
And he's gonna read these sources off
because we want you to have them.
But if you're driving in your car or
something,
don't feel like you have to write,
write them down, just email us at the
Florida School of Preaching,
FSOP at FSOP dot net and we'd be happy to
send you ~ these sources.
Okay, so I I'll give you four sources that
~ folks may want to have
in their library on messianic prophecy in
general.
One is an older work, this is published
between eighteen fifty-four
to eighteen fifty-eight, but oftentimes
referred to when people study messianic
prophecy, sometimes viewed as the go-to
work on the subject.
And this is by Ernest Wilhelm
Hengstenberg,
titled
Christology of the Old Testament and a
Commentary on the Messianic Predictions,
Volumes 1 through 4. And the first English
translation of that was translated
out of the German. And those volumes are
again dated 1854 to 1858.
These, as I understand it, are still
available.
If somebody wants to get the English
translations.
A second work is by Michael Rodelnik and
Edwin.
Bloom, B. L. U. ~ titled The Moody
Handbook of Messianic Prophecy,
published recently, 2019.
And now I'm not necessarily endorsing
every word that is that is said
in any of these publications. I'm just
saying that I would hope that all
of us would be independent thinkers,
1 Thessalonians 5 twenty one.
Prove all things, hold fast that which is
good.
All of us had the responsibility to be
independent thinkers,
but again, these works do provide some
helps.
A third publication is by James E.
Smith, titled The Promised Messiah,
and that is a 1993 publication.
And also helpful is a multi-volume set by
Michael J.
Brown.
titled Answering Jewish Objections to
Jesus,
volumes one through four, and these are
published from two thousand
to two thousand fifteen. So those four
works,
if you really want to get down into a lot
of detail and have a fine library
as background, I would consider that you
Now are the are the brown works?
Are those like little journal type
No, I think these are these would be
extensive works.
And what he does here is many Jewish
people do not consider Jesus
to be the fulfillment of the messianic
predictions in the Old Testament
scriptures.
as you look at the various Old Testament
predictions such as seven
Isaiah seven, fourteen to fifteen and
others,
Psalm twenty-two, Isaiah fifty-three,
etcetera, Genesis for forty-nine,
ten and others. Genesis three,
fifteen, for example, there are quite a
few.
Micah five, one to two. If you look at
these,
i it sure looks like these are predicting
the Messiah,
and then you look at the documentation of
Jesus of Nazareth in
the New Testament scriptures, there's a
match there.
Well
If you're not going to accept that,
of course, you're gonna try to have some
objections and there
are these Jewish objections then to these
claimed predictions
and fulfillments in Jesus. And he
tabulates these and has an he'll
articulate
the objection, ~ document it for you and
then give you some replies.
So it's a helpful work.
That's something that looks like a if I'd
if I had free time,
I'd just study that on my own.
for sure. That would be I mean that itself
would be a wonderful series
of a series of podcasts. So another
insight that
is helpful when studying messianic
prophecy is a discovery by David L.
Cooper, namely that Matthew chapter two in
the New Testament scriptures identifies
four kinds of fulfillments of
Old Testament scriptures predictions.
And he does this in his 1958 book titled
Messiah,
His Historical Appearance. it's a
wonderful discovery.
If you look at Matthew chapter two in
particular,
you'll see that you do have different
kinds of fulfillment.
so in the Old Testament scriptures there
are predictions of the Messiah to come.
And then in the New Testament scriptures
there are different kinds of fulfillment.
One of them is found in Matthew chapter
two verses five to six,
which records the fulfillment of Micah ~
chapter five verse two,
and this can be called a direct
fulfillment.
Let just read that in Matthew chapter two
verses five through six,
and this is when Herod the King,
you know, gathered all his chief priests
and scribes to inquire who where Christ
was to be born. And so I quote from verse
five,
and they said to him, In Bethlehem of
Judea,
for thus it is written by the prophet,
but you, Bethlehem and the land of Judah
are among the least are the least among
the rulers of Judah.
For out of you shall come a ruler who will
shepherd my people Israel,
end quote.
Right. So there's a reference to an Old
Testament prediction.
Now where is that? Well, it's it's found
in Micah chapter five,
verse two, written centuries before
Matthew,
we find that according to Matthew two
verses five to six,
Jesus is a direct fulfillment of the
direct words that are given there
in Micah chapter five verse two.
And then we have a second kind of ~
fulfillment,
a little different.
And this is in Matthew two verses fourteen
to fifteen.
And this is where the text says and he
arose,
but this is where the angel had told
Joseph to go flee into Egypt because
of what Herod was doing killing all the
babies.
And so verse fourteen, when he arose he
took the young child and his mother
by night and departed for Egypt,
and was there until the death of Herod
that it might be fulfilled,
which was spoken by the Lord through the
prophets,
saying, Out of Egypt I called my son.
Now this is a different kind of prediction
fulfillment than than was
the case in Matthew two, five to six.
In that passage you have the Messiah being
born,
predicted that he would be born in a town
called Bethlehem,
and then sure enough Jesus of Nazareth was
born in Bethlehem,
in Matthew two, five to six. So that we
call a direct
prediction fulfillment. But here in
Matthew two,
fourteen to fifteen, that is traceable
back to Hosea chapter eleven,
verse one. But this is what we would call
a typical,
that is a type anti-type fulfillment,
not a direct fulfillment. And then thirdly
we have Matthew two,
sixteen to eighteen, which records a a
different kind of fulf prediction
fulfillment
altogether.
And that reads in verse sixteen Then
Herod,
when he saw that he was deceived by the
wise men,
was exceedingly angry, and he sent forth
and put to death all
the male children which were in Bethlehem
and all its districts,
from two years old and under, according to
the time which he had determined from
the wise men. Then was fulfilled that what
was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet,
saying
A voice was heard in Rama, lamentation
weeping in great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted because they are
no more.
So here we have even a different kind of
fulfillment.
Then it's not direct, it's not ~ type
antitype,
but w maybe we could call it applicational
as it's sometimes called.
That is to say, it's a commonality of
circumstances.
So there was weeping due to the captivity
referenced in Jeremiah thirty
one verse fifteen, where mothers their
their children were taken off taken off
into captivity,
resulting in their weeping. And then you
have the weeping also circumstances
in the case of Jesus. And so there is that
commonality,
a different kind of fulfillment,
maybe calling it again a situational or a
common situational or an applicational.
And then fourthly and lastly we have a
still another kind of prediction
fulfillment.
reflected in Matthew two verses nineteen
through twenty three.
And that reads Now when Herod was dead,
behold an angel of the Lord appeared in a
dream to Joseph in Egypt,
saying, Arise, take the young child and
his mother,
and go to the land of Israel, for those
who sought the young child's life are
dead.
Then he arose, took the young child and
his mother,
and came into the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was
reigning over Judea instead
of his father Herod,
He was afraid to go there, and being
warned by God in a dream,
he turned aside into the region of
Galilee,
and he came and dwelt in a city called
Nazareth,
that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the prophets,
he shall be called a Nazarene.
So now we look into the Old Testament
scriptures and looking for the expression,
he, that is the Messiah, will be called a
Nazarene,
you are not going to find those words in
the Old Testament scriptures.
So what kind of a fulfillment or
prediction is this?
Is this a creative idea that Matthew is
retrojecting back into
the Old Testament scriptures, as the
critics might say?
No. ~ what we have here rather is
a different kind of fulfillment,
prediction fulfillment. That is to say,
you'll have to find several passages and
there I notice that in Matthew two,
you've got the plural there. it says
prophets
Profits.
in the plural. So if you understand what's
happening here,
you'll see that there's no problem and
again it's an amazing thing
how this is fulfilled in Jesus of
Nazareth.
And that is that
being from Nazareth is a term of derision.
And so then the Messiah is is will be born
in a place that lends itself
to his being derided by people.
what good can come out of Nazareth,
so to speak. And you have several of those
kinds of derisive predictions about
the Messiah in several Old Testament
passages.
on the lowliness of the Messiah to come.
Which again shows that God uses the
seemingly and apparently weaker
and beggarly elements to accomplish his
great victory.
Right, and that and this would be an
instance of it in the case of ~ of Jesus.
So as the fulfillment of the ~ of the
Messiah predictions.
Now there's more that we can say by way of
background,
but ~ we perhaps we can do that at another
time.
there's much more that we can say,
but I would like for us now to try to
proceed into the details
of Isaiah chapter seven, and notice what
we have here in verses fourteen through
sixteen. Two predictions, not one.
And so maybe we can just proceed into
this.
in Isaiah chapter seven verse fourteen,
maybe Brian can read that and and put a
thumb also on Matthew one,
twenty-two to twenty-three as the
fulfillment of it.
So Isaiah seven, maybe read verses
fourteen to fifteen,
and then follow that by the documentation
about Jesus of Nazareth seven hundred
years down.
The road in Matthew one twenty two twenty
three.
Okay, seven fourteen. Isaiah seven
fourteen.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a
sign,
behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a
son,
and shall call his name Emmanuel.
And then when we read that in Matthew
chapter one,
verses twenty-three, ~ of course this is
you know the birth of Jesus,
verse eighteen begins.
two to twenty three.
Twenty-two to twenty-three. So all this
was done that it might be fulfilled
which were spoken by the Lord through the
prophet saying,
Behold, the virgin shall be with child,
and bear a son, and they shall call his
name Emmanuel,
which is translated God with us.
So we have a virgin giving birth to the
Messiah.
Now this is something that of course would
be miraculous or is miraculous,
if you believe it, I do believe it.
I believe there's evidence for it.
And what we have here then is perhaps the
most challenging,
messianic prediction, the Bible teaching
that the Messiah will be born of a virgin.
That is the first messianic prediction
that we could look at in a series
of studies on messianic predictions would
be this one.
Isaiah 7 14 fulfilled in Matthew 1 22-23.
I should say the documentation of its
fulfillment is found in Matthew 1 22 to
23.
So given the four kinds of fulfillment
that are seen in Matthew 2,
this sounds like direct fulfillment.
It's not a typological fulfillment.
As some claim. Luke also ~ documents this,
if I may just read this over in Luke 1,
34 to 35. Luke's account says,
Then Mary said to the angel, How can this
be,
since I do not know a man? And the angel
answered and said to her,
The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the highest will
overshadow you.
Therefore also that holy one who is to be
born will be called the Son of God.
in the Old Testament context of this
prediction,
to see the full import of it, let's notice
the wider context.
If we were to study this and had more
time,
~ and of course the audio the audience
could do this on their own,
they could read 2 Kings chapter 15,
verse 37, 2nd Kings 16,
5 to 9, 2 Chronicles 28,
verses 5 to 21.
And then the Emmanuel section of the book
of Isaiah,
which is found in Isaiah's chapter seven,
verse one, all the way over to chapter
twelve,
verse six. And that of course includes
then chapter seven,
our chapter. and then also we could read
about the Assyrian invasion
in chapter eight of the book of Isaiah,
the child referenced in chapter nine,
the Davidic, that is the shoot of David
from a stump.
in chapter 11. So ~ that would be the
greater context
of Isaiah 7.14 to 15,
but the immediate context of Isaiah 14 is
verses 14 through 16.
So summarizing then the wider context of
Isaiah 7 verse 14,
the situation surrounding Isaiah 714 is
taking place during the
period of the divided kingdom in in
Israelite history.
The northern ten tribes are also known as
Israel in the Old Testament scriptures,
Ephraim, Samaria, and the southern two
tribes are known also
as ~ Judah or the house of David or
Jerusalem,
that would be ~ the tribes of Judah and
Benjamin.
So there were three writing prophets for
the southern kingdom during this time,
namely Isaiah
Micah and Hosea. And again,
due to time constraints, we're not going
to have a lot of time just to
put to read all this background material.
Again, that would be a wonderful study.
But what let's just look at Isaiah 7
verses 1 through 16.
Okay, that reads in verse one,
Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz,
the son of Jotham, the son of Azia,
King of Judah, that Rezin, King of Syria,
and Pikah the son of Remaliah,
King of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to
make war against it,
but could not prevail against it.
And it was told to the house of David
saying,
Syria's forces are deployed in Ephraim,
so his heart and the heart of his people
were moved as the trees of
the woods are moved with the wind.
Then the Lord said to Isaiah, Go out now
to meet Ahaz,
you and Sheri Jashab, your son,
at the end of the aqueduct from the upper
pool,
on the highway to the Fuller's field,
and say to him, Take heed and be quiet,
do not fear, or be faint hearted for these
two stubs of smoking firebrands,
for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria
and the son of Remeliah.
Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of
Remaliah have plotted evil against you,
saying, Let us go up against Judah and
trouble it,
and let us make a gap in its wall for
ourselves,
and set a king over them, the son of
Tabel.
Thus says the Lord God, it shall not
stand,
nor shall it come to pass. Verse eight For
the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is resin.
Within sixty five years Ephraim will be
broken,
So that it will not be a people.
The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is Remeliah's son.
If you will not believe, surely you shall
not be established.
Verse ten. Moreover the Lord spoke again
to Ahaz,
saying, Ask a sign for yourself from the
Lord your God,
ask it either in the depth or in the
height above.
But Ahaz said, I will not ask,
nor will I test the Lord. Then he said,
Hear now, O house of David.
Is it a small thing for you to weary men?
But will you weary ~ my God also?
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a
sign.
Behold the virgin sh shall conceive and
bear a son,
and shall call his name Emmanuel.
Curds and honey he shall eat, that he may
know to refuse the evil
and choose the good, for before the child
shall know to refuse the evil
and choose the good, the land that you
dread will be forsaken by both her kings.
The Lord will bring the king of Assyria
upon you and your people
and your father's house, days that have
not come since that
day that Ephraim departed from Judah.
So here we have a wider context that we're
looking at entire chapter seven
of Isaiah. Again, to get a still wider
context,
you'd want to look at other those other
passages.
But in this chapter we are seeing that
Assyria is a rising world power.
And the date of Isaiah 714 is considered
to be about 734 BC.
That's based upon Edwin R.
Thiel's work, The Mysterious Numbers of
the Hebrew Kings,
is more that we can say about chronology.
But so we're talking 8th century BC,
and Assyria is a rising world power.
Furthermore, the king of Syria,
whose name is Rezin, and the king of
Israel,
that would be the northern ten tribes,
whose name is Pikah,
The two of them formed an alliance against
Assyria.
so the Assyrian nation was being a threat.
The two kings also want the king of Judah,
that would be Ahaz, who is in the line of
David,
to join their anti Syra Assyria alliance.
But when Ahaz refuses in chapter seven of
verses one to six,
two key
Two related problems arise. Number one,
the two kings went up to make war against
him.
And secondly, they wanted to replace him
with a puppet king named Tabel.
These two related problems,
I believe, are key to understanding what's
happening in verses 14 through 16.
And of course God did not want them to
make alliances with nations,
he wanted them to trust in him.
That's right.
Go ahead. That's right. And so let's look
at these two problems.
One, the two kings went up to make war
against the against Haz Ahaz was
who was the king of the southern tribes.
This is a short term problem. The imminent
destruction of the kingdom of Judah.
Secondly, the two kings went up to replace
Ahaz with a puppet king named Tabel.
This is a long term problem.
The destruction of the Davidic dynasty
that leads to the future Messiah.
This line from David to Messiah has
already been predicted in
the Old Testament scriptures prior to
Isaiah 7,
that's over in 2 Samuel 7 13 to 14,
and many passages that show that that the
Messiah will be of the line of David.
So God tells Isaiah in with that.
Background, God tells Isaiah in chapter
seven verse three of the book of Isaiah,
Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and shear
Jashub,
your son.
That I think is key in this context.
That's
going to be very important. Note that Shia
Joshua then in Hebrew means
a remnant shall return. Through Isaiah,
God says to Ahaz, Ask for a sign for
yourself and from Jehovah your God.
Ask it either in the depth or in the
height above.
Chapter 7, verse 11 of Isaiah.
Ahaz disobeys, saying, I will not ask,
followed by what appears to be his
hypocritical statement.
In Isaiah chapter 7, verse 12.
Note that the virgin birth of Jesus as the
fulfillment of this implies that
God performed a miracle and implies that
God is confirming that event.
And therefore, as you might expect,
there are different explanations of Isaiah
7 14.
There are those who accept that it
predicts the virgin birth of Jesus.
There are those today who reject that it
predicts the virgin birth of Jesus,
like some Jews do.
There are those who reject the very
possibility of anything miraculous,
the naturalistic critics today of the
Bible.
There are four basic interpretations that
have emerged
re regarding Isaiah 7:14 through 16.
Let me just summarize these quickly.
Number one, ~ that ~ the this one
interpretation focuses
on Isaiah 7:14.
It says that the verse contains only one
prediction and its
one fulfillment takes place in Isaiah's
own day.
Secondly, second focuses on Isaiah 7.14.
It says the verse contains only one
prediction,
and its one fulfillment is a direct
fulfillment that takes place at the time
of the future Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth,
700 years down the road. A third focuses
on Isaiah 7.14 again.
This says that the verse contains only one
prediction,
but has two fulfillments, one during
Isaiah's own day,
and the other at the time of the future
Messiah,
Jesus Christ. And this second fulfillment,
perhaps being a typological fulfillment.
This is the so-called dual fulfillment of
of ~ of the one prediction
in Isaiah seven chapter seven fourteen.
And then there is the
Explanation of Isaiah 7.14 to 16 that
focuses on those three verses.
This claims to be a corrective of the
above views.
It says that some people are missing the
fact that there are in fact
two predictions and two fulfillments,
two separate predictions and two
corresponding separate fulfillments
in the context of Isaiah 7.
14 through 16. Namely, verses 14 to 15
contains
one long-term prediction that the birth of
Jesus of Nazareth directly fulfills,
directly, not typologically, but directly
fulfills.
And 7.16 contains a short-term prediction
fulfilled in Isaiah's own day.
This is the explanation of the passage
Isaiah 7:14 to 16,
I believe makes sense. So
Let's ~ each of us follow then as we
proceed.
First Thessalonians five twenty one,
prove all things, hold fast to that which
is good.
I accept the evidence that Jesus is the
Messiah.
Again, it appears to me that the true
prophecies explanation best fits
the biblical texts. That is Isaiah seven
fourteen to sixteen contains
two independent predictions, not one.
A short-term prediction fulfilled in
Isaiah's day,
and a long-term prediction fulfilled
centuries later in the first century A.D.
by the virgin birth of Jesus. Now let's
explain and expand upon this.
This takes us to the immediate context
then of Isaiah and in particular verses
14 through 16. Read again, if you would,
Brian, Isaiah 7, 14 to 16.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a
sign Behold the virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and shall call his name
Emanuel.
Curds and honey he shall eat that he may
know to refuse the evil
and choose the good, for before the child
shall know to refuse the evil
and choose the good, the land that you
dread will be forsaken by both her kings.
So in verse sixteen in the New King James
we have the word beginning that
the verse verse sixteen begins with the
word for F O R.
That would lead you to suspect that ~
verse sixteen is talking about
the same subject as verses fourteen to
fifteen.
But as ~ he some Hebrew scholars point
out,
rather the word for, as some translations
would have it,
should be translated but which would
indicate a contrast with
Between ~ verse sixteen and what was said
in verses thirteen to fourteen.
Furthermore, in the New King James,
for example, the word child in Isaiah 7,
verse 16 is uppercase, added by those
translators.
And this would suggest also that this is a
reference in verse 16 to
the Messiah 700 years down the road.
It says, for before the child.
Capital C shall know to refuse the evil
and choose the good.
The land that you dread will be forsaken
by both her kings.
But the child being capitalized is not
true in many other English translations.
Furthermore, it says the land that you
dread will
be forsaken by both her kings in Isaiah
716.
The word you there is in the singular.
Which would be a reference then to Ahaz.
So there is a problem with taking child in
verse 16 to be the Messiah.
The time it takes for the very young for
very young children to reach
an age where they know good from evil is
just a few years,
not the 700 years between Isaiah's time
and the time of Jesus.
It has been observed, for example,
by Michael Rodelnik, quote.
The most difficulty in interpreting the
prophecy is that from a cursory reading
it appears that the sign would be
fulfilled within just a couple
of years of Isaiah's meeting the king and
not more than seven hundred years later
with the birth of Jesus. Rodelnock
proposes The reason
for this difficulty is the failure to read
the prophecy carefully and pick
up on the clues
The author has left. A close reading of I
of the text,
that is Isaiah seven, fourteen to sixteen,
will disclose that there is not one
prophecy here,
but two, unquote. Robert I.
Vashels makes a similar observation.
He says, quote, Isaiah makes two
predictions,
a long range prophecy in Isaiah 7,
14 to 15, that Matthew reports is
fulfilled.
And a short range prophecy in Isaiah seven
sixteen for his audience to witness.
Furthermore, Arthur Arnold G Fruchtenbaum
puts
it like this In verses fourteen to
fifteen,
God is promising that the house of David
cannot be deposed or lose
its identity until the birth of a virgin
born son.
This requires that Messiah be born of God.
prior to the destruction of the temple and
its genealogical records in AD seventy.
He continues, the second sign in Isaiah
seven sixteen,
is given to Ahaz personally. God promises
that the attack upon him
by Israel in Syria will not succeed.
And before Isaiah's son, Sheer Joshub,
reaches an age of moral maturity,
the two enemies
Enemy kings will cease to exist,
unquote. Or we might say better from verse
sixteen,
the land that you dread will be forsaken
by both her kings,
unquote. So the two prophecies in Isaiah
seven fourteen to sixteen.
One, the long term prediction addressed to
the house of David in seven fourteen
to fifteen, God will preserve the Davidic
line to Christ,
which culminates in Jesus seven hundred
years later.
And subsequent passages confirm this.
You might want to look on your own at
Isaiah 9,
6 to 7, Isaiah 11, 1 to 10,
Micah 5, verse 3, and then in the New
Testament ~ affirmation,
Matthew chapter 1, verse 23. number 2,
the short-term prediction addressed to
Ahaz in the singular,
Isaiah 7:16. God will anoint will not
allow the two kings to destroy Judah.
They will be defeated by the in fact by
the Assyrians.
So the long term prediction, Isaiah seven,
fourteen to fifteen, maybe read that once
again,
verse fourteen.
Therefore the Lord himself will show give
you a sign,
behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear
a son,
and shall call his name Emanuel.
So ~ and then also verse fifteen if you
could.
Curds and honey he shall eat, that he may
know to refuse the evil
and choose the good.
So the word you in verse 14 of Isaiah 7,
unlike the word you in verse 16,
which is singular, in the Hebrew the word
you in verse 14 of Isaiah 17,
here Isaiah switches to the plural.
So verse 14 is addressed not to Ahazaron,
but to the house of David. And then the
word sign in verse
14 of Isaiah 7, this can mean a miracle.
What fits better in the context?
Well, if you look at verse eleven and and
and look at this further,
~ there's ~ indication here that the sign
is a reference to a miracle.
And then the expression the virgin.
So ~ the use of the article with the word
~ translated virgin,
which is the Hebrew word alma,
indicates that the Lord has a specific
woman in mind,
the virgin, so a definite virgin.
And then, furthermore, that word
translated virgin again is the word alma
in the Hebrew. This is either used of a
virgin in the Old Testament scriptures
or is indeterminable, you can't tell if
it's a virgin or not.
E. J. Young in his commentary on Isaiah,
says, quote, at the outset, we may
confidently assert that the word alma
is never employed of a married woman.
At least one of these occurrences makes it
clear that the word may designate
one who is truly a virgin. Genesis 24,
verse 43, unquote. Furthermore,
the Greek translation, the well-known
Greek translation often used,
called the Septuagint, uses pathanos,
that is the Greek translation of Isaiah
seven fourteen uses instead of
al ~ to translate the Hebrew word alma.
uses the word pathenos, and Matthew one
verse twenty three understands
the word to mean a virgin. Matthew had
been with Jesus.
he was a tax collector. He could read and
write.
he could do math. He knows the difference
between singular and plural,
etcetera, etc. So there's more to say on
this,
but that is I think significant to
understand that the word used
in Isaiah seven fourteen, Alma,
at least can be used sometimes in
reference to a virgin.
And in that context, that's consistent
with with the translation of
it in the Septuagint and in Matthew's
account,
when he looks back upon it, he uses the
word meaning virgin.
So next we look at the word son.
It says in Isaiah 714, once again,
therefore the Lord himself will give you a
sign
Take that as a as a miracle. Behold,
the virgin, Alma Pathenos in the Greek,
~ shall conceive and bear a son.
And ~ the word son in the Old Testament
scriptures,
in predictions about the Messiah,
sometimes ~ that is in reference to the
Messiah.
You may look at it on your own.
Isaiah 9, 67, Micah chapter 5,
verse 3, the word son in reference to the
prediction of the Messiah.
And
The also in it says in Isaiah 7,
14 to 15, and shall call his name
Emmanuel.
And then verse 15, curds and honey he
shall eat.
Now let's talk about those two
expressions.
Shall call his name Emmanuel. This means
God with us.
Compare that with Isaiah 9, verse 6,
which is messianic and uses terms of deity
for Christ.
That says wonderful counsel.
Yeah, let me just read that for unto us a
child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulders,
and his name will be called Wonderful
Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
So notice how that's consistent with what
Isaiah seven fourteen to fifteen,
verse fourteen, shall call his name
Emmanuel,
God with us. Compare that with mighty God
predicted in Isaiah 9 6.
Furthermore, this expression in Isaiah 7,
verse 15, curds and honey he shall eat.
Well, the situation in which he will be
born and grow grow up,
~ I believe is is what's referenced here.
This term is later used to indicate the
food of of oppression in the book
of Isaiah at chapter 21, verse 20 to 22.
so the Messiah will be born when a foreign
power will be oppressing
the people of Judah. That's consistent,
of course, with the idea of the Romans.
Jesus was born in the land of Israel.
at that time it was a these were
provincial provinces and the leading world
power
of the time were the Romans and they were
oppressed and that's consistent with when
the it's saying then that that the Messiah
would be born at a time when he'll
be eating curds and honey. Again,
Isaiah seven, twenty one to twenty two,
a term that indicates the food of
oppression.
And then in verse 16 now in of Isaiah 7,
a reading from the New King James,
4 before the child shall know to refuse
the evil and choose the good.
Now here we have a switch, I believe.
In verse 16, the New King James,
for example, in some translations will
have four,
but instead of four F-O-R at the beginning
of this verse,
some versions have but
But before to indicate a contrast,
Vols Vesals agrees saying Isaiah makes a
transition in Isaiah seven hundred
sixteen from the triumph of in the future
house of David in seven hundred fourteen
back to his contemporary situation in
verse sixteen.
And again the word child there with
initial additional ca with
the initial capitalization.
~ is ~ I I believe is misleading.
A rather lowercase child, C-H-I-L-D,
as many versions, English versions put it.
And a lowercase is consistent with a
contrast.
Rodelnach continues, there is a different
child in view in this verse than
the son referenced in the preceding verse.
Rodelnach argues that it makes most sense
to identify the lad referenced
in verse 16 as
Sheer Jashub, Isis Isaiah's son.
Otherwise there would be no purpose for
God directing Isaiah to bring
the boy back in verse three. Edward Hinson
suggests that Isaiah
in fact was holding his young son when he
wrote when he was re when he
was ~ writing this. and this is consistent
with thee in the child,
that is the particular child I am holding.
That's somewhat speculative, but again it
looks like what we have
in verse sixteen is a reference to
Isaiah's son and not Isaiah's child,
and and that that's the reference in verse
sixteen,
different than the son, which is a
reference way down hundreds of years later
of the Messiah. Furthermore, the word you,
as we've indicated in verse sixteen,
the land that you dread will be forsaken
by both her kings,
and
This is singular, not plural, like the U
was in verse ~ verses fourteen
to fifteen context. So in verse sixteen,
Isaiah has switched back to addressing
Ahaz and the immediate problem,
and not the house of David in verses
fourteen to fifteen,
which addresses the long-term problem.
And so then, quote, before Sh ~ Shir Jasub
would be able
to discern good from evil, the Northern
Confederacy attacking Judah.
would fail. Within two years, in fact,
Tiglath Peleza defeated both Israel and
Syria.
The short term prediction then and its
fulfillment experienced gives confidence
that
God will fulfill the long term prediction
about the coming Messiah as well,
way downstream. So Isaiah 7 14 then,
therefore the Lord himself will give you a
sign,
behold
The virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and he shall call his n his name Emmanuel
corresponds in fulfillment with
the long term prediction that Matthew is
talking about in Matthew one twenty
two to twenty-three. So all this was done
that it might be fulfilled which
by which was spoken by the Lord through
the prophet,
saying, Therefore, behold the virgin shall
be with child and bear a son,
and shall call his name.
Emmanuel, which is translated,
God with us. And so that we have this
long-term prediction in Isaiah 7,
referenced in 14 to 15, which is fulfilled
by Jesus of Nazareth,
documented in the New Testament
scriptures.
He fits the life of Jesus, his birth,
and all other predictions that we find in
the Old Testament about the Messiah.
They fit the life of Jesus that is
documented for us in the
New Testament scriptures and in particular
the gospel account.
problems and that the verse 16 in Isaiah 7
is
a short-term problem that was ~ fulfilled
and predicting fulfilled by
~ within the lifetime of ~ Isaiah.
Yes, and I think ~ from the lesser to the
greater that short term problem seemed
insurmountable, seemed impossible.
That's why they were making alliances with
each other when they should have been
trusting in God. But God would deliver
that within that within that lifetime,
and as you mentioned earlier, that would
give confidence that sure enough
if he can if he can do something that
seemingly insurmountable,
then sure enough a virgin can shall
conceive and bear a son and
His name would be Emmanuel God with us.
Of course that's consistent with ~ the
power of God,
the omnipotence of God and his ~
omniscience,
looking being able to see the future and
and fulfill the the future.
And we're talking about a God who created
this universe,
a God who then pr perf is able to perform
miracles and this being this wonderful
wonderful fulfillment of ~ convincing us
with the evidence of
the New Testament scriptures
As well as these Old Testament predictions
that Jesus is who he claims.
Yes, the confidence that Jesus is.
In fact it's impossible for him not to be
existing as the Bible teaches.
And we and we can have confidence in that,
and that of course causes us to believe,
among other predictions and fulfillments
about Jesus,
that ~ what he says we ought to believe
and obey.
Yes, all right. That about sums it up.
look over at the clock here and that that
that lasted a long time,
but it looked it seemed like it went by
really quick because that's just just
the nature of studying the Bible and
digging in deep.
Well, we appreciate George and his
presentation of this and
we appreciate your listening and we'd
invite you to come again and ~ listen
to us and continue as we continue this
season six podcasting,
Minoring in the Majors.
Jesus gave his life on ransom number on
Calvary On Mount Calvary Cruel
Calvary Paved away by blood that we might
win a bright shining crown
Praise Salvation has been brought down O
Lory Praise
the Lord so Lord Salvation has been
brought down from heaven thou show
and show and show until the world around O
preaching until today too
People in sorrow till today until
tomorrow,
preach the word of God that we might win a
shining brown.
Salvation is full and free to sinners,
friends, and blessing us all over the land
and see your kitchen and every nation,
total for all over creation.
Praise the Lord, bless the Lord,
salvation has been brought down.
All alone without a friend, he suffered to
pay it all.
~ Yes, he paid it all. Jesus paid it all.
In his blessed promises, sweet victory can
be found.
Praise his crossing way. Salvation has
been brought down.
glory. Praise the lost source.
Salvation has been brought down from
heaven.
And go and show and show on show until the
world around.
~
People in sorrow, tell today and tell
tomorrow,
preach the word of God that we might win a
shining brown.
Tell the was the law, our salvation is
full and free to sin,
there's friends and blessings all over the
land and sea.
Go teaching them. Tata far in every
nation,
Tatafar, all over creation, praise the
Lord,
bless the Lord, salvation has been brought
down.
There's a blessed home prepared way over a
glory land,
in my glory land.
Blessed glory land. I have trusted in his
love and now I am heaven bound.
Praise his false name. Salvation has been
brought down,
glory, praise Praise the also.
Salvation has been brought down on heaven.
Go and show and show and show until the
world around.
Tell today to people in sorrow.
Tell today until tomorrow. Preach the word
of God that we might bring a shiny.
Salvation is full and free to sinners,
friends, and sinners all over the land and
see your teaching
and tell-of-farm in every nation,
Tata Far, all over creation, praise the
Lord,
plus the Lord, salvation has been brought
down.