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December 13, 2009 |
| Prophets of Messiah's Birth | ||
We begin with prophecies by Isaiah in the time of King Ahaz of Judah. At the time the northern kingdom of Israel had made arrangements with the Syrians to attack the southern kingdom of Judah and install their own king. The driving force behind that idea seems to have come from the growing power of Assyria, which was to the north of both of them1. They may have been hoping to add Judah to their kingdoms and become strong enough to withstand the Assyrians.
These two kings, working together against Judah, were a great concern for King Ahaz and the people of Judah. So King Ahaz made an alliance with the Assyrians, not understanding what the end result of that will be. Then God sent Isaiah and his son to talk to King Ahaz and instruct the king not to worry about those two kings and their plans. Isaiah said their plans would not succeed. Isaiah went on to prophesy that Syria would be destroyed very soon and within 65 years the northern kingdom would cease to exist.
The Lord instructs Ahaz to ask for a sign to show that Isaiah's words are true. Ahaz can choose any "sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights". But the king responds that he will not ask for a sign because he knows it is wrong to tempt the Lord. Isaiah responds in chapter 7:
13 Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also?"
The king is correct to believe it is wrong to tempt the Lord, but here the king has been instructed, by the Lord, to ask for a sign. In refusing to ask for a sign he is trying the patience of God.
14 "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."
Because the king will not ask for a sign, the Lord himself provides a sign, though not one as immediately useful as one the king might have asked for. This sign will not come true for about 700 years.
A few interesting points can be seen here. Various writings from shortly after the time of Jesus indicate that Jewish beliefs about the Messiah changed as a result of their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. One, of these beliefs was that he would be born of a virgin. At the time of the coming of Jesus, Jews interpreted the Hebrew word used here to mean virgin. But after Jesus' death and the apostle's claims that he was born of a virgin, the Jewish interpretation of the word changed to "young girl".
You may wonder how the interpretation of Hebrew words could be in doubt. After all, wasn't that the language of the Jews? If you had asked a Jew of Jesus time, she would have said she spoke Hebrew. But the truth is that she could not have understood the words of Ahaz, who would have also claimed to speak Hebrew.
Languages change over time. We see this also with English and the English of Shakespeare's time, which is hard for us to understand, and that's only 400 years of change. Muslims have the same problem. If they learn Arabic in school, that is not enough to practice their religion. They also have to learn the old Arabic in which their religious texts are written.
So enough time had passed from Ahaz to Jesus that the meaning of the Hebrew word used by Isaiah needed interpretation and could be "re-interpreted". But that interpretation makes no sense. It wouldn't have been much of a sign to Ahaz to be told "A young woman will give birth to a son and call him Immanuel". That would have been a common occurrence.
Another point is the name Immanuel. Some claim that Jesus was not the Messiah because his name was not Immanuel. It's difficult to understand in our culture that names in other cultures also have meanings. The oldest Hebrew texts show the name Immanuel (meaning "God is with us") is intended in this passage as a meaning and not as a literal name.
15 "He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. 16 But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste."
This is a historically verified prophecy. Shortly after the prophecy was given, Syria ceased to be a kingdom and remained so until just recently. The northern kingdom of Israel ceased to be a kingdom a little later has never since been a kingdom.
17 "The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah - he will bring the king of Assyria."
Isaiah now says that Ahaz's agreement with the Assyrians is going to prove to be a mistake. This too came true.
Now we jump over to Luke chapter 1 where another prophecy is given that ties in with the prophecy given to King Ahaz.
26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
The word virgin appears here to show this is a fulfillment of the prophecy given to Ahaz. If the prophecy given to Ahaz had said "young woman" instead of virgin, there would have been no point in making it clear here that Mary was a virgin. This shows again that the Jews of Jesus' time believed the Messiah would be born of a virgin.
Note that Joseph is shown to be from the house of David. We discussed this in last week's lesson.
In saying "highly favored", the angel is saying that God is going to be doing something special for her and with her. Other translations also say "Blessed among women". Note that Mary, likely in her teen years, is not shocked by the angel's physical appearance, only by his words.
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God."
Mary seems to be thinking "What an odd way to greet someone". We don't know whether this occurred indoors or outdoors, but it seems to have come in a situation where an unknown person would not have been unexpected.
Now the angel gives the commonly seen instruction "Do not be afraid" and says again that God has chosen her for a wonderful purpose.
31 "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus."
The name Jesus, Yeshua in Aramaic, is essentially the same name as Joshua as seen in the Old Testament and it means "Yahweh is salvation" or "Yahweh will save".
32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
He will be the Son of God; He will be given the throne of David; He will reign over Israel forever; His kingdom will never end. Therefore he will live forever? What would Mary have thought? Prophecy must always be true but it rarely has dates and does not always occur in the way and time we think.
"He is to be God's instrument of salvation as promised to the people of Israel. What is misunderstood by Israel is that […] his salvation is to be from sin, not from the Romans."2
34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
Mary knows the facts of life and naturally wonders how such a thing will come about. It is valuable to note that she is not doubting what she has been told, in which case she might have said "you're crazy. I'm a virgin". She is only asking how.
35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Other than knowing the conception will not be sexual, this answer probably doesn't give Mary much more information. Mary does know He will be born holy and will be called the Son of God.
Now the angel continues on with more surprising news.
36 "Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God."
Now Mary, strong in faith and mature for her age, responds
38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
"Without a doubt, she does not understand all that is happening to her [or about to happen to her]. Yet she freely submits to the will of God"3 She makes no demands, attempts no bargains, but offers herself as God's servant.
"One of the ongoing promises of the Old Testament is found when God proclaims, "I will be with you". God gave this promise to Jacob as he returned to his homeland. A similar promise was given to Moses when he was called to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Joshua and the people received the assurance as they entered the promised land. […] A great part of the coming of God's Messiah was the prophecy of Isaiah that the promised one would be Immanuel. God is with us and will be with us eternally […] Ahaz, a king of Israel, did not understand this. Mary, a teenage peasant girl, did."4
1 http://www.ao.net/~fmoeller/7-8.htm An excellent analysis of the history and the Hebrew text
2 NIV Standard Lesson Commentary
3 NIV Standard Lesson Commentary
4 NIV Standard Lesson Commentary