Jesus our Immanuel. I. REASONS FOR BELIEVING THIS . 1. None but Jesus was ever born of a pure virgin. 2. None but Jesus was ever "God with us." 3. None but Jesus ever knew truly "to refuse the evil and choose the good." II. DUTIES FLOWING FROM THE BELIEF . 1. If Jesus is "God with us," we must obey him. 2. If Jesus is "God with us," we must trust him. 3. If Jesus is "God with us," we must strive to imitate him. 4. If Jesus is "God with us,"... read more
The presence of God. We naturally ask the question—In what ways is God ours? "Immanuel;" in what respect is he one of whom we can say that he is "God with us;" how and where is his presence to be found and to be felt? There are many answers to this question; there is— I. THE ANSWER OF SACRED POETRY . That the presence of God is seen in the results of his Divine handiwork , in the foundations and pillars of the earth, in the "meanest flower that blows," in the varied forms of... read more
The Immanuel-Child. It is one of the most important facts concerning the manifestation of Christ, that he was "born of a virgin," or, as the "Te Deum" expresses it, "He did not abhor the Virgin's womb." We dwell on two points. I. IN THE VIRGIN 'S CHILD LIES HID THE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION . Isaiah could have had but faint and shadowy glimpses of those deeper meanings which we can find in his words. Reading his prophecy in the light of its fulfillment in the... read more
The nature of the Messianic prophecies. This being the first in the Book of Isaiah recognized as Messianic, the general subject may be illustrated in connection with it. Isaiah here gives a sign. Looking upon some woman in the king's presence who at the time was a virgin, he, in effect, says, "You shall know that Jehovah is the living God, and the all-sufficient Helper of his people, by this.—Before this woman can bear a son, and that son grow old enough to know good from evil, your land... read more
Butter and honey shall he eat . His fare shall be of the simplest kind (comp. Isaiah 7:22 ). That he may know ; rather, till he shall know (Rosenmüller); i.e. till he come to years of discretion. read more
The land , etc. Translate, The land shall be desolate , before whose two kings thou art afraid . The "land" must certainly be that of the two confederate kings, Rezin and Pekah, the Syro-Ephraim-itic land, or Syria and Samaria. "Desolate" may be used physically or politically. A land is "desolate" politically when it loses the last vestige of independence. read more
The culture of conscience. "Before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good." Some take this expression as referring to pleasant or unpleasant food; but it probably is used in a general moral sense. Compare the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in Genesis 2:9 ; Genesis 3:5 . For the expression as used in reference to children, see Deuteronomy 1:39 . Isaiah evidently intends, by a figure of speech, to indicate two or three years, the time when a child may be... read more
Therefore - Since you will not “ask” a pledge that the land shall be safe, Yahweh will furnish one unasked. A sign or proof is desirable in the case, and Yahweh will not withhold it because a proud and contemptuous monarch refuses to seek it. Perhaps there is no prophecy in the Old Testament on which more has been written, and which has produced more perplexity among commentators than this. And after all, it still remains, in many respects, very obscure. Its general original meaning is not... read more
Butter and honey - The word rendered “butter” (חמאה chem'âh), denotes not butter, but thick and curdled milk. This was the common mode of using milk as an article of food in the East, and is still. In no passage in the Old Testament does butter seem to be meant by the word. Jarchi says, that this circumstance denotes a state of plenty, meaning that the land should yield its usual increase notwithstanding the threatened invasion. Eustatius on this place says, that it denotes delicate food. The... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 7:14
Note on the general purport of the Immanuel prophecy . Few prophecies have been the subject of so much controversy, or called forth such a variety of exegesis, as this prophecy of Immanuel. Rosenmüller gives a list of twenty-eight authors who have written dissertations upon it, and himself adds a twenty-ninth. Yet the subject is far from being exhausted. It is still asked: I. The first theory is that of the Jewish commentators. Originally, they suggested that the mother was Abi, the... read more