Immanuel

Isaiah 7 is set during the reign of Ahaz, when Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel, called Ephraim, joined forces against Judah. They planned to tear Judah apart and set up a king of their own choosing, the son of Tabeel. Ahaz and his people trembled like forest trees in the wind.

God's answer came through Isaiah, who brought his son Shearjashub. The enemies were "two tails of smoking torches," burning out, not blazing. Their plot would not stand. The real question was whether Ahaz would trust God: "If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established." When God offered a sign "either in the depth, or in the height above," Ahaz said, "I won't ask. I won't tempt Yahweh." His words sounded humble, but Isaiah said he was trying the patience of God.

So the Lord himself gave a sign to the house of David: "Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Before the child would know to refuse evil and choose good, the two enemy kings' land would be forsaken. Yet because Ahaz would not trust, Isaiah warned that the king of Assyria would bring hard days and the farmland would become briers and thorns. In the New Testament, Matthew 1:22-23 quotes this verse to show that the virgin birth of Jesus fulfilled it.