Immanuel

Immanuel
By Shirley Mitchell

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
Isaiah 7:14

To understand this significance of the prophecy, let’s talk about the context that it was given in Isaiah 7. Ahaz was the King of Judah. The kings of Aram and Israel joined forces to come against Jerusalem. The hearts of King Ahaz and his people were shaken. The Lord sent Isaiah to Ahaz to tell him to not be afraid and to not lose heart. Now was Ahaz a good king who deserved to have the Lord’s protection and deliverance? Not at all.

Ahaz was an evil king who did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, made cast idols for worshipping Baal. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places. The last one crushes me to even say. He sacrificed his sons in the fire.

So in his time of great need, God reaches out to him. King Ahaz had rejected the God of Israel, Yahweh, but God did not severe the relationship. No, God wanted to show Himself mighty to King Ahaz so God’s beloved chosen people would be delivered and restored to Him. They would know that He is the one true God.

God offers to deliver King Ahaz and his people and tells Ahaz to ask for a sign, “whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” God wanted Ahaz to turn his heart to him. How does Ahaz respond? He says, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.”

Ahaz had the God of the universe giving him permission to ask him for help yet he didn’t accept it. He didn’t know the God of Israel so he could not believe the God of Israel. He preferred to ask the king of Assyria. He sought the help of an untrustworthy human over the Almighty God that he could not believe. God outstretched His arms to Ahaz, but Ahaz rejected God and would not embrace Him. So God didn’t just give a heavenly sign of His power. God didn’t miraculously sweep through the enemy’s camp and deliver Israel from this attack. God’s sign to him would change the course of mankind for all generations.

God gave the sign of His ultimate deliverance. The virgin would give birth to a son. She would give birth to God’s Son. He was to be named Immanuel which means “God with us.” Jesus came to be with us. The Son of God came as a man so He could experience everything that we experience. He came to relate to us. You see precious one, ever since Adam and Eve were thrown out of the garden, God’s deepest longing was to deliver man from sin and to be with man. We see it when the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt, and God directs them to set up a tabernacle so that He could meet with them. We see it time after time with the kings of Judah and Israel. They forsake God and worship other gods. Yet, God remains faithful to His covenant and to them. He waits, and He woos them back to Him. He is the God of relationships, and He is the God loves us and longs to be with us.

Because I now understand deliverance and God’s desire to be with us, “O, Come, O Come, Immanuel” has become one of my favorite Christmas carols. Jesus coming as Immanuel is the biggest reason of all to rejoice and to celebrate. It’s not the temporary gifts of the materialistic Christmas we have created. It’s the eternity that we have with our God. Hallelujah! I’m bursting with joy! Aren’t you? Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to make this year the most special Christmas ever because we choose to focus on our Savior and worship Him.

Pray with me: Almighty God, thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to deliver us. Thank You for delivering us from captivity. Thank You for extending Your arms to us and asking us to believe in You. You are a with-us God. You will never leave nor forsake us. All You have ever wanted was to be with us. So we give you our hearts and affections this Christmas season. We celebrate Your deliverance and Your love. Thank You for Jesus, Your ultimate plan for deliverance. In the mighty Name of Jesus, our Immanuel, we pray. Amen!