Morning Moments

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

John Wesley has a wonderful note on this text:

Isa 7:14 Therefore - Because you despise me, and the sign which I now offer to you,
God of his own free grace will send you a more honourable messenger, and give you a nobler sign. A sign - Of your deliverance. But how was this birth, which was not to happen 'till many ages after, a sign of their deliverance from present danger? This promised birth supposed the preservation of that city, and nation and tribe, in and of which the Messiah was to be born; and therefore there was no cause to fear that ruin which their enemies now threatened. Immanuel - God with us; God dwelling among us, in our nature, Joh_1:14. God and man meeting in one person and being a mediator between God and men. For the design of these words is not so much to relate the name by which Christ should commonly he called, as to describe his nature and office.

It is true that God had watched over Israel in good times and bad; through the challenges and the chastening, always standing ready to bring her back to Himself. Time and time again she rejected the signs God gave her and refusing to believe his promises. This sign was for the sake of the house of believing “David” (God remembering His everlasting covenant with David), not for unbelieving Ahaz’ sake.

This verse spans hundreds of year to the birth of the Savior and by not merely a young woman or maiden, but truly by a virgin – something never known by man until Messiah was born, and never known since. God was manifest in the flesh, justify in spirit, seen of angels, and preached to men. God was to be WITH His people! Jesus said it, “I will never leave you nor forsake you; I will be WITH you to the ends of the earth.

What could be more exciting that to know that the God of heaven and earth is WITH you? Only one thing so far as I am concerned – That He who is WITH His people is now IN His people, sealed by the Holy Spirit UNTO the redemption of our bodies, when these vile bodies shall be fashioned unto His glorious body and death is swallowed up in victory. Hallelujah!
BLESSINGS!