Fulfilled Prophecies: The Virgin Birth

Old Testament Prophecy:
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14CloseIsaiah 7:14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin* will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means `God is with us'). OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) (NKJV)

Family Devotion

Around 700 years before Jesus was born, a man named Isaiah told King Ahaz that a time was coming when a virgin would have a child named Immanuel. Isaiah didn’t make this up. He was just telling King Ahaz what God had told him.

Parents who lived during Bible times often chose names for their children that meant something special. Immanuel means “God with us.” At that time only men like Isaiah, who was called a prophet, could receive messages from God. But amazingly, Isaiah spoke about a time when God would be with people like you and me.

Isaiah’s words came true in the first chapter of the Book of Matthew, verses 18 to 23. Matthew writes that an angel appeared to a man named Joseph and told him that the woman he was engaged to, named Mary, was going to have a child named Jesus. This Jesus was actually God’s Son, even though He would be born to Mary. The Bible says that Jesus was God in human form. For the first time in history, as Isaiah had said to King Ahaz, God was indeed with us.

Going Deeper

King Ahaz was a wicked ruler who even sacrificed his own son in a fire (see 2 Kings 16:1-4Close2 Kings 16:1-4 Ahaz son of Jotham began to rule over Judah in the seventeenth year of King Pekah's reign in Israel. Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. He did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the LORD his God, as his ancestor David had done. Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel, even sacrificing his own son in the fire.* In this way, he followed the detestable practices of the pagan nations the LORD had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the pagan shrines and on the hills and under every green tree. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ). But God intended to preserve what is known as His “remnant,” or the family line from Abraham to Jesus (see 2 Kings 19:30-31Close2 Kings 19:30-31 And you who are left in Judah,  who have escaped the ravages of the siege,will put roots down in your own soil  and will grow up and flourish. For a remnant of my people will spread out from Jerusalem,  a group of survivors from Mount Zion.The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven's Armies*  will make this happen! OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) and Matthew 1:1-17CloseMatthew 1:1-17 This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David* and of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac.Isaac was the father of Jacob.Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar).Perez was the father of Hezron.Hezron was the father of Ram.* Ram was the father of Amminadab.Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.Nahshon was the father of Salmon. Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab).Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth).Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of King David.David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah). Solomon was the father of Rehoboam.Rehoboam was the father of Abijah.Abijah was the father of Asa.* Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat.Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram.*Jehoram was the father* of Uzziah. Uzziah was the father of Jotham.Jotham was the father of Ahaz.Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh.Manasseh was the father of Amon.*Amon was the father of Josiah. Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin* and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon). After the Babylonian exile:Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel.Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud.Abiud was the father of Eliakim.Eliakim was the father of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok.Zadok was the father of Akim.Akim was the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar.Eleazar was the father of Matthan.Matthan was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah. All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ). Thus, He came to the aid of King Ahaz when Judah was on the verge of war with Syria, which had joined forces with Israel.

Isaiah 7:2CloseIsaiah 7:2 The news had come to the royal court of Judah: "Syria is allied with Israel* against us!" So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) describes the people of Judah as shaking in fear at the prospect of being conquered by Syria and Israel. That’s when God sent Isaiah to tell them not to be afraid, calling Syria and Israel “two smoldering stumps of firebrands” (Isaiah 7:4CloseIsaiah 7:4 Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn't need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ). God, through the prophet Isaiah, proclaimed that He was in complete control and would not allow the attack to take place.

After King Ahaz appeared to show respect for God by saying that he would not test Him (Isaiah 7:12CloseIsaiah 7:12 But the king refused. "No," he said, "I will not test the LORD like that." OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ), amazingly, God went even further to save Judah from imminent danger. He told them about the coming Messiah named Immanuel, a name that means “God with us.” God was informing His people that He planned to come to earth as a baby so that all of humankind could have access to His saving power.

At this point in Judah’s history, God spoke through His prophets and He accepted animal sacrifices by priests to atone for the sins of His people. But for God to say that He planned to come to earth in the form of a baby and live among His people spoke about a closeness between God and humans that His people had never considered. Needless to say, the people began to get very excited to see the long-awaited Christ child.

Some 700 years later, Joseph and Mary, who were from the city of Nazareth, were engaged to be married. Mary, still a virgin, was “found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18CloseMatthew 1:18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ). An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him that his wife-to-be would deliver the Christ child.

The wait was over. The Messiah was about to be born and God would no longer dwell in tents or tabernacles. Instead, He would live and eat and walk among both kings and commoners.

As you begin to look forward to Christmas, rejoice that your Savior, King, and God loved you enough to take on flesh and be born as a baby in a world full of sinners.