Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? 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’). By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt and honey. For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted. [Isaiah 7.13-16]
OK, I'm going out on a limb here... IN CONTEXT, this passage would indicate that a sign would be given TO AHAB that a child would be born and before that child is old enough to choose right from wrong, the two kings threatening Ahab would be deserted. It seems this "sign" is to be contemporary with Ahab - something Ahab will witness...
However, on our Christmas cards, all we see is Isaiah 7.14 as a prophecy of Jesus' advent.
Well, Matthew records that an angel appeared to Joseph and quoted this statement from Isaiah (Matt. 1.18-25). How did the angel of the Lord come up with that association? I mean, the context of the Isaiah passage has nothing at all to do with the coming of Messiah...
Father, I know there is an explanation for my questions here - but I simply do not see it. Help me to understand so that I might be a more convincing witness for You!
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