December 1998 Issue

Background

King Ahaz of Judea was between a rock and a hard place. He had ascended the throne in 735 B.C. at the age of 20. About a year later the young monarch was faced with a Middle East-type crisis. Assyria had been the dominate power in the region forcing other smaller nations such as Syria and Israel (the northern kingdom) to pay it tribute. But now Syria and Israel had formed a military alliance against Assyria. This touched off the Syro-Ephraimite war of 734-33 B.C. (Ephraimite being a reference to Israel, the northern kingdom). This alliance wanted King Ahaz of Judea to join, no doubt, because as it faced Assyria to the north it did not want to worry about Judea to the south. King Ahaz refused to join evidently being rightly fearful of retaliation by the Assyrians. The Syrian-Israelite alliance responded by invading Judea with the goal of replacing Ahaz on the throne with the son of Tabel as a puppet king (Is 7:6). Thus Ahaz was faced with a crisis. The immediate threat came from the invasion force of Syria and Israel, but to join their alliance meant a much greater threat: Facing the wrath of the Assyrian empire.

In the midst of this crisis God sent the prophet Isaiah with a theological solution: Rely on God rather than cower in fear before Syria and Israel. This was the message Isaiah brought to Ahaz during a royal inspection tour of Jerusalem (7:1-9). But relying on military and political alliances rather than God seemed a much safer bet for Ahaz for according to 2 Kings 6:7-8 Ahaz, had decided to seek help from Assyria thereby making Judea a vassalage of the Assyrians.

Isaiah's Message of Immanuel

Isaiah 7:10-17 presents the second message of God to Ahaz. It opens with an invitation for Ahaz to request any sign in the cosmos so that Ahaz will know of God's faithfulness to divine promises (7:10-11). Ahaz feigns piety by refusing to put God to the test, because he was really seeking security in military alliances rather than divine promises (7:12). Isaiah, however, will not be put off. Ahaz had worn out the patience not just of Isaiah but also of God (7:13). Though Ahaz wouldn't ask for a sign, God will give a sign to him nonetheless (7:14a).

Later Christian interpretations have generally been a hindrance to a proper understanding and appreciation of 7:14. The language of the Hebrew text does not read "virgin" but "young woman." (The specific word "virgin" entered via the Septuagint's translation some five centuries later.) Likewise the sense of the verb tenses is that this young woman "has conceived and will bear a son." In other words Isaiah was pointing out a young pregnant woman (whose identity we do not know) standing as part of the royal entourage. For Isaiah, then, the name of her soon to be born baby, not the manner of the child's conception, is God's sign. The baby's name is to be Immanuel, "God is with us." The normal growth and maturing of Immanuel (the eating of curds and honey depicts the food of weaning in v. 15; the age of moral discernment of v. 16 is around 20) will be a constant sign that God is with Judea; that Syria and Israel who threaten Judea will themselves be destroyed; and that the future of Judea is not secured through military alliances or diplomatic cleverness but by trusting in God's presence and faithfulness. Of that, Immanuel will be a living, breathing, growing sign to Ahaz. Nonetheless, 7:17 (like 7:9) adds an ominous note to this sign, because Ahaz will not trust in the Immanuel promise but in political promises from Assyria which will eventually have devastating consequences for Judea (cf. 7:18-25; 10:10-11; 2 Kg 16:7-10; 2 Ch 28:16-27).

In its original context, then, the sign of Immanuel had nothing to do with a virginal conception. Rather, it had everything to do with Ahaz's dilemma. He sought his solutions in what he could negotiate; in outward military might in which he could trust. Isaiah, however, presented the message of Immanuel, an alternative that is given to us not negotiated by us; a promise of God's continued presence right in the midst of being between a rock and a hard place.

Connections with Matthew 1:18-25

In his own right, Joseph was between a rock and a hard place. Joseph was betrothed to Mary, but their marriage was not yet consummated. Yet Mary suddenly turned up pregnant. Their betrothal meant that the formal, legal marriage process had already begun. Yet the law said that one should kill rather than marry a phony virgin (Dt 22:20-21). Because Joseph was a righteous man, he had to find the solution to his dilemma in the law. He had to divorce Mary, though he planned to do it quietly so that this phony virgin would not be shamefully ostracized (1:18-19).

But the angel brings him God's alternative, the message of Emmanuel. This child's origin is from the Holy Spirit not marital infidelity (v. 20). This child's name, Jesus, is to be his vocation. He will save his people from their sins (v. 21). This child's reality is the fulfillment of God's promise: He is Emmanuel, God with us. To communicate his Emmanuel message Matthew relies not on the language of Isaiah 7:14 in the Hebrew text but on the language of Isaiah 7:14 in the Greek of the Septuagint text. Hence the words "virgin" rather than "young woman," "shall conceive" rather than "has conceived," and "Emmanuel" rather than "Immanuel" are used in 1:23.

Understanding Matthew's exegetical process in no way diminishes the power of his Emmanuel message. For not only is the Emmanuel message the solution to Joseph's dilemma over what to do about pregnant Mary, but it also presents God's solution to the dilemmas of our own rock-hard place situations; of our own sin; and even of our own unrelenting attempts to obey righteously the law no matter what the human cost. Jesus is Emmanuel. In him God is now directly with us, and his mission is nothing less than our very salvation. Indeed to drive home the reality of this Emmanuel—God is with us—message, Matthew closes his gospel with the same Emmanuel message as Jesus promises, "Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (28:20).

Richard Carlson