Isaiah 7:1–14; 9:1–7
Luke 1:26–38
A most remarkable Christmas promise was given by the prophet Isaiah to King Ahaz when two armies stood against Jerusalem. God sent Isaiah to assure the king of the Lord’s protection. Even though Ahaz was wicked, God extended mercy. When Ahaz learned of the armies ready to attack, he shook with fear (Isaiah 7:2).
Isaiah comforted Ahaz and told him the Lord would protect him and that Ahaz should ask the Lord for a sign of this salvation. Isaiah told Ahaz, “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven” (Isaiah 7:11). Even though Ahaz was a wicked king God offered to show him a sign of his salvation.
If King Ahaz had asked God as a sign to split the sun in half, God would have done it. But Ahaz was afraid. He didn’t want to test God. Isaiah responded by giving Ahaz the greatest sign of all time, even greater than splitting the sun. He said, “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). The name Immanuel means God with us. So the child Isaiah foretold would be both God and man.
Not only did the Lord deliver Jerusalem from the hand of their enemies, but he also gave King Ahaz the greatest sign of all time: the promise of his coming Son.
Seven hundred years later, the angel Gabriel echoed God’s Christmas promise to Mary with these words:
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
And Mary [who was unmarried] said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”
Luke 1:30–35
Through Mary’s trust in God, the King of glory stepped off his throne and became human. Immanuel, God with us, filled the womb of a young, unmarried woman—an impossible plan made possible through God.
On the day Isaiah spoke to Ahaz, he also spoke of the child to be born, saying: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this” (Isaiah 9:6–7).
Our excitement in waiting for Christmas is just a tiny glimpse into how God’s people waited seven hundred years for the fulfillment of God’s promised Son.
QUESTIONS:
- What was the greatest sign of all time?
- How is the promise Gabriel gave Mary, the same as the sign spoken to Ahaz?
- When was the greatest sign of all time fulfilled?
Excerpted from Promises Made Promises Kept © 2024 by Marty Machowski. Used with permission of New Growth Press. May not be reproduced without prior written permission.
Promises made Promises Kept
Start a new family tradition for the Christmas season by reading this “upside-down” from Marty Machowski. Begin the week before Christmas with the first side, Promises Made which has seven stories that explore the Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah. On Christmas Day, flip the book over and continue by reading Promises Kept with seven more stories that vividly illustrate how Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection and the beginning of the church fulfill God’s promises.
