Prophecies about Jesus: His virgin birth

In about 700 BC. the Arameans and the kingdom of Israel planned to attack the kingdom of Judah from the north. This was an attack on a descendant of king David and so was an attack on God’s promise that the Messiah would be a ruler who was a descendant of David. But God told the Judeans not to be afraid and gave them a sign.

The message from God through the prophet Isaiah was, “the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel … before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste” (Isa. 7:14, 16NIV). And in 732 BC and 722 BC, these two nations were plundered by the Assyrians.

The Hebrew word used for the mother meant “young woman” (NET Bible). In that culture a young woman was a virgin. And she was probably nearby because the message was spoken near where cloth was washed (Isa. 7:3).

After the promise was given, a boy was born who was a sign that God would deliver Judah from their enemies. It predicted the birth of Isaiah’s own son which is described in the next chapter of Isaiah (Isa. 8:3-4). But the deliverance didn’t last, because many of the following kings of Judah proved to be evil.

There is no indication in the text of the birth of a messiah about 700 years later. But Matthew said that the birth of Christ was also a fulfillment of this promise, “She [Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet [Isaiah]: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”) (Mt. 1:21-23).

How can this be? Well, it is a pattern of events in the Old Testament that is repeated with greater meaning in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, a son was promised that would lead to the deliverance of Judah from their enemies. And they were protected for another 150 years until Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. In the New Testament, the angel Gabriel promised a son to Mary (Lk. 1:29-33) and an angel told Joseph that Jesus will “save His people from their sins” (Mt. 1:21). This is called a “type” or a “typology” where a pattern of events is repeated. The fulfilment is a similar but greater pattern of events. Of course, this is only evident in hindsight. It’s like a hidden prophecy – hidden in the Old Testament, but revealed in the New Testament. There are also differences. In Christ’s case the mother was a virgin, the son was the Son of God, and the deliverance was eternal, not temporary.

The name “Immanuel” tells us something about the person, even though it wasn’t used in daily life. So, Isaiah prophesized that a son born to a young woman would be God with us. This prophecy had two fulfilments about 700 years apart.

The virgin birth highlights that salvation is wholly a work of God. And it ensured that Jesus would be our perfect representative (Heb. 4:15), sharing our humanity, but not our guilt.

Miraculous births like to Sarah (Gen. 17:17), Rebekah (Gen. 25:21), Hannah (1 Sam. 1:5-7), and Elizabeth (Lk. 1:7) point to God’s life-giving power. How much more does Christ’s virgin birth point to God’s amazing power.

Isaiah repeated this prediction as: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Is. 9:6). At a time when Judah faced God’s judgment in the form of enemy attacks and threats, God promised a baby son who would rule on David’s throne forever. In this passage, He predicted the first and second coming of Christ. The “child is born” shows Christ’s humanity, and the “son is given” shows His divinity.

Prayer

Father God, we thank you for promising to send a Messiah into this world. Thanks for telling the manner of His birth and the fact that He would be a unique person being both human and divine. We thank you that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy – He satisfied this essential requirement for our Savior. Amen.

Written, December 2024

Also see: Patterns of Jesus Christ hidden in the Old Testament