A Child is Born
My all-time favorite Christmas song, being of the non-secular kind, is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”
It’s dark, it’s moody, it’s melodic, it’s poetic, yet joyful and awe-inspiring at the same time.
The refrain says,
“Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to Israel,”
And, if you know anything about me, I have to add in a thing or two about literature and/or storytelling, but one of my favorite tropes in all of fictional literature is the “Prophesied One.”
Especially when done right.
Especially when the world has been waiting for this one person so hopefully, so reverently.
Especially, when there have been so many signs and wonders over the centuries but now it is finally the time.
Here’s where the chili meets the cheese:
700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the prophet Isaiah foretold of the coming of the Messiah, which he called ‘The Sign of Immanuel,” writing,
“Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for 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. The Lord will bring in you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah – he will bring the king of Assyria.”
– Isaiah 7:13-17
In the footnote of my Bible, it makes a point of marking Immanuel as meaning, “GOD WITH US.”
Seven hundred years later, Matthew writes,
“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God with us’).”
– Matthew 1:22-23
The prophet being, of course, Isaiah; it is a direct reference to Isaiah 7:14.
If that wasn’t a real kicker, two chapters later, Isaiah prophesies again in what he calls, “The Darkness Turns to Light,” penning,
“The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation,
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
You have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.”
– Isaiah 9:2-7
700 years before the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ the Messiah, Isaiah writes, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
But how do you know it was seven hundred years before the coming Messiah that Isaiah prophesied?
Because the Bible tells us in chapter one of Isaiah, prefacing the entire written work by stating,
“The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”
– Isaiah 1:1
The last king mentioned, King Hezekiah of Judah, ascended the throne in 729 B.C., (Before Christ), at the age of twenty-five.
729 years before Christ, Isaiah predicted the coming King of Kings.
And more than seven hundred years later, both Matthew and Luke detail the miraculous birth of the Messiah in their New Testament gospels.
The prophecy had been fulfilled.
The King of Kings had come.
For unto us, a child was born.
And He was called, Emmanuel.
God with us.
