1 It wasn t really a virgin birth Isaiah 7:14 This morning I want to approach advent from the Old Testament. And I want to show you a verse that begs you to put your faith in Jesus: 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isa 7:14 NIV) It may not be obvious, but I want you to see in this verse, a call to faith in God over and above everything else. Pray The power of a good prophetic verse 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isa 7:14 NIV) This verse gives us goosebumbs and shivers up our spine. It is powerful. It is emotional. It's about God, the infinite, dwelling with us that just isn t possible. It's about conceiving a child without a man this can t happen. It's a prediction which comes true more than 500 years later and the odds of that happening virtually prove that Christianity is true. I mean, the chance of this one verse coming true is pretty much impossible (much less the other 60 or so prophecies) If you are a Christian, you have to love this verse. And I am sure you do. It's a clear pointer to prove what you know about Jesus. Clear proof. Let me take an aside for a second that I promise will be very relevant later. What are the probabilities that these prophecies could be fulfilled? Did you know that 1 out of every 73 people has sky dived? Did you know that Facebook has 1.3% more registered users than there are trees left on the planet? 62.3% of high school students could not locate Saturn on a planet map. 58% of television viewers believe Game of Thrones is based on historical events. Every day of the week, 1 in 20 people eat at McDonalds. Out of these statistics, only this last one is even close to accurate. The others are totally made up.
2 I saw these stats recently that went all over the internet: 1 Scientists estimate if you added up all of the data on the internet it would weigh 13 pounds. The average teenager has seen 10,000 pornographic videos and starred in 36 by the age of 30 The average teenager will spend the equivalent of 4.3 years on their cellphone every year. I didn t want to read these in my earlier list, because I fear you would have believed them too. Because we believe some really ridiculous things. We believe we might win the lottery or Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes the chances of winning these sweepstakes is 1 in a billion. Just so you have a clue, this means it is more than four times as likely to be struck by lightning... today. The chances of being killed in DC is only one in 1,681. So maybe stop buying lottery tickets?? Here is a very true stat that I kind of liked 1 in 10 Americans still reads the Bible every day. Of course, 1 in 24 still have pay monthly to have National Geographic sent to their home. Here is my favorite statistic: Experts say 97.6% of the infographics shared on the internet are made up of entirely false information. (by the way, this isn t true either) See, the problem with stats is that no one really knows how they did the survey, what questions they asked, what day they asked the questions on or even whether the stats are totally made up. But they still seem to have so much power. That s why I love stats. I can use them to beat people up and win arguments. I can manipulate them to say what I want. I can still use them to make myself the smartest guy in the room, because let s be honest, no one else knows the particular stats that I am stating. Here is a statistic that fits what I want to talk about this morning in regard to biblical prophecy. The probability that Jesus of Nazareth could have fulfilled even eight of the 60 such prophecies about his coming would be only 1 in 10 17. That's 1 in 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000. In case you want to do the math, that is nearly twice as difficult as winning the Publishers Clearing House. I can t even do the math that would figure out how many thousands of times more likely it is to be struck by lightning sometime in your life. That s a pretty powerful statistic. Here it s even more tangible. According to the book Science Speaks (vouched for by the American Scientific Affiliation), the chance of Jesus fulfilling these prophecies would be like 1 These and some of earlier and later can be found with cool pictures on http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/13- shocking-statistics-you-wont-believe-are-true/; viewed October 30, 2014.
3 covering the entire state of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep and dropping a blind man into the middle of it and him choosing the one silver dollar specifically marked. Now this stuff preaches. How could someone ever reject Jesus with stats like this? Who wouldn t believe in Jesus after this? Right? I mean, how could someone see all these prophecies, especially like this one which is perhaps the most famous prophecy in the OT pointing to Jesus, and not believe in Jesus? Could it be an example of the parable of Lazarus in hell when Abraham says that they won t even believe if they see someone come back to life? They are just that stubborn. Or might it be that we Christians sometime enjoy our fantasy world about how prophecy works. We hear the text, it fits what we believe, and so we agree. When the truth is that we don t really have a clue what is going on. Dropping you into a political controversy Do you know what Isa 7:14 is really about? Because most people have never even read Isaiah, much less spent more than 2 minutes trying to figure out the politics going on here. Yes, you heard me right, this super awesome powerful emotional Christian text is smack dab in the middle of a political treatise designed to get the king to make the right choice. Dropping in a single verse is like me dropping you right in the middle of an episode of Madame Secretary or West Wing and expecting you to know what one phrase means. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp3owlmdxls 0:47-1:16 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lneu36nuwj4 3:45-3:56 Which one of these works better to just be dropped into? Should I show something that everyone remembers or something new and quickly becoming one of the best shows? Who are the kings and countries attacking Judah? So, if you don t mind, I want to back up and read through this chapter slowly with you trying to walk you through the political situation that makes this verse so relevant. And in so doing, perhaps I will show you that this verse might not mean what you think it means. NIV Isaiah 7:1 When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of
4 Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it. Aaauughhh! So many names of people I don t know. What the heck is going on? One verse in and I am already lost. Keep looking at the text. Ahaz is King of Judah. Isaiah (a prophet) is going to be talking to Ahaz. But there are two other kings. Rezin, who is king of Aram or Syria (same country) and Pekah, who is king of Israel. Remember that Israel and Judah are two different countries now. They had a little civil war and Abraham Lincoln wasn t around to keep them all together. So now, according the last little part of verse 1, the armies of Israel and Syria are trying to fight against Jerusalem (Judah) but so far they haven t been able to overpower it. Is Ahaz worried? But you can imagine that the King of Judah, who is being attacked, is worried. 2 Now the house of David was told, "Aram has allied itself with Ephraim"; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind. So, Ahaz is worried. And you can imagine that since this is the Bible, God is going to do something about that. Ahaz is his guy. The King. The one that rules Gods people, so God has a plan. What is God s plan? 3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman's Field. Paraphrase: go meet Ahaz at the assigned place. 4 Say to him, 'Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood--because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. Paraphrase: Keep calm and carry on. Don t worry about these two countries who want to destroy you. 5 Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah's son have plotted your ruin, saying, 6 "Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it."
5 These two countries (Aram that s Syria, and Ephraim that s Israel) have their plan, but God has a different one. 7 Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: " 'It will not take place, it will not happen, 8 for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people. 9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah's son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.' " God asks Ahaz to do two things. What are they? God is saying, please, the kings of Syria and Israel are only Rezin and Pekah. They can t stand against me. So if you, Ahaz, have faith in me, then all is well. 10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, 11 "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights." 12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test." 13 Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? So Ahaz, have faith in me, God says. Go ahead, ask me for a sign. I will make it super clear. But Ahaz won t. There is some kind of lack of faith in Ahaz s words that tick God off and he decides to give him a sign anyway. And that sign is our verse. What is the sign? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. The sign that Ahaz refuses to ask for, the sign that will prove that God is telling the truth, the sign that confirms that Judah need not be concerned about these two nations trying to crush him is that a virgin will have a baby and he will be called Immanuel. We will get back to this, but the sign isn t over. 15 He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. 16 But 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. Do you hear the promise? When this child is a toddler that is, when he starts eating real food and knows the difference between right and wrong those two countries that are trying to hurt you will be destroyed.
6 That sounds awesome, except there is more. Because Ahaz didn t trust in God and instead called Assyria the bigger cooler country up north to help them out, then God s sign isn t all positive. What s the negative aspect of the sign? 17 The LORD will bring on 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." In other words, Assyria will come attack you. You were hoping they would save you? Well, your saviors will now be your destruction. What are the two metaphors used for Judah s enemies? 18 In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. Not real flies and bees. These are the bugs that come up when the Nile Floods. Egypt. And Assyria is filled with bees. It's a way of saying that the countries you trust in are coming against you. 19 They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes. And then he changes the metaphor from flying insects to a razor. 20 In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the River--the king of Assyria-- to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to take off your beards also. Shaving is the insult of a people who have been conquered. Hair of your legs is actually hair of your feet a euphemism for private parts. It's like saying, totally shaved. Not just your head and beard, but even the hair you can t see. But the English version does that from head to toe. Total humiliation. 21 In that day, a man will keep alive a young cow and two goats. 22 And because of the abundance of the milk they give, he will have curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey. 23 In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns. 24 Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns. 25 As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run. What used to be cultivatable and rich is now thorns and filled with poverty.
7 Thus ends the chapter, but let me just step into the next chapter if you don t mind. NIV Isaiah 8:1 The LORD said to me, "Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 2 And I will call in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me." 3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said to me, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 4 Before the boy knows how to say 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria." (Isa 7:1-4 NIV) Who is the child mentioned in the sign? I read this because most scholars say that it is this child who is the confirmation of the promise. Maher-shallal-hash-Baz is the sign. And I think you can see this with the context and especially verse 4. Before the boy can say my father and my mother... or before he knows the difference between right and wrong, or before he gets very big. While he is yet an infant... Damascus (Syria) and Samaria (Israel) will be destroyed by Assyria. Does this make sense? The only problem with this is that the sign in 7:14 says that it is a child born of a virgin. That s what makes this passage so darn awesome. And here in 8:3 it says that he (Isaiah) went into the prophetess and she conceived and gave birth to this Maher-shallal dude. Is this really a virgin birth? The answer to this is given in most of our study Bibles. I read from the NIV Study Bible notes Virgin. May refer to a young woman betrothed to Isaiah who was to become his second wife. It even gives another passage in Genesis and Proverbs where the word for virgin here (almah) is used of a woman about to be married. So, it s not really a virgin birth at all. It's not really even a prophecy at all. It's a statement from God that in the next couple of years, he will destroy these attacking countries. That s it. Nothing else going on here. So, I am left with a choice. I can either preach this passage and give you goose bumps and certainty or I can try to be true to what is going on. The super cool thing is that admitting that this text is nothing fantastical doesn t have to lessen the awesomeness of what is going on.
8 Iphones and the New Testament See, I have an iphone 6. I just thought I would throw that in. See, I am cool now. Look at the size of this thing. No wires. No long antenna. Heck, I don t even have to use buttons. I am King. I am master. I just talk to Siri and she does what I want. To Siri: Who am I? I wonder if Alexander Graham Bell had any clue what his patent would become. If he were here today, I couldn t talk to him about signals bouncing off of satellites or an integrated system of all knowledge in the world at my fingertips. I would need to explain to him what this was by using his language. Wires. Switchboards. Handcranks. Not YouTube videos or Pandora. No matter how brilliant Bell was, he couldn t understand my new language. Jesus story is connected to this story in Isaiah in much the same way. Israel s story started it, but Jesus story was so utterly new and unexpected that Israel s story couldn t fully handle it. It's a major surprise ending. The gospel writers loved their Scripture, but Jesus couldn t be perfectly explained by it. He really was a surprise. So, the writers had to take old stories and adapt them and transform them for a new task. They had to read their Old Testament in a whole new way. The Bible is NOT the final word from God Hear this: The Old Testament was not the final word from God. Jesus was the final word. So the Old Testament had to be used by later authors to show what was obviously the climax of everything. So, here is Matthew, totally overwhelmed by this man Jesus that he has come to believe is the true Messiah in a way that blew his mind because it was a way that no one could have ever expected by reading the Old Testament. So, now he wants to find a way to explain him by using Israel s story. So, Matthew starts his book by saying 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." (Mat 1:22-23 NIV) So according to Matthew, the birth of Jesus to a virgin is predicted by the prophet Isaiah about 700 years earlier. But as we have seen, it s just not. Isaiah wasn t predicting Jesus birth, he was talking about something that took place within the next several months. Not 700 years later. And even the sign itself wasn t a prediction, it was just a sign. Matthew used Isaiah to say things that Isaiah just would never have known or intended. And Matthew wasn t stupid. He didn t think that Isaiah was planning that. He was being creative with the text... just like every other interpreter of his time was.
9 Matthew had a plan he wanted Jesus to be seen as the new Torah giver, the new Moses. That s why he talks about calling his son out of Egypt. That s why he has Jesus give a series of commands from the top of a mountain. And that s why he grabs an OT passage about a virgin birth to explain the special birth of a new prophet king just like Moses special origin story. See, Matthew wasn t trying to stick with the original meaning. That wasn t his goal. His goal was to talk about Jesus. To talk about Jesus as the climax of Israel s story. What you are doing is some pretty sophisticated hermeneutics right now are you impressed with yourself? Israel s story is Jesus story, but different. Here is what is going on. Matthew wants you to see Jesus the way he sees him. So, he takes Israel s story, which he and everyone else knows pretty well, and he tells Jesus story using the same structure and often the same words. Situation in Israel Israel is in trouble. The book of Isaiah is written to explain how they got into exile. They were being threatened by the nations all around them. Who should they have trusted? Trust God for crying out loud. Trust God. Don t trust in chariots or soldiers. Don t trust in Egypt or Assyria. Don t trust in anything but God. If they had done that, he would have rescued you with a crushing defeat to your enemies. Now along comes Jesus Israel is in trouble. For centuries they have been living in exile owned by other countries. A constant threat of extinction. Who should they trust? They should trust God. What did that mean for them? It meant wait for God to send the one born in Bethlehem (another prophecy of sorts), wait for the one sent from the line of Judah (another prophetic passage), wait for the one whose scepter is from old (another prophecy?) in other words, wait for the Son of David connections to Bethlehem, Judah and a scepter. Wait for the one who will come in and destroy Assyria, Syria, Ephraim Egypt and now even Rome. A crushing defeat of their enemies. But surprise Jews here is Jesus. He doesn t do any of those things. Doesn t start a war, doesn t end an exile, doesn t even allow for any kind of violence, completely humbles himself and lives as contrary to Israelite domination theology as anyone could possible do. He is not going to take Israel back to its glory days under David although he is in a sense the son of David. He is subverting the whole story. In fact, Israel has ceased to be significant the people, the land, they just don t matter anymore. Jesus has an all different plan. Why don t the Jews understand when you quote them this text which is obviously about Jesus? Because it is so not obviously about Jesus. It's about the Maher-Shallal dude. It's a story tied to its immediate context. Until Matthew takes the story and uses it creatively to do something amazing to point to Jesus.
10 So Isaiah 7 is not a predictive prophecy at all. At best, it is a piece of a long story that culminates in Jesus. It's not Nostredamus predicting the day Kennedy would be assassinated. It's more like using the powerful story of Washington crossing the Potomac to look back on the day Obama went across White s Ferry the first time he visited Washington DC. It's knowing that he is the President and using history to confirm what is already fact. Now this might not send the same goosebumps up and down your arms, but it s still way awesome. It is honest first of all. And you can see the redemptive movement of Scripture as it shows Jesus as the final word and not the Old Testament. It's Christotelic. Jesus was the goal of Israel s story. Even if he rewrote the ideas. Instead of war, he brings peace. Instead of ending exile, he ends sin. Instead of conquering enemies, he conquers death. Instead of Israel, he opens it to the world. Jesus was indeed the ultimate point of Isaiah 7 even though it takes a larger worldview to see it. We lose the power of statistics with this way of reading. We lose the ability to insist our reading is obvious. We lose the ability to laugh at other s stupidity in reading this. We even lose a Bible that has a constitutional authority. What we gain in addition to just plain honesty, is a story. A story that isn t over yet. A story that began with Israel, reached its glory in an Israel of one Jesus, and is now working itself out in the story of the church, your story. Yes this was heavily theological. No it doesn t have the same apologetic power. But the story couldn t be greater. Because it s your story. There aren t countries all around you seeking to destroy you, but the enemy is still very real. The enemy is pride, its keeping up with those around us, it selfishness, its greed, its depression, its dysfunction. It really is the nations and the lies they tell us. And our own mind. And God says who will you trust in this Christmas? Will you believe the voices or God? Because it isn t easy to trust in God when everything is coming down on you. That s what Ahaz discovered. That s also what Matthew discovered and Peter. When things don t work out the way you had hoped (like the hoped for King of the Jews just got killed on a cross) it s easy to find something else to trust. But the key to this story is that Jesus did come and did conquer and is in the process of making everything else right. Will you trust him with your story? Will you follow the way of the cross? Will you stop putting your faith in stuff? or in relationships? Or in your intellect or talent? Or even in your understanding of the Bible. And rather put your faith in the one to whom the Bible points. The one to whom all of history points. I have more to say, but I have two more prophecies to take you through before Christmas night. Let s pray.