God with us

Holy Mother Mary with Child Jesus by unknown

O beloved,

As you wander through your day today, ponder this faith. The faith of a young girl to say yes. Yes, whatever You desire for me..may it all happen as You design. I just wonder about Mary. She must have realized that God‘s plan was finally rolling out. Four hundred years of God’s silence was broken in one night. Shattered. The Messiah was coming. He was actually coming. She knew the prophecy from Isaiah!

Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant

Isaiah 7: ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

I want to take that verse apart. Want to join me?

First of all let’s look at the context of this one verse.

From the commentary of Dr. Grant C. Richison:

During the reign of the evil King Ahaz, war brok out between Judah and Israel. Pekah, the king of Israel, entered into an alliance with the King of Syria (Rezin). The latter two went to Jerusalem to besiege it.

When Judah’s King Ahaz learned of the coalition against him, his heart sank along with his people. He was an evil king and could not reasonably expect God’s intervention for him. But God had not given up on Judah. God sent the prophet Isaiah to Ahaz to give him a promise of the perpetuity of Judah.

The message from Isaiah was one of comfort. Even though the kings of Israel and Syria formed a confederacy against him, God will intervene. Isaiah told Ahaz to ask for a sign to authenticate the promise from God. He refused. So Isaiah gave a sign from God, “and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

The Lord was asking this King to ask Him for anything. And Ahaz refused. WHAT?!? So you see, the Lord gave a sign anyway. And it was an amazing one at that! Let’s look at the Hebrew words in this verse.

Lord: title, spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence

give:  to be given, be bestowed, be provided, be entrusted to, be granted to, be permitted, be issued, be published, be uttered, be assigned

sign:  token, ensign, standard, miracle, proof

virgin:  virgin, young woman

conceive: pregnant

bear:  to be born

Name: reputation, fame, glory, the Name (as designation of God)

Immanuel: two words: 1. ‘el- God, the one true God, Jehovah 2. `Immanuw’el- symbolic and prophetic name of the Messiah, the Christ, prophesying that He would be born of a virgin and would be ‘God with us‘

That word, Immanuw’el, humbles me. I’m very sure that even when Isaiah spoke the name Lord, he was very sure of the reverence due his God.  Oh friends, how often do you hear His name profaned? How often do we use His name without reverence? How often do we cringe when we hear it abused? The Breath of Heaven is due so much more. He was and is God with us.

My thankfuls today:

27. I’m thankful for my husband, taxi driver today.

28. I’m thankful for a very kind landlord.

29. I’m so very thankful that God is with me.

How about you? What are your thankfuls this day?? God is with you. You are never, ever alone.

Pray on. Pray on.

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• Trust God as He is in control (chemistrychristianityandme.wordpress.com)
• Celebrating Immanuel… (breakawaybylintrollins.wordpress.com)
• HCIKFS: Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song) (lbtk.wordpress.com)