Isaiah 7:10–16 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 7:10–16 on biblegateway.com
Verse 10Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Verse 11Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. Verse 12But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Verse 13Then Isaiah said: "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Verse 14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. Verse 15He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. Verse 16For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.
Devotion
“Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel” (God is with us). This is the message of the prophet Isaiah to a king and a people living in fear. It’s an odd sign, ambiguous and uncertain in its meaning. Is “God with us” promising or menacing, a comfort to us, or the exposure of our shortcomings?
This text becomes a quintessential Advent text when the word “young woman” in Hebrew becomes “virgin” in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint. Still an ambiguous and uncertain sign. How is it that God will come to dwell among us? As a baby?
King Ahaz was offered a sign of God’s promise and refused it. We are offered a sign of God’s promise in the Advent season, ambiguous and uncertain as it is. How will we respond to the word of Immanuel coming into the world born to a young woman?
Prayer
Prepare our hearts, O God, that we might receive the signs of your loving presence, and in them rejoice. Amen.
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