Prediction of the birth of Immanuel, the son of the virgin.

The successors of King David fell into idolatry, dragged almost all the people behind them, and thus called upon themselves God’s wrath and punishment. In 736 BC, the Syrian and Israeli kings united against Judah. The Judean king Ahaz did not show trust in God but sought help from the Assyrian king, to whom he even sent gifts from the temple treasury. Through the prophet Isaiah, God wanted to help the king in a problematic situation. He offered him any miracle as a sign of help.

The king, however, rejected God’s miracle because he did not want to leave the idols and the alliance with Assyria. He trusted more in human powers than in God’s help. The prophet understood the king’s refusal as a test of God’s patience. When the idolatrous king Ahaz refused the offer, the prophet Isaiah became a person with many righteous people. He exclaimed: The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and she will name him Immanuel.

In this sign, God’s great grace and miracle will be manifested. The greatness of the sign lies in the fact that the mother will be a virgin at conception and birth. Notably, it was customary to mention the human father in the chosen nation. The father’s name is not mentioned here. The Virgin herself will name her Son! Old Testament names often expressed the function and mission of the named person. The name Emanuel translates as God is with us. So when the child is born, God will dwell with us. This is how divine motherhood and mysterious incarnation are indicated in the prophetic prediction almost 750 years before its fulfillment.

The Virgin Mother became a sign in the following period until the fullness of time. The evangelist Matthew directly relates this prophecy of Isaiah to the conception and birth of Jesus from the Virgin Mary: All this happened to fulfill what the Lord said through the mouth of the prophet: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call his name Immanuel, which means God with us ( Mt 1, 22-23).