(A little Christmas in May.)
The second prophecy of the Messiah as a son was made by Isaiah sometime between 735 – 734 B.C.
This prophecy by Isaiah was used in Matthew’s gospel to refer to the birth of Jesus.
“This all then took place so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled:
“‘Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son…
The virgin birth is one of the key beliefs for Christiandom. Believing the gospel’s claim that Jesus was born from a girl who had never had sexual relations, and thus was conceived in a miraculous way by God, means that:
Jesus is Divine, having been begotten directly by God.
The prophetic Scriptures are Divinely inspired.
God has the power to work miracles outside the laws of nature.
AND that Jesus was sinless, thus His sacrifice had the power to redeem us from sin.
Many critics of Christianity point to the Hebrew word translated ‘virgin” used in Isaiah 7:14, ‘almah,’ as really meaning just a ‘maiden,’ or any young woman such as these might be in the illustration depicting the five wise virgins from Jesus’ parable.
Their criticism is there is no implication for the young woman being a virgin. To support this assertion, they look at unmarried young women in our society, many of whom are most definitely NOT virgins, and conclude, ‘What is unusual about a healthy young woman suddenly turning up pregnant?’
Through the 50’s in the United States, girls and women dressed and acted demurely, and it was assumed, correctly so, that teenaged women from religious families WERE virgins at their weddings.
Then came the sexual revolution of the 60’s when young people were encouraged to experiment with sex and this became less and less true in our society.
The error in interpretation of this ancient word is assuming their culture was not significantly different than ours. That could not be further from the truth!
The Middle Eastern culture during the 8th century B.C. when Isaiah lived, as well as before and still, very strictly protects their girls from premature sexual experiences. This was especially true of Israel which was a Theocratic society (ruled by God) where one of the covenantal 10 Comandments specifically forbade ANY kind of extramarital sex.
“Almah’ is only used 5 times in the Old Testament. Another word is used for a virgin daughter everywhere else, with the difference that ‘almah’ implies a young woman who has matured to the point of being ready for marriage. Otherwise she would not be capable of bearing a child.
If these points are not convincing enough, the Greek word used for ‘virgin’ in Matthew, ‘parthenos,’ means a virgin, and only a virgin, in the Greek language.
We believe in the virgin birth and honor Mary above all other women for agreeing to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, for enduring the censure of appearing to have cheated on her betrothed, for trusting God to work everything out for good, according to His plan and purpose, and for bearing the Savior of the world.
Bill's Bible Blog 