“Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My Name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)

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Katie and I are traveling in Israel and gathering information for SnyderTalk.  While we are there, I am posting excerpts from His Name is Yahweh in SnyderTalk.

The message in the book is important.  Please take the time to read it.

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A Virgin Will Bear This Child

Jeffrey did not mention the most unlikely prophecy about the Messiah.  It is found in Isaiah 7: 14—“a virgin will be with Child.”[i]  I can only guess the reasons why he decided not to include this prophecy, but it adds great weight to his argument.  The probability of a virgin having a child in Isaiah’s day was almost zero (if not zero), and it could not have happened at all until the late 20th century except under very rare circumstances.  Even today virgins cannot bear children without the aid of sophisticated medical technology, and at great cost, unless they have an incredibly unusual medical condition.  Including this prophecy in his list would have provided convincing proof that the Messiah’s birth was a miracle from Yahweh that will never be repeated.

Some Bible scholars argue that the Hebrew word translated as “virgin” in Isaiah 7: 14 can also mean “a young girl or a young, recently married woman.”[ii]  Therefore, they believe God was simply saying that a “maiden”[iii] would have a child.  However, the Hebrew word translated as virgin, “almah,” is used seven times[iv] in the Old Testament, and in every instance it speaks of a virgin as we understand the meaning of the word.  Also, the 70 rabbis who translated the Greek Septuagint Tanach in the third century B.C. used the Greek word “parthenos” which means “virgin” as we use the term today.

If we look at the context in which this prophecy was made, we can see that logic does not support this conclusion either.  At the time, King Ahaz of Judah was afraid that his kingdom would be attacked and conquered by two allied kings from the north—Razon King of Aram and Pekah King of Israel.  Yahweh assured him that they would not be successful, and He instructed Isaiah to tell Ahaz to ask Him for a sign—any sign—to prove the truth of His Word:

“Ask a sign for yourself from Yahweh your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”[v]

Ahaz responded by saying,

“I will not ask, nor will I test Yahweh.”[vi]

The king’s reply infuriated Isaiah, and he said,

“Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?”[vii]

Then he told Ahaz,

“Therefore Yahweh Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with Child and bear a Son, and she will call His Name Immanuel.”[viii]

If a young girl or a young, recently married woman has a child, would anyone consider it to be a sign from God that is “deep as Sheol or high as heaven?”  Absolutely not.  That would be an ordinary childbirth, and no one would interpret it as a great sign.  But if a virgin had a Child, everyone would believe it was a sign from God.

Furthermore, this Child’s Name would be Immanuel—literally “God who is with us.”  Isaiah 9: 1-6 tells about Him:

• He will come out of Galilee.[ix]
• He is a light blazing forth in a dark land.[x]
• He will remove His people’s yoke or burden.[xi]
• He will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace.[xii]

Isaiah 11: 1-9 provides more details about this Child:

• He will come from the stock of Jessie (David’s father).[xiii]
• The Spirit of Yahweh will rest on Him.[xiv]
• He will be the Righteous Judge.[xv]
• “He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.”[xvi]

In other words, this Child speaks, and it is done.  This is reminiscent of Yahweh at the creation.  Obviously, this Child is no ordinary child, and it would be preposterous to conclude that He would come into the world in the usual way.  Isaiah was telling Ahaz that this would be the sign of signs from Yahweh.  A virgin would bear this Child, and He is God who is with us.

Ironically, rabbis have known for thousands of years that the names of Isaiah’s children are “divinely ordained signs for events that will befall the people of Israel,”[xvii] and the Bible says as much explicitly.[xviii]  Below are the names of Isaiah’s children and the meanings of their names:

• Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz—Plunder hastens and spoil quickens.
• Shear-Jashub—A remainder will return.
• Immanuel—God who is with us.

The names of Isaiah’s children reveal that Israel will be plundered and exiled.  A remnant will return to the Promised Land.  Then God will be with us.  These things have happened already.  We are not awaiting the fulfillment of this prophecy.  Yahweh has done it already.

His Name is Yahweh: It explains why God’s Name is so important.  It’s available in eBook format and in paperback.  It’s also available for free in PDF format.

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His Name is Yahweh, the website, is a companion of the book His Name is Yahweh.

To see videos that explain the importance of God’s Name, click here.

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“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17: 22-24)

See “His Name is Yahweh”.

[i] Isaiah 7: 14.

[ii] The New Jerusalem Bible, Doubleday, New York, 1985, p. 1201.

[iii] Isaiah 7: 14 from Scherman, Rabbi Nosson, The Stone Edition Tanach, The ArtScroll Series®, Mesorah Publications, Brooklyn, New York, 1996.

[iv] Genesis 24: 43, Exodus 2: 8, Proverbs 30: 18, Psalm 68: 25, Isaiah 7: 14, and Song of Songs 1: 3 and 6: 8.

[v] Isaiah 7: 11.

[vi] Isaiah 7: 12.

[vii] Isaiah 7: 13.

[viii] Isaiah 7: 14.

[ix] Isaiah 9: 1.

[x] Isaiah 9: 2.

[xi] Isaiah 9: 3.

[xii] Isaiah 9: 6.

[xiii] Isaiah 11: 1.

[xiv] Isaiah 11: 2.

[xv] Isaiah 11: 3-4.

[xvi] Isaiah 11: 4.

[xvii] Scherman, Rabbi Nosson, The Stone Edition Tanach, The ArtScroll Series®, Mesorah Publications, Brooklyn, New York, 1996, p. 968.

[xviii] Isaiah 8: 18.