As we move forward looking at prophecies in the Old Testament that point towards Jesus, we come to another prophecy that deals with Jesus’ birth, and this one is interesting because of some controversy about it. However, the part of this controversy that I find interesting is how half of the details included are simply ignored. In other words, for this controversy to exist, half of the details of this event must be pushed aside.
To draw attention onto this prophecy and the controversy that surrounds it, let’s read the prophecy as it is found in the book of Isaiah, chapter 7. Reading from the New American Standard Bible, in verse 14, Isaiah writes the message God gives Him saying:
14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin [or maiden] will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
While reading this verse just now, I realized there are actually two prophecies included in it. The first one, which has the controversy surrounding it, is the part about a virgin or maiden becoming pregnant with a son.
The second prophecy is that this virgin will name her son Immanuel.
For this episode, let’s spend more time unpacking the first prophecy in this verse, and then take our next episode unpacking the second prophecy.
In the first prophecy, the controversy present is that the Hebrew word for virgin might not mean the same thing that it means for us today. Instead of meaning someone who has never had sex, the argument or controversy centers around this term also being used to simply refer to a young girl, or specifically a maiden.
Ignoring that one definition of maiden is a literal virgin in my dictionary, the argument suggests that Isaiah’s words in this prophecy are not speaking of a virgin miraculously becoming pregnant, but that the Messiah would be born to a young unmarried woman who became pregnant outside of marriage.
However, while some people hold strongly to this idea, they must ignore several key pieces of Biblical evidence for this idea to carry weight.
The strongest argument against this redefinition is by not actually redefining the word virgin or maiden. Instead, we can look up all the other places in the Old Testament where this word is used and look at the context. Looking at the seven times this word appears in the Old Testament, while this word is always used to refer to young females, there is no instance in the Old Testament where it can be proved that this word does not also mean virgin, and several examples where virginity is strongly suggested. The clearest example is when a virgin or maiden is being sought out to be a wife for Isaac in Genesis 24:43.
In the Old Testament, a maiden is also a virgin when we let the Bible define our terms for us.
However, moving to the New Testament, to a passage we have read a couple times already, we see the virgin idea presented even more clearly. While those who persist in this controversy want to draw doubts on Isaiah’s words, they also must push Luke’s gospel and Matthew’s gospel aside, because these two gospels are extra specific about Mary being not just a maiden, but also a virgin.
In Luke, chapter 1, starting in verse 26, Luke writes:
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. 36 And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
In this passage, Mary was engaged to Joseph, but they had not gotten married yet. While dating and engagement in today’s culture often doesn’t include waiting before sex, that culture was different. At the very least, Mary and Joseph were different, because Mary, questioning Gabriel, asks him how this would happen. Mary knows that the first step of getting pregnant is having sex. She refers to herself as a virgin, or literally as a woman who has not known a man, similar to how Genesis describes Adam “knowing” Eve and that knowing resulting in the birth of children.
In this passage, everything in Mary’s conversation with Gabriel points to Mary being a literal virgin, while also being a maiden. Regardless of what virgin means in Isaiah, we can understand that Mary saw herself as a literal virgin in this conversation with Gabriel.
Also adding weight to this argument is Matthew’s gospel, which describes Joseph’s attitude after finding out that his fiancée is pregnant. In Matthew chapter 1, starting in verse 20, Matthew writes:
20 But when he [Joseph] had considered this [specifically to divorce Mary quietly], behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
In this passage, Joseph was ready and willing to call off his marriage with Mary because he didn’t believe her story that the pregnancy was extraordinary. However, after the dream, Joseph changes his plans and specifically marries Mary but keeps her a virgin until she had given birth to Jesus. There is only one way I can understand this statement, and this understanding weighs heavily on one side of the controversy surrounding the meaning of Isaiah’s prophecy.
Regardless of how we understand Isaiah’s prophecy, everything surrounding Jesus’ birth suggests that Mary was a virgin, and that her pregnancy was a direct fulfillment of God’s promise through the prophet Isaiah.
It is also amazing that Jesus’ entrance into the world marks the arrival of the Messiah God promised to send when Adam and Eve had failed God and eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In Genesis, chapter 3, starting in verse 14, we read that while God was pronouncing judgment on those who had disobeyed Him:
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
In this judgment of the serpent in the garden, God speaks prophetically about one of Eve’s descendants being the one to bring judgment on the serpent. Through Mary, Jesus came into the world as this descendant, and He triumphed over sin and death on behalf of you and me.
As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:
As I always open by challenging you, intentionally seek God first in your life. When life gets challenging, lean into your faith in God because with whatever happens in this life, when we have aligned our lives with God, we will outlive the challenges of this life even if it appears as though these challenges take us out. With Jesus, we will live beyond the end of sin, pain, and death.
Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow closer to Jesus. Focus on growing your personal relationship with Jesus because Jesus loves you personally. Jesus isn’t interested in having a relationship with you that is mediated by someone else.
And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!