THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF CHRIST
Isa. 7:14
Morning Meditation 10/11/16
Verse 14 says, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
The birth of Christ, as the virgin born Son of God, is a sign to Israel. Paul says, “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom” 1 Cor. 1:22). Isaiah says that the Lord himself will give you a sign. The Hebrew word for sign means “a miraculous sign.” It will be something that will go beyond the natural. It will be a manifestation of God. This miracle or sign is to be the conception of a virgin. The Hebrew word for “virgin” is “almah.” The word “almah” means “virgin, young woman of marriageable age; maid or newly married. The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament says, “There is no instance where it can be proved that this word designates a young woman who is not a virgin.”
When the Revised Standard Version came out, they had translated this word “young woman.” Bible believers cried out and exposed the deliberate intellectual dishonesty that was manifested in the translation. It is a case where the word “virgin” in the Hebrew can correctly be translated “young woman” and the wickedness of the translators is seen in choosing to translate this “young woman” rather than by the word “virgin.” This is what they had to work with. They had the word “sign” in the very verse they were translating. I ask, “How could a young woman having a child be a sign?” Even an old woman like Sarah having Isaac or Elizabeth having John the Baptist might be considered a sign, but, not a young woman. There is nothing miraculous about a young unmarried woman conceiving and having a son.
Then, there is the New Testament translation of this verse in Matthew 1:23: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Now when Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14 he uses the word “virgin.” The word for “virgin” in the Greek translates “parthenos” which means, “a woman who has never had sexual intercourse with a man.” The translators of the National Council of Churches Bible (RSV) translate the word as “virgin” in the New Testament. Now if they knew that the New Testament used a word that could only mean “virgin,” why did they translate the Old Testament passage as “young woman.” They were simply unsaved scholars that, at any technical opportunity, took away from the miraculous of the Scriptures. When the New Testament interprets the Old Testament, you always go with the Holy Spirit’s explanation of the Old.
Isaiah says, “ . . . Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah says that this child will be a “son” and His name shall be called “Immanuel.” Now this is defined for us in the New Testament: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” I want you to notice the words “Which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew tells us that the miraculous conception and birth of Christ is “God with us.” John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14).
When the Jews ask for a sign Jesus told them in Matthew 12:39: “But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:” Then again in Matthew 16:4: “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.” Jesus is the sign. Jonah illustrates the ultimate end to which Jesus came, i.e., to die for the sins of the whole world. The Jews were so blind that they did not read the sign and crucified their Messiah. Jesus said in Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Now I want to ask you a question. How long do you believe He was in the “heart of the earth?” If you believe this statement be careful how you celebrate “Good Friday.” I think it is “Good Wednesday.” Well, we are talking about the virgin birth.
The miracle was not on the birth, it was on the conception. Matthew 1:20 says, “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” Joseph is told by the angel that the child that Mary is pregnant with is not the result of fornication. Now this miraculous appearance of an angel in a dream was necessary. Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. You are engaged to be married and you discover that the girl to which you are to be married is pregnant. You know that you have never slept with her. What are you going to think? This is the reason Joseph was ready to put her away privately (Matt. 1:19). But we see Joseph is a man of faith. He was chosen by God to be the foster father of Jesus. He responded to God in this matter and took Mary to be his wife.
Did the community know about this pre marriage pregnancy? I think so. I believe that this is brought out at least by implication in the words in John 8:41: “Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” I believe they are saying “we be not born of fornication like you.” At least, this is implied.
John 5:18 says, “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” They were smart enough to know that if Jesus was the Son of the Father in heaven that He would be equal with God. They said that He made this claim and that He blasphemed in doing it and that He should be stoned because of it. Now if Jesus had been an imposter, they would have been right. They did not believe. They refused to see Him as the Sign. Incidentally, when He comes again, the nation will receive Him and will read the sign correctly. Matthew 24:30 says, “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Zechariah 12:10 says, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” Who is the speaker in this verse? Zechariah is quoting the LORD. When the name LORD is in all caps, the King James translators were helping the English reader to understand that this is Jehovah. The same One that identified Himself to Moses in the burning bush. Jesus is Jehovah GOD Who became flesh that man might be saved. Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:19: “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”
It is absolutely necessary to believe that Jesus is who He claimed to be to be saved. Jesus said in John 8:24: “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” The words “I am he” translate “ego eimi” when means “I am.” You will notice that “he” is in italics in your Bible. Jesus claimed to be Jehovah here. This is one of the “I am’s” in the New Testament.
This is the season that celebrates His virgin birth. If one does not believe in the virgin birth, it will just be a holiday. Those of us who believe in the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus are believing what the Bible says. It can be a real celebration, if He is not lost in the tinsel.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
