Many of us are used to reading this text as directly related to Jesus’ birth and specifically to the virgin birth of Jesus. That’s one perspective, but let’s do our best to hear it as the ancient prophet might have intended. Notice the reference to Ahaz. Who was he? The writer of Second Kings summarized the reign of Israel’s ruler in the eighth century bce as follows: “He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had done” (16:2). The writer lists child sacrifice as among Ahaz’s sins (2 Kings 16:3). His kingdom is crumbling, and judgment comes upon the land in the form of two kings, Rezin and Pekah, who lay siege to Jerusalem.
It doesn’t look good for the country, but perhaps Ahaz is receiving what he deserves—only that doesn’t happen. Instead, we hear this unusual promise of an unlikely birth and recall similar Bible stories of unlikely births: from Isaac to Samuel (Genesis 18:1-15; 1 Samuel 1:1-20), to this Immanuel, to John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-25), to Jesus—all unlikely births, not to mention the oddity of children as a sign of God’s salvation. But that’s the God of Israel. We don’t always get what we deserve, and when God saves, it’s not always through the means we had anticipated. God tells Ahaz that by the time the child is weaned, the threat of the besieging kings will be past. And it was so.
Sometimes we wait in fear, expecting the worst, but instead God raises us up, offering a new possibility. If you’re anything like me, you may struggle with what some call “blue” Christmas. It’s like a low-grade depression that creeps in this time of year, making it difficult to enter fully into the holiday spirit, whatever that may be. It lays siege to your heart. If that’s where you are living, Immanuel is with you in the midst of it; but perhaps this year the siege itself will withdraw.