...a boy named Immanuel

Here is a quote from the bible knowledge commentary on the Isaiah question of messianic prophesy.

7:14-16. Though Ahaz refused to request a sign that would have confirmed the truth of Isaiah’s message, the prophet said God would give him one anyway. The sign was to be a boy named Immanuel. Three elements pertain to the sign: (1) The boy would be born of a virgin (v. 14). (2) He would be raised in a time of national calamity (v. 15; on the curds and honey see comments on v. 22). (3) While he was still a youth, the two-king alliance would be broken (v. 16).

“Virgin” translates ‘almâh, a word used of an unmarried woman of marriageable age. The word refers to one who is sexually mature. It occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament only in Genesis 24:43 (“maiden”); Exodus 2:8 (“girl”); Psalm 68:25 (“maidens”); Proverbs 30:19 (“maiden”); Song of Songs 1:3 (“maidens”); 6:8 (“virgins”). It also occurs in 1 Chronicles 15:20 (alamoth) and in the title of Psalm 46 (alamoth may be a musical term). The child’s name Immanuel means “God (is) with us.”

Most Bible scholars hold one of three views on the virgin in Isaiah 7:14-16: (1) The boy of whom Isaiah wrote was conceived shortly after Isaiah spoke this message. A young woman, a virgin, married and then had a baby. Before he would be old enough to tell the difference between good and evil the northern Aram-Israel alliance would be destroyed. According to this view the woman was a virgin when Isaiah spoke his prophecy but was not when the boy was born because he was conceived by sexual relations with her husband. Some say this child was born to Isaiah (8:3-4). They point out that 8:1-4 corresponds in a number of ways to 7:14-17. But this view must be rejected because (a) Isaiah’s wife already had a child (Shear-Jashub, v. 3) and so was not a virgin, and (b) the second child born to Isaiah’s wife was not named Immanuel (8:3). In this view Ahaz would have known this woman, and hearing of the child’s birth and his name Immanuel he would understand that Isaiah’s prophecies were correct.

(2) A second view sees the predicted birth as exclusively messianic and the virgin as Mary, Jesus’ mother. It is argued that in Isaiah 7:14 the virgin is said to be with child (lit., “the virgin is or will be pregnant”). It is also argued that Matthew, stressing the fact that Joseph and Mary’s marriage was not consummated till after Jesus’ birth (Matt. 1:18, 25), affirmed that Jesus’ birth fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy (Matt. 1:21-23).

Proponents of this view point out that since Isaiah spoke this prophecy to the house of David (Isa. 7:13) and not just to Ahaz himself, the sign was given not just to the king but to the entire kingly line and the entire nation. However, if the fulfillment did not occur until Joseph and Mary’s day, how does the prophecy relate to Isaiah’s point that the Aram-Israel confederacy would soon be defeated? And how does the birth of the Lord Jesus relate to the eating of curds and honey (v. 15) and to the breaking of the alliance before the boy was old enough to know good and evil? (v. 16) Proponents of this view answer that the time is similar: the two years of Jesus’ babyhood (before He would know between right and wrong) point to the same time segment, two years, within which the Aram-Israel threat would be gone.

(3) A third view, a combination of the first two, sees the prophecy as directed primarily to Ahaz regarding the breaking of the alliance. The ‘almâh was a virgin when Isaiah spoke his message, but then she would marry and have a baby. When the Aram-Israel alliance was broken the boy would still be young. Centuries later the Holy Spirit led Matthew to quote Isaiah 7:14 as a statement that was also true of a virgin birth (i.e., a birth to a woman who was still a virgin). This is the first of many prophecies about the Messiah given by Isaiah. (See the chart “Messianic Prophecies in the Book of Isaiah.”)

The sign must have had some significance for the historical situation in which it was given. The sign involved not only the birth and the boy’s name (Immanuel, “God [is] with us,” would assure the people of God’s presence), but also a designated length of time: before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings … will be laid waste.

Within about three years (nine months for the pregnancy and two or three years until the boy would know the difference between good and evil) the alliance would be broken. It was broken in 732 B.C. when Tiglath-Pileser III destroyed Damascus. After Tiglath-Pileser had defeated Aram and put Rezin to death Ahaz went to Damascus to meet the Assyrian monarch (2 Kings 16:7-10). Ahaz liked an altar he saw in Damascus, and had a sketch of it drawn so a similar altar could be set up in Jerusalem. No wonder Isaiah and God were angry with Ahaz. Even after the alliance had been broken by Tiglath-Pileser Judah had no peace. Though Assyria did not defeat Judah, she had to pay Assyria a heavy tribute. Isaiah foretold the consequences of Ahaz’s attitude (Isa. 7:17-25).

Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (Is 7:14–16). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite books in the Old Testament. There is a raw honesty to it that really resonates with me. It tells me that it’s OK to be frustrated by this fallen world and it’s OK to ask questions about things that don’t seem to make sense. It also challenges a lot of the ideas of the modern “religious” climate that we find ourselves in. One of the powerful things about the book of Ecclesiastes is that it helps me get in a mindset of introspection. I hope we can all do some introspection this week and share with each other on Wednesday.

1. Observation: The word ‘Vanity’ is appears 38 times in the book of Ecclesiastes. This accounts for more than half of its appearances in the entire Old Testament. It is the Hebrew word ‘hbl’ (hebel). It is also translated as vapor, empty, nothing, worthless, fleeting etc. in other contexts. Why does life seem so vain to Solomon (and us)?

2. Correlation: How does Solomon’s struggle over the futility of this world being rooted in death (ex. 9:4-6) correlate to 1 Corinthians 15:50-58? How does the fullness of the Gospel in the revelation of Jesus change the way we look at the issues presented in Proverbs?

3. Interpretation: What does he mean by “Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise.” (7:16). Note: It is helpful to look at both the immediate context of the surrounding verses as well as the overall context of the whole book.

4. Application: How do we apply the wisdom of Ecclesiastes? In what ways do you relate to the Preacher (Solomon)?

5. What about Ecclesiastes resonates most with you (either generally or specifically)? Be prepared to share with the group on Wednesday.

God Speed and happy reading.

Proverbs 16-31

PROVERBS 16-31

As most of the Proverbs in 16-31 are basically “1 liner” tidbits of wisdom, we could take forever going through each one and trying to interpret and observe. For this week’s notes I just wanted to ask a macro level question (big picture gospel), dig a little at the micro level (ch. 20:27), give some additional general info, and have us spend some time letting the wisdom of the proverbs speak to us.

1. Macro: Since the Proverbs “proper” that we encounter in 16-31 are intended to be extremely and immediately practical, one of the challenges that we run into is seeing them in relation to the greater salvation narrative of scripture and history. What do these Proverbs have to do with Theology, who God is, and how He relates to us? Spend some time thinking on your own to see what you come up with. I posted a quote from the ESV Study Bible introduction to Proverbs on my blog which I thought had some good insight on this. http://ayoungvoice.blogspot.com/2010/09/proverbs-and-big-picture.html

2. Micro: Many of the Proverbs are somewhat unique in scripture in that they have the ability to stand apart from context. A single verse is worth singling out, pondering, and applying on its own. The homework for this week will be to find two proverbs that speak to you and come prepared to share (see Application note 3 below).

I spent some time on Proverbs 20:27 this week and here are some of my observations and correlations. I’ll save the interpretation and application for our discussion on Wed, but I just wanted to give an example on the kinds of things you could look for in a particular proverb.

a. “The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts.”

b. The word used for spirit here is the Hebrew word ‘nsmh’ (neshamah) meaning “breath” or “spirit”.

c. This particular word for “spirit” is somewhat rare; the more commonly used word is ‘rwh’ (ruah). The word used in this verse is the same word used in Genesis 2:7

d. The Greek word for spirit/breath which is used in the New Testament is ‘pneuma’. I thought an interesting correlation was 1 Cor 2:11.

e. The word for lamp used is ‘nr’ (ner) – Correlates to Exodus 27:20

3. Application – let the wisdom of the proverbs speak to you. There is something in the proverbs for anyone at any place in life. Homework: find 2 proverbs that speak to you, spend some time pondering them, observe, interpret, correlate (if possible) and apply. Share the proverbs and your thoughts on them with your wife. Be prepared to share with the group on Wednesday.

Proverbs and the Big Picture

Purpose, Occasion, and Background

Proverbs is the prime example of “Wisdom Literature” in the OT, the other books being Job, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon, together with the wisdom psalms (e.g., Psalm 112). In the NT, James is usually counted as a wisdom book, and parts of Jesus' teaching belong in this category as well. (See Introduction to the Poetic and Wisdom Literature.)

It is sometimes said that the Wisdom Literature is separate from the rest of the OT, lacking an interest in God's choice of Israel and his overarching purpose for the nations, the law, the temple and priesthood, and sacred history. Wisdom Literature, it is said, is more about living in the creation than it is about God's work of redemption. This is a false opposition for several reasons.

First, the OT presents God's redemption as restoring the damaged creature, man, to his proper functioning (as set out in the creation narrative of Genesis). This covenant given through Moses does not specify all of God's rules; its purpose is to set out the constitution of the theocracy, to give general moral guidance, and to provide a system by which God's people can know his forgiveness. Some principles like those in Proverbs can be discerned by wise observation of God's world, and not all of the worthy observers come from Israel (see note on Prov. 31:1–9). Second, the wisdom psalms take wisdom themes and make them a part of Israel's hymnody (and thus of its public worship). Third, Proverbs bases its instruction on the fear of the Lord (1:7, using the special covenantal name of God), implying that its audience is the covenant people (cf. Deut. 6:2, 24; 10:12). Fourth, as the notes will show, Proverbs has plenty of connections to the law: e.g., cf. Proverbs 11:1 to Deuteronomy 25:13–16; and see Proverbs 29:18 for a positive assessment of both prophetic vision and the Law of Moses.

Nevertheless, Proverbs is not at all the same as the Law or the Prophets. The difference is one of emphasis rather than basic orientation. The Law and the Prophets lay their stress on the covenant people as a whole, called to show the world what restored humanity can be; Proverbs focuses on what such restoration should look like in day-to-day behavior and in personal character.

A key term in Proverbs is of course “wisdom.” The word (Hb. khokmah) can have the nuance of “skill” (as it does in Ex. 28:3), particularly the skill of choosing the right course of action for the desired result. In the covenantal framework of Proverbs, it denotes “skill in the art of godly living.”

From The ESV Study Bible introduction to Proverbs

Men's Bible Study - Proverbs 1-15

I've been given the opportunity to make a contribution to the Allen Bible Church small group men's bible study by providing some notes/discussion topics for the Wednesday night study. I figured I might as well post them up. If you don't have a bible study, feel free to read along with us and post comments. I'll respond as soon as I can.

PROVERBS 1-15

The bible study method taught in seminaries such as DTS uses the structure of Observation, Correlation, Interpretation and Application (in that order, although Correlation and Interpretation are sometimes inverted). The idea is that we Observe the text first, just to see what’s there without trying to Interpret or Apply it. Then we look for how other parts of scripture relate to it (Correlation). Once we have done the first two steps thoroughly, we can start to try to interpret the text or determine its meaning. Once we have done all of these, we can try to apply it to real life (what does this mean to me, here and now). The purpose of this week’s notes is to get us thinking about these bible study steps. The first note has a couple general points about the book as a whole, the other four relate to the 4 steps listed above.

1. General notes/questions: The book of Proverbs is basically divided into two main sections, Ch. 1-9 which represent a kind of wisdom poetry. This has more of a narrative feel to it. Ch.10 – 31 which are the proverbs “proper”. These are the 1-2 line quotes that we tend to see on coffee cups, although there are some themes that can be identified linking them together.

a. Are the proverbs teaching promises or principles?

b. What role does “fear of the Lord” have in wisdom?

c. How do they (wisdom and fear of the Lord) relate to each other?

2. Observation: Two contrasting ideas are personified (given human form) at various places in the first 9 chapters of the book. Who/What are they? Who are the other main characters in the book?

3. Correlation: How does Prov 8:22-31 describing “wisdom” relate to John 1:1-3, 14 describing “the Word”?

4. Interpretation: Context is very important for interpretation. “Con” meaning “with” or “together” and text meaning text J. A preacher once used Proverbs 7:14 “I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows” to encourage his congregation to pay their building pledges. Would this be appropriate considering the context of the verse as well as Leviticus 15:25-30?

5. Application: As Proverbs is “wisdom” literature, it is very practical and therefore full of application. The adulterous woman is warned against in the book. Maybe we don’t struggle with an actual adulterous woman (maybe we do), but what is there in your life, here and now, that you could substitute for the adulterous woman? What is that thing that calls to you in the street?