Isaiah 7:14 – “16 and Pregnant”

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).

The other day my wife came downstairs crying. She tried to hide it from me. She finally admitted that she had been watching MTV’s 16 and Pregnant. She felt bad for the teenage girl that had to give up her baby for adoption.

The pregnancy of an unwed teenage girl stirs a lot of different emotions – even when that pregnancy is the fulfillment of God’s promise. Imagine telling your parents that the child in your womb is from God. Yeah right! Imagine telling your family and friends that your child will become the Savior of the world. Who do you think you are? Imagine telling your fiancé that in spite of your growing belly, you’ve never been with another man. Sorry, I’m not buying it!

I don’t know exactly how old Mary was when she became pregnant with the baby Jesus, but I’d guess that at any age, she would have had a hard time dealing with the looks and glares and insults thrown her way. If Mary had found herself standing alone against this pressure, she may have found it impossible to deal with. It’s a good thing God was with her.

And it’s a good thing that God came to be with us. There’s no way we should ever be allowed into God’s presence. He’s powerful, and we’re weak. He’s wise, and we struggle to understand. He’s holy, and we’re sinful.

God promised Ahaz, a king of Judah, that he would be with him. God even offered him a sign. In false humility, he refused. While claiming that he didn’t want to test God, he did just that by his unbelief. We test God too. We question his love for us. We doubt his promises. We demand that he prove his goodness.

God answered our unbelief by becoming Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). As God promised Ahaz, the virgin Mary gave birth to a child. God himself entered the womb of Mary and took on human flesh. Jesus was born. He lived his entire life without testing God. He died on the cross to secure forgiveness for our arrogance. He came to be with us so that one day we could be with him.

Until he comes again to take us to heaven, the virgin’s child continues to be with us in his word. Check it out. All of Scripture points to Jesus (John 5:39). By these Scriptures Jesus gives us life (John 5:40). And in these Scriptures Jesus promises to be with us all the time, until the end of the world itself (Matthew 28:20).

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