Welcome to Day 147 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional! This series is about finding nourishment in the Word of God to get us through the day. In each devotional, I take a variety of scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses each) and build our understanding of what they teach via their context and connecting scripture. My goal is to help you understand how to be the type of human God created you to be.

Today’s passage is Isaiah 7:14. We’ll look at what it means to prepare for a child called Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14

NASB	NLT	VOICE
14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel.	14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign! Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).	14 Suit yourself. The Lord will give you a proof-sign anyway: See, a young maiden will conceive. She will give birth to a son and name Immanuel, that is, “God with us.”

King Ahaz (of the family line of Judah) wanted to attack Jerusalem but failed. God told Isaiah to get involved and told Ahaz to take deep breaths, relax, and not panic. The enemies’ attacks won’t work against them, and the nations will fall apart within 65 fears. Ahaz had to be patient and believe. God even told Ahaz to ask for a sign, anything that he could think of. For whatever Ahaz asked would be proof of God’s power. Ahaz wouldn’t, and that set Isaiah off.

Isaiah questions/scolds Ahaz for being impatient, so God will provide the sign anyway. A young woman will have a son, and he will be named Immanuel. He will be Godlike. He will be pure, knowing right from wrong. The boy will refuse to do evil and will do what is good.

God will bring against Judah the blessed kingdom in the form of the Assyrian King. God will call plagues of bugs and pests to settle in all parts of the country. God will send the Assyrian King to strip the kingdom and its people of just the bare essentials to survive. Some will survive because they can’t live off the land anymore.

What’s there to take away? We recognize that this prophecy of Jesus was a way to bring patience and faith. For Ahaz, this was a sign that sometime in the future, someone would come to lead the Israelites in the way of goodness, justice, and faithfulness. Something for the Israelites to cling to and keep hope for when they would face the turmoil of the upcoming invasion. We can keep that same hope. We can prepare ourselves for the birth of his sign of goodness, justice, righteousness, and faith. The Christmas season can be an anxious one. Some of us are anxious to be around the tree and open the gifts. Some of us are anxious to spend time with family because we might not get along with everyone. Some of us are anxious because there’s the annual grief of losing loved ones or loving memories. When we wrestle with anxieties, we cling to the hope of this person being born. This godly, good, just, and faith-filled person that we’re called to reflect to the world.

BREATHE IN: Happy birthday…

BREATHE OUT: …Jesus.

Until next time, stay blessed!