“Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!”
Isaiah 9:1-7 NLT
There are many scholars who hi try to isolate the “virgin birth” passage in Isaiah as pertaining only to a random young virgin. They want to disconnect it from Messianic lore. Those people choose to conveniently divorce it from the content of this linked chapter which clearly states that the impending child which blesses the nations will also be called God. He will be the one who establishes a rule that breaks the yoke of oppression from those surrounding Israel. His newly established authority will reign forever. What comes from the virgin is more important than how he comes. His presence is neither random, nor quiet. It will be a loud and undeniable truth and is an integral part of the messianic lore. We must remember as we read things critically, to also read them completely and fairly. If we separate passages, isogete their content and protext them, we can make them say anything. But if we allow the passages to speak for itself, it is not hard to see how the majority scholarship of Christianity in time came to its conclusions. The virgin birth passage may have been about a young woman in Isaiah’s time, but it was definitely and certainly about the coming messiah from Galilee who would throw off oppression and be called God. Both things may be true but only one is certain.
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