Understanding Old Testament Prophecy with respect to the New Testament

A prophet is someone who has been called by God (Gen. 20:7; Ex. 3:1-4:17; Is. 6). A prophet is therefore a chosen person who is inspired by the Spirit of God with a message that he or she then proclaims to others. Because the message belongs to God, a prophet would often preface his prophecy with the words “thus says the Lord” or give the prophecy in the first person with God speaking. The purpose of a prophet was primarily to enforce the covenant by reminding Israel of the blessings and curses which would befall them depending on their faithfulness or unfaithfulness to the covenant. Therefore most prophecies begin with identifying Israel’s (or some individual’s) particular sin followed by a prediction of the consequential blessing or curse.

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Thus in Isa. 7, Ahaz’s sin is his lack of faith in God’s ability to help him and his resistance to ask God for a confirming sign (because deceitfully Ahaz had already made a pact with Assyria for their help; 2 Kings 16:7). The prediction is the birth of a boy from a virgin which will mark the time when the kings of Aram and Israel will be destroyed.

Prophets did predict the future, but usually their prophecies pointed to the immediate future of Israel and the surrounding nations. Rarely do their prophecies refer to our future and only sometimes do they pertain to the New Testament . The main concern of Old Testament prophets was their immediate context, not the time of Jesus nor the end times. With respect to this issue Fee and Stuart suggest that, “Less than 2 percent of Old Testament prophecy is messianic. Less than 5 percent specifically describes the New Covenant age. Less than 1 percent concerns events yet to come.”1

So in the case of Isa. 7:1-17, the prophecy refers to the imminent destruction of Samaria and Aram and the subsequent invasion of Judah by Assyria. “Immanuel” probably refers to Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (which means ‘quick to the plunder’) who is born of the prophetess in Isa. 8:3 (possibly Isaiah’s wife) thus signifying that God is in solidarity with Judah by ridding her of her enemies, Samaria and Aram. It is worth noting that some years later Assyria surrounds Jerusalem. This time it is Hezekiak (whose name means ‘holds fast to God’) who is faced with the same predicament as Ahaz (Isa. 36-37), to collude with the Assyrians or trust God. He holds onto God and the remnant of Israel is saved (Isa. 37:31).

Clearly Matthew did not feel the meaning of Is. 7:14 was exhausted in the original context. The human Immanuel in Isa. 7:1-17 points to the fact that the human dynasty of Judah will one day come to an end. Like Israel before, Judah will fall. The monarchy will end. But reading this text through the lens of Jesus, the human-divine Immanuel, one sees that God is still with David and Judah in covenantal love. Thus this texts finds its full or completed meaning in Jesus.