It was IMMANUEL, which signifies, GOD IS WITH US. intended to signify, that, at the time of the child's birth, God would be with his people by extraordinary manifestations of his favor. Hence the Prophet, in the next chapter, foretelling the defeat of the enemies of Judah, assigns its cause by repeating the affirmation, GOD IS WITH US, or IMMANUEL, which a little before he employs as the name of the child, ver. 9, 10. "Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand: FOR IMMANUEL! GOD IS WITH US!"'* 4 In Isa. vii. 14, the connection is rather singular: 'Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.' Harmer presents the scripture in the following form: 'Behold, this virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel; butter and honey shall he eat when he shall know to refuse evil and choose good. For, before this child shall know to refuse evil and choose good, the land shall be desolate, by whose two kings thou art distressed.' But on this passage, critics have found themselves much perplexed. 'It appears * A Vindication of Unitarianism, in reply to Mr. Wardlaw's Discourses on the Socinian Controversy, pp. 186, 187. Boston, Wells and Lilly, 1816. + Harmer's Observations, i. p. 299. that about the time this prophecy was delivered, Pekah, king of Israel, and Rezin, king of Syria, being confederate, had taken Elath, a fortified city of Judah, and had carried away the inhabitants to Damascus. In this critical juncture Ahaz was fearful that they would prevail against Jerusalem, and the kingdom of Judah, and annihilate the family of David. To remove all his fears, his sorrow and unbelief, Isaiah is sent to assure him that the counsels of his enemies should not stand, and that they would be discomfited. To encourage him, he is directed to ask for a sign, but this he refused to do, whereupon a sign was given him, that a virgin should conceive and bear a son, and his name should be Immanuel. The meaning of the prophet is plain. The two kings referred to, should be unsuccessful. The house of David, Judah and Jerusalem should be all preserved till a virgin bear a son according to the original promise respecting the SEED of the woman, Gen. iii. 15.' "This is a most remarkable circumstance-the house of David could never fail, till a virgin should conceive and bear a son-nor did it: but when that incredible and miraculous fact did take place, the kingdom and house of David became extinct! This is an irrefragable confutation of every argument a Jew can offer in vindication of his opposition to the Gospel of Christ. Either the prophecy in Isaiah has been fulfilled, or the kingdom and house of David are yet standing. But the kingdom of David, we know, is destroyed : and where is the man, Jew or Gentile, that can show us a single descendant of David on the face of the earth? The prophecy could not fail-the kingdom and house of David have failed-the virgin, there fore, must have brought forth her son-and this Son is Jesus, the Christ. Thus Moses, Isaiah, and Matthew concur; and facts the most unequivocal have confirmed the whole! Behold the wisdom and providence of God!' Many Trinitarians think they find a strong support for their views in the expression, 'God with us,' but the term admits of an easy explanation, without supposing it to denote the Deity of the person to whom it is applied. In the language of the Scriptures, God was said to be with a people or a person, when he aided them or preserved them, though there were no visible manifestations of his presence. The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.' Psa. xlvi. 11. Exod. And he said, 'Certainly I will be with thee.' iii. 12. Gen. xxvi. 3. 28. God was with Ahaz and his people when he aided them to overcome their enemies, and as a sign of this aid or deliverance, the term Immanuel, God with us, that is, is with us, with being the emphatic word, was given to the child. We suppose the epithet God's-help, or Help from God, expresses the full meaning of Immanuel. Some have questioned the propriety of the application of the passage in Isa. vii. 14. to Christ. A writer, in allusion to this, says, 'the term is applied to a child that was to be born in the time of the prophet, a child who was to be a sign to Ahaz, king of Judah, of the deliverance of his kingdom within two years from the time of the forces brought against it.' 'This,' he continues, 'is evident from the context, and has been admitted by respectable Orthodox commentators.' In reference to this view, Professor Stuart asks, 'How could the birth of Jesus, which happened seven hundred and forty-two years afterwards, be a sign to Ahaz, that within three years his kingdom was to be freed from his enemies? Such a child, it would seem, was born at that period, for in ch. viii. 8. 10, he is twice referred to as if then present, or at least then living.' There cannot be the least doubt that the passage in Matthew has direct reference to Christ. The whole connection will support this view; therefore, 'extended remark is unnecessary. The interpretation of Immanuel is striking and full of consolation. It shows the sacred nearness existing between God and man. God is with us under all circumstances: in adversity and prosperity; in sickness and in health; by day and by night; when among strangers, and when in the midst of relatives and friends. 'Within thy circling power I stand 'He is God with us to comfort, enlighten, protect, and defend us in every time of temptation and trial, in the hour of death, *** and God with us and in us, and we with him to all eternity.'* * For some excellent remarks on this whole subject, see ADAM CLARKE on Isa. vii. 14. XXVII. ENSIGN. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an Ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek and his rest shall be glorious.' Isa. xi. 10. THIS word occurs in seven instances in the singular, and once in the plural, but is in no other instance applied to the Messiah; though some may think he is intended in the twelfth verse of this chapter. The figure is very appropriate and striking. It is interesting to see the various ways employed by the Sacred Writers to illustrate the character and various offices of the Messiah. Figures are drawn from military life; from architecture; from some prevalent custom; from legal forms; from the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Indeed, all nature, and every art and science, is made to render homage to the Messiah. The present appellative is very interesting, and needs no labored criticism. Ensigns are warlike banners, monuments or trophies of victory. The prophet Isaiah, threatening the Israelites with an invasion, tells them, 'that God would lift up an ensign to the nations from far.' The motto is very well explained by Cruden:-'There shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people, and to it shall the Gentiles seek; that is, That Christ the Messiah, growing upon the root of Jesse, should mount up, and be advanced, by the preaching |