I would appreciate Doves' critiques of the logic used in the following little article I wrote recently. People may not like the implications but please tell me where the argument might be flawed. Thanks Hal

 

Isaiah 7: A possible modern fulfillment

 

Summary:

 

Isaiah chapter 7 records a fascinating prophecy in multiple parts, all closely linked and integrally connected. These include a threat to Jerusalem from the Northern Kingdom of Ephraim/Samaria in alliance with Aram/Damascus. God personally indicates that the threat will be removed and that Ephraim itself will cease to be a “people” within 65 years. A specific “sign” validating the prophecy is given; a miracle baby will be born of a virgin. The baby is named Immanuel (Hebrew: God is with us). All components of the prophecy are linked together. Thus a satisfactory explanation and fulfillment must deal with the prophecy in its entirety.

 

Isaiah’s Prophecy:

 

In 735 BCE Ahaz, king in Jerusalem, was terrified of the threat posed by an alliance of the northern kingdom of Ephraim with capital city Samaria, along with Aram to the north east, with capital at Damascus. God informed Ahaz through the prophet Isaiah that the attack on Jerusalem would not in fact be successful. He goes on to state that within 65 years Ephraim will not even be a “people”. The prophecy is sealed by a “sign’ given by God Himself, a special miracle child named Immanuel would be born. The removal of the threat of defeat, the elimination of Ephraim as a “people”, and the sign are all intimately and integrally connected.

 

By 670 BCE the northern kingdom based at Samaria in fact ceased to exist. By then the Assyrians had deported the original Israelite tribes eastward out of the area and replaced them with Arabs from the desert “whom no man could rule”. It is remarkable in light of modern history that this is the first record of Arab settlers in the land of Israel. Today we would recognize this area as the West Bank.

 

The prophecy of Isaiah 7 had been literally fulfilled. Yet the sign validating the series of events never materialized. The prophet Isaiah himself had a son, but he was neither a miracle baby nor named Immanuel.

 

Over 700 years later Yeshua was born to a young Jewess in Bethlehem. The Gospels record that Yeshua had no earthly father. In fact Matthew indicates in 1:23 that Yeshua’s birth specifically fulfilled the sign spoken of by Isaiah the prophet many centuries beforehand. Matthew does not indicate how the sign was related to Isaiah’s prophecy. However at the time of the birth of Yeshua there was mounting expectation for the arrival of Messiah, who would restore the kingdom of Israel. The country agonized under the yoke of Rome. The prophet Daniel had foreseen a long succession of Gentile powers oppressing the People of God. Thus the early Christians would presumably have understood the significance of the birth of Immanuel outlined as a sign only in Isaiah chapter 7. That sign was directly connected with the deliverance from oppression coming within 65 years. From Yeshua’s birth around 3 BCE this would mean that relief for the nation was intended to follow by approximately 63 CE.

As we draw close to the 63 CE timeframe we find a whole series of New Testament books get written. Apart from Paul’s missionary journey letters we have James, I Peter, Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts. The clear and consistent message in Paul’s pre 63 CE writings as well as all the others is that the Kingdom of God is at hand, “at the door”, immanent (e.g. I Peter 4:7). Then James is martyred in Jerusalem and a whole deal of chaos results. By Peter’s second letter, written after 63 CE, the author is well aware of the lengthy delay in Yeshua’s return date. Jude goes on to describe a massive defection from the faith. Paul, in his last letters, indicates, “Everyone in Asia has deserted me”. It is a time of great disappointment!

 

For those tracking Daniel’s gentile kingdoms, the date around 63 CE is especially important. It marks 666 years from the arrival of Nebuchadnezzar in 604 BCE and the loss of national sovereignty. The number 6 is connected with mankind, created on the sixth day of Creation week. Yet Rome had not devolved into ten “toes” as outlined in Daniel’s writings. Nor was the arrival of a big stone to crush the toes and topple Gentile power on the horizon. In fact within only 7 years from 63 CE history would record that a Jewish revolt against Rome had begun and been crushed. The Holy Temple in Jerusalem, finally completed only a few years earlier in 64 CE would be totally destroyed in this revolt ending in 70 CE.

 

For Christians considering Isaiah’s prophecy of chapter 7, the miracle baby “sign” was not followed by the promised freedom from outside oppression. This explains why the widespread apostasy and “falling away” occurred when it did in the early 60’s CE.

 

This would not be the first time that Matthew applied Tanach passages out of their original context in a new radical connection to Yeshua. “Out of Egypt I called my son” was used by Matthew to explain the return of Yosef, Mary and baby Yeshua from Egypt after the death of Herod. Yet Hosea chapter 11 clearly names the firstborn son as Israel the nation. Is it possible that there are parallel double fulfillments for other Israel/Yeshua passages like this one in Hosea? Indeed could Israel itself somehow be the miracle baby Immanuel spoken of by the prophet in chapter 7?  We need look no further than the next chapter in Isaiah.

 

Just a few verses after the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 7, there is a description of the coming Assyrian army that will flood over “your land, O Immanuel”. In this case in chapter 8 verse 8 the Holy Land of Israel itself is named Immanuel. So then is it possible that some future miracle birth could again be associated with Israel and that it’s birth would be a major sign to the nations? In May 1948 after almost two millennia of dispersion around the world, Jews everywhere celebrated the birth of a modern sovereign, independent nation of Israel, “born in a day”. Over the next few decades millions of Jews have made alyea to the Land to resettle it. In time even the ancestral regions of Samaria and Judea would be restored, along with the capital city of Jerusalem in 1967.

 

Could the birth of Israel in 1948 be a “sign” connected with Isaiah chapter 7 as well? If so the other pieces of the original prophecy would need to be fulfilled as well. There would need to be a threat to Jerusalem coming from the region of Ephraim, the modern West Bank, as well as from Damascus and Aram (modern Syria). Within 65 years relief from threats and oppression would follow. In addition the “people” of Samaria would no longer exist as a “people”. As in the days of Isaiah they would be removed from the Land. Perhaps the original Israelite inhabitants with title to the land would be restored there to the “mountains of Israel” in their place. A reverse form of ethnic cleansing might occur. It is noteworthy that all of the ingredients to fulfill this ancient Isaiah prophecy are in flux in the exact same area. The ancient Israel region is slated to become a state for Palestinian “people”, a national entity that did not even exist prior to the 1967 war. The Arabs of the West Bank are virtually indistinguishable from those of the neighboring Arab countries from whence they came. While Israel has formal peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, there is only a ceasefire armistice with Syria in place. Talk of war over the Golan front is commonplace. The threat against the Jewish nation coming from Palestinian terrorists operating out of the West Bank or military action out of Syria remains problematic to the long-term security of Israel.

 

If 1948 marks the birth in modern times of a miracle baby and thus constitutes the “sign” of the fulfillment of Isaiah chapter 7, then 65 years from that date should bring freedom from oppression. That means 2013 is a significant year. Remembering that there is a special 7 year period remaining in Daniel’s prophecy to also be fulfilled leading up to the establishment of the righteous holy kingdom replacing Gentile domination brings us back to late 2006/early2007. Does anything happening in the current timeframe suggest a “covenant with many” involving Israel? In fact on January 1, 2007 the European Union (E.U.) commenced a 7 year budget cycle (2007-2013) with a mid term review mechanism built in for 2010. At that time the European Neighborhood Policy Instrument (ENPI) took effect, formalizing a whole array of arrangements between the E.U. and Mediterranean nations. The first of these had been negotiated with Israel! The associated action plan is now in effect.

 

Early 2007 also marks the completion of 40 years since the West Bank region and Old Jerusalem were taken by Israel. The presence of a large number of Arabs (Palestinian “people”) in this territory undermined early efforts by the government to annex the area into Israel proper. There is huge pressure now being exerted on Israel by USA and E.U. along with the UN. A “two state solution” involving Israel and a newly created Palestinian state living together in “peace and security” has been proposed. Now Tony Blair has been appointed representative of the Quartet (USA, EU, Russia, UN) to oversee and fast track a solution. Forty year time periods in the Bible are significant. They involve a time period of testing and time for repentance prior to judgment. Israel in its infancy spent 40 years in the wilderness for failure to possess the Promised Land. How ironic that this very real estate is about to be given up 40 years after it was provided to Israel by divine providence in 1967. So we have “book end events” for a seven-year time period stretching from 2007 to 2013.

 

The reader should note that the region of the West Bank is remarkably similar to the extent of the kingdom of Israel under the judges and King Saul. This is the place the prophets walked and taught. This is the region of the “Mountains of Israel” identified in Ezekiel 36.

Is Matthew 1:23 then in error in connecting the “sign” of Isaiah 7 to Yeshua’s birth. It would appear on the surface to be so. The early Christian community went through a crisis in the early 60’s CE. It makes sense that the sign of Yeshua’s birth should have been connected with freedom from oppression and the establishment of the kingdom at that time. Otherwise the “sign” is deficient if it does not connect with the remainder of the prophecy. But let us now further consider the notion of parallel fulfillment.

 

It is this author’s contention that the “miracle birth” of child Immanuel occurred in 1948. The other components of the prophecy concerning the 65 years and the removal of a threatening “people” to the north of Jerusalem must also follow. Recall that the very last question posed by the disciples as they gathered with Yeshua on the Mount of Olives prior to His ascension concerned the restoration of the physical kingdom to Israel. If Yeshua is Immanuel as Matthew claims then He must be connected with the completion of the rest of the Isaiah prophecy. This means His second coming to earth to introduce the Kingdom of Righteousness and Peace occurs no later than 2013, the 65 years since the birth of modern Israel in 1948. Otherwise Yeshua’s birth cannot be taken as any sign connected with Isaiah 7.

 

The third element in the prophecy specifically mentions Ephraim ceasing to be a “people” History shows that this did occur between 735 and 670 BCE when the Assyrians carried out forced deportations from the Mountains of Israel and replaced them with Arabs from the eastern deserts. Arabs are blood relatives of the Jews through the ancestry of Abraham, their common father. For the Isaiah prophecy to be completed in our time would involve the similar “shattering” of the current Palestinian “people”. Ezekiel 47 outlines the future kingdom of Israel as including not just the current West Bank area but also most of modern Syria as far as the Euphrates River.

 

In conclusion we have considered the triple prophecy of Isaiah chapter 7. The prophecy is sealed with a particular “sign” which Ahaz never asked for but God insisted on giving anyway. This sign turns out to be connected in some way with both the Land of Israel and the Messiah Yeshua who came to earth by virgin birth in Bethlehem. But as a sign it validates the rest of the prophecy, namely the removal of external threats to Jerusalem, the shattering of a “people” to the north in Samaria and the completion within 65 years. All components must come together in the same time frame. We are witnessing the exact convergence of all these parts in our time, potentially leading up to the return of the Second Immanuel to rescue and redeem the First Immanuel.