Skip to main content

Prophecy #4

             Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

 

            I’ve been trying to avoid this one since I started doing the prophecies, but there’s no avoiding it. When this prophecy was given to Isaiah, it was immediately about a woman who was a virgin at the time, whom Isaiah would take as a wife and who would have a baby. By the time the boy was old enough to know right from wrong, the kings feared by the King of Judah would be dead. However, prophecies can have multiple fulfillments and, in this case, the ultimate fulfillment was the conception of Jesus without the aid of a human father.
            My problem isn’t that I don’t believe it. I do. It’s no more of a miracle than any of the other prophecies I’ve listed, and yet it is. And it is an intimate miracle. None of my business, or yours, but critical for us to know. After all, the descendants of Adam and Eve, of Abram, Jacob, Judah, and David probably ranged from millions to thousands during that time period. But how many could have – or would have – claimed a virgin birth? What better evidence for Emmanuel, “God with us”?
            It's been noted that some animals are capable fo parthenogenesis. Like the dinosaurs of "Jurassic Park" and the sequels, they are capable of nonsexual reproduction. The idea those who mention it seem to be trying to suggest is that if Mary was actually a virgin (which they doubt) then the concept was a parthenogenetic "oops" rather than a miracle. The difficulty is that humans aren't capable of parthenogenesis. To make it worse, what's the chance that a virgin descendant of David living at the right time would be the one who did what no other human female could - and then make it worse by somehow producing a baby boy.
            No, it’s easier to claim that Mary wasn’t a virgin. Easy to claim, impossible to prove. Trying to cite “science” as proof (every effect must have a cause) doesn’t work because if there is a God, He can cause. Like all  the other prophecies, one can claim it didn’t happen, or was coincidence, but as the number of prophecies increases, it’s like the frame built to hold up a building.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more