STUDY 13: CHRIST: IMMANUEL; THE STUMBLING STONE– ISAIAH 7
© Rosemary Bardsley 2024
As noted in Study 3 Isaiah’s vision of God in Isaiah 6 was a vision of Jesus Christ. This is affirmed in John 12:41 – that Isaiah said what he said when he saw Christ’s glory.
From this we learn that the expected Messiah, the Christ, is in fact the Lord Almighty, the Holy One, in whose presence Isaiah cowered in fear, fully aware of his own sinfulness, fully expecting that that would be his last moment. But from this Holy One came forgiveness, not wrath, relieving his fear, motivating him to instantly volunteer himself for an undefined mission. It is this awesome Christ whom we find in Isaiah – a Christ who is God.
A. IMMANUEL – GOD WITH US
In Isaiah 7:14 we read ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth of a son, and will call him Immanuel.’ Immanuel – God with us.
The concept of God being ‘with us’ is first reported in Genesis. In Genesis 2 we are told of God bringing the animals to Adam, and then bringing Eve to him. In Genesis 3 we read of God walking in the garden, and talking with Adam and Eve. But also in Genesis 3 we read of Adam and Eve being banished from the garden, and God placing cherubim with flaming swords, barring access to ‘the tree of life’. Sinful man is thus banned from God’s presence. As we saw in Isaiah 6, Isaiah, aware of his sinfulness, believed himself extremely threatened by his vision of the immediate presence of God.
When God gave Moses instructions to set up the Tabernacle the Most Holy Place, within the Tabernacle, was symbolic of the presence of God. Yet here again access was prohibited. Here again cherubim, this time embroidered on the massive curtain that sectioned off the Most Holy Place, banned human entry even into this symbolic presence of God.
But now Isaiah predicts the birth of child who will be called ‘God with us’. It is this prophecy that Matthew refers to when reporting the events leading up the birth of Jesus:
‘All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.” ‘ [Matthew 1:22,23].
John reports it this way:
‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men …The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth’ [John 1:1-4,14].
‘That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us’ [1John 1:1,2].
Paul adds his description:
‘ … Christ Jesus, Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross’ [Philippians 2:5-8].
‘Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body …’ [1Timothy 3:16].
And in Hebrews:
‘… in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word …’ [Hebrews 1:2,3].
‘… since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil …’ [Hebrews 2:14].
‘Immanuel’ speaks of the incarnation: God became man. Not in such a way that he ceased being God, but that, at the same time, he who is God was also man. Fully God and fully man, true God and true man, without reduction or alteration of either.
Throughout the centuries since this incredible event men have debated and rejected it. To some the very idea that God would become man is blasphemous [read John 5:16-18; 10:30-33]. To those who saw matter as evil and spirit or mind as good, it was offensive and impossible. To those who deny all miraculous and supernatural events the virgin birth is nonsense and even the idea of ‘god’ is nonsense. Indeed, false teaching, false cults and world religions in one way or another interfere with the incarnation, denying or reducing either the true deity or the true humanity of Jesus Christ.
But it is through this divine Son who is born of the virgin, born of a woman [Galatians 4:4] that the way back to God is established [John 14:6], the prohibitive barrier banning the sinner’s access to God is ripped away by his sin-bearing death [Matthew 27:50.51], and those who believe in him enjoy permanent access into the presence of God [Ephesians 2:18; Hebrews 4:14-16; 10:19-22].
Isaiah 7:14 Christ does not appear as he did in Isaiah 6, in overwhelming divine holiness and glory. He comes as a new-born human child, the son of a virgin. [Note that there is a short-term fulfilment of this in the history of Judah, as indicated in 7:16, but at a deeper, long-term, spiritual level, verse 14 speaks of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Note also, that the Hebrew translated ‘virgin’ also means ‘young woman’.]
Check these New Testament references to this:
Matthew 1:18 – 25
Luke 1:26 – 38
Galatians 4:3 – 5
What did you learn about –
The fact that this was a virgin birth?
How God did this?
The names of this child?
What this child would accomplish?
This real humanity of Christ is mentioned at length in Hebrews 2. There we learn how essential it was that Christ must be a human being:
That he became one of us so that he could ‘taste death for everyone’ – Hebrews 2:9.
That in order to be our perfect Saviour it was necessary for him to experience the same hard yards of human suffering as us – verse 10.
That he is of the same family - a human being – as us, so much so that he calls us ‘brothers’ – verse 11, 12.
That he shares the same flesh and blood as us so that he can by his death liberate us from our fear of death, and from the devil who holds us captive to that fear – verses 13 – 15.
That to represent us as a merciful and faithful high priest, and to make atonement for our sins, he had to be made like us, his brothers, in every way – verse 17.
That he is able to help us when we are tempted, because he himself suffered the same pressures as we do – verse 18.
This brief and passing reference to the human birth and the real human nature of Christ in Isaiah 7:14, is thus an extremely important concept. Without it there would be no salvation.
B. THE STUMBLING STONE
But this incarnation (this becoming human) of Christ is also a point of contention and rejection. During his three years of ministry reported in the four Gospels it was very obvious that Jesus of Nazareth was a real human being. So real that his statements that affirmed his equality with God were offensive; they were considered so blasphemous that the leaders of the Jews plotted his death.
Check out these references to this reaction:
John 5:16 – 18
John 8:52 – 59
John 10:30 – 33
Mark 14:60 – 65
Had the Christ appeared as he did in Isaiah 6, in obvious and powerful divine majesty and splendour, his claims to equality with God would have been acceptable. But he came in the form of an ordinary human being, just the carpenter from down the road, so his divine claims stirred up controversy and hatred. He was, as the Scripture attests, a ‘stumbling stone’ a ‘rock of offense.’
Check these references. What do you learn?
Romans 9:30 – 33
1Corinthians 1:23
1Peter 2:6 – 8
Isaiah 8:13 – 15
Three of the gospels reference to Jesus as a ‘stumbling stone’. In Jesus’ parable about the tenants – a story about the rejection of the Son, Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22,23 at the end of the parable:
‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the LORD has done this,
and it is marvellous in our eyes.”’ [See Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17].
Jesus applied this verse from the Psalms to himself and the Jews’ deliberate rejection of him.
Peter made the same application of this verse, stating quite clearly that Jesus is this stone rejected by man, but exalted by God. Then he added: ‘Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved’ [Acts 4:10-12].
Later Peter wrote to Christians:
‘… you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him - … to you who believe, this stone is precious …’ [1Peter 2:4,7].
In this context Peter referred to a prophecy of Isaiah:
‘For in the Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame”’ [1Peter 2:6; Isaiah 28:16].
Peter then, as he did in Acts, quoted Psalm 118:22, adding Isaiah 8:14, describing Jesus as:
‘A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.’ 1Peter 2:7b]
Peter then comments: ‘they stumble because they disobey the message’ [verse 8].
Paul, also quoting Isaiah 8:14 and 28:16. speaks in Romans 9:30 to 10:13 of the Jews stumbling over the “stumbling stone”. He gives two reasons for their stumbling:
They pursued righteousness as if it were attainable by works, rather than pursuing righteousness by faith [9:32; 10:3].
They are zealous, but their zeal is not based on knowledge [10:2,3].
Isaiah’s teaching about this ‘stone’ is instructive:
‘The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread,
and he will be a sanctuary;
but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.
Many will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.’ [8:13-15]
Firstly, we notice that Isaiah states that God himself is the ‘stone’, yet Jesus himself, along with the apostles, teach that Jesus is this stone. Just as Isaiah’s vision of the holy LORD Almighty is a vision of Jesus Christ [Isaiah 6:1-5; John 12:41], and just as the child of the virgin is ‘God with us’ – Jesus Christ [Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22,23], similarly here: Jesus Christ, the Lord, is this precious, significant ‘stone’, the most important ‘stone’ of all. . It is ‘the LORD Almighty’ who is ‘the stone that causes men to stumble’ and ‘a rock that makes them fall’. The New Testament writers clearly understood Isaiah to be speaking about Jesus Christ, and did not hesitate to apply this verse to Christ’s rejection by his contemporaries. When he is rejected, it is God is rejected.
Secondly, Isaiah, along with the New Testament, makes it clear that for those who believe in him, those who stand with holy awe in his presence, God is a ‘sanctuary’ – a place of refuge and security, the only place of salvation. But for those who do not believe in him, for those who cast God aside and choose to trust in, or fear or dread, some power and authority other than God, he is a stumbling stone.
It may be national or political powers [Isaiah 8:1-6].
It may be what today we would call a ‘conspiracy theory’ [Isaiah 8:12].
It may be occult or demonic powers [Isaiah 8:19].
It may be heretical belief – ‘the lie’ [Isaiah 28:15 – 17].
It may be a corrupt, distorted understanding of God’s Word [Isaiah 28:13]
It may be perceived personal religious merit [Romans 9:30-10:4].
For those with this misplaced ‘trust’, this fear or dread of other powers, or other gods, this dependence on something or someone other god, this self-exaltation, the true God is offensive. The true God, and his word, exposes their error, exposes the weakness and powerlessness of the things in which they trust. The true God demands their allegiance, but they do not want to recognize either him or his authority.
Jesus came as the Saviour – our ‘sanctuary’ to use Isaiah’s term in 8:14 – the central figure in God’s eternal plan for our redemption [the ‘cornerstone’, the ‘capstone’, the most important of all]. He claimed that he alone is the place where God is known. He claimed that he alone is the way back to God. And people are offended by him.
Some stumble over his claims to be God – they prefer to choose their own ‘god’.
Some stumble over his claim to be the only truth – they prefer to choose their own ‘truth’.
Some stumble over his claim to be the one way to God – they prefer to choose their own ‘way’.
Some stumble over his sin-bearing death – they prefer to ‘save’ themselves.
If we are thus offended by Jesus Christ, if we stumble over him and his claims, if we reject him, we are rejecting God, the only Saviour, in a final way. And we are lost – we ‘have no light of dawn’ [Isaiah 8:20b].
We will see more of this offensiveness of Jesus Christ when we look at the Servant Songs in later studies.
For further insights into the real and necessary humanness of Christ check these studies:
[1] Incarnation as a salvation concept.