The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 155

~P.t! ~ho:4ld "bruise the. serpent's head"? The general, fact that. many of the prophecies do refer to the l/i{11 o..nd times of Christ cannot reasonably be doubted;, but difficulties will be found in the trentment of each particular case. The language must be carefully weighed, the figuc~ skilfully considered, and the connections adequately explained., ere any decision can be.arrived at.. We illustrate the difficulties by considering the very pc~plexing pa~sage now before·µs, • I. Tho propbet gives a sjgn .by renewiJJi!: the promise of deliverance, and connecting it with the .b~tp, of a child, w)lose significant name is made a symboi of the-Divine i,nterposition, and his growth a measure of the subsequent events. Instead of' saying that µod woul~ _be present to_ deliv.er them, he says that the child shall be called 'Imnianuel,'· Gp~ ,with· us. Instead of mentioning a term of years, he says,' Before the child,.is able to distinguish between good and evil.' Instead of saying that until that .time _the fa,nd ·shl}ll _lie waste, he represents .the child as eating curds and honey, eppµ,~nepµs PFC!P:~b'l, J;icre .put in ~pppsition ,to tbt: fruits of civilization. In a. figura- t),ve innnncr, and:JIS:Wg the large v:ague figures and metaphors characteristic o( prophetic 'IVIi~ing,.Isaiah,~!lrts that witqin _some three or four years their deliverance would be elf~c,ted, . : ,. ; ,; . . . . ";II,. But the qnes~ioµ: which is fou_n,d ~o difficult to answer is this-Of what child does t~e:.prophet )lere speak? . Oo,e. class of _.wri_ters suggest ,a child born in the ordinary cqurse of nat)lre, and in Is.i.iah's days; Some 6ay it wa.s Hezekiah; others a younger son of.Ahaz, by a . sg9_o11n ~arria,ge; 9\hers refer the passage to the birth of the prophet's own, ·son, by a person then,. present, who is afterwards called "the prophetess." Another class of writers affirm that intentional reference is made to two distinct children, and two; births-~bat, of C,hri~t, ~ I=anµ~I, and that of Shear,,Jashub, the son of Isaiah; and so_a dou9,ie ipeaning :W¥ gj.ven to the passage. Yet another class of writers refer the~e three verse11 dire.ctly and exclusiv.ely to the. Messiah. One of this class. says, "The passage describes the actual desolations ofthe,early period of Christ's life," .Another sl,~lfully paraphrases. one of the sentences thus: '.' Before the Mes.iah, if he were born no~, could knqw: to distinguis4 b,etween good and evil." And one suggests that l,;aiah hoo.. a prophet's. 'Vis}on of the birth of Messiah, and so spoke of it as though taking place th~n. . ., . , . . : . .. . III. 'l'he conclu_s~<;>ll, <?f a,~l?er ,and ,careful el!a_mination of this, and other. so-called Messianic prophecies, will probably be that the sign or the figure always relates, more or less ~~inctlr,,,tfl: pas~iJlg e.vents ,a,nd: pl!,5sing ,interests; but that no loca_l associations can exhaust_ !hcir mea~iµg, and n;iissi9µ. Th!) spiritually minded will always dis..cern more in th~ Bibl,e. than. appears to those .who ,treat_ it only as a common book. The Spirit, who, is g\v_en to us," sel!,rcbeth .all things,"_ even the deei:, things of God~ ~he hidden references of.his revelation.--,.B. T. , . . . . · Ver.·14:~'l'ie Imtrr~n;tel-CJhad . •• It i11 one ofthe.mo&t important facts concemi~g the manifestation of Christ,. :tl;iat ho was "born, of a virgin," or, as the ''. Te Deum" expresses it," He did not .abhor the.Virgin's womb,' We dw.11ll on two points: . . I.. IN: THE VmGIN'B Crn;Ln LIES HID THE MYSrERY OF THE INCARNATION. Isaiah. could have·. had .but fain't 11nd sb,ado.wy glimpses of thos& deeper meanings which we ~a.'.n find in hia.., wor~s. Reading ,his prophecy in the light of its fulfilmeut in the wonderful bcginnmgs of Christianity, we can tell of a virgin unto whom tbe angel of the Lord came, sayirig, '' The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power uf the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing w~icb shall bo b0rn of thee shall be ce.11.ed the Son of God." That was the announcement ·of the cowing of the one only true· virgin'~ ·chilti It is surely ~ surprising thing that we make so much of the great even~s. g(. Chrit.t's life, and dwell with so much interest upon the circumstances of his death, and yet'pay such comparatively slight attention to the original mystery, the wonuer of his coming to earth at all, the marvel of.the woman.-born God, The Incarnation is tho mystery of mysteries, and he who has received right iwpressious concerning it will find .no further mysteries in our Redeemer's life or death over which he will need to stumble.. Men s·ay-Can there be such things 11s miracles? :is then:! not an antecedent improbability that the order of nature, as we know it, should ever be cbangeu? To receive the record of Christ's birth of o. virgin-mother is to settle the whole question of t~,, wir~,ulous. The lu~a.rnation is put before us at tha very begilllling of the gosiiel  144 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [ OR, VIL 1-96,