3.7. Prophecies about the Nativity of Christ and Christ

We will not enumerate here all the sins of which the Lord convicts the Jews through the Prophet Isaiah, although this is very instructive. As St. John of Kronstadt said, it is surprising that the prophets spoke, as it were, about our time. If we look at all these sins, it turns out that they also surround us: false measure, drunkenness, bribery, and so on. Still, it will be much more useful and pleasant for us to pay attention to the various comforting prophecies concerning New Testament times.

After describing the calling of the prophet, chapter 7 begins a series of great prophecies. The first of them, showing how the fulfillment of the divine Council will begin, is the prophecy of the birth of Christ from a Virgin. It is given in connection with the fact that the Israeli king Pekah and the Syrian king Rezin are going to Jerusalem in order to destroy it. From the Book of Kings it is known that they inflicted a fairly significant defeat on the Judean troops at the very first meeting. And so the prophet Isaiah appeared to Ahaz ("And the Lord said to Isaiah, 'Go out to meet you, and your son Shearyasub, to meet Ahaz, to the end of the water supply of the upper pool, to the road to the bleaching field' (Isaiah 7:3)) and says: "Ask God for a sign", but Ahaz, who was an unbeliever, who was an idolater, does not even want this, does not even want to receive any sign from God, so that he would not inadvertently have to give up his idolatry. And then the prophet Isaiah says these words: "Hear, therefore, house of David! is it not enough for you to trouble men, that you want to trouble my God also? " (Isaiah 7:13). These words usually cause some bewilderment.

What does it mean to make people difficult and to make God difficult? The inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea resist and do not allow the prophets to proclaim the will of God, do not allow the prophets to serve for the correction of the people. And now Ahaz is trying to hinder God Himself, Who is ready to give a sign of edification, trying to prevent God Himself from correcting himself, correcting the whole people. And then the prophet Isaiah announces to him: "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel. He will feed on milk and honey, until he understands to reject evil and choose good; for before this babe understands to reject evil and choose good, the land which you fear will be forsaken by both kings thereof" (Isaiah 7:14-16).

The word "virgin" in the Hebrew text is designated as "alma", an expression that can mean both a virgin and a young woman; although even in the Old Testament in the first sense it is used more often. But when translated into Greek, seventy interpreters translated this passage precisely as "parthenos", that is, virgin, without any variants, which confirms precisely this understanding of this place by the Old Testament Church. This is very important for us.

Here this birth is correlated with the desolation of the earth. Apparently, the point is that after a while the Assyrians will crush both Israel and Syria. This allowed and still allows some interpreters to assert that the prophet Isaiah informed Ahaz that a young woman would give birth to a child in Jerusalem, and while he was still small, significant events would take place related to deliverance from danger. The opposite opinion was expressed by the Holy Fathers. In the writings of St. Basil the Great we find the following: "Is it surprising that one of the many women living with her husband became the mother of a child? And how could that which was born "of the lust of the flesh" be called Immanuel? Therefore, if what is given is a sign, then let the birth also be extraordinary. And if the image of the birth of the Child is ordinary, then do not call it a sign, do not call it Immanuel" [8, part 2, p. 226].

Further, the prophet Isaiah speaks of the birth of a son to him, and by God's command the name of this son is given Magershelalhashbaz, that is, "hastens the plunder, hastens the booty" (Isaiah 8:1). As you can see, the ministry of the prophet does not end even within the walls of his own home, so he names his children for a certain purpose. This name refers precisely to the fact that before the child is able to pronounce "my father" and "my mother", the riches of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried before the king of Assyria.

However, even here we cannot limit ourselves to the literal meaning. If the seventh chapter deals with Christmas, then it should be understood in the same way. St. Basil the Great says that he approached in a vision and saw the fulfillment of the promise. The Mother of God was called the Prophetess, since the Holy Spirit descended upon Her, and She sang a prophetic song. The Son is Christ, who suddenly plundered the "gain" of the devil – the people who were captive by him. "And thou shalt come unto the prophetess, and be conceived in thy womb, and bear forth a son. And the Lord said unto me, His name is Thou hast taken captive, and plundered insolently" (Isaiah 8:3). "That is, by the spirit and foreknowledge of the future, I approached the prophetess. For he comprehended, as it were, drawn closer by prophetic understanding, saw her conception from afar, foreseeing by means of a prophetic gift that She had given birth to a Son, of Whom the Lord said: "Call His name: Quickly take captive, impudently plunder." Soon he captured the strong, guarding his possessions, that is, those who were sold into sin and kept in the bonds of death. And He took him captive, and divided his gains to His own strength, handing over the faithful to the holy Angels for safekeeping and keeping, of whom He Himself said: "Ye shall see the face of My Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 18:10). For this is the one who has brazenly plundered; of Him it is written, "Ascending on high, He took captivity captive, He took possession among men" (Ps. 67:19)" [8, part 2, p. 235].

The power of Damascus is the believers of the Gentiles, the gains of Samaria are those who believe from circumcision. "If captivity is speedy to wrought gain, it is ripe" (Isaiah 8:1). "For the teaching of the Gospel was soon quicker than any lightning, it reached the ends of the world; it takes away the gains of the prince of this world, and brings those who are captive by him into the obedience of Christ" [8, part 2, p. 236].

Further, the prophet says that Judah should trust in God, and not in military alliances, not in fortified cities, not in its own military force. The Lord says that "He will be a sanctification, and a stumbling block, and a rock of offense for both houses of Israel, a snare and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem" (Isaiah 8:14) and Judah. Trust in God is the only thing that can save and protect Judea, no idols, no military alliances, nothing else will help them, any more than they helped, say, Samaria. Samaria was a magnificently fortified city for its time, even the Assyrian army spent a lot of time to take this city, but, nevertheless, it took, razed it to the ground, so that no tricks helped it. Prophetically, the saving hope in Christ is depicted here.

And then in chapter 9 there is a prophecy about the exaltation of Galilee of the Gentiles: "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; on those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, the light will shine" (Isaiah 9:2), which is quoted in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 4:16), and the light will shine, not just sunlight, and not just electricity, but the light that enlightens everyone, that is, Christ will appear. "For unto us a child is born, a son is given unto us; dominion is upon His shoulders, and they shall call His name Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6), or in the Slavonic Bible: "Great is the Angel of Counsel, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Sovereign, Prince of Peace, Father of the age to come; for I will bring peace upon the princes, peace and health to him." We know these words from the divine services. "Wonderful, Angel of the Great Council." The council, obviously, is the same that is spoken of in the sixth chapter, and Christ is here really called the Angel who announced its fulfillment. Remember, when analyzing the law-positive books, we talked about some oddities in the appearance of angels, which are described in the Old Testament books. I am pushing you to think that those apparitions also contained a prophecy about Christ. And here Christ is directly called an Angel. And also by the "Father of the age to come," that is, the life of the age to come, which we hope for and sing in the Symbol of Faith, is revealed through Christ.

Irmos of the 5th canon of the Nativity canon: "O God of this world, Father of mercies, of Thy great counsel Angel, Thou hast sent us peace. Thus having been guided by the understanding of God to the light, from the night we glorify Thee, O lover of mankind!"

Chapter 11 speaks of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Christ is called a sprout from the root of Jesse: "And there shall come forth a sprout from the root of Jesse, and a branch shall sprout from his root; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and godliness; and he will be filled with the fear of the Lord, and he will not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor by the hearing of his eyes to decide things. He will judge the poor in righteousness, and decide the deeds of the afflicted of the earth in truth; and with the rod of his mouth he will smite the earth, and with the spirit of his mouth he will kill the wicked" (Isaiah 11:1-4). These last words are quoted in the second Epistle to the Thessalonians by the Apostle Paul.