Is 7:10-11 The Lord added to Ahaz, saying, "Ask for a sign for yourself." Since the impious King Ahaz would not believe the words of Isaiah, the Lord said to him through the same prophet to ask for a sign, not from the idols he worshiped, but from the Lord his God. For God Himself would perform a miracle by which Ahaz would understand that he was to be delivered from the two kings, and that their kingdoms were to be overthrown, whether the king wished that miracle to come from the depths of hell or from heaven. For God could split the earth open so that the depths of hell might be exposed in a great chasm, and He could stop the sun in the sky as He did in the time of Joshua, or open the very heaven.
Is 7:12 And Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I tempt the Lord." We read in Deuteronomy the scripture: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God." Christ used this very testimony against the devil, as is found in Matthew, chapter 4. Therefore, it is not permissible to ask God for a miracle without necessity. Yet, it was necessary for King Ahaz to ask for a sign, because God was commanding it. For it is necessary to obey God. But the impious king did this not out of humility and religion, but out of impiety and stubbornness. For he supposed that God would perform a miracle, and since he himself was a worshiper of idols, he did not want God's power to be displayed, and for God to be praised for that reason.
Behold God's clemency towards men, and man's malice towards God. God wished to perform a miracle, and man wished to hide God's glory. And what was worse, this shameful king covered this impiety with a cloak of virtue. Behold the impious hypocrisy of man! One thing was on his face, another in his heart. One thing in words, another in deeds. Just as silver, though bright, draws black lines, so the impious king, though he outwardly displayed the brightness of religion, was dark within and drew the filthy lines of his deeds. Such are all those who display an appearance of virtue externally, while they deform the soul—where the dwelling place of nobility and virtue resides—with such vices that they wallow in perpetual wickedness and disgrace.
Is 7:13 And He said, "Hear ye therefore, O house of David." These are the words of the prophet, saying: "Is it not enough for you, O Jews, to despise the prophets, but you must also scorn God Himself? Why do you resist the divine will?" Observe that those are troublesome to God who do not take refuge in Him during afflictions, but place their hope for their affairs in human protection.
Is 7:14 The Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, etc. God commanded King Ahaz to ask for a sign, either from heaven or from hell, so that he might know for certain that Jerusalem was to be delivered from the enemies. But when he refused to ask for such a sign, God promises the sign of human redemption, which was signified by the liberation of Jerusalem. As if the prophet were saying: "Because you, O King, refuse to believe, God will give a great and admirable sign, not to you, but to you, O future Jews, a sign not only of the liberation of Jerusalem but of the whole world." For Behold, the Virgin Mary shall conceive of the Holy Spirit and shall bear a Son, whose name shall be Emmanuel, which means God with us. He will deliver you. God the Father will send you a Savior, not some Aioth (Ehud), or Gideon, or Samson, as in the past when you were governed by judges, but Emmanuel, true God and true Man, who will protect you from the power of the devil, and even now, before He is born, will rescue you from the two kings.
Whoever is versed in the reading of the holy prophets will not be surprised that Isaiah, in the midst of mentioning the liberation of Jerusalem, recalled the liberation of the entire human race. For it was the custom of the prophets, taking the occasion of material events, to pass on to the divine and profound mysteries of Christ and to cover them with veiled language, lest holy things be given to dogs and despised by the unworthy.
However, that this prophecy of Isaiah is to be understood of the admirable birth of the most holy Virgin Mary is testified most clearly by Saint Matthew in the first chapter of his Gospel, where the words are literally as follows: "And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying: 'Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,' which being interpreted is, God with us."
This is from Saint Matthew. And observe that no mention is made of a father here, because Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit. For Christ is that Stone, which, as is said in Daniel, "was cut out of the mountain without hands"; He is the one who was conceived and born of the most holy Virgin, that mountain of virtues, without human seed.
Observe also that the name of the child is Emmanuel, that is, God with us. All these things show that this prophecy is to be understood of Christ our God, who had no father on earth and who dwelt corporally with us, and of His most holy Mother, who, being a virgin, conceived of the Holy Spirit.
The prophet Ezekiel says the same thing, although in different words, in the forty-fourth chapter of his visions. After saying that he had been turned back to the way of the gate of the sanctuary, which faced the East and was shut, he subjoined: "This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it: because the Lord the God of Israel has entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut, and shall be shut to the prince." Or, as others interpret, "shut forever." What else is this gate shut forever, through which God alone entered and went out, but the most holy Mother of God, Mary, ever Virgin? Saint Jerome and Saint Augustine interpret that passage this way. This is the Virgin whom Isaiah foretold would conceive and bring forth Christ.
O most holy Virgin, temple of the Lord, sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, restorer of our parents, preserver of posterity! You brought true light to the human race wandering without light, for from you arose the Sun of Justice, Christ our God. Men were stripped of all the beauty of virtues, established in all disgrace and ignominy; the will had obeyed appetite, constancy had collapsed, true dignity had been taken away, and their splendor extinguished, and finally, all the ornaments of virtue had fallen. But by conceiving Christ and showing Him to the world, You recalled us from darkness to light, from death to life, from true and vile ignominy to true and illustrious dignity. Our salvation, our victory, and the restoration of our innocence depend on You. What would the life of mortals be without You, but night, but mist, but darkness and the shadow of death? You are a Virgin and a Mother, and the Mother of Him whose Father is God!
What else did that bush signify, which Moses saw emitting flames but not consuming itself, but Yourself, conceiving without a man and giving birth without pain? Without a doubt, you are the one who miraculously bore Emmanuel for us.
Nevertheless, the Rabbis, blind and obstinate, say that this prophecy of Isaiah is not to be understood of the Virgin but of Isaiah's wife. For which reason they fabricate, as usual, mere trifles, intolerable absurdities, and vanities. Did not God promise a sign? It is clear that He did. What sign and miracle, therefore, would it be for Isaiah's wife, who suffered from no sterility, to conceive? O the deplorable blindness of such men!
Other Jews maintain that this is to be understood of King Ahaz's wife, because they see that no son of Isaiah brought salvation to Jerusalem, and they say that this son whom the prophet foretold would be the liberator of the Jews is King Hezekiah, whom it is established achieved admirable victories over the enemies of the Jews. Behold the madness of blind men! How could King Ahaz's wife conceive and give birth to Hezekiah as a sign of the liberation of Jerusalem, when He was already born? Read the Fourth Book of Kings, and you will see from the calculation of years that Hezekiah was nine years old when his father Ahaz began to reign, and this prophecy was given during his reign. Who does not see that these interpretations of the Jews were forged in the workshop of Satan?
"His name shall be called Emmanuel." Jesus and Emmanuel are the same, although they appear to be different names. Jesus means Savior; Emmanuel means God with us. God was with us for this purpose: that He might save us. What else is "God with us" than "God is our Savior"? He is called Emmanuel because of the union of the divine and human nature in one hypostasis (person).
Saint John said the same thing in other words: "And the Word was made flesh." What is "the Word was made flesh" but "God with us"? Emmanuel is the same as God made man, conversing with men. The prophet Baruch foretold this in the third chapter, where, speaking of the Messiah, he says: "This is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of him." And a little later: "Afterwards He was seen upon earth, and conversed with men."
Another prophet predicted the same thing with these words: "Truth is sprung out of the earth." That is, God, who is Truth itself, took on an earthly body so that He might open the way of eternal salvation to those who dwell on earth, and save them, and lead them to the true and celestial fatherland of promise.
The Good, as the divine Dionysius, the disciple of the Apostle Paul, says, is diffusive and communicative of itself. Hence, the highest Good will be the most communicative. Since God is the highest Good, He has communicated Himself most highly to us. In what respect could He communicate Himself more than by assuming our humanity and dwelling with us? This was the highest communication and an admirable abundance of love towards us.
Isaiah, contemplating this in his mind, said that the Messiah was to be called Emmanuel, so that He might show His divinity and humanity.
Observe: God came that we might be saved; therefore, we were lost. He came that we might obtain salvation; therefore, we were suffering from sickness. He came that He might be with us; therefore, we were without Him. Since Christ is Emmanuel, since God is with us, what do we fear? What more do we desire? Why do we seek the wealth and pleasures of the world so ardently, except because, although He Himself came to be with us, we nevertheless wish to be without Him? He is with us, but we are not with Him. He seeks us, but we flee Him. He wills that we seek life, but we run towards death, towards voluntary destruction.
Observe: He does not say, "His name shall be called We with Him," but "He with us." O the immense piety of God towards us, and our incredible ingratitude towards God!
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