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Christmas in the Old Testament

JESUS’ BIRTH IN ISAIAH 

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel”. Isaiah 7:14(NIV)
 
There is much debate as to whether the correct translation is “virgin” or “young woman”. Actually the latter is probably more correct, yet those who translated the Hebrew Bible into in the 2nd century BC choose a Greek word that specifically means virgin. Following is a helpful note from the Life Application Bible:

"Virgin" is translated from a Hebrew word used for an unmarried woman who is old enough to be married, one who is sexually mature.  Some have compared this young woman to Isaiah's young wife and newborn son (8:1-4). This is not likely because she had a child, Shear-jashub, and her second child was not named Immanuel. Some believe that Isaiah's first wife may have died, and so this is his second wife. It is more likely that this prophecy had a double fulfillment. (1) A young woman from the house of Ahaz who was not married would marry and have a son. Before three years passed (one year for pregnancy and two for the child to be old enough to talk), the two invading kings would be destroyed. (2) Matthew 1:23 quotes Isaiah 7:14 to show a further fulfillment of this prophecy in that a virgin named Mary conceived and bore a son, Immanuel, the Christ.

Many Old Testament prophecies have both an immediately applicable understanding applying to the time of their writing and one that points to Christ. This is one of them.

There is always the pull to remain purely objective so that one can get the facts as accurately as possible and then base one’s beliefs on what is objectively true. Those who think this way choose “young woman”. Yet, the Bible itself doesn’t allow anyone to get to perfect objectivity in a pure and perfect sense. What the Bible gives us is lots of evidence (as opposed to irrefutable truth in a scientific or historical sense).

In short, following Christ will always require belief and faith . I find it ironic that those who bet their lives on science apart from God often say to those who ask what they do with what science cannot explain say something like, “one day science will find out”, which is kind of a “science of the gaps” faith. In other words, Christians and non theistic evolutionists stand on the same ground, that of faith.