Gleanings for December 8

Christ Birthed by a Young Virgin Woman

Isaiah 7: 14 NKJV: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

This literally means: GOD WITH US.

“The prophecy of the Virgin Birth has been a source of considerable controversy due to the use of the Hebrew word ‘almah’, which can be translated ‘young woman’ as well as ‘virgin.’ Isaiah used ‘almah under the inspiration of the Spirit, because the Lord was making a dual prophecy in this passage.

“The Lord was giving the sign of a child to King Ahaz, and the conception of that child is recorded in chapter 8. It therefore had an immediate, historical fulfillment; as well as the prophetic message heralding the coming Messiah.

“The Holy Spirit was also speaking (in Isaiah 7: 14) of the Messiah Who would come, and that Child would literally be born of a virgin. The fact that Christ was virgin-born is indisputable from Matthew and Luke’s use of the Greek word ‘parthenos’, which definitely means ‘virgin’.”

“Matthew 1: 23 NKJV: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

“Luke 1: 26 & 27 NKJV: “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.”

There are few details recorded in scripture as to the reception Mary received from people when they heard the news that she, an unmarried woman, was going to have a baby.

But we do read how Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin, reacted. She, a woman who was very old—was soon to give birth to John the Baptist. (That birth was also a miracle.)

Read the account scripture gives us about Mary’s visit to her cousin:

Luke 1: 40 & 45: “When Mary entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth, this happened; when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she (Elizabeth) spoke out with a loud voice and said,

‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! For indeed as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

Elizabeth’s message once again confirmed the Old Testament prophesies. The birth of Jesus was truly a miracle; a super-natural happening---God Breathed!!

JESUS IS THE JOY OF LIVING---HE IS OUR STRENGTH!!!