The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 70-5, titled "Bible Questions and Answers."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.  Copyright John MacArthur Jr., All Rights Reserved.

Question

I have a question on Isaiah 7:14-16.   In the context when you read it, it sounds as though the child had to be born during the time of the prophet, whereas Matthew refers it to the birth of Jesus?

Answer

That's a difficult passage.  I was reading not long ago on this passage and I would commend for your reading, if you can get a hold of it several things: my dad has recently done an awful lot of work on this passage; it's too complex to dig into there.  There is, I think, a legitimate prophetic application here and I think that he has done a good job.  What I will do if you give me your name and address, I will send that to you, because I think you would enjoy reading it. 

The other view that I have heard recently, and I heard this at the Inerrancy Congress when we were discussing these passages, Dr. Walter Kaiser (Sp.) who is the Dean of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in the Chicago area; he believes that this is an analogy.  In fact, he believes that the word "pleroo" (Greek) when it even says "being fulfilled" can legitimately be related to something that is no more than an analogy.  His illustration of that is Matthew 2 where Matthew's gospel says that Jesus, around the time of His birth went to Egypt and then left Egypt, and it says, "Out of Egypt have I called My Son," and you go to Hosea 11:1 and there is no way it can mean Jesus; it has to mean the nation Israel. 

So Kaiser says we have to see in the word "pleroo" (Greek) or the word "fulfilled" we have to see the latitude to understand analogies, and that everything that is fulfilled is not fulfilled in the sense that we think that it is a direct prophecy with a direct fulfillment.  It may mean nothing more than an analogy.  So Kaiser takes 7:14, if I remember correctly and simply, is an analogy; that is to say, like a virgin had a child, so a virgin had a child.  I really can't give that one away; I feel there is a direct prophetic indication here.  But to do a complete answer let me send you that material so you can see the full historic picture and then you can see its application.