Moreover the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, "Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above."
But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!"
Then he said, "Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings."

King Ahaz did not believe the prophecy of verses 4-9. Rather than hope in God, he hoped in the king of Assyria, but feared the king of Assyria would not come to his aid. Yet God commanded him to ask for a sign to confirm the words of the prophet.

Ahaz refused! He tried to sound pious in his refusal, but clearly he did not believe God could do it. This wicked king even borrowed words from Deuteronomy 6:16, "You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah." Like many today, he knew enough to sound pious, but did not believe.

But the plan of God is not limited by the will of man. God gave Ahaz a sign in spite of his refusal. God intervened to put the people's confidence in Him alone. God would do what God and God alone could do: a virgin would bear a son and both kings would forsake the land before the child could discern good and evil.

Scholars have debated over the identity of this virgin for centuries. But the plain interpretation is that some virgin, or someone who was a virgin at the time of the prophecy, did in fact bear a son. The child's birth signified that God was indeed with them to protect them, and so his mother could have appropriately named him Immanuel. Within about three years, the kings would forsake the land. Only God could do this and only God could know it would happen.

But the Holy Spirit so inspired Isaiah, that within this sign was a promise for the future -- the birth of Christ. He would more fully display God's protection and God's deliverance. Christ would literally be born of a virgin. He is Immanuel, not because He signified God's presence with Israel, but because He is God present with us.

Matthew tells us in his gospel, "So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us.'" (1:22, 23)