How do you and I know that a person is trustworthy? We know a person as trustworthy because they prove themselves by their character. Their actions prove that they are trustworthy when their actions back up their words. We are talking this week about the reliability or trustworthiness of the Bible. One of the biggest pieces of evidence of the reliability of the Bible is the prophecies that were fulfilled. The vast majority of the prophecies of Scripture were fulfilled, which gives us evidence that the word of God is indeed trustworthy.
The birth of Jesus was prophesied in numerous places in the Old Testament. One of these places was Isaiah 7:14, which says, “All right then, the Lord Himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” This verse clearly prophesies about a coming messiah, who would be born from a virgin and would be named “Immanuel,” which literally means “God is with us.” This was a promise that the people of Israel held onto throughout their lives. A Savior was coming who would rescue them from their sins.
The prophecy found in Isaiah 7 was fulfilled when Jesus was born. You can read all about this fulfillment in Matthew 1:18-2:1. These verses record the birth of Jesus from Mary, a virgin, as prophesied in Isaiah 7:14. They let readers know that hope had come. The long-awaited Messiah had finally been born. He had come to rescue Israel. God, indeed, was with them through the birth of Jesus, the Son of God.
This prophecy from Isaiah 7 is one of the many prophecies fulfilled in the New Testament. As we read these prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled in the New Testament, we can gain further confidence in the Bible’s unshakeable reliability.
Take some time to read the prophecy of Jesus’ virgin birth in Isaiah 7:10-25. Next, read about its fulfillment in Matthew 1:18-2:1. After reading, thank God for being a God who keeps His promises and gives us the gift of His inerrant Word.
Later, the Lord sent this message to King Ahaz: “Ask the Lord your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.[e]”
But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the Lord like that.”
Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin[f] will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt[g] and honey. For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.
“Then the Lord will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!”
In that day the Lord will whistle for the army of southern Egypt and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees. They will come in vast hordes and settle in the fertile areas and also in the desolate valleys, caves, and thorny places. In that day the Lord will hire a “razor” from beyond the Euphrates River[h]—the king of Assyria—and use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.
In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left. Nevertheless, there will be enough milk for everyone because so few people will be left in the land. They will eat their fill of yogurt and honey. In that day the lush vineyards, now worth 1,000 pieces of silver, will become patches of briers and thorns. The entire land will become a vast expanse of briers and thorns, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife. No one will go to the fertile hillsides where the gardens once grew, for briers and thorns will cover them. Cattle, sheep, and goats will graze there.
