5.11 Who was
"Immanuel"?
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall
call his name Immanuel (God is with us)."
Isaiah 7:14
Muslims are commanded in the Qur'an to believe in Jesus
(pbuh) as a true and faithful prophet of God. For this
reason, Muslims have no trouble believing that prophets of
the Old Testament prophesied the coming of Jesus (pbuh).
However, as we have already seen in chapter two, over the
ages mankind continued to feel the need to embroider and
improve upon the word of God. This was not restricted to
merely inserting, deleting, or changing words as seen in
previous chapters, rather, they even went so far as to try
to "prove" their innovations through the citation of other
ancient passages. There are many examples of this. One such
example shall be studied here.
When members of the clergy read to their flock the verse
of Isaiah 7:14, they then go on to explain to them: "Do
you see? Prophet Isaiah prophesied the coming of the God
Himself. Immanuel means 'God is with us,' so this is not
only a prophesy of the coming of God but also a prophesy of
the 'incarnation' of God Almighty in the form of
Jesus".
It is true, Immanuel does mean "God is with us." However,
this is a prime example of how the evangelists manage to
constantly base their arguments on catch words or phrases
and then quickly gloss over the details.
The phrase "a virgin" which we find in our English
Bibles does not appear in the original Hebrew text. The word
used is 'almah {al-maw'} meaning "a young woman of
marriageable age". The Hebrew word for "virgin" is bthuwlah
{beth-oo-law'}. When the Hebrew text is translated into
Greek in the NT, it uses the word parthenos {per-then'-os},
which has a dual meaning; a young girl or a virgin. The
translators have mistakenly chosen the latter. More recent
and accurate versions of the Bible such as the Revised
Standard Version present this verse as follows:
"Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign.
Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son,
and shall name him Immanuel"
Isaiah 7:14 (RSV)
Biblical scholars have suggested that this prophesy was
concerning the second son or possibly the third son of
Isaiah by a Jewish maiden. It does not relate to Jesus or
his virgin birth.
If Jesus (pbuh) was indeed intended by this prophesy,
then why was he named "Jesus" and not "Immanuel" as the
prophesy requires? Notice that the prophesy states that
"his NAME shall be Immanuel." It does not say
that "HE shall be Immanuel." There is a big
difference between saying "His name shall be 'God is with
us'" and between saying "He shall be God with us."
"Immanuel" is not the only name in the OT that contains
the word "El" (God). There are hundreds of Hebrew names that
consist of "El" and another noun. For example, "Ishmael"
which means "God hears." Did God's sense of hearing come
down to earth and live among us in the form of a man? Was
God's sense of hearing "incarnated" in the form of a man?.
There is also "Israel" (prince of God), and "Elijah" (my God
is Jehovah), and so forth. As we can see, it was a very
common occurrence for Israelites to have such names. Neither
prophet Isaiah, nor King Ahaz, nor any Jew ever thought that
the prophesy was for God himself to come down and live among
them.
In Genesis 28:19 we read "And he called the name of
that place Bethel (house of God)". Since the place was
named "house of God," does this mean that God lived inside
this house?
In Genesis 32:30, we are told that Jacob (pbuh) called a
piece of land "Peni-el" (Face of God). The actual
text states: "And Jacob called the name of the
place Peniel," is this the same as saying: "And Jacob
said this place is Peniel"? Was the patch of land
the actual face of God? Was the face of God
"incarnated" in this piece of land?
Gabriel, the name of the angle of God, has been
interpreted in Biblical references as having the general
meaning of "Strength of God." So, does this mean that the
angle Gabriel is the "incarnation" of the "strength of
God"?
"The name Immanuel could mean 'God be with us' in the
sense 'God help us!'"
Interpreter's dictionary of the Bible, V2, p. 686.
Jesus (pbuh) was given his name by the angel Gabriel even
before his birth (Matthew 1:21). Never was he named
"Immanuel." King Ahaz was in danger. His enemies were
closing in. This is when a promise was made to show him a
sign, a pregnant woman, not a virgin Mary (pbuh) who
would not show up until many centuries after he had turned
to dust. Can we see how the Trinitarian doctrine of
incarnation was forced upon the message of Jesus (pbuh)
through "bending" of the prophesies and general glossing
over of the "trivial details"? For more on how the
"incarnation" was forced upon the message of Jesus centuries
after his departure, please read Section
1.2.5.
Next Page
|