Scripture Reading: Isa. 7; Isa. 8
In this message I would like to speak a further word concerning the sign of Christ's incarnation given to Ahaz, king of Judah (Isa. 7:14). We will consider this sign in relation to Satan's use of Babylon to oppose God and God's economy. The New Testament begins with the sign of a virgin conceiving and bearing a son, whose name is called Immanuel, God with us (Matt. 1:22-23). As we will see, this great sign covers the entire Bible from Genesis 11 to Revelation 22.
According to the divine revelation in the Bible, God made a plan, and this plan is His eternal economy. God's plan, God's economy, is to gain for Himself a people from among the human beings created by Him. God's calling of Abraham was part of the fulfillment of God's desire to have a people for Himself, a people who were chosen, called, and separated to be God's treasure. With the coming of Christ, God took a further step to gain another people — the church. To God, the church is a great treasure. Therefore, God has two elect peoples: Israel in the Old Testament and the believers in the New Testament. In totality, the believers are the church, God's elect in the New Testament. For the fulfillment of His eternal purpose, God desires to gain these two elect peoples.
God, however, has an enemy, Satan, and this enemy has come in to cause a great deal of damage in his attempt to frustrate God from accomplishing His eternal economy. Satan's way is to use the nations — the human beings created by God but not chosen by Him — to frustrate God's eternal purpose.
The divine revelation always has its own principle, and according to the principle of the divine revelation, the first nation used by Satan to frustrate God from accomplishing His eternal economy was Babel in Genesis 11. Babel was an ancient name for Babylon. At Babel rebellious people built a tower and a city in order to make a name for themselves (Gen. 11:4). Eventually, after many centuries, Babel was enlarged to become Babylon. According to the Old Testament, all the Gentile nations used by Satan against God began from Babylon. This human opposition to God is signified by the human image in Daniel 2. This image includes Babylon (the head of gold), followed by the Medo-Persians (the breast and arms of silver), the Greeks (the belly and thighs of brass), and the Romans (the legs of iron).
History shows us that the center of many of the wars fought between nations has been the Middle East, in particular the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Euphrates River. The land of Immanuel (Isa. 8:8) is in this area. This is the land which Christ will inherit for the establishing of His millennial kingdom with two peoples — chosen Israel as His earthly people and the chosen believers as His heavenly people. The fighting over this land is still taking place, for in the twentieth century the world situation has been centered in the Middle East.
In the Old Testament, those who invaded the land of Immanuel were physical invaders, such as the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. In the New Testament, the invaders, although still from Babylon, are spiritual invaders. The Babylon in the Old Testament was physical, but the Babylon in the New Testament is spiritual. Toward the end of the New Testament, there is a revelation of this Babylon in its two aspects — the religious aspect (Rev. 17:1-18) and the material aspect (Rev. 18:1-24).
If we read the New Testament carefully, we will see that the warfare between Satan and God will be ended by the fighting between Christ with His faithful followers and Antichrist with his followers (Rev. 17:12-15). Antichrist, the coming Caesar of the Roman Empire, will be the one who will form an alliance with the ten toes of the image in Daniel 2 and be their leader. In a spiritual sense, Antichrist will be a part of Babylon. The head is Babylon, and the leader of the toes is also Babylon. This indicates that the opposition to God began with Babylon and that it will end with Babylon. When Babylon has been terminated and destroyed, the kingdom will come. This kingdom will be composed of the two elect peoples of God, Israel and the believers.
We need to see clearly that the sign of a virgin conceiving and bearing a son covers the Bible from Genesis 11 to Revelation 22. Today we are still in the stage of the fulfillment of this sign, the sign of a son consummating in Immanuel. As this sign continues to be fulfilled, the war between Babylon and Jerusalem is still raging. Today's Babylon has two sides: the spiritual, or religious, side, which is the Roman Church, and the material side, which will be the city of Rome.
In Isaiah Christ is unveiled first as the Shoot of Jehovah (4:2a) and then as the Fruit of the earth (4:2b), as a canopy to cover all the interests of God in the whole universe (4:5), and as a tabernacle overshadowing God's chosen people (4:6). Eventually, this Christ becomes the center of an all-inclusive sign — the sign of a virgin conceiving and bearing a son.
The real fulfillment of this sign was the Lord's incarnation (Matt. 1:20-23). When Christ came, He was Immanuel, which means God with us (Matt. 1:23). Christ is God with us. This is revealed not only in Matthew 1 but also in Matthew 28, where the Lord Jesus says, "Behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age" (v. 20). Actually, the entire New Testament is an Immanuel, and we are now a part of this great Immanuel that will consummate in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth for eternity.
Christ as Immanuel, as the Son born of a virgin, is our sanctuary. This sanctuary is the place where we may live, dwell, and worship God. We are God's priests, His worshippers, and the sanctuary is the place where we dwell with God. When Christ was incarnated, He became a tabernacle (John 1:14). Tabernacle is a general term used to denote the sanctuary. For us today, the sanctuary is the innermost part of the temple where we as God's priests worship God, serve God, and dwell with God.
Christ has many opposers, including the Gentile nations who have invaded His land. These nations compose the image in Daniel 2. To them, Christ will be the smiting stone. According to Daniel 2:34 and 35, He will be the stone that smashes the image into pieces.
In the four Gospels we can see that when Christ was on earth, He was opposed by another category of people. Those in this category included the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, the scribes, the elders, and certain of the priests. To those in this category Christ was a rock of stumbling (Isa. 8:14b). The ones who fell upon this rock were broken to pieces.
Furthermore, many of those who opposed Christ were cunning and subtle, and in their subtlety they tried to trap or to snare the Lord Jesus. During the Lord's last visit to Jerusalem, the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, scribes, and others tried over a period of four days to trap Him, to snare Him. Instead, they were eventually trapped and snared by Him. To them, Christ was a trap and a snare (Isa. 8:14c).
We thank the Lord that to us who believe in Him, He, as Immanuel, is our sanctuary. In Him we have God's presence, and God's presence is our dwelling, the place where we worship God and serve Him.
