Unto Us a Child is Given, Part 1, The Sign
Whenever LORD is all caps, the actual Hebrew is the name of God, usually pronounced and spelled Yahweh or Jehovah in English. When written Lord, the word is Adonai, meaning Lord, our Lord, or my Lord. "Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water? Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?" Lyrics by Mark Lowry The looming Syro-Ephaimite War The prophet Isaiah lived in Israel approximately seven centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ. He had a long ministry, covering the reigns of four kings of the little nation of Judah. During the reign of the third king, Ahaz, Isaiah had a most remarkable vision of a special child that would be born in his lifetime. That child would be a sign to Judah and its capitol Jerusalem that the Assyrians of northern Mesopotamia would not totally vanquish Ahaz’s kingdom. Nor would a confederacy of Syria and Northern Israel succeed in breaking into the city of Jerusalem, plundering its weal...