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Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore, my Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the maiden will become pregnant and bear a son, and she will name him Immanuel."
Matt 1:23 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, G-d with us. (KJV)
It allegedly by many Christians that Jesus is "the" Immanuel of Isaiah 7:14. In otherwords Jesus is G-d who is with us. Of course this implies the incarnation.
Answer for yourself: What is the truth of the matter? Is Jesus the fulfillment of the Immanuel passage of Isa. 7:14?
The verse in Isaiah says "she" shall call him. The writer of the Gospel of Matthew changes this to "they," without justification. Again we have the alteration of the Jewish Scriptures to accommodate one's theology. Isaiah's reading is that the child is to be specifically named "Immanuel," while Matthew misdirects the emphasis from an actual name to a general designation. Biblically, humans or objects can have appellations or a series of designations descriptive of G-d. Within this very website I have included an article written dealing with the issue of Isa. 9:6 where we encountered "The Lord Our Righteousness" and "The Mighty G-d." "Immanu-el" is to be a real name like "Samu-el" or "El-iezer," having a connection to "El" or G-d. People do get these names without being considered part of the essence of G-d in a special and different way from other human beings. The name is bestowed in respect of G-d.
Now, look at this twist of Scripture. Isaiah says his name shall be "Immanuel." Yet, in Matthew 1:21-23 (Luke 1:31) we read that an angel tells Joseph, ". . . thou shalt call his name Jesus: . . . Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet (Isaiah), saying, . . . they shall call his name Emmanuel, . . ."
Answer for yourself: Before G-d I ask you, how could the naming him "Jesus" fulfill Isaiah saying his name will be "Emmanuel," which Matthew correctly quotes from the prophesy?
Remember, Isaiah says, "she shall call his name Immanuel," not, "they shall consider him to be Emmanuel." Parenthetically, his name should have been "Jeshua," which is what a child of the Hebrew people would be called, not "Jesus," a Greek language translation of Jeshua.
Answer for yourself: Do you find one reference in the New Testament where Jesus is named Immanuel let alone called by that name by anyone? Did the Holy Spirit forget to tell anyone else about this? Did Mary disobey G-d and sin by not naming her son "Immanuel," and if so how can be considered a co-mediator with Christ by the Catholic Church if she plainly disobeyed G-d?
In any case, the writer of the Gospel of Matthew is not correct concerning many things. This does not speak well for the writer of the Gospel being a Jew let alone anointed by G-d to write anything with so many inaccuracies within it that a 5 year old Jewish child would know! The writer of the Gospel of Matthew is wrong first of all in believing Isaiah 7:14 is about the Messiah, the Christ of Christianity. As I have shown in an earlier article in this website the explanation of the "Virgin Birth" teaching that stems from this passage in many different articles. Isaiah is speaking of someone who will be a sign so that King Ahaz has assurance the enemies will be defeated. This sign is not Jesus. Jesus was not to be born for another 700 plus years and certainly King Ahaz, to whom the sign was to be given, would not live long enough to see this?
Bennoah1@verizon.net