Immanuel

 

Day 25 - Immanuel, God with Us , 

Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”                                                                                                     · Matthew 1221:23 (KJV) “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” 

Reflection & Discussion 

Immanuel is a name which is packed with much meaning, which can be found from the study of the meanings of the Hebrew letters in the name. Those letter meanings are listed below:

 · ע Ayin - of insight. 

·  Mem ם מ mighty-  

 ·נ ן Nun - Life, activity, purpose, perpetuate, offspring, heir, son. 

· ו Vav - the pictograph is a picture of a peg or nail. That is its literal meaning. It is used to secure something which is a function of a peg or a nail. 

· א Aleph - strong leader. 

· ל Lamed - urging forward or teaching. 

In reviewing these letter meanings and putting them together, a likely implied meaning of Immanuel conveys the following: ‘being urged toward the mighty insight of the strong leader, who secured life for us.’ 

Continuing in our review of Immanuel, we also should note that the last two letters used in spelling the name Immanuel, form the name ‘El’, which is often used in Hebrew to refer to God. 

 Consider 

 God urges us forward to learn of the work of Jesus, who is His only begotten Son, who was sent to earth to die for us. Jesus, the Son of God, humbled himself and died for us on the Cross of Calvary. His death paid the price for our sins. His resurrection from the dead shows us that He is ‘Life.’ 

Examining the names of God and what Jesus has done for us, we find evidence that the Almighty God is  interested in us. Perhaps we should ask the question: Why would He be interested in us? 

The interest God has in us is a way that God shows us His desire and love for us. The Hebrew letter meaning of Immanuel is significant because this name shows what Jesus did to secured life for us. He did this by His humbling himself by being nailed to the cross (John 20:24-27), dying, and rising again (Matthew 28:6) three days later. (Matthew 12:40). Through His death on the cross and His resurrection, Christ has made ‘life’ available to us. (See John 3:16). This is what God desires for us. He wants us to have life (John 10:10), and this was God’s plan from the beginning, that we would have a way to have life and be forgiven of our sins. Through His insight and sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary, the price for sin was paid which made it possible for us to be right with God and to have life (sin keeps us from having the life God wants us to have.). The action of Christ on the Cross of Calvary and His resurrection was God’s plan to make a way to remove sin and be able to be restored to fellowship with the Almighty God and giving us life. It was made possible because of God’s Love for us. 

Take time to reflect on what God has done for us and thank Him for securing life for us. 

Prayer Focus: Father, Thank You for urging us toward Your mighty knowledge and insight which has secured life for us—In Jesus’ Name, Amen