I had a thought Sunday as we were studying the annunciation of the birth of the Messiah to Mary (Luke 1:26-38). If I were to ask for a proof text of the virgin birth from the Old Testament, we would undoubtedly turn to Isaiah 7:14. "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."However, notice the response of Mary when the angel tells her that she will bear the promised Messiah. She does not say, "That's great--- and since I'm a virgin, that will fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah." Instead, she responds, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" (Luke 1:34).
Now we could say that Mary was largely ignorant of the Old Testament, but you wouldn't know it from the depth of scriptural allusion in her Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). Rather, it seems that she understood Isaiah 7 strictly in relationship to Ahaz and that specific historic situation.
Without going into an extended discussion of the interpretation of Isaiah 7 (not to mention its relationship to Matthew 1:22-23), I think this demonstrates quite vividly God's progressive revelation. What seems so clear to us looking back, was not nearly so for those who had not been entrusted with the revelation which we now enjoy.
Comments
I don’t buy the double fulfillment understanding of Isaiah 7:14. Besides the Matthew passage, there is also the problem of having the same words refer to both a regular event and a supernatural event. This is either a supernatural sign or it is not. I don’t see how it can be both.