So Shall Ye Be Established

The virgin birth is not only a miracle, it is a miracle with a purpose. In it God winks at you when you’re tempted to unbelief. He is delighted to test your faith. And He will not permit your unbelief. He’s more than happy to put you in that precarious position of having to trust His promises in the face of encroaching enemies. But He does not leave you in that position without potent signs.

Isaiah is the one who announced “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” But we forget that God made the virgin conceive as an explicit sign connected to a test of faith. In Isaiah’s day, King Ahaz had heard that the King of Syria and the King of Israel were advancing against him at Jerusalem. This news set the hearts of the people shaking like tree branches in the wind. God did not say to them, “All will be well no matter what you do.” He said, “Fear not, their attack will fail.” And He added, “If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established” (Isaiah 7:9). Make no mistake. Believe not, be established not.

Amid that test, God said, “Your faith is weak? I’ll tell you what: I’ll make a virgin conceive. Do you believe me now?”

The promises of God are abundant and before you for the believing. These promises include blessing for you and your household to a thousand generations, including sanctification, holiness, maturation, dominion, victory, resurrection, and glory. You will be established in all of that by faith. And if you will not believe, then you will not be established. If you say, “How can I know?” God is happy to answer His Gideon’s with a fleece. And that fleece is virgin born, named Immanuel.

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