The Prophets Told It Long Before
Month 1: The Word Became Flesh · Why We Believe
Today's Scripture
Read together: Isaiah 7:14 & Matthew 1:22-23
14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel. — Isaiah 7:14
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”). — Matthew 1:22-23
Memory Verse
“For no word from God will ever fail.””— Luke 1:37 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Genesis 30-33
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Around Day 10 of 365 — Jacob wrestles with God and is changed.)The Heart of It
About seven hundred years before Mary ever met Gabriel, the prophet Isaiah wrote a sentence that should have been impossible to fulfill. He wrote, "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (). No one could arrange that. A normal person couldn't decide to be born of a virgin, in the right family line, at the right time. Yet centuries later Matthew points back and says, in effect, "Look, this is exactly what happened in Jesus." God told the end from the beginning. Then He kept His word right on time.
This is one of the great reasons we trust the Bible. It isn't a book of lucky guesses. It's a book of promises God Himself made and God Himself kept. When you see a prophecy written long before, and then you see it come true long after, you're looking at fingerprints no human hand could fake. "Immanuel" means "God with us." And the very fact that it was foretold so far in advance is part of how we know the One who came really is God among us.
Around the Table
A long, long time ago God promised Jesus would come. And then — He did! God always keeps His promises.
Let's do it: Pinky-promise each other something small, then say, "But God NEVER breaks a promise!"
Isaiah wrote about Jesus 700 years early. That's older than the oldest castle! Only God could know the future like that.
Let's talk: The Bible predicted Jesus long before He came. How does knowing that help you trust it?
Fulfilled prophecy is real evidence. These predictions were made centuries early. Then they came true in detail no one could have arranged. The name "Immanuel," which means God with us, was promised long before it ever arrived.
Let's go deeper: Someone might say the writers just "wrote the prophecies in afterward." How could the timing of these ancient scrolls answer that?
💬 Conversation Starter
Have you ever called something before it happened — like the weather or the end of a story? How did it feel to be right? Now imagine being right 700 years early!
🛡️ Defending the Faith
When someone says… "The Gospel writers just invented prophecies to make Jesus look special." You can answer, kindly, like this. The Old Testament prophecies, including Isaiah's, were written centuries before Jesus. And they were preserved by the Jewish people, not by Christians. So no follower of Jesus could have slipped them in. The Dead Sea Scrolls give us a copy of Isaiah from before Jesus was born. The promise was on the page first. The fulfillment came after. We share this "with gentleness and respect" (). We don't do it to win an argument. We do it because it's true, and it points to a trustworthy God.
For Dad · Go Deeper
There's an honest scholarly conversation about . The Hebrew word almah means a young woman of marriageable age, and the verse had a near-term meaning in Isaiah's own day. But centuries before Christ, Jewish scholars made a Greek translation called the Septuagint. It rendered the word parthenos, which means "virgin." And Matthew, under inspiration, sees its fullest meaning fulfilled in Jesus. Don't be rattled by the "double fulfillment" of prophecy. Teach your older kids that Scripture often works this way. A word can be fulfilled in a small way first and then completely in Christ. This builds robust faith, not brittle faith. Show your children that taking the Bible seriously includes taking its details seriously.
Draws on: J. Gresham Machen, The Virgin Birth of Christ.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You that You spoke of Jesus long before He came, and then kept every promise. Help us trust Your Word completely, and know that You are truly God with us. In Jesus' name, amen."
God promised the Savior centuries early and kept His word exactly. His Book can be trusted.