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20/08/2020 – IMMANUEL ‘GOD WITH US’ Isaiah 7:14, Matt. 1:23 & Isaiah 8:8IMMANUEL ‘GOD WITH US’ Isaiah 7:14, Matt. 1:23 & Isaiah 8:8 * Bro. Joseph F. K. Marzouk, Deputy PGM, ROS Warwickshire ‘Immanuel’ is a Hebrew Name in the Holy Scriptures. It is mentioned on three occasions only, twice in The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, Isa. 7:14 & 8:8, in the Old Testament (O.T.), and once in the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Matt. 1:23, in the New (Testament N.T.), where we have, and for the first time, the ‘direct’ reference to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, “and they shall call His Name ‘Emmanuel’, which being interpreted is, God with us”. Masonically speaking, the name Emmanuel is encountered in several ‘Christian’ Orders, and it has a very special and much treasured place in the Royal Order of Scotland. It is mentioned in Section III, a rather important catechetical Lecture concerning “The Stone which the builders rejected, which has become the Chief Stone of the Corner”, Ps. 118:22. This phrase recurred in the N.T. on 5 occasions, Matt. 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, and 1 Pet. 2:7, emphasising its significance and making it one of the most frequently repeated quotations. It refers to the Lord Jesus Christ who, as the Perpend-Ashlar i.e. the perfect stone, was rejected and crucified by His own people, but was made by God ‘the Chief Stone of the Corner’ in the building of the spiritual house, not made with hands eternal in the heavens, composed of all who believed in Him, our risen Emmanuel. ________________________________________________________*All the Biblical References are “quotations” taken from the Authorised King James Version – KJV Let us now, with all reverence and humility, consider in some further detail this very precious and quite unique name ‘Immanuel’, ever remembering that perfection is not vouchsafed unto man upon earth, perfect holiness appertaining only unto the Lord. Accordingly, I beg to be forgiven for any imperfections under the following 7 items: 1. The Scripture References 2. The Etymology 3. The Variants in Spelling 4. The Errors of pronunciation 5. The Ineffable Names of God 6. The Historical Context 7. The Universal Significance I. The three Scripture References: First, in the Book of Isaiah we read: “Hear ye now, O House of David The Lord Himself shall give you a Sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” Isa. 7:14. This ‘Sign’, though initially was aimed at King Ahaz, the then King of Judah, vide infra, it was essentially for His ‘chosen’ People Israel, in general, but more particularly to the “House of David”, into which family the Blessed virgin Mary was a descendant, who became the privileged vessel by whom “That Holy Thing shall be born and shall be called the Son of God”, Luke 1:35, in Him God is with us on earth. Secondly, in Matthew’s Gospel we have, beyond any shadow of doubt, the sure reference to our Lord Jesus: “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the Prophet (Isa. 7:14) saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with a child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us”, Matt. 1:22 & 23. And finally, back in Isaiah, “he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel”, Isa. 8:8. This is the record of the ‘Elect’ nation’s predicted overthrow at the hands of the King of Assyria, leading on to the Babylonian captivity in 587/586 BCE. Then immediately followed the prophecy of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and the proclamation of His glorious reign, in chapter 9 of the Book of Isaiah, who is euphemistically referred to as the ‘fifth’ Evangelist: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called: Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the Throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even forever”, Isa. 9:6&7. Here comes the final overthrow of all the enemies of His people, Israel, and the promise of future restoration in the ‘Millennial’ Davidic Kingdom, to be accomplished through Jesus Christ, David’s greatest son. which prophecy was confirmed at the birth of Jesus, for “the Lord shall give unto Him the throne of His father David And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no end”, Luke 1:32 & 33. Whereas the first mention of ‘Immanuel’, Isa. 7:14, came within an unasked for ‘Sign’ offered to ‘one’ individual, a faithless, evil, and rather reluctant King, and the last allusion, Isa. 8:8, is concerned with the defeat of the wayward and fallen ‘whole’ House of David. The second, Matt. 1:23, is the most important, as it is for the ‘entire’ lost humanity, which is spiritually “dead in trespasses and sins”, Eph. 2:1, being the promise of Salvation and the gift of eternal life. Notwithstanding, before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Angel of the Lord appeared to the virgin Mary, His earthly mother, and said “unto her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS”, Luke 1:30 & 31. And again, albeit separately, the Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, the adopting father of the Lord, while he was only betrothed (engaged) to Mary before they came together, and said: “fear not to take unto thee Mary (as) thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins”, Matt. 1:20 & 21 Why then was ‘Jesus’ not actually called ‘Immanuel’? The Name Jesus, in English, is derived from the Greek, ‘Iessus’, and here I should observe that in Greek, no male name ever ends with a vowel, e.g. Moses for the Hebrew name Moshe, likewise Jesus stands for His Hebraic name, Yeshua. But more importantly, His ‘proper’ name was in Aramaic actually, His mother Tongue, as Yehoshua, or Jeheshuah, which quite significantly means ‘Jehovah is salvation’, for “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world”, 1 Jn. 4:14. Let us then listen to Simeon, “a righteous and devout man, in Jerusalem”, to whom it was revealed “by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ”, i.e. The Lord’s anointed, who on receiving the baby Jesus in the Temple, and in total adoration he prophesied, now known as the ‘nunc dimittis’: “Lord now lettest Thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; For mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel”, Luke 2:29-32. For “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord (Jesus) shall be saved” Rom. 11:13. The birth of our great Immanuel was the subject of the Angelic announcement: “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord”. This proclamation was concluded with “a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men” Luke 2:10-14. From eternity to eternity, The Lord Jesus is the expression of the Person and the utterance of the Mind of God, Logos, aka The Word. As stated in the precious opening words of John the Divine’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God”, but more specifically at His incarnation, for there and then “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of Grace and Truth”, and because “no man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him” John 1:1,14 &18, in other words, God with us. How then can we not be confident and join with the Apostle Paul in his strong conviction saying: “And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh”, 1 Tim. 3:16? In the Being, the Person, and the Work of Christ, Deity is expressed, for “in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”, Col. 2:9. The most important thing is, therefore, the meaning behind the two names, Jesus and Immanuel, which are almost synonymous. In the Name ‘Jesus’, given at His advent into the world, God is revealed as ‘Jehovah’ is Salvation, and in the Name ‘Immanuel’, His ‘prophetic’ name which was announced nearly 700 years before His birth, is the clear declaration that ‘God (is) with us’, indeed, both physically and nominally. II. The Etymology: ‘Immanuel’ is the Transliteration of the original Hebrew word from the O.T. into the English language; its Semitic etymology is as follows: The preposition ‘im’, pronounced ‘eem’, signifies with, ‘nu’ stands for us, and the suffix ‘el’ is one of the Ineffable Names of God, and when put together, it therefore signifies “God with us”. Definitions: According to Hebrew usage, ‘names’ do not represent titles but are characterisations, and because names can never be translated from one language to another, they are transliterated or transcribed, or both, and in the written form, in this case in English as the adopting Language using the Latin alphabet, hence is called Romanisation. It is important that we must first fully understand these definitions: 1. Transliteration is mapping letter for letter, called orthography, i.e. the straight conversion of the letters of a text from one language into another. Its primary concern is to represent, accurately and unambiguously, the corresponding characters rather than the sounds. However, more often than not, the sound effect is also transcribed, more especially if the relation between the characters and the sounds of the two languages are closely similar, e.g. analogous European languages. 2. Transcription, conversely, employs mapping the sound of the letters rather than the orthography of the text, and here we often encounter difficulties when the phonetics are dissimilar, it is most commonly experienced when referring to names of Asiatic or Semitic origin, e.g. is it Elijah or Elias for what should sound more like El’liah? . 3. Romanisation is the use of the Latin alphabet when writing the transliterated or transcribed words, of course linguistically adhering as closely as possible to the rules of recipient languages. For the case in hand, ‘Immanuel’, as taken from Hebrew, or ‘Emmanuel’ as taken from Greek, more of that later. Here is where difficulties frequently arise, more especially whenever there is neither an equivalent letter nor a similar sound that can be utilised. Immanuel is one example in kind, because the first letter in Hebrew is ‘A’yin’, a rather hard ‘Palatal A’, which is not only extremely difficult to pronounce accurately, but also it has no equivalent letter in Latin or Greek and, consequently, in English too. Therefore, it had to be toned down or rendered rather silent by employing the letter ‘I’ in Latin or ‘E’ (Epsilon) in Greek. Likewise, there is no corresponding term for the suffix ‘El’ in both Latin and Greek, and for that purpose neither it does in the English language, accordingly it had to remain as such, just ‘El’, vide infra. Moreover, ‘El’ has quite an important place in Semitic Languages, as well as in all the Abrahamic Religions; it is the earliest primary Name of God in the Hebrew Bible, and in Arabic not only it is linguistically the definite article ‘the’ but it also signifies God, e.g. El’ah, colloquially referred to as Al’lah. It is, therefore, quite revered in both communities. Isn’t it quite amazing that in the Scripture we constantly have a guide in the interpretation of Names! Immanuel is no exception, which being thankfully interpreted, is God with us, Matt. 1:23. III. The Variants in Spelling: Immanuel & Emmanuel vs. Emanuel You will have already observed that in this article, thus far, the predominant spelling I have used is ‘Immanuel’, in compliance with the quoted O.T. references, Isa. 7:14 & 8:8, as taken from the Authorised King James Bible (KJB), and many other translations, especially the New English Translation (NET) and the New International Version (NIV). However, in the N.T., that same Name is spelt differently, i.e. ‘Emmanuel’, Matt. 1:23. Indeed, both spellings are of course correct, and the reasons being very simple, as follows: First, there is no ‘right’ way to transliterate words from one language into another. Secondly, as the O.T. was written mainly in Hebrew (partly in Aramaic) accordingly the form Immanuel is the used spelling, because that is how the word sounded like in Hebraic. But thirdly, and more importantly, the etymology of the word, as has already been explained, included the prefix ‘im’, it necessarily follows that this version of transliteration from Hebrew is preferred, as it is the case in all the Bible translations which favour Hebrew. Conversely, the N.T. which was originally written, by and large, in Greek, accordingly the same Name is transcribed as it sounded, with an E (Epsilon) and in the process of Romanisation into English, it quite naturally came over as an E, hence the form ‘Emmanuel’ proved to be the accepted spelling in the N.T. My personal preference, for what it’s worth, is ‘Immanuel’, not only because the Name was originally given in the Hebrew tongue, and thereby more ancient and hence predated any other, especially Greek, but more importantly because it conforms to the etymology of the word, as previously discussed. Finally, writing this Name, in either version, with one ‘m’, e.g. as in Emanuel, is unacceptable, because it renders it to be Germanic or European rather than English. It might also give the impression of handling, as in a ‘manual’ job or refer to a ‘Manual’ i.e. a Booklet of instruction, and in this current electronic age it becomes ‘eManual’, here’s a new word in modern vocabulary. Therefore, the form of spelling ‘Imanuel’ or ‘Emanuel’ should not be utilised, hence the correct entry in the ‘Key to the Ritual, No. 8’ page 96 in the latest Edition of 2018. IV. The Errors of Pronunciation: Immanuel & Emmanuel vs. Emmanuelle Although both versions of the above spelling allow for an accurate and almost identical pronunciation, may I most respectfully plead for the exercise of extreme caution in uttering this precious name as follows: Imman’ual, i.e. the stress is on ‘Imman’, rather than stress on the suffix ‘uel’, which will render it to sound like Emman’uelle. Not only is it the female variant of the name, (and here the feminists must forgive me, God is a Spirit, John 4:24, and is therefore gender neutral, no ifs and no buts), but it would also be most unfortunate because the latter pronunciation is that of an unbecoming character, thus profaning a Sacred and Holy Name. V. The Ineffable Names of God: Over the ages, few men of God enquired after His Name. We first read of Jacob, who in a dream wrestled with God and before parting company he said to the Lord: “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me ….Tell me, I pray thee, thy Name. And He said: Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?”, Gen. 32:26-29. Although Jacob did not get the answer he wanted, he received the blessing. We also remember another man of old, Manoah, the father of Samson; he also asked the Lord “What is thy name?” The answer he received was “Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is Secret (or it is Wonderful)?” Judges 13:17 & 18. Finally, when the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush, where he was, very reluctantly, commissioned to lead the Israelites out of their Egyptian bondage, and “Moses said unto God, behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me: What is His Name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM, ‘Ehyeh asher Ehyeh’, and He said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM, (Ehyeh) hath sent me unto you” Ex. 3:13 & 14. ‘Ehyeh’, I AM (L. ego sum) is henceforth revered as one of the Jehovistic and most important Ineffable Names of God. Might it, over time, have metamorphosed into Yahweh? We cannot be sure, as it is also theorised that by the insertion of the vowels, from the word Adonai, into YHWH, gave rise to ‘YaHWeH’, which was thereafter Anglicised to Jehovah, but that is a Subject of another Paper, namely: The Origin of ‘Jehovah’ (also currently in circulation). Let us now consider, with all reverence and humility, what the Scriptures have revealed of the Names of God: But first, as the suffix ‘El’ in the name of Immanuel means God, vide supra, I make no apology that I wish to linger a little longer on this wonderful two-lettered and magnificent Name of God, ‘El’. El, in the Hebrew Bible, is the generic Name of God which stands alone on at least 217 occasions, e.g. El Elohe Yisrael , God the God of Israel, Gen. 33:20. It occasionally appears with an ‘ha’, which in Hebrew is the definite article the, e.g. “The God of thy father” (ha’El Elohe abika), Gen. 46:3. In like manner, El’ah, is also a stand-alone word for the Deity, and with the addition of ‘im’, is rendered ‘Elohim’, which in the Hebrew Bible is the most frequent expression of God. The inclusion of the suffix ‘im’ would normally make a Hebrew word plural, not so in ‘Elohim’, it does not signify a plurality of ‘gods’, as for the Jews, “The Lord our God is One Lord”, Deut. 6:4, is always recited in the Shema, and for the Professing Trinitarian Christians, “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus”, 1 Tim 2:5. “Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God”, Phil. 2:6, “God is one”, Gal. 3:20. It is a statement of fact that the Bible begins with Elohim: “In the beginning God (Elohim) created the Heaven and the Earth” Gen. 1:1. The word Elohim is, therefore, more an expression of reverence denoting the superiority of the Divine Being, declaring Him as the Supreme Deity, and not engaging in any philosophical arguments for His existence, or enters into a discussion regarding the nature of His being. Nevertheless, for the Trinitarian Christians, it indicates right from the very first verse in the Scriptures the mystery of the Holy Trinity, which is the Subject of another Paper of mine, namely: The Holy Trinity (also currently in circulation). God is expressed under His several Names: El On the one hand, ‘El’ appears more commonly as a prefix-forming syllable, to which is attached some epithet or attribute, and hence it forms part of the compound Names of God, e.g.: a. El Elyon, Most High God or God the Highest, Gen. 14:18 b. El Shaddai, God Almighty, Gen. 17:1 & Ex. 6:3 c. Ha’El Olam, The Everlasting God, Gen. 21:33 d. Ha’El Hai, The Living God, Matt. 16:16 e. El Ro’i, God, or the Lord, is my Shepherd, Ps. 23:1, f. Ha’El Gibbor, The Mighty God, or The God of Strength Isa. 9:6. ‘El’, on the other hand, is suffix-forming syllable, and many a time it appears in meaningful names, e.g. Beth’el, which means house of God, or in one of the numerous ‘Theophoric’ names, as in the following examples: 1. Gabriel, Strength of God, Dan. 8:16 & 9:21, Luke 1:19 & 26 2. Michael, who is like God, Dan. 10:13 &21; 12:1, Jude v.9, Rev. 12:7 3. Raphael *, God’s Healing, 4. Ezekiel, God will strengthen, Ez. 1:3 5. Daniel, God is my Judge, Dan. 1:6 & 7 6. Ishmael, God Hears or Listens, Gen. 16:15 7. Israel, One who strives, or wrestled, with God, Gen. 32:28 and finally, we come again to the matter at hand, i.e. 8. Immanuel, God with us. Matt. 1:23. ________________________________________________________ * P.S. A named Angel in the non-canonical book of Tobit, Tob. 5:4 God’s Other Titles: It has to be emphasised that in Rabbinical Judaism, the Name of G-d, should never be pronounced lightly or irreverently, which was in olden times, and still among the Orthodox Jews, forbidden to all except the High Priest, and even he but only once a year, from within the Sanctum Sanctorum, nor then until after many washings and purifications before being permitted to enter there on The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. Only then he is enabled to pronounce the Sacred name of G-d, YHWH, while the people in the outer courts prostrate themselves to the ground. The Scripture refers to the Lord under the following Titles: Adonai, Lord or Master, Gen. 15:2 Jah, God, either as a solitary Name, Ps. 68:4, Ps. 118:4 Isa. 12:2 or as a compound word, one best example is Hallelu’jah, i.e. ‘Praise ye Jah. ‘YHWH, Yod He Vau He, (aka The Tetragrammaton) Jehovah, God, “by my name Jehovah was I not known”, Ex. 6:3. Jehovah-Elohim i.e. Lord God, Gen. 9:26 Herewith are 7 different compound Names of God in which ‘Jehovah’ forms the first part: a. Jehovah-jireh, The Lord will see or provide, Gen. 22:14 b. Jehovah-rapha, The Lord who healeth, Ex. 15:26. c. Jehovah-nissi, The Lord my Banner, Ex. 17:15 d. Jehovah-Shalom, The Lord our Peace, Jud. 6:24 e. Jehovah-sabaoth, The Lord of Hosts or Armies, 1 Sam. 1:3 f. Jehovah-tsidkenu, The Lord our Righteousness, Jer. 23:6 g. Jehovah-shammah, The Lord is There or Present, Ezek. 48:35 The mention of G-d is expressed as Adonai, i.e. My Lord, whilst in prayers, and as Ha’Shem, i.e. The Name, Lev. 24:16, in all other conversations. It is also reverential that once the name of G-d is written, it must never be erased, even if a mistake is made while writing it, in which case a line or circle is to be placed around it. However, as the Temple was not rebuilt, after its destruction in 70 AD, and there is no longer a material Holy of Holies on earth, for us as Christians the Name of God can be freely invoked in the Spiritual Temple of our hearts, under the Authority of the Holy Spirit, for “God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father”, Gal. 4:6, and “ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” Rom. 8:15. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name” Ha’Shem Kadosh, Ps. 103:1. VI. The Historical Context: The circumstance in which the wonderful Name ‘Immanuel’ was revealed is quite significant. Interestingly, the implication and the meaning of the Names of four symbolic children, mentioned in Isaiah’s prophecies, Chapters 7 – 9, should also be considered. Historically, after the death of King Solomon, around 930 BCE, the United Kingdom of Israel was split into two: The Kingdom of ‘Israel’, made up of ten Tribes, and centred on Samaria in the North, which in this prophecy is called ‘Ephraim’, and the Kingdom of ‘Judah’, of the two Tribes of Judah and Benjamin, based in Jerusalem, in the South. The setting at the time of Isaiah’s prophecy in Chapters 7 to 9, was during the reign of King Ahaz, the twelfth King of Judah. He represented the Royal ‘House of David’, but he was evil in the sight of God, 2 Kings 16:2. He set up an altar to ‘strange gods’; he shut up the doors of the house of the ‘True and Living God Most High’ and put out the lamps, so that spiritual darkness had spread over the whole Nation. During his reign, a war against Judah was raged by the Syro-Ephraimite confederate, in 735-734 BCE, and the History of the Nation is thereafter is represented by four ‘Symbolic’ Children. Four Symbolic Children (Isaiah 7 – 9): 1. Shearjashub The Prophet Isaiah, in Chapter 7, together with the first of the four symbolic children, his own son Shearjashub, Isa. 7 v 3, whose name means ‘The remnant shall return’, went to meet King Ahaz, with a message of encouragement, from the ever faithful Lord for those who seek Him, i.e. ‘the remnant’; “Thus saith the Lord, it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass”, Isa. 7:7, but alas the wayward Ahaz had little confidence in the Lord’s words and instead he sought the advice of ‘foreign god’, and pleaded alliance with the Assyrians. Still the gracious Lord proposes to Ahaz “to ask for a sign, no matter how great, either in the height or in the depth”, perhaps to test his wicked heart. But no! Ahaz would not respond, and in false humility “will not ask, neither will I test the Lord”, Isa 7:12, Ah! How pious the flesh can seem to be. In fact, prophetically he represented the rejection of Jesus Christ by His own people, “He came unto His own, and His own received him not”, John 1:11. 2. Immanuel But the Lord, ever faithful, addresses, by His prophet, the needs of the whole “the House of David”, to whom the promises had been made, and in whom they would be fulfilled. And “The Lord Himself shall give you a sign” unasked. And here comes the second symbolic Child, Immanuel Isa. 7 v 14: God with us. But still no response came from the King, denoting further rejection. And once again reflecting the rejection of the Lord, who in the days of His humiliation had once said “How often would I have gathered thee �.. and ye would not! Matt. 23:37. 3. Maher-shalal-Hash-Baz: However, “The Lord had compassion on His people and on His dwelling-place”, 2 Chron. 36:15, and though they had despised His word, He gives them another sign, the third symbolic child, who was also named before he was born to a prophetess, quite possibly Isaiah’s wife, whose name is Maher-shalal-Hash-Baz, Isa. 8 v 1, which means in making speed to the spoil he hasteneth the prey, this denoted the prediction of being overcome by the Assyrians, first the Kingdom of Israel in the North then the whole land of Judah in the south. 4. Pele-Joez-El-Gibbor-Abi-Ad-Sar-Shalom: But finally, fast forward to the end of days, when the believing ‘remnant’ is absorbed into the Church, the fourth and final symbolic child, named Pele-Joez-El-Gibbor-Abi-Ad-Sar-Shalom, Isa. 9 v 6, which is probably the longest name in the Scriptures, but thankfully it is interpreted: “And His Name shall be called: Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”, in whom the history of God’s dealing with His people in particular, but also the whole world, in general, is concluded when the Lord shall return to take His rightful place and rule over all the earth, in the a Kingdom of peace, “for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”, Acts 4:12. VII. The Universal Significance: “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for (with) us, who can be against us? �. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature (including coronavirus), shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”, Rom. 8:31, 38 & 39. Given the above historical context, it is not only Israel that rejected the Lord; they only represented the attitude of humankind towards God. For even from the dawn of human history, as well as in our time, humankind has adopted one of the following five positions towards God: 1. “The fool hath said in his heart, THERE IS NO GOD. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity; there is none that doeth good.” Ps. 14:1 & Ps. 53:1 Repeated twice for emphasis and is an accurate portrait of the Godless, and if the Scripture states they are foolish in ignorance, then I have no other description, for He is OMNIPRESENT and is the source of everything, and “He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things �.. For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.” Acts 17:28. 2. “For they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and THE LORD SEETH US NOT.” Ez. 8:12 & Ez. 9:9. This is also repeated twice for confirmation, as a status of the blinded human heart and in the words of the prophet Isaiah: “they say, Who seeth us?” Isa. 29:15. “Thick clouds are a covering to Him, that he seeth not”, Job 22:14. How more wrong they cannot be, for “thou hast searched me, and known me � Thine eyes did see my substance”, Ps. 139:1-16. 3. “And they say, HOW DOTH GOD KNOW? And is there knowledge in the Most High?” Ps. 73:11, “And can he judge through the dark cloud? Job. 22:14. He is OMNISCIENT, but the world has become oblivious to God and most humans have no longer any reverence for Him, hence the prevalence of abominable behaviour, greed and immorality, with no respect to authority, but “Marvel not at the matter; for he that is higher than the highest regardeth”, Eccl. 5:8, and the judgement of the world is at hand. 4. “They said unto God, DEPART FROM US: and what can the Almighty do for them?” Job. 22:17. The OMNIPOTENT God is not before their conscience. Do they not know what David has already realised: “whither shall I go from thy spirit, or wither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there”, Ps. 139:7&8. It may be the human wish to remain hoodwinked, not realising that “the Judge of all the earth”, Gen. 28:25, will do right in judgement day. 5. Finally, remember Athens, in Acts Ch. 17, the then centre of learning “for all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing”. And when Paul was debating in the Areopagus he stood in the midst of Mars’ Hill and said “I found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom, therefore, ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you” Acts 17:23. This is exactly what the world needs to know right now. In the wake of the dreaded coronavirus COVID-19 which is wreaking such an havoc, for at the time of publishing, Monday 6th July 2020, it has infected over 11.7M test-positive proven cases worldwide, and perhaps 10 times more of unrecorded infections. The infection rate is escalating; it took nearly 3 months for the first one million people to become infected but only 5 days to report on the most recent million cases. The death rate is also very high, with well over 540K, and no cure has as yet been found. The world economy is ruined, and many people’s lives are shattered with a very bleak prospect of an end to this universal misery. It is therefore quite natural to ask the question, if God is with us, where is He ‘O Immanuel’? I do not pretend that I have any easy answers. But do not forget that He was with us in the person of His Son Jesus Christ, who feels our human pain as He has experienced all our griefs when He trod this earth and has suffered more than anyone can ever imagine, on the cross of Calvary to secure our Salvation and grant us Eternal life. Suffice it to say that God in His infinite wisdom, which passeth all knowledge and understanding, and in His utmost care for the Human race on planet earth, He has a plan for humanity to return to the worship of the true God, that day is soon approaching. Therefore, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His Commandments, for this is the whole duty of man”, Eccl. 12:13. And, as Christians, in whatever may pass and whatever may lie before us, we surely have the confidence to say to one another: “God be with you”, this wonderful and true expression is repeated at least 40 times in the Scripture, which I hereby include for your own private study in your own time: * * In the O.T.: Abraham: Gen. 21:22, Isaac: Gen. 26:24, Moses: Ex. 10:10, The Children of Israel: Num. 14:9, Deut. 20:1 & 4, Balak: Num. 23:21, Jo shua: Josh. 1:9 & 17, Boaz to the reapers: Ruth 2:4, David: 1 Sam. 17:37, 20:13, 2 Sam. 14:17, Solomon: 1 Kings 8:57, 1 Chron. 22:11 & 18, Cyrus to the Israelite captives:2 Chron. 36:23, Ezra 1:3, Psalmists: Ps. 23:4, 46:7 & 11, Isaiah: Isa. 8:10, 41:10, 43:2 & 5, 45:14, Jeremiah: Jer. 42:11, 46:28, Ezekiel: Ez. 34:30, Amos: Amos 5:14, Haggai: Hag. 1:13, Zerubbabel: Hag. 2:4, Zechariah: Zech. 8:23 & 10:5. Innumerable times in the N.T.: “If God be for (with) us, who can be against us?” Rom.8:31. Nearly all Paul’s letters are concluded with an expression of God or one of His attributes be with us, e.g. “Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you” Col. 4:23 & 2 Tim. 4:22,, but more “The Lord be with you”: 2 Thess. 3:16. And finally, “God Himself shall be with them”, Rev. 21:3. Now let us praise and magnify His Holy Name, with the words of the Hymn penned by Frederick Whitfield (1829-1904): 1. There is a Name I love to hear, I love to speak its worth; It sounds like music in my ear, The sweetest Name on earth. O how I love the Saviour’s Name O how I love the Saviour’s Name O how I love the Saviour’s Name The sweetest Name on earth 2. It tells me of a Saviour’s love, Who died to set me free; It tells me of His precious blood, The sinner’s perfect plea. 3. It tells of one whose loving heart Can feel my deepest woe, Who in my sorrow bears a part That none can bear below, O how I love��. 4. It bids my trembling heart rejoice, It dries each rising tear; It tells me in a ‘still, small voice’ To trust and never fear O how I love��. 5. Jesus the Name I love so well, The Name I love to hear! No saints on earth its worth can tell No heart conceives how dear. O how I love��. 6. And there, with all the blood-bought throng, From sin and sorrow free, I’ll sing the new, eternal song Of Jesus’ love to me O how I love the Saviour’s Name O how I love the Saviour’s Name O how I love the Saviour’s Name The sweetest Name on Earth.20/08/2020 – Article by Bro Joseph Marzouk.

May God bless you and keep you safe Joseph