15 Butter [chem'ah] and honey [dabash] shall he eat, ['akal] that
he may know [yada`] to refuse [ma'ac] the evil, [ra`] and choose [bachar] the good. [towb] KJV-Interlinear
will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose
Again we have a verse that will have a double meaning in its application toward the sign being given to Ahaz, and the prophecy that is attributed to Christ as a child.
Butter and honey are forms of foods that are typically given to infants. And as the infant grows up and begins to learn of the differences between good and evil or right from wrong, so then the diet will also change.
So this is a description of the time period when the child is in its infancy. He does not learn right from wrong from his diet, but this describes the period of infancy until he is able to discern the differences between right from wrong.
As for the first sign, then this applies to the first two or three years of the child, as it moves beyond infancy and into the toddler stage of life.
And as for the sign for Ahaz, this now includes the time that a virgin unmarried girl, then gets engaged, then gets married and then gets pregnant, and then has a child and then the child is raised out of infancy. This whole time frame could possibly cover perhaps six years, give or take.
Through all of this time, Ahaz will witness that the invading forces will fail, that his economy will continue to thrive and then the northern threat will eventually vanish as a threat. Thus, Ahaz has his sign which is reinforced repeatedly by the passage of time.
This also applies to the Christ child, in that God does not require food for His nourishment, but a human infant does. And the baby Jesus will be raised in the usual manner as all children of his day were raised. Since this child, the Messiah, is God, then He too is now referred to as man, and therefore is portrayed as both God and man. The Messiah is both God and man the unique person of the universe, born of a virgin, and raised as a normal human baby.
The third principle from this verse as it applies to Ahaz, is that butter and honey are not only the typical foods for an infant, but they are also commodities that are readily available in a prosperous society. Thus even though the nation is under threat from Israel and Syria, that threat does nothing to upset the balance of the economy of Judah.
The young virgin of Ahaz's day is not referred to as royalty, nor identified with any particular quality, and therefore is from the common class of people, and therefore this reinforces the concept of the stability and prosperity of the economy on the whole for all citizens, both rich and poor.
A further indication that the nation is safe, in accordance with Gods promise.
And even in the time of Christ, there is a degree of prosperity in existence whereas a poor carpenter is able to provide for his family with adequate means and under normal circumstances, even though in Jesus' time the nation was under the yoke of Roman rule.
Table of Contents
End Of Lesson
Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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