S4: Week 35 Day 1: Annotating Isaiah 7:10-14

Summary

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Episode Overview

Title: S4: Week 35 Day 1: Annotating Isaiah 7:10-14
Podcast: A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace
Date: August 25, 2025

This episode marks the return of co-host Beth from maternity leave. The hosts begin their in-depth exploration of Isaiah 7:10-14, focusing on how this Old Testament passage points forward to Jesus as the promised King and "Emmanuel." As always, the tone is warm, thoughtful, and rooted in encouragement to see Christ throughout all of Scripture.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introductions and Theme for the Week

• The hosts explain the purpose for this season: “We will dive deeply into two passages of scripture, one from the Old Testament and one from the new, seeing how they connect and point to Jesus.”
• Main theme for the week: Jesus is the long-awaited King who enables relationship with God (00:10-01:10).

2. Isaiah 7:10-14: Reading and Initial Reactions

• Beth reads Isaiah 7:10-14, emphasizing the prophetic message to King Ahaz and the promised sign of the virgin birth (01:34-01:58).

Quote

“The Lord himself will give you a sign. See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Emmanuel.”
— Beth (01:54)

3. Annotating the Passage—Pointing to Christ

• Alexa notes key words pointing to Christ, specifically:
  • “Virgin will conceive” as a direct prophecy of Jesus’s birth.
  • “Emmanuel”—a title later connected explicitly to Christ in Matthew 1 (02:03-02:37).

Quote

“The language of a virgin conceiving a son points us to Jesus who was born of Mary. And then the name Emmanuel is also something to point out... For now, I just put in parentheses Matthew 1:21-23 next to the name Emmanuel.”
— Alexa (02:13)

4. Observing God’s Attributes

• Beth asks about God’s attributes in the passage (02:37).
• Alexa highlights:
  • Patience: “We see Isaiah speak about trying God's patience...” (02:45)
  • God’s initiative and desire to communicate: God invites Ahaz to request any sign, “as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.”
  • God’s imminence and faithfulness: God wants to be known and is intentionally revealing Himself (02:45-03:25).

Quote

“God giving Ahaz opportunity to ask a sign from him that doesn't have to be like a simple sign shows his desire to both communicate to Ahaz and give him a promise.”
— Alexa (03:08)

5. Honest Reflections and Looking Ahead

• The hosts acknowledge the difficulties in understanding the passage but express excitement to study the context more deeply.
• They encourage listeners who might also feel confused: “If you are feeling the same, then be sure to join us tomorrow because we're going to go deeper...” (03:25-03:49).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Beth’s joy at returning:

  “I've missed everything about this job while I was gone, but I especially missed getting to talk through this study every single week…” (00:54)

• On God’s character:

  “I love that God is saying that he wants to be known. He wants to give a sign to Ahaz.”
  — Beth (03:25)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:10 — Introduction to the week’s passages and focus
• 01:34 — Reading Isaiah 7:10-14
• 02:03 — Annotating phrases that point to Christ
• 02:45 — Observing God’s attributes in the passage
• 03:25 — Honest reflection on the passage’s challenges and a preview for next episode

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Final Thoughts

The episode sets the stage for a careful, Christ-centered study of Isaiah 7:10-14, inviting listeners to see Jesus in the Old Testament and to appreciate both God’s patience and the depth of His promises. With a blend of insight and relatable honesty, the hosts model how to annotate and meditate on Scripture—even when some passages seem confusing—while always pointing back to the person and work of Christ.

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Transcript

[A]

Welcome to A Year in the Bible with daily grace. This year, we want to spend a few minutes with you every day walking through our study, Christ in All of Scripture. Each week we will dive deeply into two passages of scripture, one from the Old Testament and one from the new, seeing how they connect and point to Jesus.

[B]

Whether you are doing the study yourself or just following along with us here, we are hopeful that through studying these passages each week, you will see how Christ is not only present throughout the entire biblical story, but but the center of it. Hey, friends, welcome back to another week of A Year in the Bible. I am so excited today because for a few weeks now, I've been joined by some of our wonderful members of our content team while Beth has been away on maternity leave. And while I'm just super grateful for those friends joining us, I'm really excited because today is the day that Beth is back with us. So, Beth, welcome back to the podcast.

[A]

Hello, everyone. I am so excited to be back. I've really missed. I've missed everything about this job while I was gone, but I especially missed getting to talk through this study every single week with you and with all of our friends who are listening. And so I am so excited to jump back in today.

[B]

I'm so glad to have you back with us exploring Christ and all scripture together. This week we are going to be discussing Isaiah 7, 10, 14 and Matthew 1:21 23. And we're going to learn that Jesus is our long awaited king who enables us to have a relationship with God. So we're going to begin by talking about the annotation day on Isaiah 7, 10, 14. So, Beth, could you read that for us?

[A]

Yeah. Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz. Ask for a sign from the Lord your God. It can be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven. But Ahaz replied, I will not ask, I will not test the Lord. Isaiah said, listen, house of David, is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Emmanuel. So, Alexa, what stood out to you on this annotation day?

[B]

Yeah, there's some really great questions about context in today's study day that I want to save for tomorrow. So I'm just going to focus on the first two prompts. The first prompt has us highlighting any words or phrases that point to Christ. So I highlighted the last part of verse 11. Since the language of a virgin Conceiving a son points us to Jesus who was born of Mary. And then the name Emmanuel is also something to point out in verse 11. For now, I just put in parentheses Matthew 1:21 23 next to the name Emmanuel. Since we'll learn later this week what that name means and how it connects to Christ.

[A]

Nice. I'm really looking forward to learning more about this passage later this week. Did you see any of God's attributes in the passage as you annotated in verse 13?

[B]

We see Isaiah speak about trying God's patience, so the attribute of God's patience is present there. I also found it fascinating in verses 10 through 11 that God is telling Ahaz to ask him for a sign. And that language of the sign being as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven is really interesting too. I think God giving Ahaz opportunity to ask a sign from him that doesn't have to be like a simple sign shows his desire to both communicate to Ahaz and give him a promise. So I think perhaps the attributes of of imminent there of of God coming close and and faithful could be present through that interaction.

[A]

Yeah, I love that God is saying that he wants to be known. He wants to give a sign to Ahaz. Yeah, this passage is still a little bit confusing and weird in my opinion, so I'm really excited to learn more about it as we go throughout the week. And so if you are feeling the same, then be sure to join us tomorrow because we're going to go deeper and learn more about the context and just more about what this passage is teaching us. So we'll see you then.

[B]

Thank you for listening to today's episode of A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace. Be sure to check out our show notes for some helpful links and resources related to today's episode. And make sure you're following Daily gracepodcast and hedailygraceco on Instagram for more Bible study resources and encouragement. We're looking forward to studying God's Word with you again tomorrow. Bye friends.