TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Emmanuel: Why Is Jesus Called “God Is With Us”?

Episode Date: December 29, 2022

Joseph, the betrothed of Mary, received the instruction from the angel of the Lord to marry the young virgin and to name the Holy Child ‘Emmanuel’. Just how significant is that name, and what 700-year-old prophecy did it fulfill? Today on this special holiday edition of the Godcast, we look at the fascinating history of the Christmas hymn ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.’ Over its 1200-year journey to our day, this carol not only declares the entrance of the Redemptive Christ into the world 2000 years ago but also proclaims His coming magnificent return. Rick Wiles, Doc Burkhart. Airdate 12/29/22.A hilarious gift idea for Christmas 2022! Order your Fauci Elf! https://tru.news/faucielfIt’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. You can order the second edition of Rick’s book, Final Day. https://www.rickwiles.com/final-dayYou can partner with us by visiting TruNews.com/donate, calling 1-800-576-2116, or by mail at PO Box 690069 Vero Beach, FL 32969.

Welcome to the special Christmas week edition of True News. Our regular programming will resume on Monday, January 2nd, 2023. We will begin today with a reading of sacred scriptures from the first chapter of the gospel of Jesus Christ, according to St. Matthew, verses 18 through 25. Now, the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man

and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to

fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke from the dream sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had born a son, and he called his name Jesus. Young Joseph had a serious problem. His new bride was pregnant, but he was not the father. He was a just man, but he did not want to shame Mary,

but decided to quietly divorce her. During his sleep that night, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and enlightened him to understand that the child in Mary's womb was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The angel further instructed Joseph to name the boy Jesus because he would save the people of Israel from their sins. Now let's focus on two verses in chapter one, verses 22 and 23. All this took

place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear The angel said, All this took place. All what? He meant the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. The incarnation of God in human flesh. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Which prophet? The angel was referring to prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah lived approximately 700 years before the virgin birth of the Son of God. Isaiah's Hebrew name was Yesha-Yahu, which means God is salvation. What did Isaiah prophesy 700 years before the time of Joseph and Mary? Well, some people call the Old Testament book of Isaiah the fifth gospel because it mentions the future birth of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. Like many of the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah was given divine revelation about the coming Messiah and his kingdom. Sometimes the prophets thundered future judgments on Israel for its people's rebellion against God. At other times, the prophets spoke beautifully about the Messiah and his kingdom of righteousness.

When the angel told Joseph in a dream that the child in Mary's womb was divine, he said the birth was to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy. Isaiah prophesied many things. Specifically, which prophecy was the angel referring to in the dream? We can read it in Isaiah 9, 6. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Now the Israelites knew that Emmanuel meant God is with us. They understood it to mean that Jehovah was always there to guide them, protect them, lead them, and provide for them.

They had no understanding of the meaning of Emmanuel that would be revealed to the Christian church after the resurrection of the crucified Messiah. God is with us now means that God came to earth in human flesh. He became one of us. He lived a sinless life, was crucified for our sins, resurrected from the grave, and ascended back to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. When we believe in the name of Jesus Christ and are born again, God is more than with us. He is in us. Now, prior to Pentecost, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, nobody had experienced God's Holy Spirit inside them. Now, to be born again means that the Holy Spirit has awakened our dead spirits and now dwells inside us. Truly, God is with us in a marvelous way that humans after the fall of Adam and Eve had never experienced until Pentecost. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is a traditional Christmas hymn

that has its origins over 1,200 years ago. Christians sang the carol during the seven days before Christmas Day. John Mason Neal translated the hymn from Latin to English in 1851 and published it in Hymns Ancient and Modern. Reverend Neal was an Anglican church priest and hymn writer. He is remembered for his work to preserve medieval hymns. Good King Wenceslas is one of his most famous Christmas carols written by him in 1853. Now here are the lyrics to O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

as translated from Latin to English by John Mason Neal. O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, thy rod of Jesse free, thine own from Satan's tyranny. From depths of hell thy people save, and give them victory over the grave. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, thou Dayspring from on high, and cheers by thy

drawing nigh. Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death's dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, thou Key of David, come, and open wide our heavenly home. Make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, Adonai, Lord of might, who to thy tribes on Sinai's height, in ancient times didst give the law law in cloud and majesty and awe. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, shall come to thee, O Israel.

Well, we have our house band here today, and they are members of our team, employees of the ministry. They'll be performing for you. O come, O come, oh come Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lowly exile here Until the Son of God appear Rejoice

Rejoice Emmanuel Shall come to thee O Israel O come, thou rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan's tyranny From depths of hell Thy people save And give them victory

O'er the grave Rejoice Give them victory, O the great. Rejoice, rejoice. Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel O come, desire of nations bind All peoples in one heart and mind Bid now our sad division cease And be thyself our King of peace Rejoice, rejoice Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel Shackham to the Israel Isaiah 7, verse 14 is an obscure but extraordinary prophecy. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. Old Testament prophets often prophesied about events that could be fulfilled in multiple ways at different times. I call them dual fulfillment prophecies. Such prophecies were spoken in ancient times in response to specific matters at that time, but the same prophecies also applied to the Messianic age or the end of the age of mankind. Isaiah 7, 14 is a perfect example.

God sent Isaiah to prophesy to Ahaz, king of the southern kingdom. The first application of the prophecy was that King Ahaz should not go to Assyria seeking help because the God of Israel was with the Israelites. The second application is for all who believe in the name of Jesus Christ. He is Emmanuel. God is with us. Isaiah's message to the Israelites was the Lord himself would give them a sign. The sign was that a virgin would conceive a son and his name would be called Emmanuel. God has always had a plan to redeem mankind. The first hint of the plan was spoken by God

to the serpent Lucifer in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve sinned. Throughout the many centuries after the fall of Adam, God gave prophets glimpses of the plan of salvation. Since the cross on Calvary, we had full sight of the plan. His name is Jesus. Contemporary Christian musical artist Chris Rice is the author of the song, Welcome to the World.

Now in an interview, Chris told CCM Magazine that the song was not originally intended to be a Christmas song, but the song's fans made it a modern Christmas classic. Rick Creevey is here to perform Chris Rice's song, Welcome to the World. Tears are falling, hearts are breaking How we need to hear from God You've been promised, we've been waiting. Welcome, holy child. Welcome, holy child.

Hope that you don't mind our manger How I wish we would have known But long awaited holy stranger Make yourself at home Please make yourself at home Please make yourself at home And bring your peace into our violence Bid our hungry souls be filled Word now breaking,

heaven's silence. Welcome to our world. Welcome to our world. Fragile fingers sent to heal us Tender brow, prepared for thorn Tiny heart whose blood will save us Unto us is born Unto us is born So wrap our injured flesh around you Breathe our air and walk our side. Take our sin and make us holy, perfect Son of God. Welcome to our world

Welcome to our world We will conclude today's program with two very popular Christmas songs. Classical guitarist Greg Reiter, a member of our team, will perform Silent Night. And Joy to the World will be performed as a duet by Tomi Sellers and Rick Creevey. Thank you. piano plays softly Joy to the world, the Lord is come Let earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room And heaven and nature sing And heaven and nature sing. And heaven and nature sing. We will sing joy. Joy to the world, the Savior reigns. Let men their songs employ. While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains, repeat the sounding joy. Repeat the sounding joy.

We will sing joy. We will sing joy. We will sing joy. Joy to the world He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations rule The glories of His righteousness and wonders of his love we will sing joy

we will sing joy we will sing joy, joy to the world. We will sing joy. We will sing joy. We will sing joy, joy to the world. We will sing joy. We will sing joy. We will sing joy, joy to the world. Thank you.