ISAIAH 7.14: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” (NASV)
The name “Immanuel” means, “God with us.” The Son prophesied about in verse 14 is Jesus the Messiah. Since His mother will be a virgin, God, by the Holy Spirit, will be His Father. This prophecy by Isaiah was in the eighth century and the context in which it was given addressed a condition of local warfare against Syria and against the king of the Northern kingdom of Israel.
Since this prophecy was given approximately 700 years before it was actually fulfilled, and since it addressed a crisis that would be resolved and put to rest within only 65 years after it was made, this prophecy of Jesus’ virgin birth has significance that reaches beyond the millennium in which it was written.
What does all of this mean? In short: The enemy of God ultimately will not reign in Jerusalem. The assurance thereof is because God’s Son will reign in Jerusalem and He will be Immanuel. The certainty that there will be peace in Jerusalem with no enemy of God in control will be established by God’s presence in the person of Jesus Christ.
There certainly was the presence of the enemy after the immediate conflict with Syria and the Northern kingdom of Israel was resolved. The Babylonian Empire will conquer and destroy Jerusalem and deport many of the children of Israel to Babylon in the sixth century. And even after Israel’s return from exile in Babylon, Jerusalem will be ruled by the Greek, Roman, and Ottoman Empires. And Jerusalem even to this day is a place of conflict, without genuine peace.
But Jerusalem is the City of David, and upon the throne of David the Messiah will rule Jerusalem one day, bringing peace. In fact, Revelation 20.7-10 communicates to us that Jerusalem will be the geographic location of the last battle between Jesus and the Devil. And ultimately Jerusalem will be the City of Peace in actual experience, the place of Immanuel.