Mateus 1

Mateus 1

Wiersbe adds "What a tremendous assurance. “I am with you always!” In Mt 1:23, He was called “Immanuel," God with us, and in Mt 28:20 He reaffirms that Name. He is with us through His Spirit, in His Word, by His providential care, and with His divine presence. This is the promise that carried Livingstone into the heart of darkest Africa and that encouraged and enabled messengers of Christ down through the years." May the Truth of IMMANUEL, be an anchor to your soul when winds of trial blow. As Matthew Henry said "By the light of nature we see God as a God above us (Ps 19:1-2+); by the light of the law we see him as a God against us (Ro 3:19, 20+, Jas 2:10+, Col 2:14+); but by the light of the Gospel we see Him as EMMANUEL, GOD WITH US." Let us meditate on His Name Immanuel. Indeed, His "Name… is wonderful." (Jdg 13:18+) "O LORD our Lord, how majestic is YOUR NAME in all the earth." (Ps 8:1+) "Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy NAME." (Ps 30:4+) "I will sing praise to the NAME of the LORD Most High." (Ps 7:17+) "And those who know (experientially, intimately) Your NAME (IMMANUEL) will put their trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek Thee." (Ps 9:10) "O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His NAME together." (Ps 34:3+) "Blessed be His glorious NAME (IMMANUEL) forever; and may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen." (Ps 72:19+) He is our IMMANUEL, GOD WITH US, at every stage of our spiritual life, for He has promised to never (Greek has 5 negatives emphasizing the impossibility that He will ever) desert us or forsake us (Heb 13:5+). Even in the OT prior to the full revelation of Immanuel in Mt 1:23, we see that the heart of God is to be WITH His people. And so the phrase "I WILL BE WITH YOU" occurs 9x in the OT (Ge 26:3+, Ge 31:3+, Dt 31:23, Josh 1:5+, Josh 3:7+, Jdg 6:16+, 1Ki 11:38, Isa 43:2). For example, in Isaiah 43, God gives a great promise of His presence to Israel (and applicable to all His children) declaring that “When (not "if") you go through deep waters, I WILL BE WITH YOU ("I will be Immanuel to you"). When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you." (Isaiah 43:2NLT) Because you belong to Him, Immanuel will preserve you in the midst of the trials by His presence and power! Believe it for it is the Word of Truth! Let us recall the three Hebrew boys who were thrown into the fiery furnace because they would rather burn rather bow (Da 3:17,18+). Their courageous stand resulted in Nebuchadnezzar's description of a "fourth (Man in the fire who) is like the Son of God" (Da 3:25KJV+)! It is not some quality given to enable us to endure the trial nor is it a dramatic change of circumstances that makes victory possible, but it is the unfailing presence of a PERSON, the "fourth Man in the fiery trial," Jesus Christ, our IMMANUEL! In Genesis, we see the same pattern of GOD'S PRESENCE WITH Joseph in his trials! (Read Ge 39:2, 3, 5, 21, 23+) Paul when faced with his imminent death, could still confidently declare in some of his very last words that "the LORD STOOD WITH ME and strengthened me." (2Ti 4:16+) So yes, beloved, Jesus, our IMMANUEL will be WITH US in every trial until the very end (cf Mt 28:20)! Jehovah is not a distant God but is IMMANUEL “a very present help in trouble” (Ps 46:1+)!