Yesterday's post featured the hymn, O Come, O Come Emmanuel. In the Bible, as in many other cultures, names have meaning and set expectations of a child in the family setting and beyond. Emmanuel or Immanuel is such a name - its origin is Hebrew (עִמָּנוּאֵל) meaning, "God with us" - and appears in the Book of Isaiah (circa 730 BC) as a sign that God will protect the House of David (the royal lineage of promise). The Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 1:22–23) quotes part of this, "a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel", as a prophesy of the birth of the Messiah and the fulfillment of Scripture in the person of Jesus. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel)
Glen Scrivener, an English evangelist, discusses implications of "God with us" and how it relates to the Genesis promise.
