God loves signs. And not just your usual metaphors, but “living signs”! Signs that children carry as names.
When Isaiah needed to warn the tribes of the northern kingdom, God told him to name his child “Maher Shalal Hash Baz”! The name means “quick to plunder” (Is 8). He relayed to Isaiah that the northern kingdom would soon fall to the Assyrians! And so it did.
Later, when God foretold of one who would be the hope for the nations, one who would be born in Galilee, God said he would be called “Pele-joez-el-gibbor-abi-ad-sar-shalom”! The name means “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”!
He told King Ahaz that a young woman (we translate often “virgin”) wound conceive and give birth to a son named “Immanuel” (God with us), as a sign of hope.
When Joseph received…