Recapitulation in Prophecy, 2

Peter informs us that the Old Testament authors did not always fully comprehend their prophecies (1 Peter 1:10-13).

As I read through the Psalms, I often identify with the Psalmists' experiences. Then in the course of reading further, I realize that the Psalm is Messianic. Some Psalms, such as 22 and 110, so clearly point to the events in Jesus' life that we cannot miss that the Psalm was about Jesus. Others clearly are about David but contain Messianic elements embedded within them (Psalm 40:6-7, 12).

So, the Psalms point to the original authors' experiences. But all Scripture is written by the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1:11), and so we discover the Lord Jesus throughout. And because you and I are "in Christ," we find 2 Corinthians 1:20 to be true for us: They are about us, too.

Isaiah had at least two sons, Shear-jashub and Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Both these boys' names had symbolic value (Isaiah 8:18). Shear-jashub roughly translates as "A remnant will return" (Isaiah 7:3), while Maher-shalal-hash-baz's name is "Swift is the spoil, speedy is the plunder" (Isaiah 8:3).

These sons were given to Isaiah as object lessons to the apostate king of Israel, Ahaz, who didn't trust in the Lord but in the king of Assyria to rescue him from Rezin and Pekah. The boys' early childhood pointed to the very short span of time until these kings were removed.

Maher-shalal-hash-baz is also called Immanuel by Isaiah's new virgin wife (Isaiah 7:14; 8:8), an event of great significance (Isaiah 8:1-5).

However, Matthew makes absolutely clear that Isaiah's second child points beyond himself to the Lord Jesus Christ as the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy (Matthew 1:18-25).