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.
On the list of Bible bad guys, King Ahaz certainly ranks near the top. He desecrated the temple, led the nation into idolatry, and even sacrificed his own son to an idol god.
Ahaz was so reprehensible that upon his death, the nation of Israel refused to place his body in the tomb of the kings.
Of all the possible people in scriptures, Ahaz certainly seems the most unlikely to receive a message about the coming Messiah; particularly one that today is so well known, that a Christmas play isn't quite complete unless it is quoted.
And yet, this was the man to whom it was directed. God offered to grant Ahaz any sign in order to prove that He alone was God. Yet, Ahaz refused. And so in Isaiah chapter seven, verse fourteen, God promises He will give His own sign; one which fulfills the promise to David, and to nation of Israel that a Messiah will come.
Like billboards along a highway that alert us to what is ahead, God shines a light upon what is to come. A future when a child will be born to redeem the world from the judgment of sin.
He promised to send one who was not another earthly king, not a temple priest, not a warrior. Instead, God would send one who would be called Immanuel, or literally “God with us”.