A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN

A Woman Shall Compass A Man

How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the
LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall com-
pass a man. (Jer. 31:22)

This is one of the Old Testament prophecies that historically
has been applied to the virgin birth of our Lord. In the 1599
edition of the Geneva Bible (actually, this was the first Protestant Study Bible) the editors applied this verse in Jeremiah to the virgin birth of Christ and also to the future fruitfulness of the spiritual Jerusalem.
Think about it… the Lord has created a new thing in the earth:
a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son. No one but the Lord would ever do such an unusual thing—actually the most impossible
of all of the miracles in the Bible, the birth of Christ without a human
Father. If Christianity was a man made religion, no one would have
had the audacity to try to sell the virgin birth. Man would have pitched
something somewhat more believable. The Lord loves to shock the minds of man; born of a virgin, born in an animal stall, probably the
feeding trough of a farm animal…talk about unprecedented.
What do you think Joseph’s family thought about the virgin
birth, or Jesus’ brothers and sisters, or even the neighbors in Nazareth?
No, the virgin birth has always been a hard sell.
Matthew Henry also taught that this “new thing” was referring
to the birth of Christ. Here are his thoughts about this passage:
“Many good interpreters understand this new thing created in that
land to be the incarnation of Christ, which God used with an eye
on bringing them back to that land, and which had sometimes been given them for a sign. A woman, the virgin Mary, enclosed in her
womb the Mighty One; for so Geber, the word here used, signifies; and
God is called Gibbor, the Mighty God ( xxxii. 18), as also is Christ
in Isa. ix. 6, where his incarnation is spoken of, as it is supposed to be
here. He is El-Gibbor, the mighty God. Let this assure them that God
would not cast off this people, for that blessing was to be among them.”
Our modern world, and many modern preachers and teachers have
moved far away from the supernatural nature of Christ, His life, His ministry, His birth, and His death. Maybe it’s time to return again to
the ancient paths and follow the Lord down the path of His amazing
supernatural plan. Christmas, the virgin birth, this is unprecedented—
only God could come up with something like this.