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Perhaps Isaiah saw Ahaz wavering, uncertain. He challenges him to ask God for a sign. With hauntingly hollow piety, Ahaz responds, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” He failed to recognize that he alone was the one who was being tested. Isaiah could tolerate this religious posturing no longer: “Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
The debate over the interpretation of the Hebrew word, 'almâ is extensive and inconclusive. Whether Isaiah meant a virgin, a young maiden, his own wife, or something else cannot be stated with certainty (cf. this debate in Oswalt, 207-9). Whatever one concludes about the nature of the mother, the primary importance has to do with the son and his name: Immanuel, God with us.
The question arises, Does the name Immanuel mean weal or woe, blessing or destruction? One of the literary techniques that Isaiah employs is that of double entendre or twofold meaning. This is but one example. The meaning to be realized depends entirely on the choice that is made. If you stand firm in faith, then “God is with us” in blessing. If you do not stand firm in faith, then “God is with us” in judgment.
Both elements are present in the subsequent prophecy (vv.15-25). Before the boy is of the age of choosing right and wrong, that is, very shortly, the land of the two kings [Ahaz dreads] will be laid waste. Therefore, God would be with us in blessing (vv.15-16). Indeed, within three years, Damascus had been destroyed and Samaria reduced to nearly nothing, and Samaria was completely destroyed twelve years later.
However, now it becomes clear that Isaiah has realized that Ahaz would not stand firm in his God but would disobey and turn to Assyria for help. Therefore, “God is with us” in judgment. He will bring upon Judah a time of unprecedented devastation brought about by the very one to whom Ahaz had turned for help, the king of Assyria (v.17).
Vv.18-25 speak in figurative language of the coming Assyrian invasion. To be sure, over the next twenty-five years Assyria brought tremendous devastation to Judah.