We will begin by looking at the two parts as a whole, while keeping in mind that many prophecies of the Bible are twofold and that they are often run together in one sentence or in one paragraph. "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste." (Isaiah 7:14-16)
Some critics throughout the ages have claimed that the verses above have nothing to do with Christ by saying that the verse translated as "virgin" should be translated as "young woman", for that is the literal meaning of the word "almah" in the original Hebrew. However, anywhere this word is used in the Scriptures it is used to indicate a young unmarried woman. It is never used for a single woman who is single because she has been divorced or widowed, no matter how young she may be at the time of her divorce or widowhood. It is never used for an immoral woman either. The word is clearly intended to be understood here in Isaiah, and in other passages of the Bible, to denote a young unmarried woman still living under the protection of her parents---a young unmarried woman whose virtue is unquestionable.
The reason so many critics find fault with the verses above is because the two parts of the prophecy do not concern the same child. The child who will be born of a virgin, and the child during whose lifetime the northern kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Aram will become a non-threat to Judah, are not one and the same.
I agree with the opinion of a number of Bible scholars who say that the child during whose lifetime Israel and Aram will fall is the child in Isaiah's arms: his son Shear-Jashub. At the beginning of our chapter the Lord told Isaiah to go down to meet King Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct to deliver a message to him. The Lord instructed Isaiah to take his son, Shear-Jashub, with him. Shear-Jashub is presumably still a babe in arms at this time. This is the child to whom the Lord refers when He says through the prophet, "Before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid to waste."
Right now King Ahaz is shaking with terror because he's heard that the combined forces of King Pekah of Israel and King Rezin of Aram are coming against him, intending to overthrow Judah to make it a vassal state, intending to remove him from the throne to place a man the Bible calls "the son of Tabeel" in his place. But the Lord is saying that before Isaiah's son Shear-Jashub is old enough to discern right from wrong, those forces will be unable to lift a finger against Judah. This prophecy will come true within a period of three years, for King Pekah will be assassinated by a man named Hoshea, who was one of the top men in his administration, and Assyria will attack Aram and the king of Assyria will put Rezin to death.
As we've discussed before in our Bible studies, a prophet was not to be considered a prophet unless he could accurately foretell an event that would happen during the lifetime of his listeners. If that prophecy did not come true, and if it did not come true when and where and how he predicted, no prophecy he made regarding the far off future was to be trusted. So we often find twofold prophecies in the Bible: one for the near future and one for the far future. Usually we find the prophecy for the near future mentioned first but here in Isaiah 7 we find the prophecy for the far off future (the advent of the Messiah) predicted before the prophecy of the fall of Ahaz's enemies. I can't say for certain why the prophecies are presented in this order but I like to think it's because the prophecy of the Messiah is the greater of the two; therefore, it is mentioned first. It is given the preeminence because the Messiah is preeminent over everyone and everything.
If the prophecy regarding King Pekah and King Rezin does not come true, then no one should place any trust in Isaiah's prophecy of the virgin birth of the Messiah. But the prophecy regarding King Pekah and King Rezin will come true---and indeed very soon after the prophecy was made. Therefore, Isaiah's prediction regarding the virgin birth of the Messiah can be trusted---and King Ahaz and all the people should trust it.
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