This Christmas I wanted to bolster the
faith of those who believe, and inspire faith among those have not
yet believed, and I wanted to do so by means of a clear sign or alternately, a vision. Not necessarily a
supernatural sign but a natural (non-supernatural) sign. I wasn't
sure that would be possible since it is God who is the author and
producer of signs, and I wasn't sure he'd give one for this humble
article. But as I was meditating on the advent narratives and
praying about this, God graciously granted my request by opening my
eyes to a sign I had not seen before. And as I pondered it, it
occurred to me that I was not the only one who missed it all
these years for reasons explained below. We'll get to that sign in a
moment.
Now with regard to signs, some may
not realize this, but not all signs from God are supernatural. God
does not always supernaturally manipulate the natural. Sometimes he
simply works behind the scenes to bring about the indicated signs
using only natural (non-miraculous) means.
Consider the sign that God gave
Moses as a confirmation that it was God himself that sent Moses, was
the fact that Moses, after leading the people out of Egypt, would
bring God's people to worship God on the very mountain where Moses met
God. (Ex 3.12) Though God performed many miracles to get the people
there, the act of the people of God worshipping on the mountain is
not itself a supernatural act from God. Particularly when you speak
of it - people worshipping on a mountain - does not sound supernatural
on the order of the parting of the Red Sea, or the resurrection of
the Messiah. Or consider the sign God gave to the shepherds
to confirm the angel's word that a Savior had been born that very
day in the town of David - that they would find "a baby wrapped in
cloths and lying in a manger." (Luke 2.12) While it shows the
humility of the Messiah to be placed in a feeding trough, there is
nothing inherently supernatural about a baby lying in a manger.
The Essence of a Sign from God
So what makes a sign from God a legitimate sign from God? The two
primary criteria are that:
1. God is the
ultimate author, though it may be relayed through intermediaries
like angels (Luke 2.12) or through a man of God (1 Ki 13.3).
2. The sign confirms the truth or
course of action that God has already given, or is giving with the
announcement of the sign.
Note: Just because a supernatural
natural sign occurs does not mean it is a sign from God. The
anti-Christ is empowered to do signs (Rev 13.13-14) but they fail
both tests: They are clearly not from God, and they do not confirm a
message or action of God.
The Essense of the Glory of the Lord
There's one more thing that needs clarification before going
onto this sign I mentioned, which you can consider a sign given
personally to you
this Christmas. The thing to clarify is, the appearance of the "glory of the Lord."
What does it look like? And what does it mean? As for how it looks,
I often think of a cloud descending on some place, because after the
Israelites left Egypt and Moses went up to meet God on the holy
mountain, scripture tells us a cloud covered the mountain as the
glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai:
"15 When Moses went up on the
mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the LORD
settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the
mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from
within the cloud.
Ex 24.15-16
Not doubt you've heard or read this
before from Luke 2.8-9, but the sign I'm referring to is not the appearance of the
angel. Nor is it the shepherds and their testimony. (Luke 2.17) I have
read these two verses missing a key clue for many years because I
always assumed that the glory of the Lord - the radiance that was
shining - was around the angels. That's how it's typically depicted.
And how else would the shepherds know they were angels? (We're
actually not told how they knew.) But apparently I'm not the only
one who missed this sign. When you search for images of the
annunciation of the angel to the shepherds, if the shining light is
depicted, it is depicted around the angels - as in the AI generated illustration
above, and in all these images that appeared in my search (see
here), and that I've seen. But a light shining around the angels is
not what the text says. Notice what the text says:
- They were watching their
flocks by night. Who? The shepherds.
- An angel of the Lord appeared
to them. To whom? The shepherds.
- The glory of the Lord shone
around them. Shone around who? The shepherds. Note the plural -
the glory shown around them. At this point there is only
one angel appearing so that cannot refer to the angel. The glory
is shining around the shepherds.
- And they were terrified. Who
was terrified? The shepherds.
The item to note is where the glory of the Lord appeared.
Clearly the glory of the Lord shone around the shepherds - not the angels. And we know that the glory of the Lord is the
manifestation of the very presence of the Lord. So it was not just
an angel followed by many angels who was there at the annunciation
by the angel, God himself, the King of heaven was there in the midst
of the shepherds confirming the message of the angel.
There it is! That is your
sign! That God himself was confirming the announcement of the
angels by being present with those receiving the message and
showing his presence by manifesting his glory! Just as it is God
himself who reconciles us to himself through Christ (2 Cor 5.18-19),
likewise it is God himself who is present at the announcement of the
coming of the messiah through whom he would reconcile the world to
himself.
Unlike Ahaz, Believe The Sign
Now some may say, that's all fine
and good for the shepherds who were there to see it, but I wasn't
there to see it. To such I say, similar to how Jesus told the
disciples some demons could only come out by prayer (Mark 9.29), in
a like manner, some signs can be seen only through the eyes of
faith. Unless you believe, you will not see it. (Compare Heb
4.2) For as the apostle Paul said, "We live by faith, not by sight."
(2 Cor 5.7) And now you can invoke upon yourself what I'll call the
blessing of Thomas by believing this sign.
We all know the account of the
disciple Thomas, who was not there at the first resurrection
appearance to the disciples (John 20.19-24), and so would not
believe the others saw the risen Jesus unless he himself saw him.
Jesus graciously granted that request. But notice what Jesus said
afterward, which is applicable to you and this sign today:
"Then Jesus told him, 'Because
you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have
not seen and yet have believed.'"
(John 20:29)
"Blessed are those who have not
seen and yet have believed." You may consider it easy for the
shepherds to believe since they were there. But for those who were
not there with the shepherds, yet believe the message of the angel,
which was confirmed by the presence of the Lord, you invoke a
blessing upon yourself by believing. God is offering you a blessing
by believing the sign.
Don't be like the faithless, wicked
King Ahaz who rejected God's offer to give him a sign (Is 7.12).
After a lifetime of disobedience to God (see 2 Ki 16.1-20 for a
Biblical assessment of Ahaz) he decides to try to appear righteous
by invoking a command of God (Deut 6.16) but he misapplies it. (When
God invites you, it's not a trick or temptation - God does not tempt
people like that. (James 1.13)) God goes to him via the
prophet Isaiah and tells Ahaz King of Judah that he will save Judah
from Aram and the northern Kingdom of Israel who intend to take it
for themselves (Is 7.5-6) he offers to give Ahaz a sign as a means
of assurance it won't happen, God will save Judah. (Is 7.10). The wicked King rejects
God's offer to provide a sign. But since the preservation of Judah is part of God's
plan for the messiah (The messiah will be born in Judah - Gen 49.10,
Mic 5.2) God gives Ahaz a sign anyway. It is then that God gives the
beautiful prophecy and sign of Immanuel, the messiah "God with us"
will be born of a virgin (Is 7.14)
Notice this is another sign that can only be seen by the eyes of
faith since you musts believe the testimony that Mary was a virgin
when Jesus was born.
So don't be like the wicked King
Ahaz who refused to consider a sign that would confirm God's word
of salvation for Judah. Now God has given another sign to confirm
that the messiah was born in Bethlehem. He Himself was there during
the announcement. And you can be confident of the sign both
because it is the God himself who confirmed the message of the angel
by his presence; and it is
the Lord himself who announced a blessing upon those who believe,
not having seen themselves.
In passing, this sign also confirms
a number of Christian Doctrines and prophecies:
- The Trinity is seen - The
presence of the father in the glory, the son in the manger, and
the Spirit empowering the shepherds to see the supernatural
happenings (see
here on how the Holy Spirit empowers visions of the
supernatural; also compare Eze 43.5)
- That Jesus set aside his
divine glory at the incarnation (Php 2.6-8) (He looked like a
baby, not like the Lord of the armies of heaven radiating the
glory of the Lord.)
- The prophecy of the Messiah
being born in Bethlehem (Mic 5.2, Matt 2.5) was fulfilled (Matt
2.1, Luke 2.15)
- The prophecy of the Messiah,
though being eternal (Mic 5.2) would be born of a woman (Gen
3.15)
So it turns out it was not just the
Son of God come to earth as the divine son of man (Dan 7.13), that first Christmas
evening. God the father and God the Holy Spirit were also there
approving the message and empowering the shepherds to experience it.
It is my deep desire and fervent prayer that if you have not yet
embraced the truth of the Son of God "veiled in flesh"[1]; if you
have not recognized "incarnate deity"[2]
that this Christmas your eyes are opened through faith to the
revelation given the shepherds. A revelation that can change your
eternal destination by believing the message it confirms. Angels
sang of the glory of
God while the very presence and
glory of God was in the midst of the the shepherds - mere
humans upon whom God's favor rests (Luke 2.14) - not in the midst of angels.
This Christmas may you have the blessing of Thomas - to see through
eyes of faith what the shepherds were blessed to observe, and in so
doing invoke the blessing upon yourself.
Merry Christmas, and glory to God in the Highest!
Duane Caldwell |
December 22, 2023
Notes
1
From the second
stanza of the Christmas Hymn -
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
Note: Immanuel is Hebrew for "God with us"
Back
2
From
the second stanza -
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
Back
Image:
An angel announces the birth of Christ to shepherds watching their
flocks by night.
AI generated image
