After watching the last 2,500 years of history, coupled with the U.N.’s anti-Jerusalem vote on Thursday, it’s hard to read the Bible and think that the writers just guessed things right.

On December 21, 2017, the U.N. united as one to stand against one city on the planet: Jerusalem. Twenty-five centuries earlier, the prophet Zechariah wrote these words from the Lord: “I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle.” (Zech. 14:2) Did the U.N. just move us one step closer to fulfilling this ancient prophecy?

Before answering this question, let’s look at the events on the ground.

First, the U.N. once again distinguished itself for hypocrisy by targeting Israel for its criticism – specifically, America’s support of Israel – while remaining silent on so many issues of world importance.

What has the U.N. been doing during the horrific war in Syria? Where has the U.N. been during the attempted genocide of Christians in the Middle East? Decades earlier, what did the U.N. have to say about Tiananmen Square in China or Saddam Hussein’s chemical warfare against the Kurds? Yet when America recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the U.N. is in an uproar.

As I noted previously, groups like UNWatch.org have documented the U.N.’s consistent policy of singling out Israel for rebuke and condemnation while virtually ignoring atrocities committed on a mass scale by other nations, including Israel’s neighbors.

To give one case in point, during the U.N. General Assembly’s 61st session (2006-2007), “the time spent by ambassadors on enacting the 22nd anti-Israel resolution of the year was time not spent on passing a single resolution on Sudan’s genocide in Darfur.”

So, while Sudanese Christians were being slaughtered en masse by Muslim soldiers and gangs, the U.N. General Assembly spent its time enacting 22 anti-Israel resolutions.

In 2015, as noted by Israeli journalist Noga Gur-Arieh, “At the closing of the 59th U.N. Commission on the Status of Women … only one political resolution was passed; one that accuses Israel of mistreating Palestinian women, in all aspects of life.”

A similar resolution was passed in 2016 by the same U.N. commission.

So, of all the nations on earth, only Israel was singled out for its alleged mistreatment of women.

That’s why Abba Eban, Israel’s legendary diplomat, once remarked: “If Algeria introduced a resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.”

Second, in anticipation of the U.N. vote, the United States handled things exactly as it should have: with a strong word of rebuke and warning.

After all, different international leaders did not simply call President Trump and say, “We strongly differ with your recognition of Jerusalem.” Instead, in the most public forum available, 128 nations stood together to condemn America for doing was what right and righteous, declaring our decision “null and void.”

Nikki Haley’s words to the U.N. before the vote said it all:

“To its shame, the United Nations has long been a hostile place for the state of Israel. Both the current and the previous Secretary-Generals have objected to the U.N.’s disproportionate focus on Israel. It’s a wrong that undermines the credibility of this institution, and that in turn is harmful for the entire world.”

Good for you, Mrs. Haley. Call the U.N. on the carpet.

Then, after articulating all the good our country does around the world, along with its support for the U.N., she rebuked the U.N. for disrespecting America, saying:

“The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation. We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world’s largest contribution to the United Nations, and so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.”

And finally:

“America will put our embassy in Jerusalem. That is what the American people want us to do and it is the right thing to do. This vote will make a difference in how Americans look at the U.N. And this vote will be remembered.”

Here, here, Ambassador Haley!

Third, the seven nations that stood with Israel and America today are a most unusual group, consisting of Guatemala, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Togo, and Palau. Honestly, now, how many of us heard of some of these countries before? And how many of us could locate some of them on the map?

Whether it was out of economic dependence on the USA, a connection to Israel, or something else, these nations should be remembered for good in the days to come. They did what was courageous and correct.

As for the countries that abstained (35 in all), two (the Czech Republic and the Philippines) already stated they are considering relocating their embassies; a number of African nations have developed solid ties with Israel; some might have considered their need for American dollars; and others might have remembered Israel’s kindness to them (such as Mexico, which was greatly aided by Israel after their disastrous earthquake in September, although Mexico did use its floor time to speak critically).

Already, “U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley invited representatives of countries who didn’t vote in favor of the United Nations General Assembly’s Jerusalem resolution to a reception as ‘thank you for your friendship to the United States.'”

Donald Trump has always appreciated loyalty.

But what of the matter of ancient prophecy? Is there a connection between the U.N.’s vote and the Bible?

I would say yes, for at least three reasons:

1. The vote confirms international hostility towards a Jewish Jerusalem.
2. The vote reminds us that the biblical authors were inspired when predicting that an end-time coalition of nations would come against a Jewish Jerusalem.
3. The vote tells us that, just as Scripture indicates, the city of Jerusalem alone is the whole world’s business (see Zech. 12:3).

Of course, this does not set a time frame for a united attack on a Jewish Jerusalem, and we don’t know if “all nations” (in the words of Zechariah) means every nation on earth or simply a worldwide coalition. But, after watching the last 2,500 years of history, coupled with the U.N.’s anti-Jerusalem vote this week, it’s hard to read the Bible and think that the writers just guessed things right. What are the chances of that?

Our Christmas cards, carols, and crèches delight in the characters of the Christmas story. In pageants, there are a lot of parts to go around: Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus; the angels, shepherds, and Magi; perhaps even Elizabeth and Zechariah, Simeon and Anna. But for all the times and ways the story is told, one key participant is almost impossible to find: the Holy Spirit.

This omission is particularly noticeable in our music. We have dozens of carols centered on shepherds, Magi, angels, Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, but few that acknowledge the work of the Spirit. It is a surprising omission, for the Gospel of Luke discloses a strikingly Pentecostal Christmas vision, testifying to the Spirit’s engagement with no fewer than six different characters: John the Baptist (1:15), Mary (1:35), Elizabeth (1:41), Zechariah (1:67), Simeon (2:25–26), and, later, Jesus himself (4:18).

Certainly, Luke is the same writer who described the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost (Acts 2), but Luke doesn’t at all believe that was the Holy Spirit’s debut. Luke depicts the entire Christmas drama as fully Trinitarian, involving God the Son, who was born in a manger, God the Father, who sent him, and also God the Holy Spirit, who was mysteriously active in so many moments in the drama.

Not only did Luke write about the Holy Spirit, Luke is himself a testament to the work of the Holy Spirit, whose inspiration graced Luke as he “carefully investigated everything from the beginning” in order to “write an orderly account” of Jesus’ life (Luke 1:3).

Luke is not alone. Matthew also testified to the Spirit’s work in Jesus’ conception (Matt. 1:18, 20). Isaiah, sometimes called “the fifth Gospel” because of the clarity of its messianic vision, announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on this Messiah (Isa. 11:2, 42:1, 61:1). Each Old Testament prophet who gazed into the future with messianic hope testified in advance about Jesus because of the “Spirit of Christ in them” (1 Pet. 1:11). The Spirit was active in, around, and through the entire story, as well as those who told it.

The ‘Double Gift’

An especially vivid Pentecostal account of the Christmas gospel unfolds in the stunning, symphonic words of Galatians 4:4–6, where Paul links two dramatic sendings. First, “when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son . . . that we might receive adoption to sonship.” Second, “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ ”

Here are two missions, two gifts, two experiences of grace: God sent his Son, and then God sent the Spirit of his Son. The first gift arrived in Bethlehem. The second arrives deep within the souls of believers. The first Christmas gift came then and there. The second comes again and again in the here and now. Indeed, every single time anyone anywhere professes “Jesus is Lord,” we can be grateful for the work of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3).

Everyday examples of double gifts are all around us. In a middle-school math class, it’s a wonder when a teacher starts multiplying and dividing fractions. It’s a second wonder when a student who doesn’t like math suddenly grasps how to do it too. In an art museum, the first marvel is the artwork itself. The second marvel happens when someone who doesn’t like art suddenly discovers its beauty and wants to return. Beauty discovered is a double gift.

What a gift it is during an adoption process when, after months of parental longing and reams of paperwork, the adoption papers are officially sealed. But there is the second gift that parents long for, too, when the adopted child one day whispers, from a deep, mysterious place within, “I love you—we belong together.”

Paul uses this same comparison. God sent his Son “so we might receive adoption,” and God sends the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to turn the legal adoption into a loving relationship. Adoption flowers into attachment.

It’s an intimate business, this Spirit cry within, issuing forth in the deepest recesses of our souls, as “the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Rom. 8:16). While every defense mechanism of our well-protected selves resists pondering it, there is grace in the fact that God’s Spirit is at work in the deep haunts of our “inner being” (Eph. 3:16).

Sometimes, this mysterious inner working of the Holy Spirit lifts our drooping spirits, interceding “for us through wordless groans” (Rom. 8:26). Sometimes this mysterious inner working does some breaking down before the building up, scattering “those who are proud in their inmost thoughts” (Luke 1:51). In and through it all, God’s Spirit is at work healing our fragile and tender souls.

And so at Christmas, we rejoice. The Spirit not only prepared the way for our Savior to come to us but is also preparing us to come to the Savior. “We have received . . . the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us” (1 Cor. 2:12).

Once we see this, we recognize that this double-gift vision is woven into Luke 2 as well. The first gift is there, “a baby wrapped in cloths” (v. 12). But the second is there, too, as the Holy Spirit guides Simeon to recognize and cherish the newborn Messiah. In fact, in a flurry of Pentecostal fervor, Luke mentions the Holy Spirit in three consecutive sentences (vv. 25–27), emphasizing divine agency in Simeon’s tender celebration.

This “double gift” way of telling the story is transformative.

Without it, it is too easy to tell only half the story, to convey the part about Jesus’ birth then and there but to have nothing to say about God’s work here and now. We tell the story of God’s work through Jesus but convey that we are on our own to respond. We leave our hearers with a lot of imperatives to be better people but without a sense of expectation for how the Spirit works within us to unite us to Jesus.

In contrast, what a joy it is to announce that the same Spirit that came upon John, Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah, and Simeon, the same Spirit that anointed Jesus to preach good news to the poor and raised him from the dead, has now been poured into our hearts (Rom. 5:5). The same God who sent the Spirit to answer the waiting people of Israel is at work restoring creation, healing drooping spirits, giving us Advent hope. The Spirit makes us participants in the Christmas drama.

Expanding our Perception of the Holy Spirit

All of this challenges our often simplistic understanding of the Holy Spirit.

In my own teaching and work with congregations seeking worship renewal, I am often struck by the profoundly different assumptions we hold about the Holy Spirit. Though we read the same Bible, some assume the Spirit’s work is typically perceptible, while others assume that it is typically hidden. Some associate the Spirit with spontaneity, surprise, and emotion; others with order, stability, and new insight. Some are readily aware of how the Holy Spirit works in and through us, while others talk as if the Holy Spirit’s agency picks up where ours leaves off (implicit in phrases like “we need to leave room for the Spirit.”)

Scripture as a whole challenges these simplistic, either/or categories. These Christmas-related Holy Spirit references are especially illuminating. Here we have the Spirit working through visions and dreams as well as through artfully crafted canticles, the beauty of soaring prophetic promises, Paul’s vigorous sermonic touches, and Luke’s “orderly account.”

We see the Holy Spirit at work, often imperceptibly, through centuries of divine providence leading up to this “fullness of time,” as well as in ways that were very perceptible for Luke as he narrated the dramatic story. Here the Spirit is doing a new thing but also affirming with continuity the hope and consolation of Israel now fulfilled in Jesus.

The Spirit works through the miracle of Jesus’ conception and also the miracle of turning stone-cold human hearts into places of tender attachment. All these both/ands challenge simplistic assumptions and invite us into a deeper awareness of the Spirit’s resourcefulness.

Have you ever heard Simeon highlighted as a leading example of Pentecostal experience? Yet there he is, in seasoned old age, with the Holy Spirit working through his faithful obedience to the law, his immersion in the Scriptures of Israel (seen in a song echoing themes from Isa. 40–55), and his trust in God’s enduring promises. Seeing the Holy Spirit’s work in Simeon reminds us that gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit—something we tend to forget in today’s cultural climate. Even this one episode is enough to challenge many of our assumptions about the Holy Spirit’s activity.

Praying ‘Come, Holy Spirit’

In the history of Christian worship, whenever awareness of the Holy Spirit’s vital work has been strong, Christians have learned to pray more intentionally for the Spirit-given gifts of recognition and attachment, not only in personal prayer but also in conjunction with public Bible reading, preaching, and celebrating baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Sturdy historic liturgical prayers echo Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, that out of his glorious riches God may strengthen us with power through his Spirit in our inner being (Eph. 3:16).

Only occasionally has this Pentecostal concern been woven into Christmas singing. In the 15th century, one popular carol text, still sung in English cathedrals, punctuated its opening stanza with “Veni Creator Spiritus!” (Come Holy Spirit!). In the 18th century, Charles Wesley’s magisterial hymn “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” culminates with the prayer “By Thine own eternal Spirit / Rule in all our hearts alone.”

Overall, the church has been strikingly silent about the Holy Spirit at Christmas. In the tidal wave of worship changes in the past generation, regular prayers for the Holy Spirit’s work in and through the reading and preaching of the Word and baptism and Lord’s Supper celebrations have too often been swept aside.

How fitting for us to make amends for our neglect. While our songwriters, artists, preachers, and prayer leaders can do so as they shape our Advent and Christmas worship services, each of us, in our own personal and family prayer, can do the same:

Lord God, this Christmas, send your Holy Spirit to give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Help the eyes of our understanding to be enlightened, that we may know the hope of his calling, the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and the immeasurable greatness of his power for those who believe. Amen.

John D. Witvliet is director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and professor of worship at Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/december/holy-ghost-of-christmas-past-present-and-future.html

Philippians 3

⁷ But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. ⁸ Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ

Deuteronomy 16

Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. ² Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.

“…​ faith that works by love…”

² Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. ³ For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. ⁴ Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. ⁵ For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. ⁶ For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

Matthew 5

³ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. ⁵ Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. ⁶Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. ⁷ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. ⁸Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. ⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. ¹⁰ Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹ Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ¹² Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. ¹³ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. ¹⁴ Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. ¹⁷ Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. ¹⁸ For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. ¹⁹Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. ²¹ Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: ²² But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. ²³ Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; ²⁴ Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. ²⁵ Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. ²⁶ Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. ²⁷ Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: ²⁸ But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. ²⁹ And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. ³⁰ And if thy right hand offend thee, cut if off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. ³¹ It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: ³² But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. 

Ephesians 2

​⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved; ⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: ⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

³ For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. 

⁴ For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 

⁵So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. 

⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 

⁷Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; 

⁸ Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. 

⁹ Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

¹⁰Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; 

¹¹ Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; 

¹² Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; 

¹³ Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. 

¹⁴ Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. 

¹⁵ Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. 

¹⁶ Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. 

¹⁷Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 

¹⁸ If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 

¹⁹ Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 

²⁰Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 

²¹ Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.