“Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”  Hebrews 12:26  

The little Bible study group that meets in my kitchen each Tuesday has been studying the book of Hebrews.  We are discovering some wonderful truths from this book written mainly to the Jewish people, but has so many truths for us today!  This week, I have been fascinated by the phrase, “shake the earth.”  It reminds me of what’s going on in our world today.  It seems like the Middle East is on fire!  So much evil, we wonder what God is doing.  We know God is Sovereign and knows the end from the beginning.  We have nothing to fear, but we still find ourselves living in interesting times!

I did a word study on “shake the earth,” and found three other times when God “shook the earth.” Hebrews 12:26 says, “At that time His voice shook the earth.”  What time was that?  When God spoke on Mount Sinai revealing Himself to the people of Israel.  God descended to the top of the mountain in fire.  The people couldn’t approach the mountain because of the thick smoke like a furnace, “the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.  Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him,” Exodus 19:19.  What a sight that must have been!  God was presenting the Law and the force of it shook the earth.

The next time the earth was shaken occurred in Matthew 27: 50-51.  “When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His spirit.  At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  The earth shook and the rocks split.”  Why did the earth shake?  Because the judgment of God was falling on Jesus to punish Him for our sins.  The punishment we deserved for our rejection of Jesus fell on Him.  The force of that weight of sin shook the earth.

“At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’”  Hebrews 12:26   This is a future time, a time of violet shaking of the creation prophesied in numerous Old Testament and New Testament passages, including Revelation 6:12, 15-17.  Revelation tells us that when the sixth seal is opened in heaven, there was an earthquake, the sun turned black, the moon turned blood red, the stars fell to earth, the sky receded like a scroll and every mountain and island was removed from its place.  The people will be terrified, the princes, generals, rich, mighty, slave and free will hide from the face of the “Lamb.”  They will cry out to the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of Him who sits on the throne and the wrath of the Lamb! “For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Revelation 6:17.

God has shaken the earth in the past and will do it in the future.  When our world is shaking, it’s because God is talking!  He wants to get our attention!  When things are shaking, God is trying to eliminate hindrances in our lives.  He’s attempting to loosen our grip on created physical things so we will focus on heavenly things.  We are “receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,” so let us worship God with reverence and godly fear.

So, dear friends, don’t give up!  God has a plan in all this shaking going on in our world.  Don’t give up!  He calls us to persevere and look to Him in faith and know He has a plan!

Your friend, Jean