The Media today report a seemingly increasing number of both natural and man induced disasters - everything from earthquakes to national and personal debt. And when ever possible the blame will be laid on man induced ‘global warming’!
The induced fear that this generates is causing many to ask some serious questions. Will the frequency of the disasters increase? Will their intensity become more severe? What is causing them ? Can we do anything to mitigate their consequences?
Those who read and believe the scriptures may recall what Almighty God has said. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Heb 1226-29
Fear not. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. ... Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. Hag 26,7,21
His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
His brightness was like the light ...
He stood and measured the earth; he looked and shook the nations. Hab 33-6
When Jesus told his disciples about the end times he warned them about being deceived by false prophets. Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. Lu 2110,11
The Psalmists also saw a day when mountains will move and nations rise and fall rapidly.
A day when God will be seen as 'the Lord of hosts'.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea ...
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah. Ps 461,2, 6,7
Since it is Almighty God who will shake his world, then we need to ask, Why?
Why?
The answer to this question will surprise many. It is both unpopular and most revealing. God said, “Yet once more I will shake ...” So let us first examine history and see both what and why he has ‘shaken’ his beautiful, unique planet in earlier years. What does Scripture tell us in the world’s best history book?
The first ‘shaking’ comes at the very beginning when Adam and Eve fell to the devil’s subtle temptation to gain knowledge by eating the forbidden fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden. ... The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Gen 33 217 The ‘shaking’ came that same evening when God questioned them. He listened to their feeble excuses and judged them. The Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. Gen 323,24 They forfeited the paradise of Eden; Why? Simply because they chose to disobey God and ignored the warning he had given them.
Soon afterwards, Cain was jealous of his brother Abel. He was angry because he also chose to ignore God’s warning and murdered him. So God ‘shook’ Cain. He cursed him and made him a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth ... and the Lord put a mark on Cain. Gen 412,15
The next ‘shaking’ came when The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Gen 65 It was so bad that the only remedy was for God to destroy much of his creation by a world-wide flood - saving some animals, righteous Noah and 7 of his family. This was a literal ‘shaking’. It didn’t only rain torrents for 40 days, but God shook the earth’s crust under which there were huge lakes of water. On that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth. Gen 711 In the USA today, in the Yellowstone Park (3,468 square miles), God has kept this area of land under which there remains a huge lake of water. This reveals how he had created the whole surface of the earth. So when God shook the earth in Noah's day, all these subterranean lakes 'burst forth' and flooded the earth.
After the flood, proud deceived man soon started to build the tower of Babel. They said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves.” Gen 114 God ‘shook’ their arrogance. He brought total confusion by making them all speak different languages, and thus they dispersed over all the earth.
God created man and animals, male and female. God commanded, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” Lev 1822 (also 2013)
But some men decided to disobey and to practice homosexuality. So the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. Gen 1924,25 The reason for this ‘shaking’ by the Lord God is discarded today (Feb 2023) even by 36 of the 42 Church of England bishops, who in synod voted to bless same-sex marriage in church. Homosexuality was legalised in the UK in 1967. Almighty God is consistent and we can expect him to shake this disobedient world. Indeed, he has promised to do so. (Heb 1226 quoted above). The New Testament confirms the earlier command of God: Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality ... 1 Co 69
Conclusion?
In the past God has shaken individuals, nations and even the whole earth because they were disobedient. What hope is there for today’s world that is daily becoming more and more wicked?
Most leaders and men are deceived. They reject all God’s warnings, just as Jesus warned his disciples three times in Math 244,11,24. Then in Rev 6 to 18 is detailed how Christ is about to break open the 7 seals, order the 7 warning trumpets to be sounded, and when men still insist upon ignoring his warnings, he will pour out his 7 bowls of wrath. The God of Love is also a God of judgement and of ‘shaking’; in both the Old and the New Testament. He has consistently warned us over the centuries:
I will punish the world for its evil ...
I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant ...
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will be shaken out of its place,
at the wrath of the Lord of hosts. Is 1311,13
God ‘shakes’ to persuade reluctant man to turn from his sin and honour his Creator, instead of insulting him. Most remain blind and deceived and are therefore punished. A few are awakened by God’s ‘shaking’ and cry to him for mercy. To them God reveals that Christ has borne all the just punishment for our sin and has given us new and eternal life.
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled? ...
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
He will not, he will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake,
He’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake!
George Keith 1638 - 1716
The Unshakeable
Soon after Daniel was taken to Babylon in 605BC, Nebuchadnezzar had a series of muddled dreams. God revealed to Daniel both what they were and their meaning. Almighty God was going to ‘shake’ and destroy the statue that represented the next 4 great world empires - Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. Nebuchadnezzar was also shown a rock cut out, but not by human hands that struck the statue ... and smashed them ... the rock became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. Dan 234,35 This rock is the righteous kingdom of God that Jesus opened to all who repent, and believe that he died and rose again to redeem us.
Today we await the ‘Last Days’ when Jesus returns to earth and his kingdom becomes a huge mountain. Almighty God has also said, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. ... in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain." Heb 126,27
What is it that ‘cannot be shaken’?
It is God’s promised eternal, righteous kingdom in which his redeemed multitude are privileged to live.
That which is shaken is the gross wickedness of the world that God will destroy in the judgement of the Great Tribulation. It will all be separated from the righteous, redeemed, obedient for ever.
When? Soon!
There is a simple answer to the question of when. Jesus says only the Father knows! But believers in Christ will know that God is being faithful to his Word. They will also know that the return is near when we see God’s ‘shaking’ and see the One who made a full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice for our sins is initiating the promised ‘Great Tribulation’. ( I do not think there will be a pre-tribulation rapture; but would welcome to be wrong on this matter!)
Righteousness, truth and justice will then reign eternally and be ‘unshakeable’.
The redeemed will rejoice with the Lord God in heaven for ever.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee!
Let the water and the blood,
From thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Cleanse me from its guilt and power.
Not the labours of my hands,
Can fulfil thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears for ever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling;
Naked come to thee for dress;
Helpless look to thee for grace:
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyelids close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See thee on thy judgement throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee.
Augustus Toplady 1747 - 1778