Hebrews 12:26–28

The people insisted they would never disobey. But they could not deceive Him who knew the evil and treachery of the human heart. He knew there was nothing but ruin ahead for that age. It seemed to open with the people gladly agreeing to the terms the Lawgiver laid down. So as He spoke those terms, the mountain shook so hard that the people drew back and stood far off. The shaking showed that nothing set up that day would last.

It was wicked to refuse the divine warning of the law; it is far worse to turn away from Him who speaks from heaven. For He does not speak of the yoke that neither the fathers nor the children could bear, nor of their rebellious struggling under it. He speaks of redemption through His own blood. He was wounded for their transgressions and bruised for their iniquities. He speaks of peace already made through the blood of His cross, by Him who sits at God's right hand as the proof that all who believe are fully accepted. To turn away from His voice is the most serious sin and the surest ruin.

Here the writer of Hebrews gave a free rendering of a prediction first spoken by the prophet Haggai. He quoted it to put the stress on the word "once." Let us mark it well! "Once more" — then, since no further shaking will take place, it will be the final thing. It will be an act of God. That is why the next verse explains that the 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." So we know how everything that sin has undermined will end. And we need not be surprised if there are shakings today.

The heavens are the seat of Satan's power. He is called "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2), and under him there are "rulers" and "authorities," "the cosmic powers over this present darkness," and "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). Satan's seat of power in the heavens directs much of the evil that fills the earth. God is going to judge the sin and the evils that fill the earth below. He will also judge the satanic powers above, which direct it all.

Yet such is the power of His work that for those who believe it is a "promise." … So what is a dreadful threat to unbelievers is a promise to faith. Even the quaking of the universe "He has promised." It is no threat to us. His love will rest on us then as much as ever, and we shall enter in peace into all that is for His glory.

Everything not founded on the word will be shaken. Terrible as that is to flesh and blood, it is a positive promise to us … How far can you take this as a promise? If your heart is resting here, you cannot. You can test it easily: how far is your heart attached to Christ in heaven, unseen except to the eye of faith?

He reminds us that the visible things, so impressive in the world today, can be shaken and so will be removed. But God's people belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken … If we work and serve God in line with His purpose, our work will last when the whole earth is moved away, however weak it looks.

In these words the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews gave a free version of a prediction first spoken by the prophet Haggai. He quoted them to stress the word "once." Let us mark it well! "Once more" — then of course, since no further shaking will take place, it will be the final thing.

Hebrews 12:27 bases its statement on a phrase, "Yet once more." John 10:35 bases its statement on a word — "gods." This is surely verbal inspiration.

Things not established by the grace of Christ will surely be shaken and removed when His power is revealed. "Things that have been made" must be displaced. The expression covers a great deal. At its fullest it reaches to the eventual dismissal of the first creation... It also has a nearer application. It concerns the way this world is arranged, where Satan is allowed to reign — until the One whose right it is comes to take the kingdom.

This shaking of all things clearly goes beyond Judaism, but has a special application to it. Judaism was the system and framework of God's relationships with people on earth. It ran on the principle that people were responsible to Him. All this was of the first creation, but its springs were poisoned... God will shake and change all things. The result will be a new creation in which righteousness shall dwell. Meanwhile God was forming the first fruits of this new creation. In Christianity He was forming the heavenly part of the kingdom that cannot be moved, while Judaism — the centre of the earthly system and of human responsibility — was passing away.

It is only creation that passes away under His rebuke, so that the new creation may alone stand... But here is the wonder for the Christian: in principle this is true of him even now. It is not just a promise but a fact. It is spiritual, no doubt, but for that very reason it is more real, more lasting and more unchangeable. For if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.

Everything not founded on the word will be shaken. This is terrible to flesh and blood, yet to us it is a positive promise... How far can you take this as a promise? If your hearts are resting here, you cannot. You can easily know this by one test: how far are your hearts attached to Christ in heaven, unseen except to the eye of faith?

Kingdoms have been shaken in the political sense. The earth has often been shaken too, physically and in other ways. But this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled... This settles the question of whether this prophecy is future.

Here is an instance. He speaks of things being shaken, and then of those which cannot be shaken, so that they "remain" or "abide." Then he adds, "Let brotherly love abide."

But brotherly love belongs to that immovable kingdom. It is the nature of God, which He has imparted to us, finding its expression in how we deal with one another.

What a blessing such a kingdom is — eternal in character, yet received now by faith. "My kingdom is not of this world," the King Himself has declared (John 18:36), for "the world is passing away along with its desires" (1 John 2:17). Since this kingdom cannot be moved, let us not be moved either. Instead, let us draw from God the grace to serve Him in a way that is acceptable to Him, in keeping with His eternal nature and purposes.

Meanwhile the first fruits of this new creation were being formed. In Christianity God was forming the heavenly part of the kingdom that cannot be moved, while Judaism — the centre of the earthly system and of human responsibility — was passing away. The apostle therefore announces the shaking of all things... About the present fact he says only, "we receive a kingdom that cannot be moved." And he calls us to serve God with true reverence, because our God is a consuming fire — not, as people say, God out of Christ, but our God.

Let us also notice why we are urged to serve God acceptably. It is not to make the kingdom sure to us. It is because we have already received it, and it never can be moved. The very certainty of it, far from making us careless, only incites us to serve.

God will shake heaven and earth, the sea and the dry land. Everything will be shaken except the Kingdom that cannot be moved — the Kingdom of divine grace, the Kingdom of Christ into which He has brought us. This can never be moved. Since we have received this Kingdom, He says, let us have grace; for grace alone can equip us for His service, and that grace overflows with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

A fitting reverence is to be joined with godly fear — a healthy, serious regard for the awesome majesty of God. For He is a consuming fire, to be feared in His holiness, consuming everything that will not stand the test of eternity. When He displays His grace, He does not give up the slightest part of His holiness.

The Spirit of God can bring back to us "the days of His flesh" (Hebrews 5:7). Then He "offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death," and "He was heard because of His reverence." The Greek word there is eulabeia. Compare Hebrews 12:28, where the same word is used of His reverent submission to the will of God.

"Therefore let us... have grace (or, thankfulness)... For our God is a consuming fire." See the beautiful picture of this in Revelation 4. The glorified elders are completely unmoved by the lightning, thunder and voices that come out of the throne. But when the living creatures give glory to Him who sits on it, they are all activity... By grace we fear Him and yet love Him, and want to serve Him. "Our" God is certainly a consuming fire; still, He is our Father who loves us perfectly.

The things we see, so impressive in the world today, can be shaken and will therefore be removed. But God's people are linked to a kingdom that cannot be shaken... If we work and serve God in line with His purpose, our work will last when all the earth is moved away, however feeble it may look now.