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excerpt from Leland Earls' God's purpose to so “shake” all things, that those things whichcan be shaken will be removed. Read all of Hebrews 12:18-29, and notice how the final shaking is contrasted with the shaking at Mount Sinai when God brought His people out of the old (Egypt) that He might lead them into the new (Canaan). This is very important, for the shaking (and related events) at Mt. Sinai is a TYPE of the final shaking of all things You can read the story in Exodus 19. It is not our purpose here to go into detail, but notice in Exodus 19:11,15-16 and 20, that it was at the beginning of the THIRD DAY that God CAME DOWN on Mt. Sinai. This was after Moses was commanded by God to sanctify the people and cause them to wash their clothes for two days as a preparation (Ex. 19:10-11, 14). We know that a day is with the Lord as a thousand years (II Pet. 3:8) During the last two days (two thousand years) our “Moses” (Jesus Christ) has been PREPARING A PEOPLE for His coming DOWN or RETURN to this earth, by doing a sanctifying (separating) work in them and by causing them to be cleansed “with the washing of water by the WORD” (Eph. 5:26).) Shaking of
Heaven In Hebrews 12:26, concerning these last
days, God says: “...Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” This “shaking” will be both literal and
symbolic. Looking first at the literal
application, we know that an earthquake can shake the earth and also the sea
(tidal waves), but cannot affect the heaven.
But there is one phenomenon which has been released in recent years that
does shake the heaven. Jesus Himself
indicated that one of the great signs of the consummation of the age would be
the fact that “the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (Lk. 21:26). The Greek word translated “heaven” is ouranos,
from which we get the word uranium, the root word being urano,
concerning which Funk & Wagnalls
Standard Universal Dictionary says: “urano from Greek ouranos,
heaven: a combining form. In chemical
and mineralogical words it refers to the element uranium.” We know that uranium is the fissionable
metallic substance used in the production of atomic bombs. Atomic energy is derived from the
disintegration (or the “shaking” or splitting apart) of the nucleus of atoms of
elements of high atomic mass, e.g. uranium 235. Thus when Jesus said that the “powers of heaven shall be
shaken” (Lk. 21:26), He was speaking of that which could
be paraphrased as follows: “The powers (energy) of heaven
(ouranos – uranium atom) shall be shaken (spirit through
nuclear fission).”
Scientists tell us that an atom consists of a small, massive nuclear
“core” composed of neutrons and protons, surrounded by a relatively empty
region in which the electrons revolve in elliptical or circular orbits around
the nucleus. Thus an atom is a tiny
“solar system” in itself, with its “sun” or nucleus and “planets” (electrons)
revolving around it. Thus when an atom
is split, its “heaven” is surely shaken, and God's Word is fulfilled. Atmospheric Disruption Another unique feature of atomic bombs which fulfills
the prophecy of the “shaking of the heaven” is the fact that an atomic
explosion takes place in the air (atmospheric heaven), rather than through
impact on the earth as conventional bombs.
And the resultant damage is to a great extent through wind action
created by the explosion. We have a
symbolic allusion to this in Revelation 7:1 where four angels are
seen standing on the four corners of the earth, “...holding the four winds of the earth, that the
wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.” These winds no doubt speak of the
complete and consummating judgments to come on the earth, and the verses
following in 7:2-3 indicate that these judgments are to be “held
back” until God does a certain spiritual work of “sealing the servants of
our God in their foreheads.” In
other words, God must finish the work of preparing His people before final
judgment comes. Certainly the “four
winds” might indicate destruction from natural storms, but when we couple this
symbolism with others in Revelation where the judgments of God
come through “fire” (Rev. 16:8-9, 8:5-7), we can see that the
fire of atomic explosions; plus the terrific and devastating wind action which
comes as an aftermath, does fulfill the picture. We also find in Hebrews 12:26-29 where God says He
will “shake not only the earth but also heaven,” that the final
statement of that passage is, “...for our God is a consuming
fire.” It is the
blazing, all-consuming fire of God that is released when an atomic bomb is
exploded; the “heaven” of the atoms is shaken or split, the atmospheric heaven
is violently disrupted, and the “winds” of God's judgment are released upon the
earth. Symbolic We have taken a LOOK at the literal truth of the
“heavens being shaken,” but we need also to see the symbolic application. “Heaven” speaks of that which is higher up,
or above the earth, and thus primarily that of rulers and leaders over the
earth and its systems. In Revelation
6:12, as a result of the opening of the sixth seal (man's number),
there follows a “great earthquake” (shaking), and then in verse 13
we read that there is a great disturbance in the heavens, as “the stars
of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs,
when she is shaken of a mighty wind.”
A part of the phenomena of the end time will be literal earthquakes and
cosmic disturbances, but since the Book of Revelation depicts
many things in symbolic language, we need to see that “stars” refer to rulers,
leaders, and those in “high places” in the political, economic and religious
“heavens.” In the microcosm within each
person, the “heaven” speaks of the mind and thought, and usually those in
places of leadership and rulership in the systems of this world are the
thinkers: those who are the intellectual and educated in contrast to the
“earth” and “sea” of the general masses of humanity. Falling Stars In Revelation 6:14, we read that “...the
heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and
island were moved out of their places.” The fact of literal cosmic and geographical disturbances being
depicted here cannot be doubted. But
through His symbolic language, God is seeking to show us something more. The “heaven” with its “stars” being “rolled
up as a scroll” speaks volumes to us when we see that God is symbolically
saying He is “closing the book,” so to speak, on the tenure of man's leadership
over the affairs of this earth. The
mountains and islands being moved out of their places speaks to us of the
nations being greatly shaken and changed as their “stars” (leaders) fall from
their positions in the day of God's wrath.
The “stars” which fall are simply suffering the same fate as the
original “star” (Lucifer--which means ‘shining one’ or ‘day star’),
who was cast out of God's heaven (Jn. 12:31, Rev. 9:1) and is
further cast out of his own “heaven” in the atmosphere around our earth when
the manchild is caught up to God and His throne (Rev. 12:5, 9). Going back to Revelation 6:15,
we see a listing of the “stars” that fall as “...kings of great men, and the rich men,
and the chief captains, and the mighty men....” Those who have been “stars” of the
political, commercial, religious and social world, find themselves in the same
dire circumstances as the masses in the flight to hide themselves from the
wrath of Him Who sits on the Throne (Rev. 6:16-17). Shaking Message Looking again to the pattern at Mt. Sinai, Hebrews
12:26 says that God's voice “shook the earth.” God audibly spoke from heaven on that
occasion. But to us this is a type of
that which God purposes to do in these last days. The fact that God's voice shook the earth, typically portrays a
MESSAGE which will go forth through the church that will “shake” the nations of
the earth. We also read in Exodus 19:19 that when
the glory of the Lord descended on Mount Sinai, “...the TRUMPET sounded
long, and waxed louder and louder....” In God's symbolic language, a trumpet portrays a voice giving
forth a message. God told the Prophet
Isaiah to lift up his voice like a trumpet (Isa. 58:1). The Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos was
in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and he heard behind him “...a great
voice, as of a TRUMPET” (Rev. 1:10). When he turned to see who was speaking, it was none other than His
glorified Lord coming with a message for him to give to the Church (Rev.
1:10-13). One of the Feasts which God established in Israel was
the Feast of Trumpets (Lev. 23:24). This was on the first day of the seventh month, which inaugurated
their NEW YEAR. The seventh month was
the beginning of their civil or agricultural year, but also the consummation of
their religious year, with the Feast of Tabernacles, the seventh and last of
the seven religious festivals, falling in that month. Thus the seventh month represented an overlapping, as both
a beginning and a consummation. How APT
a type this is of the day in which we live, as a TRUMPET message is
going forth to declare a NEW DAY of the Lord, but also presenting the truth of
the consummating HARVEST (Tabernacles) of all things. The trumpet of Exodus 19:19 heralded the
Lord's DESCENT on Mt. Sinai, typifying the Lord's RETURN to this earth at the
close of this age. So may that “trumpet
message” declaring His coming “wax louder and louder,” and may that message
“shake” His people, even as Mount Sinai “...quaked greatly” (Ex.
19:18)! Man Brought Low The shaking effect of earthquakes usually results in
the collapse of that which is high and exalted in the things built by man, such
as buildings, towers, walls, water works and dams, etc. Earthquakes can also cause trees and
mountains to be moved and to collapse as the earth shifts and opens great
crevasses. The shaking of the natural things is only a type and picture of how
God purposes to “shake” the entire society of man and all of his systems –
religious, political and economic; the purpose being to bring down that which
is high and exalted, which has vaunted itself against God in pride and
self-sufficiency. Looking further into Isaiah
2:6-22 we note that God repeatedly declares His judgment on that which
is high and which He purposes to bring low. “The lofty looks of
man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the
Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. “For the day of the Lord of
hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that
is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: and upon all the cedars of Lebanon,
that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the
high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every high
tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon
all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall
be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone
shall be exalted in that day. In that day a man shall cast
his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they have made each one for
himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops
of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when
He ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” Isaiah
2:11-17, 20-21 Consuming Fire In the passage we have been
emphasizing concerning the “shaking of all things” (Heb. 12:18-29),
note that the very last statement is: “for our God is a consuming fire.” Let's take a further look at the role of the
“fire.” The Apostle Peter saw, through
prophetic revelation, the earth being renovated by fire (2 Pet. 3:10-13). It is my personal conviction that what Peter
saw actually comes in two phases.
Many times those to whom prophetic revelations of the future were given
did not discern the time elements involved, or it was not their purpose at the
time to make known such time elements.
Such were revealed to others at a later time. For example, Jesus said, as recorded in John 5:28-29,
that “. . .all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall
come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they
that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” It sounds from His statement like both the
resurrection unto life and the resurrection unto judgment takes place at the
same time. But a later revelation was
given to John on the Isle of Patmos which separates these two resurrections by
one thousand years (Rev. 20:4-5). Further illustrations could be given, but I believe this is
sufficient to make the point. Peter
gives us the picture of the earth's renovation by fire as follows: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in
the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that
are therein shall be burned up. Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day
of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a
new earth, wherein dwell-eth righteousness.” II Peter
3:10, 12-13 Evil
Returns I point out the above to emphasize
the fact that the outpouring of God’s wrath upon this earth is to come
primarily through the instrumentality of man; that is, God allowing the
consequences of man's evil to RETURN UPON HIS OWN HEAD (Joel 3:4). In light of this fact, we can better grasp
the significance of the question asked in Isaiah 14:16-17
following the destruction of a certain powerful man: “...Is this the MAN that made the earth to tremble,
that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and
destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?” If you read Isaiah 14:12-20,
you will see that the passage is talking about Lucifer's rebellion, whereby
he sought to exalt Himself and become like God. But God's sentence upon Him is that he is to be completely cast
down (see also Rev. 12:9). When this takes place he will enter
in and take possession of a certain MAN, and MANIFEST as a man in this end
time, even as the “man of sin” described in II
Thessalonians 2:3. Through
this man he will seek to completely dominate the nations of the world, and
through his “false prophet,” he will punish those nations who refuse to
submit by causing atomic fire to come down on their cities (see Rev.
12:13), thus fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 14:16 that
a man would cause the earth to tremble (with fear) and shake kingdoms (with
atomic destruction). Thus in a sense,
man's kingdoms will be judged by the madness of a man. Furthermore, in God’s providential
workings, the evil of this “man of sin” will also return upon
his own head. For God will enable
certain nations to resist His dominion, and retaliate, so that atomic fire
will fall on his kingdom, as we read in Revelation 16:10-11: “And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the
seat (throne) of the beast; and his
kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And
blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and
repented not of their deeds.” Thus man
destroys man in a final great holocaust, but God directs and times this
in such a way that it is the fulfillment of His wrath and judgment upon the
evil of this world. Man “shakes,” but
God is behind the shaking, causing it to be the fulfillment of the counsel of
His own will. Fabric Let me give one more illustration
to show how the Lord views the present world society. Supposing you had a garment that was old
and frayed, and you realized that there was no way it could be saved. If you tried to patch it up with portions
of new material, it would only tear and be worse. Remember that Jesus spoke a parable and said, “...No man putteth a piece of new garment upon an
old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was
taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.” Luke
5:36 Not only
would the new rend the old, but the new material would not match the
old. When God looks at our present
Babylonish world society, He sees an old garment, worn and frayed, which
cannot be saved. To patch it up would
only make it worse, and the NEW which He purposes to introduce DOES NOT MATCH
the old (ways of men). The “shaking”
which we are now experiencing in the world is simply the “old garment” of
man's ways beginning to tear apart.
It simply cannot stand the stresses being placed upon it. The entire “fabric” of society in its
present condition is not strong enough to hold together. God has purposed to make all things new,
and we are now in the transition period. Those of
us who are born-again Christians have become “new creatures in Christ,” and
the “old” in God's sight has already passed away (II Cor. 5:17). We are already partaking of the new. We have “tasted the good word of God
and the powers of the age to come” (Heb. 6:5). We belong to a new kingdom which shall
never pass away (Heb. 12:28).
We have “new garments” which will never wear out (Isa. 52:1). Let us be willing to let God divest us of
all the remnants of the old. God
Working We have already alluded to the
“shaking” effect of the new thing which God is doing in the earth, as He
moves by His Spirit. We should pray
earnestly for more of this kind of shaking.
In Acts 4:23-31, read of the early Christians gathering
together for prayer after being persecuted.
Verse 31 says, “And when they had prayed, the place was SHAKEN
where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit, and they spoke the Word of God with boldness.” God wants
to shake things up. The Prophet cries
out, “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion....” (Amos 6:1). There is a positive as well as a negative
shaking going on in the world. It is
the result of God's moving on the behalf of His people. Let us not resist this shaking, but
joyfully anticipate and embrace all that the Lord is doing to bring us into
the FULLNESS of His purpose in this day. Pressures In the natural, an earthquake is
caused by a movement of the earth's crust along “fault-lines.” The movement is very gradual and
indiscernible until a certain amount of pressure is built up – then something
has to give; and a sudden shift takes place as segments of land on either
side of the fault-line suddenly shift to release the pressure and adjust
to each other. In His providence,
God, Who created the earth, knows its every “fault,” the movements and
pressures involved, and is able to TIME earthquakes to fulfill a portion of
His will – as instruments of judgment, etc.
Especially is this true as we approach the end of this age. Jesus said that one of the signs
(portents) indicating the nearness of His coming would be “earthquakes
in divers (various) places” (Matt. 24:7). The Affairs
of Men As in nature, so in the society of humans. There are “fault-lines” (weaknesses) in
the economic, political, and religious systems of men, and we are living in a
time of great change (movements) causing pressures to build up; so that man
is increasingly experiencing sudden shifts in the power struggle, shaking and
turmoil in social patterns, religious rumblings and upsets, economic
instability, etc. – all because God in His providential workings is MOVING
mankind toward a new Kingdom era.
Whatever cannot stand the shaking and adjust to the will of God must
be destroyed. “...and there was a great earthquake...and the cities
(societies, systems) of the nations fell...” (Rev. 16:18-19). The same is true in your individual
life. God knows your “fault-lines”
(weaknesses); those areas which must be willing to “give way” and adjust to
the will of God. God in His love will
continue to move you (with pressures, if necessary) into His unshakable
Kingdom. Fear not the “shakings” in
your experiences; for it only indicates God's purpose to remove those things
that CAN be shaken, “...that those things which cannot be shaken MAY remain” (Heb. 12:27). Amen! |