Hebrews 12:26, commentary and pictures

God's voice shook the earth at Sinai when the law was proclaimed, and He has promised that yet once more He will shake not the earth only but also heaven. The words yet once more mean the removing of shakable created things so that what cannot be shaken may remain, and those who receive that unmovable kingdom must hold grace to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Heaven means the heavenly powers, the sun, moon, and stars, which will be moved out of their places but will not pass away, while earth includes earthly powers first shaken by war, famine, pestilence, and political upheaval before the final shaking comes from heaven. That final shaking comes at Christ's return and the deliverance of His people in trouble, when God's voice with mighty earthquake convulses sky, mountains, and sea, penetrates graves, raises the righteous dead to immortality, and destroys the wicked who made void His law. The shaking has already begun within God's people as a testing that separates those unwilling to stand and sacrifice for truth from those who persevere, so only those settled in truth, firm in faith, hid with Christ, and sealed in obedience will stand unmovable.

Sinai Voice and Promise

God's voice then shook the earth when He proclaimed the law at Sinai to Moses. That same voice has promised that yet once more He will shake not the earth only but also heaven in a final future shaking. This future shaking is the great day of Christ's coming in wrath and glory, when His power moves heaven as well as earth and the heavens depart with mountains and islands moved out of their places. It will come with an outpouring of God's glory and the Holy Spirit on the saints to prepare them to stand before Him at His appearing, as Moses' face shone after speaking with God. Those who obey and reverence Him will then be guarded by angels and welcomed by Christ into the prepared kingdom, seeing Him and escaping what comes upon the earth.

The words yet once more signify the removing of shakable created things, as things that are made, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Everything capable of being shaken will be shaken, and this solemn shaking in God's fierce anger makes urgent the proclamation of deep truth as preparation for the Lord's coming. That shaking time was repeatedly foretold and is now beginning, calling for ability to distinguish God's voice from the enemy's and to stand with God in His present work rather than opposing it. It applies to the present solemn time, calling God's people to stand firm in duty and place and to advance together through testing and trial. Those who receive a kingdom which cannot be moved must therefore hold grace to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

There is no escape in turning away, and refusal of Him who speaks from heaven must not occur, for God is a consuming fire. Those who turn away from what God spoke when His voice shook the earth will recognize their fatal error when His voice shakes heaven and earth. That shaking brings God's wrath in judgment upon persecutors who enforce the beast's mark, while God's people bear His Sabbath sign. It is a warning to awaken, confess sin, humble the heart, and seek purification before it is too late.

Meaning of Heaven and Earth

Heaven in the promise means the heavens themselves, and its powers are the sun, moon, and stars. At God's voice those heavenly bodies will be moved out of their places, along with the earth, yet they will not fall, pass away, or be destroyed. Earth includes the powers of earth, those who rule on earth, and they are shaken first by war, rumors of war, sword, famine, and pestilence. The political upheaval among the nations of Europe is this shaking of earthly powers and angry nations, not the shaking of the powers of heaven. The final shaking of heaven and earth by God's voice is distinct from and later than that preliminary shaking, and at that final shaking His voice comes from the opening in the sky at Orion through which the Holy City descends.

Shaking at Christ's Return

The promised shaking is the great day of Christ's coming in wrath and glory, when His power shakes heaven as well as earth. Then the heavens depart and are rolled together, mountains and islands are moved out of their places, and the earth reels, is removed, is shaken down, and its elements burn. Temporary earthly homes are shaken down in that mighty earthquake, in contrast to the heavenly mansions Christ has prepared for the faithful.

At that shaking God's voice penetrates graves and unbars tombs. A mighty earthquake makes the world reel, Christ appears as King of Glory with the heavenly angels, the trumpet sounds, and He calls the righteous dead to immortal life. That resurrection accompanies the shaking of earth and heaven and the rolling together of the heavens.

Christ's own resurrection and those raised with Him foreshadow and pledge that resurrection. The earth shook when He rose, and the voice that cried "It is finished" summoned the dead who rose then. Only a few graves opened then, but at His return all the righteous dead will awaken to immortal life. The future shaking at His return is like that shaking at His rising, yet it brings the earth's upheaval and destruction.

The shaking comes when the wicked have filled the cup of iniquity and the Lord rises out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth. He comes in wrath and fierce anger to lay the land desolate and destroy sinners out of it, to show the greatness of His power and to maintain and vindicate His authority against those who made void His law, before the glory of Him who is to reign when the Lion of the tribe of Judah comes as Conqueror to be glorified in His saints who love His appearing. The earth trembles beneath Him, rocks are heaved from their place, hills and solid ground shake and bow, subterranean fires concealed in the mountains burst forth, mountains belch fire, and fire kindled by Him that no ocean waters can quench wraps the earth in flames and penetrates and cleanses its tainted atmosphere. That sea and furnace of fire already kindled beneath waits only for His word, and the same shaking is both physical and religious because the end of all things is at hand, with terrible shocks upon the earth, costly lordly palaces becoming heaps of ruins, the crust torn open by elements concealed in its bowels to sweep away treasures gained by oppression at starvation prices, and the religious world terribly shaken. After the fire has done its work the dead rise, some to the resurrection of life to be caught up to meet the Lord, while those who rejected Christ rise to witness His coming as Judge.

In that shaking the Lord remains the hope and strength of His people. Those who obey God, reverence Him, honor His law, and fear His name are guarded by angels, protected in the day of God's anger, made glad at the voice of God even when scattered and fled for their lives to rocks and dens and caverns because of the fury of the oppressor, welcomed by Christ into the kingdom prepared for them, and enabled through the merits of Jesus Christ to keep the law acceptably and to make a covenant of peace with Him as He speaks from His holy habitation, while those who despise His law fear His voice. The righteous who are prepared to meet their Saviour in peace are unharmed by flames, earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods, escape the events coming upon the earth, see Him, and at His appearing are glorified and translated to heaven without seeing death.

Shaking at Final Deliverance

The promised shaking belongs to the time of trouble just before Jesus comes, when God speaks to His people from a place of glory and shakes both heaven and earth. At that speaking He announces the day and hour of Jesus' coming and delivers the everlasting covenant to His people. That covenant is a covenant of peace given to those who have kept His law and kept the Sabbath, including those who died in faith under the third angel's message and rise glorified to hear it. Through Christ's merits those who honor His law are enabled to keep it acceptably, so God is their hope in the day of His anger while those who despise His law fear His voice.

That deliverance comes with a mighty earthquake that throws buildings down on every side and turns the captivity of God's distressed and bound people. The sky is convulsed and in commotion, mountains shake and cast out rocks, and the sea boils and throws stones upon the land. The voice comes like many waters, and the same earthquake opens the graves.

Upon the delivered holy ones is put a glorious light that takes away weariness and care and gives health and beauty, and that light and glory remains on them until Jesus is seen in the clouds of heaven. Their heathen enemies and persecutors fall like dead men, unable to endure the light and glory resting on the righteous. The righteous recognize God's voice and rejoice because they are delivered and made glad, but the wicked hear without understanding its words and tremble.

That abiding glory leads to victory and a triumphant shout when Jesus appears. The faithful tried company is changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, from glory to glory. The graves are opened and the saints come forth clothed with immortality, crying victory over death and the grave, and together with the living saints are caught up to meet the Lord in the air amid rich musical shouts of glory and victory from every immortal tongue.

Before Christ's appearing there is an outpouring of God's glory and the Holy Spirit on the saints to prepare them to stand before Him and endure the brightness of His coming. As Moses' face shone after speaking with God, so the saints share in God's glory. At that shaking God's people bear His Sabbath sign, while His wrath falls on those who enforce the beast's mark.

Shaking Within God's People

The shaking has begun and will continue as a mighty testing and refining that separates people within God's cause. All who are unwilling to take a bold, firm, unyielding stand for truth and to sacrifice for God and His cause will be shaken out, while those who persevere gain the victory and remain steadfast. That sacrifice cannot be compelled but must be a freewill offering, and following God may require giving up everything to buy the field. Even thunder and lightning as at Sinai cannot move those who refuse plain truth, and an angel's message will not awaken them, which stands as warning of judgments soon to come.

The straight testimony to the Laodicean church brings the issue to decision and causes the shaking. Those who receive it are led to repentance, obedience, and purification, while those who cannot bear it resist it. The present is the shaking time when everything that can be shaken will be shaken, testing obedience so that what cannot be shaken may remain. The Lord will not excuse those who know the truth if they do not obey His commands in word and deed, and belonging to His kingdom requires earnest work for saving souls rather than spiritual indolence that leaves work undone.

People must be settled and grounded in the truth or they will fall, with God's presence enabling endurance, and the shaking reveals who stands on the sure foundation and is on the Lord's side. It is applied to a fierce conflict between those who serve God and those who do not, and to the conflict between divine and satanic agencies illustrated by wheat and tares continuing until the close of earth's history. Part of standing firm is binding up the law and sealing it among disciples. The shaking among God's people connected with the coming time of trouble is not present truth to be constantly held before the churches and is not to be forced beforehand to hurry trouble. It will come as the result of refusing truth presented, and does not mean ministers with supposed wonderful advanced ideas may threaten that unless all receive those ideas they will be shaken out and another people will arise to victory.

The present shaking is only slight compared with the coming earnest shaking, and those who remain on the outskirts of active service will fall into the enemy's ranks. The careless and indifferent who are shaken out are left behind and others take their places. Then the latter rain, the refreshing from the Lord's presence, and the loud cry of the third angel empower the faithful to proclaim truth with power.

Standing Firm Through Shaking

The shaking is a warning to awaken, confess sin, humble the heart, examine the heart, and seek purification before it is too late. Everything capable of being shaken will be shaken so that what cannot be shaken may remain, and this will be literally fulfilled to test the people. Only a pure, holy people will stand in it, for the people are sealed and settled intellectually and spiritually in the truth so they cannot be moved, and when they are sealed and prepared the shaking comes.

Endurance in that shaking requires holding grace and standing fast in faith, being firm, courageous, decided, and unmovable through doubt, unbelief, and the temptations of Satan. The only refuge is to abide in Christ by knowing His Word and doing it, making the Word the standard by which to resist the enemy who comes from every side in strange ways. The eye must be kept fixed on Jesus without turning away for one moment, for He is the only help to stand when every soul trusting in false hopes is removed. Hope is found only by having the anchor rest fast on Christ the Redeemer and cleaving to Him whose dominion endures forever, making thorough work now, with Christ formed within, for only what is secure in Christ will stand in the day of God.

The shaking time repeatedly foretold is now beginning and is the present shaking time, calling for ability to distinguish the voice of God from the voice of the enemy and to stand with God in the work He is doing for this time rather than opposing it. This calls the people to stand firm in duty and place, advancing together through testing and trial. Belonging to the kingdom requires earnest work for the saving of souls, for the Lord will not excuse those who know the truth if they do not obey His commands in word and deed, and spiritual indolence leaves responsibility for work undone; part of standing firm is binding up the law and sealing it among the disciples.

The warning calls for separation from the world rather than binding to it, because those who remain joined to the world will share its judgment. It requires true conversion from commercialism and from being engrossed in worldly business and the love of trade and gain, so that the truths of the Word in purity and power are brought into the life and responsibilities are understood. The Lord is coming very soon amid scenes of calamity where unseen agencies work to destroy life, but life is safe only when hid with Christ in God, to see His grace and salvation when Christ comes to establish His kingdom on the earth.

The shaking brings judgment measured by wickedness and by the light of truth received, so cities that received the most instruction receive the heaviest woes. Every city will be turned upside down in every way and filled with confusion, with further upheavals no one can foresee. Terrible shocks will come upon the earth, costly lordly palaces will become heaps of ruins, the crust of the earth will be torn open by elements concealed in its bowels, and those loosed forces will sweep away treasures gained by adding to wealth through large possessions secured at starvation prices from laborers. The religious world too will be terribly shaken, and therefore healing work must not be huddled in the cities but placed separate, out where sufferers have every natural advantage of air and scenery for recovery and for winning souls, while the sealed people warn of what is coming through judgments already beginning.

The last-days shaking comes as a tempest upon the world in various forms, including every conceivable satanic deception to draw disciples away into erroneous soul-destroying theories. Drought, famine, pestilence, earthquakes, and disasters and casualties by sea and land will multiply, and life will be unsafe anywhere except for the life hid with Christ in God. The world rapidly divides between good and evil while all who are uncertain about messages of warning take final stand either for or against the truth. Now, while angels still hold back the four winds, is the opportunity to seek the Lord most earnestly and make thorough work, over whom the wicked one loses his power.

A great and certain trial in which everything that can be shaken will be shaken is to come to all in Battle Creek, and not one warning given about it is an idle tale. This solemn shaking is connected with God's fierce anger and makes urgent the proclamation of deep truth as preparation for the Lord's coming. It will come just before the Son of man returns in the clouds with power and great glory, so His words must be heeded to be established in faith and become firm and unmovable.

The verse puts weight upon the course of action, warning against moving heedlessly forward to start a train of circumstances leading to uncontrollable evils. It warns against throwing into humanity a grain of thought that Satan will keep alive, causing the root of bitterness, meaning any kind of evil, to spring up whereby many are defiled. Ministers and stewards in any line of service must not mingle the common with the sacred lest many be defiled and the result be charged to them.

Serious times and a terrible crisis are upon the world, and in a very little time the tottering nations everywhere and all earthly safety, security, and strong defenses that people think protect them will be shaken hopelessly to pieces, with all hopes centered in this world shaken to pieces. This calls for being fully awake and rising to the emergency rather than remaining half awake while the powers of darkness work with intense power and iniquity abounds. That time means tests coming on every side, requiring Bible instruction and educating after the way Jesus taught by inculcating important truths as in the Sermon on the Mount, with ministers rooted and grounded in the truth, rather than sermonizing after the modern style.