Hearing The Heavenly Voice
March 17, 2020
Commentary
Look ahead – To “those things that cannot be shaken” (vv. 25-29). If you read the newspaper or watch the news you know that many things around the world are shaking today. Many people (including Christians) are building their lives on things that can shake. A common reaction to life is the descriptive phrase “We’re all shook up?” Too many people are building their lives on things that can shake. God is shaking the things that can be shaken in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Think of some of the things that men trust in. We think that if we can get enough people to join our club we will have strength yet world alliances are collapsing on every hand. There is our trust in money. However, as our Lord reminded us, money is never enough and can become worthless overnight, as world governments and economies collapse.. Our trust in the wisdom of science is threatening the destruction of the world in which we live, including hydrogen bombs, and such things as pesticides and exhaust fumes. However, as a Christian we can be confident as we look to Jesus Christ because we are part of an unshakable kingdom. Those who follow Christ are part of the “unshakable” kingdom, and will withstand any shaking, sifting or burning that may occur (vv. 28-29). When we feel unsure about the future, we can take confidence from these verses. No matter what happens here, our future is built on a solid foundation that cannot be destroyed. We should never put our confidence in what will be destroyed, but instead build our life on Christ and His unshakable kingdom to come. He is a God of compassion.
Application
I do not need to be distracted or frightened by the earthshaking things going on around me. I just need to keep running the race of life with endurance, and keep looking for Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 12:25– 29 (NET)
25 Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven? 26 Then his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven too.” 27 Now this phrase “once more” indicates the removal of what is shaken, that is, of created things, so that what is unshaken may remain. 28 So since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us give thanks, and through this let us offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe. 29 For our God is indeed a devouring fire.
Illustration: 2000 People Perished as City Sank in Jamaica
In May of 1969 a national magazine told the story of Port Royal, Jamaica…. “Cities have been smothered with volcanic ash, leveled by hurricanes, shaken apart by earthquakes. But no disaster quite matches the one that struck Port Royal, Jamaica, at 11:43 a.m., on June 7, 1692. In the space of less then 10 minutes, the thriving pirate port, reputedly the wickedest city on earth, sank convulsively into the Caribbean. Upward of 2000 people perished in the chaos. Even today, many Jamaicans believe that Port Royal’s destruction was the price exacted by an angry God for its sins. (Source: Jeff Strite Citation: Readers’ Digest May, 1969 p.192ff).