(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
There is one more serving of Hebrew ‘Let Us’ in Hebrews 12. It is in verse 28, but I have included the context of verses 26 through 29 to better understand what is being said:
...but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I
shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this,
“Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things
that are being shaken, as of things that are made,
that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which
cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may
serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
For our God is a consuming fire.
What is this shaking all about? The writer of Hebrews is referring to an Old Testament prophesy in Isaiah 34:2 through 4
For the indignation of the Lord is against all na-
tions, and His fury against all their armies; He has
utterly destroyed them....And the mountains shall be
melted with their blood. All the host of heaven
shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled
up like a scroll....
Revelation 6:12 through 17 sets the time when this will happen:
I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold,
there was a great earthquake; and the sun became
black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like
blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth.
...Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is roll-
ed up, and every mountain and island was moved out
of its place. And [all people]...hid themselves in
the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and
said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and
hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne
and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day
of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
The sixth seal is one of the 21 judgments poured out upon the earth during the Tribulation period, the last 7 years of earth’s history before Jesus Christ returns in glory as “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!” (Revelation 19:16). Just when, during those seven years, this particular seal judgment occurs has been much debated. But this is definitely part of the shaking of both heaven and earth about which the Lord warns us in Hebrews 12! Let’s look more closely at verse 27 of our featured Scripture:
- How severe is this shaking of heaven and earth? So severe that it indicates “…the removal of those things that are being shaken….”
- Just what are the objects of this shaking? “…the things that are made….” This refers not to what God has made, but what sinful man has made! For instance in…
✞ ...Revelation 18 there is the prophetic record of
the future destruction of Babylon, the economic,
social, and political structure of society! It
all collapses into a useless pile of rubble!
✞ ...Genesis 11 is another example of sinful human-
ity’s attempt at building a great work apart from
God. The tower of Babel was man’s attempt to reach
the level of God! In the end, the result was an-
other useless pile of rubble, as well as the con-
fusion of language leading to the dispersion of
mankind across the globe!
- What is the purpose of this shaking? “…that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.” If “…those things that are being shaken…” are what sinful man has made, then “…those things that…cannot be shaken…” are what God has made – His kingdom, His Son, His redeemed people – if they are firmly grounded on Jesus!
Hebrews 12:28 – “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” If the shaking is not directed at us, why do we need to have grace to serve God acceptably? Why? We will also experience the shaking!
- The Tribulation is also referred to as Daniel’s seventieth week. It comes from a controversial passage, Daniel 9:24 through 27. The controversy is on the interpretation of verse 27 especially. Premillenial Dispensationalists (of which I am one) believe that Seventy weeks (verse 24) refer to seventy times seven years, or 490 total years (taking into consideration the 360 day lunar year of the Jewish calendar). It is far too complicated of a subject to completely lay out here. Maybe we could in a few future Gems – perhaps a hundred or so!
✞ Much of this interpretation involves the last seven
year period (the seventieth week). Premillenial
Dispensationalists believe it refers to the final
seven year period before Christ returns in glory!
And most of the book of Revelation covers this per-
iod, called the Tribulation!
✞ The Rapture is referred to in I Thessalonians 4:14
through 17 and Revelation 4:1 and 2 (see also II
Thessalonians 2:3-8). This is when the Church
(mostly Gentile believers from Pentecost to the
Rapture) is taken out of the world, and God again
focuses on His covenant Jewish people!
✞ This seventieth week of tribulation is a horrendous
time of persecution for God’s people! It is to this
time Jesus refers when He said in Matthew 24:21 and
22:
For then there will be great tribulation,
such as has not been since the beginning
of the world until this time, no, nor ever
shall be. And unless those days were short-
ened, no flesh would be saved; but for the
elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
So, during the Tribulation, Jewish believers, and those “…of all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues…a great multitude…” (Revelation 7:9), won to Christ by Jewish evangelism (see Revelation 7:4-8), will experience great tribulation!
- That means those of us of the Church Age escape persecution, right? Why, then, do we need grace to serve God acceptably during the shaking if we won’t be here when all is shaken?
✞ Because there is preliminary shaking! Jesus told
us in Matthew 24:6 through 8:
And you will hear of wars and rumors of
wars. See that you are not troubled; for
all these things must come to pass, but
the end is not yet. For nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against king-
dom. And there will be famines, pestilen-
ces, and earthquakes in various places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows.
- It is not like trouble occurs from zero to 90, all at once! There is usually a build up. And we are in that build up!
✞ Many Christians, like myself, live in the relative
peace, safety, and prosperity of the United States
of America. But that does not mean we do not exper-
ience shaking! The novel Coronavirus has shaken us!
And that on top of many experiencing other crises,
sometimes that which intensely shakes us!
✞ What about persecution in other countries? There
are places in this old world were people wonder if
they are not already in the midst of the Tribulation
because their troubles and persecution is so severe!
...according to...The Center for the Study
of Global Christianity...a Christian think-
tank..., 900,000 Christians have been 'mar-
tyred' in the last decade, equating to
90,000 a year and one every six minutes.
(Independent, UK publication, article by
Peter Walker, January 13, 2017).
So we all need God’s grace! No wonder this Hebrew ‘Let Us’ is directed to us all!
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot
be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God
is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28, 29).
And that last phrase of verse 29, “For our God is a consuming fire…,” what does that mean? The Lord is nothing to be trifled with! All that He has prophesied will come to pass! So, “…let us have grace…”!