Day 319

Ezekiel 31:1–32:32; Hebrews 12:14-29; Psalm 113:1–114:8; Proverbs 27:18-20

ALTHOUGH HEBREWS CERTAINLY has provided us an anchor for the gospel and clearly outlines the shape of faith, the work wasn’t written for this purpose only. It was also intended to remind Hebrew believers of what they were taught and to warn them against apostacy. Too many were giving in to the pressures and persecution surrounding the faith and either hiding their belief in Jesus or renouncing it and returning to their former old-covenant understanding. Thus, the writer of Hebrews issued a word of prophetic counsel, quoting from the prophet Haggai in the process:

Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.

For Hebrew believers in the first century, this would have been a timely word indeed. When they first believed, they were able to see through the eyes of faith what God had done in fulfilling the law and inaugurating a new covenant that would allow true fellowship and intimacy with Him. They understood that it was no longer necessary to sacrifice animals in order to atone for sin. Rather, the blood of Christ made all who believe righteous before God. The vast majority of the Hebrew culture did not embrace this Good News, however. Instead, they fought against it —as they ultimately had against Jesus. Which meant that those who did believe in Jesus were being aggressively opposed —their lives were being shaken.

The intention of the writer of Hebrews was not only to encourage persecuted Hebrew believers to endure. It was also to reveal that the shaking they were sensing around them had been foretold in prophecy —things were going to shake until only the unshakable remained.

When things are shaking in our lives, everything feels unstable, and we can’t keep our equilibrium. We normally don’t view this as a positive development. But what if God is doing the shaking as foretold? Rather than asking God to smooth things out, perhaps we should discern and embrace what He is doing within us. The shaking may truly be uncomfortable, but in the end, what remains will be what is unshakable.

The writer of Hebrews encouraged Hebrew believers to embrace the shaking, knowing that it was not purposeless. God was instituting a new and unshakable covenant in an unshakable Kingdom, which was being populated by those who had endured until the end and were unshakable.

Let’s give some thought to what has been shaking in our lives over the last year. Perhaps we’ve been working hard to keep things together, when actually, God has been shaking loose things that will not endure. As we learned yesterday, we need to lose the weight that is slowing us down. This will allow us true stability in a faith that cannot be shaken.

MEDITATION:

As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.