See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:25-29).

Almost twenty years ago, on September 11, 2001, the United States–and the world–was changed. We were changed in a way that was shocking. We had thought we were safe, but realized we were not. I remember where I was exactly when I heard the news. I remember then watching the news for days on end. It seemed that America was in a state of confusion.

In truth, many of us still are. Not just because of that horrific event, but because our world has changed. Now we worry about everyone beside us—as if we didn’t have enough to worry about. How are we to respond to such events and such confusion? Without being insensitive, we are going to look at the Bible’s perspective on such events.

God is Speaking

From this week’s passage, we get our first perspective. God speaks in the midst of and through these events. When our personal world is thrust into chaos, when the world around us is thrust into pain, grief, and confusion, God desires to use that darkness to make His voice heard. Verse 25 tells us that God is warning us, and further that we should not refuse or reject that warning.

Now, let’s properly characterize God’s warning. It is not, as some might think, “Get your act together, straighten up, get in church, or you’re gonna be in trouble!” It is rather in the tone of Isaiah:

Come, everyone who thirsts,
     come to the waters;
 and he who has no money,
     come, buy and eat!
 Come, buy wine and milk
     without money and without price.
 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
     and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
 Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
     and delight yourselves in rich food.
 Incline your ear, and come to me;
     hear, that your soul may live (Isa. 55:1-3a). 

The message of this passage? Don’t trust in anything but God. Only God can truly satisfy the deepest longings of the soul.

“You have confusion? I have peace.”

“You have guilt? I have forgiveness and grace.”

“You are thirsty for a true unconditional love? Come and drink from My Living Water.”

The Shaking Will Continue

God is speaking to us through the pain and darkness of our world. In verses 26-27, we see His message clearly. In a simple statement, the shaking that has begun will continue. When our world is turned upside-down, it is being shaken.

Why is shaking necessary? So that the eternal things remain. The writer of Hebrews tells us, “This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain” (v. 27). The things that cannot be shaken are those things that will last and are eternal. Paul said much the same thing to the Corinthians:

Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire (1 Cor. 3:12-16).

There will come a time—and that time is upon us—where more and more will be shaken. We ourselves are being shaken, so that those things in us that are of the flesh may be removed, and we may be seen to be refined silver.

The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

In the midst of this confusion, pain, and darkness, how are we to respond? We are to cling to the Father and be grateful that this is not our home. This kingdom—the world—will continue to be shaken. But we who are His children are part of another Kingdom. That Kingdom will never be shaken or destroyed. An in that Kingdom lives peace, joy, love, light, and no pain. We are to hold onto the Father, letting Him do His work in us so that we may enter that final Kingdom.

What is the message of this passage? It is, as Isaiah said earlier, come to the Father. Come as you are and buy what you need without money. Give Him your thirst, brokenness, confusion, and pain, and drink from His Living Water. Hold onto Him in the midst of the shaking. Eventually, what’s left will be beautiful, more precious than diamonds or refined gold or silver. We will be Home, in the Kingdom that endures forever.