March 31: ALL SHOOK UP

Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Exodus 20:18

The Bible teaches that prior to the second coming of Jesus, the church is going to experience a great shaking. A vivid backdrop for this is a look at His first coming. Jesus spoke plain truth, and many of the professed people of God were shaken up. Some were shaken out of the church, and others were shaken in. Some of those who were shaken in were people you might have least expected: fishermen, shepherds, tax-collectors, and prostitutes. In fact, these were among the leaders of the church. And many of those you would most likely have expected to lead the way for the coming of the Messiah were shaken out. It was not the Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers, and scribes who became the leaders in the New Testament church.

Hopefully you agree that, in the midst of today’s lukewarm complacency among Christians, things need to be shaken up. From today’s opening verse, we see that immediately after receiving their verbal reminder of God’s holy law – via the voice of the LORD – the children of Israel were awestruck. One of the things that shakes the church is the holiness of God. It is good to have a reverence for the awesomeness and greatness of our God. To lose that acute sense of the concept of the holiness of God can be the beginning of a dangerous descent into spiritual darkness. The reaction of the children of Israel – even after being saved out of Egypt by the mighty hand of God – was to tell Moses that he could speak to them, “and we will hear,” they said, but they did not want to hear from God Himself (see v.19). They could not endure what was commanded by God’s voice; rather, they wanted a toned-down message. The tragic outcome is reiterated by Paul (see 1 Corinthians 10:5).

In contrast, when Isaiah saw visions of God and the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of [the angel] who cried out (Isaiah 6:4), the holiness of God caused Isaiah to recognize his own condition: “Woe is me!” (v.5) The sincerity of Isaiah’s repentant spirit was immediately dealt with by God! Oh, how He longs to help us out of our pitiful condition (see 1 John 1:9). It is the reverence of God and an understanding of the awesomeness of God that causes believers to tremble at His Word. Beloved, never allow the things of this world to dull your sense of His awesome holiness. Say in your heart: Hallowed be Thy Name! (Matthew 6:9) Those who love Him will be joyful when He comes, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth (Psalm 96:13). To know Him is to love Him; but for those who do not know Him . . .

They shall go into the holes of the rocks, And into the caves of the earth, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. Isaiah 2:19 (see also Revelation 6:16)