We are at the end of the year but doesn’t it feel like 2022 has been 3 years long? With everything that’s been happening and is still happening in the world, it is understandable that you can feel your faith waning a little, becoming weary and discouraged. It is in these times that we, as the body of Christ, need to strengthen each other. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says “Therefore encourage each other and build each other up” The scripture also speaks about perseverance and persevering. It is one of the character traits that we need to develop as followers, just as Jesus Christ Christ persevered in His challenging calling, right to the end.

So why should we persevere? Why should we continue on this path of righteousness when it could be easier to turn the other way? Hebrews 12:18-29 states “For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)

But you have come to Mount Zion and the of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the 1 general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus Christ the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; 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.”

Now I refer to this scripture, not as a scare tactic but as a balm to our troubled minds. Jesus Christ is the mediator of the new covenant. His priestly and royal ministry on our behalf is a cause for celebration for the heavenly hosts, shouldn’t we celebrate this too? The scripture states that we are the ‘firstborn’ because we share the inheritance of the Firstborn, Jesus Christ

(Hebrews 1:6). Therefore, we are not guests at this celebration but citizens. After describing this festive gathering occurring in heaven, Paul warns the readers that they need to pay attention to God’s voice because God will shake “…yet once more … not only the earth but also the heavens”

In the Old Testament, the shaking of the earth was a common metaphor for the presence of God, who shows up to deliver His people. (Judges 5:4-5; Judges 5:20; Psalms 68:7-8; Psalms 60:2) For Hebrews, the “shaking” of heaven and earth refers to the destruction of the enemies of God. This is what God promised at the enthronement of Jesus Christ. God said to Him: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet” (Heb. 1:13). Thus, Jesus Christ has defeated the enemy (Hebrews 2:14-16) and been enthroned (Hebrews 1:5-14), but the enemies have not yet been destroyed (Hebrews 10:11-14, 1 Corinthians 15:23-25).

But God will destroy these enemies in the future when God will shake the heavens and the earth. The shaking of the heavens and the earth means, then, the destruction of the earthly powers that persecute God’s people and, more importantly, the destruction of the evil powers (Satan and his angels) who stand behind the earthly powers and control them.

Now comes the really good part. There are some things, however, that will not and cannot be shaken, and they include the righteous. They will not be shaken because they trust in God. He sustains us and guarantees our survival. The created heavens and earth are fleeting, temporary, not permanent like God’s eternal Kingdom. Permanence and stability are associated with Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:10-12 says about Him: “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end” (ESV). Hebrews also says that Jesus Christ’s priesthood remains forever (Hebrews 7:3, 24) as does also the inheritance of the redeemed (Hebrews 10:34). In the final judgment, those who hold fast “in Jesus Christ” will not be shaken (Psalms 46:5).

Hebrews 12 also states that we will receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. This Kingdom belongs to the Son but He will share it with us. So family, let us be grateful even in the face of hardships. Let us continue to do what is pleasing to Him. Let us worship Him by offering sacrifices of praise, confession, thanksgiving and good works, which is the true worship that delights Him.