God Shook, and He Will Shake

June 4th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

Hebrews 12:25-27 See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. 26 And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” 27 This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

The author’s argument from 12:18-24 is essentially this: “As Christians, when we approach God, we come not to darkness and gloom, or death and punishment, as Israel did at Mount Sinai; we come to God’s heavenly throne of grace at Mount Zion! Whereas Israel in the past could not approach God apart from a priest, we may approach Him daily and boldly through our great High Priest, Jesus Christ who achieved salvation for us by dying on the cross, paying the penalty for our sins. Now as forgiven saints, we are acceptable to God—all because of Christ.”

With this in mind, v. 25 exhorts Christians: “see to it…” Unlike the previous “see to it” (Gr. episkopeo) in v. 15 which entails oversight of both oneself and others while in the Christian race of faithfulness, this “see to it” (Gr. blepō) concerns ongoing care and vigilance for oneself not to “refuse Him who is speaking”—the Holy Spirit who indwells believers (Rom. 8:9-11) to hear the voice of God. Of course back in Hebrews 1:2 the author said that “in these last days,” God speaks through His Son. But since the Spirit and the Son always agree, to hear one is to hear the other. If God had spoken to Israel on Mount Sinai promising discipline to those who refused Him by ignoring His words, then how much worse will it be for those who refuse the Son of God?

If the first generation of Israelites coming out of Egypt, who ignored God at Sinai, forfeited their right to enter God’s earthly Promised Land, how much worse will it be for those who hear and ignore the words of Jesus Christ who offers grace and mercy from Mount Zion through faith alone? Answer: they will forfeit their opportunity to enter the heavenly Promised Land. Thus, the blessings of the promises associated with the new covenant are infinitely greater than those of the old covenant. “For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven” (v. 25).

While Israel stood at the base of Mount Sinai in Exodus 19-20, God’s presence caused the earth to shake. Yet in the future when Christ returns to Zion, He will cause the heavens to shake! This is predicted in the prophecy of Haggai, God saying, “Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land” (2:6). Revelation 6:12-14 gives more insight to this: “…a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth…and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” God’s shaking of the earth!

The Apostle Peter wrote of that future day: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up… the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat” (2 Peter 3:10, 12).

The only things that will not be shaken in the end are things that are eternal, things unshakable. God has already prepared a “new heaven and a new earth” that will replace the old order which will have burned and passed away (Rev. 21:1). On God’s renewed earth, the New Jerusalem—the heavenly city, will descend from heaven, Zion itself on the new earth! Then all of God’s people will inherit the eternal, unshakable kingdom ruled by our King, Jesus.