Useful Bible Studies > Hebrews Commentary > chapter 12
The voice of God shook the earth when he declared his commands on the mountain called Sinai. Exodus 19:18 records that the whole mountain shook.
That is the effect of God’s voice on this world. His words are powerful (Psalm 29:3-9). They show that he has authority over this earth. When he shakes the earth, he ends the power of kings and rulers and their armies (Haggai 2:21-22). By his powerful word, he establishes the rule of his Son (Haggai 2:7; Psalm 2:4-11; Psalm 110:1-6).
God’s voice shook the earth at Sinai to show that he has authority over people. There, he declared commands that all people must obey always (Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 5:18-19). God has promised that in the future, he will shake both heaven and earth. That promise is in Haggai 2:6-7 and Haggai 2:21-22. He will shake the earth to destroy the power of evil kings and rulers who now have authority on earth. He will shake heaven to destroy the power of the evil spirits that control those rulers (Ephesians 2:2; Isaiah 24:21-22).
When God does this, many terrible events must happen, both in the sky and on earth. The Book of Revelation describes those events. There are shorter descriptions in Isaiah chapter 24 and Mark chapter 13.
The purpose of all these events is Christ’s return to this world (Mark 13:26). Although these events will be terrible, Christ’s return is good news. That is why the author of Hebrews calls this: God’s ‘promise’. God will defeat the evil forces that have been so cruel to his people (Hebrews 1:13). Christ will rule both heaven and earth as king. And his rule will be completely good and right (Hebrews 1:8-9).
Next part: The authority of God (Hebrews 12:27)
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© 2014, Keith Simons.