Bowling Green Covenant Church

The Traveler’s Advisory

Friday 8 September 2006

“Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.” —Exodus 19.18-19 [NIV]

“At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words ‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” —Hebrews 12.26-28 [NIV]

The earth trembles when the LORD speaks. And human hearts are not immune to the fear induced by His glorious presence and thunderous voice. Someday not only the earth but also the heavens will be shaken. Hence all that is not eternal is not only eternally out of date, but also eternally unreliable. According to the writer of Hebrews the only thing that will survive this second shaking is the kingdom of God.

Lest Israel fell prey to the idolatrous notion that Yahweh, the I AM, was simply a late arrival into the pantheon of tribal or national gods the LORD did two things at once; two things as majestic as they were terrifying: He calls Moses up while at the same time He descends visibly, audibly, and physically to Sinai. He who is eternal holiness invites Moses and the people of Israel to an audience with His glory.

The advent of the LORD at Sinai is unlike the advent of Jesus in Bethlehem. On the night of His Son’s advent, the only light that shone was the star that led the Wise Men to Bethlehem. There was no smoke, no thunder, no quaking of the earth. Few there are who fear the birth of a baby. And few there may have been who stood at the foot of Sinai and feared the LORD even though He had delivered them from Egypt and they passed through the Red Sea on dry land.

In all likelihood the advent of the LORD at Sinai did indeed put the “fear of God” into those present. How could it not? The absence of fear was not the case at Sinai. The air was thick with it. The smoke, fire and trumpet were not intended for theatrical effect. The LORD of all creation is not like the Wizard of Oz. He need not stand behind a curtain to declare His glory. He need only descend and in descending He brings with Him smoke, fire and trumpet. These are the accoutrements of royalty. These are the heralds of intrinsic authority. These are the harbingers of an eternal glory. These are the footmen of the Almighty King.

And yet when the LORD descends to Sinai it is to teach. It is to commune with His people by His word. What the “sermon on Sinai” lacked in beatitude it more than compensated for in sheer majesty and glory. His advent there told Israel that here is a God who is above all gods. Did any of the gods of Egypt so appear? Did any of the gods of the Canaanites so appear? No. Only the LORD descends with smoke, fire, and trumpet. By shaking the earth at His advent on Sinai the LORD intended to convince Israel of His reality by magnifying His transcendence. He is not like the other gods. He is above all gods. In truth, there are no other gods. The LORD, Yahweh, I AM, He alone is God.

The next time the earth will shake with an equivalent force will be when “the desired of all nations will come,” (Haggai 2.6-7). This is the verse from which the writer of Hebrews draws his inspiration.

When God became flesh and Jesus lived for a while among us the glory of God was tempered, but not so tempered that glory was diminished in any way. It was glory that shook the earth with a different kind of otherness. Not different in that God had changed, but different in the way He chose to express His glory.

When the LORD once more shakes the earth all that is not eternal—the consuming fire of His majestic glory will consume including the nations of the earth. Only that which is eternal will stand—the kingdom of God including those who have taken refuge in it.

Let us fear the Lord that we may worship Him in spirit and in truth. For by so doing we will be among those who have made their refuge in that which cannot be shaken.

You think about that.

MM