THE SHAKING

            “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 shook the earth.” Hebrews 12:25

The shaking began deep in the core of the earth. Shock waves vibrated through the rocks, pounding the surface. Cracks began to open all over the face of the earth. Pressure built in the core. Tremors of growing magnitude spread around the globe. A low rumbling could be heard as the earth groaned.

In the middle of the sea, the ocean floor split open all around the earth. Hot lava spewed out of this giant fissure, causing the sea to boil and roil. Shock waves pounded the earth’s surface. Waves began to build and pile on top of each other. The sea surged as the land heaved. The earth rolled and shook.

Huge tsunami waves formed in the middle of the ocean and began rolling towards the land. They grew taller as they moved at lightening speed.

Noah felt the tremors as he lay sleeping on his pallet. The tremors became shaking and the ark shifted. Sitting up he listened to the ominous quiet. Nary was a sound heard from the animals in the boat. Every single creature was totally silent and still as if holding its breath.

Then the roaring reached his ears. A rumble that came from deep in the earth. Shock waves hit the ark as it shuttered and groaned. The gentle rain on the roof became a roar of pounding water.

Jumping up, Noah ran to the small window he had made on the third deck and opened the small wooden door. Peering out he saw rocks rolling down the hills and trees swaying.

“It’s started!” he yelled to his family. “Shem run down and make sure the door is still sealed! Ham and Japheth check the animals. Make everything secure!”

His sons ran down the ramp to the lower decks. “The door is tight and sealed!” Shem soon yelled.

“Animals are all in their stalls and sitting tight!” Ham called.

The women extinguished the fire in the stove and secured all moveable belongings. The three young men came back to join the frightened women huddled together on the heaving floor, as Noah continued to watch the world fall apart.

Cracks opened up and he saw whole hills disappear inside them. In the lower country, houses and barns collapsed into huge cracks. The shaking was so bad now, it was hard to stay standing. Lanterns swayed, pallets slid across the floor. Noah watched with his jaw dropping as buildings tumbled and trees fell. Huge fissures opened up and geysers shot into the air.

The rain became a torrent so he could barely see and the floor he stood on moved constantly. Way out at sea Noah thought he saw something dark and high, moving closer. His eyes grew large when he realized it was a wall of water. The huge wall blotted out the rising sun. Faster than the swiftest horse, this dark, wall bore down on the shore. As tall as a three story building, it towered over the land. The roar of the giant wave was deafening to his ears.

Then Noah heard the cries. He saw the people in the low ground below the ark, running. Running out of the homes that were still standing. With robes flapping, running across fields and sand. Some falling, some were swallowed up in fissures that suddenly opened. Animals running for the high ground. Parents carrying small children. Old people falling, many stumbling from the shaking, but all running. Running towards the hills, towards the high ground, towards the safety of the ark. But Noah knew it was too late.

Noah clung to the window ledge, his knees buckling at the sight of friends, neighbors and family scrambling up the low hills. Crawling and clawing to higher ground, as the huge wall of roiling water roared towards the land.

He saw it hit the shore and crash over the remaining buildings. Then it bulldozed over the lower hills. Covering the people. Shutting off their cries forever.

Noah shut the window.

“God save us!” he cried as he joined his family huddled against a wall. The ark shuddered and groaned as the first wave hit the base.

“Yet once more I shake, not only the earth, but also Heaven.” Hebrews 12:26

The shaking has started, my friends, and it is not the first, but it will be the last. People of the flood heard a voice on earth, Noah’s voice, but did not heed. They refused to believe. They did not escape God’s judgment, the flood.

John the Baptist said of Jesus, “He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with His winnowing fork.”

Have you ever seen threshing like this? The ancient way to winnow the wheat was to toss the heads into the air with a large fork. The light chaff blew away on the wind, or fell to the floor and the wheat fell into a bin. A shaking, to shake the wheat so hard the useless is tossed out.

“Then He will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into the barn, but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” Mathew 3:12

Yes the shaking has begun and possibly the sweeping of the barn. The first shaking was the flood, and all who refused Him all who did not heed the warning were removed. Not only removed from the face of the earth, but from God’s presence forever.

This is a tough one to write. It would be so hard to see your friends and family running and scrambling for safety and hearing their cries for help knowing it is too late.

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Walking the fence is refusing Jesus. The fence will be removed. It does matter if you dip your toe into the sin of the world. It makes a huge difference for just one person to stand firm; to follow God closely; to walk in close fellowship with Jesus. Even if you are the only one walking that path.

Don’t wait until the door is slammed shut. Until your eyes close in death and you hear the great Judge say, “Depart from Me for I did not know you.”

Don’t wait! Don’t flirt with evil. Don’t laugh away the warnings. Don’t shrug off God’s voice speaking perhaps through your friend. Hell is not a fun place. Hell is not good. Hell is devoid all that is good and has only evil. Hell is everything that is evil and darkness. It is torment for ever and ever!

Do not refuse Him who speaks from His word. You will not escape. Accept Jesus today. He is calling your name.

Those who know Him, stand firm. Stand for Him, not against Him and not on the fence. He will shake and He will winnow. Some will remain and some will fall away and be burned. See that you remain. See that you are in the boat!

“Be strong all you people of the land, and work, for I am with you! Says the Lord of hosts. My Spirit remains among you, do not fear!

Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land. I will shake all nations and they will come to The Desire of All Nations. I will fill this temple with glory. Says the Lord of hosts.” from Haggai 2:4-7

Last summer, a storm moving in