The Unshakable Kingdom

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command, "IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED" [Exodus 19:13]. And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, "I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling." But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.                            Hebrews 12:18-24

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. 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" [Haggai 2:6]. 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. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.                           Hebrews 12:25-29

There is a contrast between the two covenants, between the heavy-handed enforcement of the old covenant and the heavenly and eternal connection of the new covenant, between the religious system of the old covenant and the spiritual life represented by the city of the living God. The contrast extends to what location from which God is speaking: Mount Sinai or heaven itself. Since those who refused the old covenant did not escape, how could those of the new covenant who turn away expect the same judgment? Here, the author thought of the Speaker as none other than the Mediator of the new covenant who now sits "at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." This is the divine voice that once shook only the earth, but will ultimately shake not only the earth but also the heavens.

The author understood the quote from Haggai 2:6 as referring to the ultimate remaking of the heavens and earth following the millennial kingdom. What remains after this cataclysmic event will be eternity. This is the character of the kingdom that we are receiving. The words let us show gratitude are likely a final reference to the grace available from the great High Priest. This is confirmed and is the basis of the worship of God within the new covenant community. “The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:9). This latter glory is the grace of God manifested to all new covenant believers. For the one who chooses not to allow this grace to change his perspective on God and His people, the reminder is given: for our God is a consuming fire. The unshakable kingdom, centered on what God has done, is the new covenant believer’s present and future reality, and is expressed by the believer as offering God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.

Dominion, Glory, & a Kingdom

“I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.“ And to Him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom will not be destroyed.                          Daniel 7:13-14

“Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.”           Daniel 7:27

There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.                   Isaiah 9:7

Daniel saw the Son of Man approaching the Ancient of Days. Jesus Christ took the title "Son of Man" from this prophecy and frequently used it to refer to Himself. When the Son of Man was brought into the presence of the Ancient of Days, all the authority, glory, and sovereign power that had been exercised by rulers in the four kingdoms over all peoples, nations, and men of every language was conferred on Him, and those peoples worshiped Him. This is in keeping with the Father's promise to the Son in Psalm 2:6-9, and will be fulfilled at Christ's Second Advent.

The Son of Man will establish an everlasting dominion or kingdom. That kingdom will never be conquered by another. His reign will be established on earth, a spiritual kingdom at His first coming and a physical kingdom upon His second coming. At the expiration of the 1,000 years of the Lord's millennial reign, He will surrender the kingdom to God the Father, after which Christ will be appointed as Ruler over God's eternal kingdom forever; all the dominions will serve and obey Him. The foundation of that throne will be justice and righteousness (Psalm 89:14).

A Bad Report

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” So, they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. “There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”                           Numbers 13:30-33

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? “I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”                          Numbers 14:11-12

So, the Lord said, “I have pardoned them according to your word; but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. “Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. “But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.                        Numbers 14:20-24

The nation of Israel spent its first year in the wilderness building the tabernacle and selecting tribal leaders and others to lead the various religious services integral to the worship of God during their stay. Numbers 10:11 tells us that on the twentieth day of the second month, the cloud, the presence of God, was lifted from over the tabernacle, signaling it was time to move. Their first stop was Kadesh-barnea, an eleven- day journey (Deuteronomy 1:2) from Sinai, next to the promised land, where Moses was commanded to send twelve spies into the land. These twelve spies were the leaders of the twelve tribes previously chosen. They were instructed to inspect the conditions of the land and report back to Moses.

In Numbers 13, Caleb and Joshua reported that the land was flowing with milk and honey, and God could overcome any opposition the people might face, including giants. The other ten had a different report, characterized as a bad report. They did not trust that God would go with them and protect them from any danger. The Lord lamented, "And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?” It had only been a little more than a year since God had parted the Red Sea to deliver them from the Egyptian army. The people chose to accept the bad report, and the people wandered in the wilderness for another thirty-eight years before Joshua led the remaining people into the promised land.

Acceptance of the bad report meant that, except for Joshua and Caleb, all of the people entering the wilderness at Sinai were condemned to die in the wilderness and not enter the promised land. They have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened [sama – listen closely] to My voice. The essence of obedience is the believer who listens closely to the voice of God. The number "10" speaks of natural order; ten of the twelve endorsed the bad report as the natural order of things, given the present circumstances. Listening closely to God and trusting Him were not the people's disposition. The nation of Israel was thus judged.

A Presumptuous Sin

Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them; 7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.” So, Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him, and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels [marah -rebellious]; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore, you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” Those were the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel contended with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.        Numbers 20:6-13

In the first month of the fortieth year (1438 BC), the whole congregation of Israel assembled again at Kadesh-barnea, in the desert of Zin, to commence the march to Canaan. In Kadesh-barnea, Miriam died, and the people murmured against Moses and Aaron on account of a severe shortage of water. The Lord answered their need by pouring water from the rock; however, Moses did not speak to the rock as instructed but instead struck it twice. Because of this event, both Moses and Aaron were restricted from entering the promised land.

Provoked in his spirit, instead of speaking to the rock, Moses struck it twice. He also spoke angrily to the people, calling them "rebels," and he gave the impression that he and Aaron had supplied the water. Here was the meekest man on the earth (Numbers 12:3) committing in front of all the people the sin of presumption - pride and arrogance (Psalm 19:13). Their provision was supposed to come from Christ, the spiritual rock. As 1 Corinthians 10:4 relates, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. According to the Targum of Jonathan, “at the first time [strike] it dropped blood, at the second time came out much water.”

The Failure of the Law

“Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession. “Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. “For you shall see the land at a distance, but you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.”                             Deuteronomy 32:49-52

There is more to this story than an account of the last days of Moses, for Moses represents the mediator of the old covenant (John 1:17). It was necessary that the Law of Moses not enter the promised land, representative of the new covenant. "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished (Matthew 5:17-18). The Law and the fact that the people could not live up to God's perfect standards under that Law were never able to enter into the perfection of the new covenant, a covenant represented by the man Jesus and what He accomplished. Even the meekest, most humble man in the world could not live up to God's perfect standards, and confirms that the promised land is only available after leaving the Law of Moses in the wilderness (Romans 7:4-6).

Joshua & Caleb

“I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. “Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God fully [male – filled to capacity]. “So, Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God fully.’                Joshua 14:7-9

“But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.        Numbers 14:24

What qualified Joshua and Caleb to be the only two Egyptian survivors to enter the promised land? According to the passages above, they had one thing in common: they fully followed God. It means they were totally sold out to believing in and following God. God desires to know each believer completely in this way. Too many believers are unwilling to give their all to walk with the Lord, yet those who do will experience a deeper connection to God's power and will. These two leaders represent the remnant, those who remain faithful to God despite the difficult circumstances they face. In Deuteronomy 34:9, the Lord commanded Moses to anoint Joshua as his successor since Joshua, the son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. The people were prepared to listen to Joshua as they had listened to Moses. Joshua is a type of Jesus, who would lead the Jews into a spiritual relationship with His Father, apart from the Law.

The Remnant

Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will return; a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.                            Isaiah 10:20-22

"From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, My worshipers, My dispersed ones, will bring My offerings. "In that day, you will feel no shame because of all your deeds by which you have rebelled against Me; for then I will remove from your midst your proud, exulting ones, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain. “But I will leave among you a humble and lowly people, and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord. “The remnant of Israel will do no wrong and tell no lies, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths; for they will feed and lie down with no one to make them tremble.”                 Zephaniah 3:10-13

The remnant is often used to identify the Hebrew people who remain firm in their faith despite significant life challenges and threats. They continue to trust in the Lord despite all obstacles. Consider the above passage in Isaiah 10, a prophecy of the return of the House of Israel from Assyrian captivity. Those who return will overflow with righteousness.

Through the prophet Zephaniah, God prophesied a coming restoration of Israel, to be fulfilled in the Kingdom Age, the 1,000-year reign of the Messiah. In it, the Lord further defined the remnant as a humble and lowly people, and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord. They live by God’s standards and lie down with no one to make them tremble. The ultimate victory over every enemy, including their sin nature, is found when the Lord, the King of Israel, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. Joshua and Caleb stood firm in the midst of great opposition throughout their forty years in the wilderness.

The Cross

Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.                       John 12:20-23

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me the Father will honor him.       John 12:24-26

Jesus had been moving toward His decisive hour. It is now within weeks of His crucifixion, and the coming of the Greeks confirmed that the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. In Jesus’s case, death is not humiliation, but glorification. In John 17:4-5, Jesus prayed, I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. His willingness to die for others' sins in obedience to the Father brought Him renown. Truly, truly, I say to you introduces a solemn affirmation. The analogy of a kernel of wheat "dying" in the ground and producing many seeds teaches that death is necessary for a harvest. The reference is also given to the believer, who must die to his own preconceived ideas of who God is and how to get to Him.

The quality of the believer's connection to the kingdom lies in going through the cross. Paul told the Corinthians:  For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). The death that Jesus suffered was total death, and the believer must lose his life completely to find what his real life in Christ, eternal life, is all about. It is learning how to serve Him by learning how to follow him, to follow Him fully. This is the place of honor for each believer.Isaac Watts was a tremendously anointed and prolific hymn writer in the 18^th century. The Hymn below is #155. I believe it captures the essence of the believer who has found the unshakable kingdom and his own death to self on behalf of a loving God.

 

1.      No more, my God, I boast no more                                3.  Now, for the love I bear His name,                                

2.      Of all the duties I have done;                                              What was my gain I count my loss;  

3.      I quit the hopes I held before,                                              My former pride I call my shame,

4.      To trust the merits of Thy Son.                                            And nail my glory to His cross

 

5.      The best obedience of my hands                                    4.   Yes, I must and will esteem

6.      Dares not appear before Thy throne;                                    All things but loss for Jesus' sake:

7.      But faith can answer Thy demands                                       O may my soul be found in Him,

8.      By pleading what my Lord has done                                     And of His righteousness partake