Will Not Be Moved

When the LORD speaks, we are wise and listen to His words. He is a covenant-maker, and a covenant-keeper. For all who belong to Him through His Son, He has given us many wonderful promises. One thing He promised is to NEVER REMOVE HIS COVENANT WITH HIS PEOPLE.

We have been learning to hear the words of “wisdom,” putting our “trust” in the LORD, and setting our heart upon His “knowledge.” In Proverbs 22:20-21 (NKJV), He asks us, “Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge, 21 That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth, That you may answer words of truth To those who send to you?” The LORD is informing us that we can “know the certainty of the words of truth…” It is possible for us to know “the truth.” Last month in “Truth Talk With Jesus,” we already established that we always hear words of “truth” from Jesus and from His Father’s words, too. He has instructed us in “counsels and knowledge,” so that we can count on His words of truth (vs. 20).

Earlier this week in the midst of a personal trial, being bombarded with thoughts of doubt, the Spirit of the LORD reminded me about His promise in Isaiah 54:9-10. Here it is in the NASB:

“For this is like the waters of Noah to Me, When I swore that the waters of Noah Would not flood the earth again; So have I sworn that I will not be angry with you Nor will I rebuke you. 10 For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” Says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

As He usually does, when He speaks the Word to my heart in a moment of need, the Lord gave me a new song about this promise from Him. We all go through times when it seems like the “waters“ of life are overwhelming, and in our fleshly heart, we can be tempted to doubt the security of His love and good plan for us. There are two verbs used twice in this statement in verse 10. The first is the word for “removed,” and it is: SH4185 “mush” (moosh)=to depart, remove. Both “removed” instances are the same “mush” word. They are applied to the nouns “mountains” and God’s “lovingkindness” in the NASB. He is declaring that His promise of “His lovingkindness” will not “depart” (NKJV) or “be removed” (NASB) from us. The Hebrew word for “shaken” is: SH4131 Verb “mot” (mote)=to totter, shake, slip. The two uses of this verb are applied to “the hills” and His “covenant of peace.” Both verbs are similar and many translations use them interchangeably, but I like to take a look at the literal original words to have better “understanding” of God’s Hebrew language translated into the English. For this verse, I believe the NASB is closer to the original text.

So now that we know all that, just what WILL NOT BE MOVED or SHAKEN from us exactly? Whenever God is speaking of His covenant with His children, it is a promise of “righteousness through faith,” first to Abraham (Genesis 15), and then to all the faithful in Him through Jesus (Romans 3-4; Luke 22:14-20; Hebrews 9). It is a "covenant of peace” as it says in Isaiah 54:10, which has been provided for us through His one-time “work of righteousness” (Isaiah 32:17-18), through the sacrifice of Jesus Himself, who took our place (2 Corinthians 5:21). Hebrews 9:11-15 (NKJV) spells it out more clearly for us regarding the original covenant as I referred to in Genesis 15 and the new covenant completed in Jesus:

But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

This is our promise of “eternal redemption” (vs.12) and “eternal inheritance” (vs.15) through “the blood of Christ” (vs. 14). In it, He is promising not to be angry with us, and also that His “lovingkindness will not be removed” from us either (Isaiah 54:10). We will never be subject to the “wrath of God,” which is upon the unbelieving (1 Thessalonians 5:9), but we “obtain salvation” through Jesus! WHAT A RELIEF while living in a world which seems like it’s beginning to come apart at the seams! These things are just a reminder for us to be READY TO MEET JESUS at any time. As Isaiah declares, someday, the mountains and the hills MAY BE REMOVED or BE SHAKEN, but we are not to worry. Until then, in 2 Peter 3:11-12 (NKJV), God tells us through Peter “to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God,” remaining “steadfast” (vs. 17) in our faith. The rest of the chapter in Isaiah 54 also speaks to us about the coming of a new creation. We have the promise, like “the waters of Noah” (Isaiah 54:9), that God has covenanted to save us. No matter what happens in this world, we have an eternity of joy with our beloved Father and Savior Jesus and all of the faithful “family” with them!

Wrapping it up, I am reminded of another one of God’s “Creation Clues” which uses the same word (SH4131 Verb “mot” [mote]=to totter, shake, slip) in it for “be moved” and for “be shaken” as in Isaiah 54:10. Psalm 96:10 (NASB) makes a wonderful declaration TO US and a proclamation FOR US:

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples fairly.”

Here we are informed of a “truth” and commanded to repeat what “truth” we have heard, as it says in Proverbs 22:21. We will have NO FEAR, because “The LORD reigns…” His “world is firmly established, it will not be moved…” This is an encouragement about the LORD, based upon the “knowledge” and “wisdom” from Him that the “world” He made is “established.” God is in control, ruling over the kingdoms of the world, and the “truth” is that “it will NOT BE MOVED” (CAPS mine). What a SOLID statement! Jesus is our SOLID ROCK (cornerstone) and His apostles and prophets are the “foundation” of our faith (Ephesians 2:20), and He says the world is not “moved.” I believe His words with all my heart!

Incidentally, the word for “established” is the same as for “fix” in Proverbs 22:18 from my last blog ("God's Three Little Words: WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING & KNOWLEDGE"). My heart is “set” upon “knowledge” and my “lips” are “fixed” upon the “certainty of the words of truth” that we hear in His Bible about His “world.” Just as the world is NOT TO BE MOVED, He PROMISES to “judge the peoples fairly” (“righteously” in the NKJV) and never be angry with us, because of Jesus. His “compassion” is for us, and we can KNOW that His “lovingkindness” and “covenant of peace” will NOT BE SHAKEN (NASB) or REMOVED (NKJV) from us either.

This prophecy in Isaiah 54 starts out with a COMMAND TO SING in verse one! After learning all of these verses together, and the hope in their “words” from our Father, I believe it is certainly something to SING about and to SHARE with others! May His words of life wash over your spirit as you continue to abide in the “truth” of His UNFAILING LOVINGKINDNESS, and until we meet again, be ready to SPEAK words of “truth” in His LOVE as He provides the opportunity!