Appearances of God are often accompanied by earthquakes. Mountains tremble. The rocks split. People quiver in fear, building foundations rattle, and the land rumbles. When the earth is visited by its true King, it shakes. Why? The glory of the Lord (Psalm 99:1).
Consider what happens when something glorious, heavy, and weighty descends upon something lighter, flimsier, and less substantial? Displacement. The heavy thing pushes the lighter thing to one side, and it (whether it wants to or not) has to move to make space for the heavy thing. If I jump and bomb into a pool, I displace the water, it cannot stay where it was. The weighty substance displaces the flimsy one, and the flimsy one shakes, gives way, and is forced to reorient itself around the new weight in town.
This is exactly what happens when the divine glory of God descends upon Mount Sinai or the temple or anywhere on earth. God displaces that which is trivial and temporary, and forces the earth to reorient itself around him. The earth trembles and quivers in response to the arrival of a far more glorious and substantial reality.
A made-up God will leave your world undisturbed, conveniently aligning with your priorities without displacing anything, because ultimately you are more glorious than it is. The real God, however, will land in the middle of your life like an elephant crashing through the ceiling, displacing your sin, changing all your priorities, and forcing you to reorient yourself around the weight of His glory.
The two most important and hope-filled events in the history of the world, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, were both accompanied by earthquakes. When Jesus died, the earth shook and the rocks split (Matthew 27:51). When he rose on the morning of the third day, the same thing happened again (Matthew 28:2).
The Lord is more substantial than even the fiercest enemies we have: sin and death. Jesus died and displaced sin; rose and displaced death. The weighty glory of the unshakable Saviour crashed into the lightweight chaff of the enemy and displaced him forever..
When the King of the Universe enters the chat, everything on earth—the people, the mountains, the temple, the principalities and powers, even death itself—is shaken. But on and in Him we can stand firm.
“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28).
