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Our Mission: Revelation 14:6-12
If I Were Told the Future - Lesson 74
The
Shaking
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Welcome to this new section! Let's pray:
Our Father,
During the next seven lessons, we will study the events which will mark the last hours of
this world's history.
Many of these events will directly affect Your people.
This is why we insistently ask You to show us the truth about these important subjects,
beginning with the shaking.
We thank You in advance for answering our prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior
and Lord.
Amen.
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Matthew 3:12
[Jesus'] winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
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In our lesson «The Harvest»,
we have seen that, at His imminent return, Jesus will gather His people, just as wheat is
gathered into a barn.
But, before being gathered, the good seed must be winnowed, in order to separate it from
the chaff, dust, and other impurities.
Now, the Church will also have to be winnowed before Jesus' return: this will be the
shaking.
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Isaiah 41:15,16
You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, and make the
hills like chaff.
You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter
them.
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At the sifting (or shaking), the harvester puts the good seeds in
his winnowing basket, a large basket with two handles and a flat bottom, riddled with
little holes.
Then he shakes the basket and throws the seeds up into the air, preventing them from
falling to the ground.
This allows the little fragments to pass through the holes, while the chaff is carried
away by the wind. In this way, only the good seed comes down into the basket.
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Luke 22:31,32
Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift
you as wheat.
But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail.
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God's people will experience a similar sifting (or shaking)
before Jesus' return.
This shaking will come from God and aim at firmly rooting His people in faith and truth.
We must distinguish it from Satan's shaking, described in these verses, a shaking which
the Church has undergone for centuries, and which only aims at destroying the saving
relationship between the believer and God.
Let's remember that our study here is focused upon the shaking which will soon come from
God.
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Amos 9:9
For surely I will command, and will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve; yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.
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How will God's shaking take place?
In our lesson «The Signs of the Times», we have
seen that, shortly before the return of Jesus, there will be a sudden intensification of
natural and social upheavals, plunging all the inhabitants of the earth into great
distress, as never before.
Facing these unprecedented upheavals, the Church will be greatly shaken, «sifted», and
the faith of the believers will be severely put to the test.
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Revelation 3:14-16
And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,
«(...) I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold
or hot.
So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My
mouth.»
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Many believers will be surprised at the extent of the upheavals
and calamities which will soon strike the earth, and, being unprepared, they will abandon
the faith.
Who will be thus sifted out of God's Church? The letter to Laodicea, addressed to the
Church of the last days, tells us that the shaking will affect, among others, the lukewarm
believers.
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Revelation 3:17,18
Because you say, «I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing» - and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked - I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
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Therefore, the shaking directly threatens the self-satisfied believer, who does not feel the need to deepen his personal relationship with God.
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Matthew 13:22
Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
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The shaking will also affect the believer who did not make God
and His message of salvation the very first priority in his life.
Everyday cares and the race for material wealth are some thorns which prevent the believer
from growing spiritually, thus making him highly vulnerable when faced with the great
coming trials.
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Amos 9:9,10
For surely I will command, and will sift the house of Israel
among all nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve; yet not the smallest grain shall fall to
the ground.
All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, who say, «The calamity shall not
overtake us nor confront us.»
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This passage also describes the shaking, pointing out «the
sinners of My people» as those who will fall when God «sifts the house of Israel».
We thus understand that the shaking will also affects all those who, out of fear or lack
of knowledge, minimize the upheavals and calamities which will soon come upon the world,
and don't seriously prepare themselves for these difficulties.
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1 Thessalonians 5:3,4
For when they say, «Peace and safety!» then sudden destruction
comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
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In fact, these great upheavals will arise very suddenly,
surprising all those who have been feeling secure.
Yet, a serious study of the Word of God could have dispelled this false sense of security,
thus preventing «this Day from overtaking you as a thief».
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Matthew 13:20,21
But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who
hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but
endures only for a while.
For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
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As we will soon study, the great upheavals and calamities linked
with the shaking will quickly become a source of persecution against the people of God.
All the believers who did not properly prepare themselves for these difficult times, those
who «have no root in themselves», will then leave the Church, joining all those already
sifted out.
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Matthew 24:9,10
Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and
you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.
And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
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Even worse, these unstable believers, after leaving the Church
out of fear of persecution, will in turn become a threat to the believers remaining
faithful to God.
Succumbing to evil, they will hate and betray the people of God.
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Jeremiah 15:5-7
«For who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem? Or who will bemoan
you? Or who will turn aside to ask how you are doing? You have forsaken Me,» says the
Lord, «You have gone backward. Therefore I will stretch out My hand against you and
destroy you; I am weary of relenting!
And I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them
of children; I will destroy My people, since they do not return from their ways.»
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The shaking will also affect the believers who, out of an insufficient knowledge of the Word of God and a lack of consecration, will abandon the faith and turn to false doctrines.
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1 Timothy 4:1
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.
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The shaking of the unstable believers, deceived by false and
misleading doctrines, is announced many times in the Word of God.
The great upheavals have not even reached their peak yet, and already a lot a Christians
are swept away by deceiving movements which won't bring into question their sad spiritual
condition.
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The unstable believers carried about with every doctrine will be sifted:
«"Therefore I will scatter them like stubble that passes
away by the wind of the wilderness. This is your lot, the portion of your measures from
Me," says the Lord, "because you have forgotten Me and trusted in
falsehood."» (JEREMIAH 13:24,25)
«Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain (...). They are clouds without water,
carried about by the winds.» (JUDE verses 11 and 12)
«When [Ephraim] offended in Baal, he died. Now they sin more and more, and have made for
themselves molded images (...). Therefore they shall be (...) like chaff blown off from a
threshing floor.» (HOSEA 13:1-3)
«(...) that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they
lie in wait to deceive.» (EPHESIANS 4:14)
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2 Timothy 4:3,4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
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The sifted believers will not leave the Church only because they
are deceived by false doctrines which do not challenge their spiritual condition.
They will also abandon the faith because they reject the supreme authority of the
Scriptures, not being able to «endure sound doctrine».
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John 6:60,66
Therefore many of [Jesus'] disciples, when they heard this, said,
«This is a hard saying; who can understand it?» (...)
From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.
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Galatians 4:16
Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?
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Unfortunately, attempts to bring these lost believers to reason
will end, more often than not, in failure.
Even worse, those trying to make them see reason will be regarded as their enemies.
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Hebrews 12:25,26
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 then shook the earth;
but now He has promised, saying,
«Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.»
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Yet, as God «shakes not only the earth, but also heaven», these lost believers should really listen to their steadfast and faithful brothers...
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Matthew 7:24-27
Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I
will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it
did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
Now everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish
man who built his house on the sand.
And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it
fell. And great was its fall.
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... for only those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice will avoid being carried away by the strong winds of the shaking.
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2 Peter 3:17,18
You therefore, beloved, since you know these things beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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So, the very nature of the shaking indicates how we can become
like the good seed which remains in the winnowing basket.
First, to prevent ourselves from falling to the ground by passing through the little holes
of the sieve, we must «grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ».
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Psalm 62:9
Surely men of low degree are a vapor, men of high degree are a lie; if they are weighed in the balances, they are altogether lighter than vapor.
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Daniel 5:27
You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting.
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Then, let's make sure that our spiritual growth is not only an
inflation of air!
For if we are too light, the wind will carry us away from the winnowing basket, just like
common chaff.
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Isaiah 17:4-6
«In that day it shall come to pass that the glory of Jacob will
wane, and the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain, and reaps the heads with his arm; it
shall be as he who gathers heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it, like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three
olives at the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in its most fruitful branches»,
says the Lord God of Israel.
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This severe shaking will certainly give the impression that the
Church is left in a pitiful state.
Yet, the prophetic Word promises that those who persevere will receive great blessings
from God...
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Revelation 7:2-4
Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal
of the living God.
And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth
and the sea, saying,
«Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God
on their foreheads.»
And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of
all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed.
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First, all the faithful and persevering believers will be marked with the seal of God, and will make up the group of the 144,000 servants of God.
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Isaiah 41:14-16 (New International Version)
«Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself
will help you,» declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. (...)
«You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. You will
winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away.
But you will rejoice in the Lord and glory in the Holy One of Israel.»
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God knows that the shaking will only spare a «little Israel», and this is why He promises to help His people, during these difficult days, and to bless them in a very special way.
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During the upheavals of the shaking, God will help His faithful people:
«God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be
carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the
mountains shake with its swelling.
There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall
help her, just at the break of dawn.
The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. The
Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.» (PSALM 46:1-7)
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Revelation 3:10
Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
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God had earlier promised this special help and protection to the
Church of Philadelphia, renowned for its spiritual awakening and perseverance, at «the
hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world».
This period of shaking does not aim at punishing the world, but rather at «testing those
who dwell on the earth».
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1 Corinthians 15:57,58
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of
the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
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In fact, in the very heart of the great upheavals and calamities which will shake the whole world, the prophecy tells us that, once established and strengthened, the people of God will have to fulfill a huge mission: calling all the inhabitants of the earth to come out of Babylon and to join the remnant Church of God.
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Isaiah 27:12,13
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord will thresh,
from the channel of the River to the Brook of Egypt; and you will be gathered one by one,
O you children of Israel.
So it shall be in that day that the great trumpet will be blown; they will come, who are
about to perish in the land of Assyria, and they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt,
and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
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The shaking will remove from the Church all the lukewarm believers, but, thanks to the powerful and courageous preaching of the people of God, many sincere individuals will accept God's salvation and join His Church.
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Amos 9:9,14
For surely I will command, and will sift the house of Israel
among all nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve; yet not the smallest grain shall fall to
the ground. (...)
I will bring back the captives of My people Israel.
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God knows those who really belong to His people: the shaking will
gather them under the banner of the 144,000, and «not the smallest grain shall fall to
the ground».
Thanks to the latter rain, the subject of our next lesson, the remnant Church will be able
to send out a final and convincing call to salvation, to «bring back the captives of My
people Israel».
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Amos 9:9,13,14
«For surely I will command, and will sift the house of Israel
among all nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve; yet not the smallest grain shall fall to
the ground. (...)
Behold, the days are coming,» says the Lord, «when the plowman shall overtake the
reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet
wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.
I will bring back the captives of My people Israel.»
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Once this final call is launched, the inhabitants of the earth will have a very short time to respond and prepare themselves, before Jesus' return.
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John 10:16
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
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Revelation 18:4
Come out of [Babylon], my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
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The circumstances in which this final and gigantic evangelical work will take place will be the subject of the following lessons.
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Daniel 2:34,35
You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck
the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and
became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no
trace of them was found.
And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earthe.
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And finally, Jesus will return to establish the kingdom of God, completing the shaking with a final blast of wind which will destroy this world.
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Let's pray together:
Our Father,
It is written: «Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His
servants the prophets.» (Amos 3:7)
We sincerely thank You for warning us that great upheavals and calamities will very soon
strike this world, and that a severe sifting will shake Your Church.
Please help us now to seriously prepare ourselves, so that, like the good seed, we may
remain in Your winnowing basket at the end of this shaking.
In the precious name of Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
The test of Lesson 74 is waiting for you!