The World Is Being Shaken
The world is on fire today
The might of man has been swept away
In smoke and ash and toppling towers;
And everything that we felt secure,
The strength and glory we thought so sure
Have vanished like a dream in just an hour.
The world is being shaken , So only what’s unshakable remains.
The world is being shaken , So only what’s unshakable remains.
My soul is on fire today.
The veil of darkness is ripped away
My heart of stone is naked in the light.
The hidden chambers that brimmed with shame
Are yielding now to the conqueror’s claim –
Captain of the kingdom of delight.
Bridge:
And now in slavery for the first time I am free.
The world is on fire at last.
It stood so long, but it fell so fast.
That cruel and hideous strength was a façade.
For thought it seemed unassailable,
A fortress fast and unscalable,
The kingdom of this world is now the kingdom of our God.
Hebrews Chapter 12 tells us that:
“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.’ 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.”
As is the case throughout history and now more than ever, the world is indeed being shaken. There are many manifestations of that shaking: wars, rumors of war, earthquakes, natural disasters, etc. In the case of this song, the first shaking that I am referring to is the September 11, 2001 attacks, with their smoke and ash and toppling towers. On that day of evil, horror, and tragedy, we all felt a shaking of our security and things we loved and admired. The glory and pride of mankind shook mightily.
I deplore the attack, grieve over the horror of that day, believe we should resist the evil men who flew those planes, and mourn over the lives of the precious men and women who died. But Sept 11 it is not just a meaningless tragedy. We can learn from such events and be changed positively by God’s work through these events. Catastrophe can be both tragic and instructive at the same time.
September 11 is just one of many examples of shaking. Others include the shaking of our own hearts by the purifying convictions of the Holy Spirit. The final shaking will be the removing of all shakable things – all things which are not eternal. Especially perishing will be what the New Testament calls “the world” – a system that is opposed to the kingdom of God. What and where is the “world” that John is speaking of? How do we recognize it?
John tells us that the cardinal characteristics of the world are “The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.” Psalm 2 tells us that “the nations” are part of the world, and that they “rage against the LORD and against His anointed.” One shaking that we can all await eagerly is the removal of the worldliness in our hearts.
“That Hideous strength” is a line C. S. Lewis borrowed from a medieval poem about the tower of Babel. It is a reminder that the strength of the world can seem invincible, but in every case (Babel, Babylon, etc.) the fall happens with seeming suddenness.
Our response is to embrace the eternal kingdom of God, putting all our hope in its sovereign. That does not mean we have to despise our own country or the material culture around us. God has freed us to love, enjoy, and miss (when they are gone), and grieve the losses that must happen. I mourn the falling of those towers and the sudden, permanent loss of that global order, not as things which will last, but as beautiful passing glories of men who are made in the image of God. Those who flew the planes, who committed monstrous acts are likewise made in God’s image. In an earthly sense those men do need to be hunted down and brought to justice. But in a cosmic sense, they need, just like all of us, to be transferred to the kingdom of light.