1When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;
2Judah was his sanctuary,
and Israel his dominion.
3The sea saw
it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
4The mountains skipped like rams,
and the little hills like lambs.
5What
ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan,
that thou wast driven back?
6Ye mountains,
that ye skipped like rams;
and ye little hills, like lambs?
7Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
8Which turned the rock
into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.
In the Bible, seven is the number of perfection, or of rest (as in the work is completed).
"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." (Genesis 2: 2-3)
The writer of Hebrews then mentions this rest to his Hebrew brethren, who were struggling to break out of the Old Covenant to enter into the New:
"
3For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4For he spake in a certain place of the seventh
day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
5And in this
place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
6Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:" (Hebrews 4: 3-6)
Now, what revelation can the Holy Spirit share with us about trembling?
The first mention of this word appears in this verse:
"And he stayed [trembled] yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;" (Genesis 8: 10)
We can infer from this passage that Noah was waiting with some trepidation, after he and his family and all kinds of animals were waiting in the ark floating over the global flood.
Here are the verses which follow:
"
11And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth
was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
12And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more." (Genesis 8: 11-12)
Just as Noah waited for the dove to return, then sent the dove again to rest, so too we allow the Holy Spirit to return to us
God wants us to wait and receive great revelation of how great He is. In this year, more people will be sitting still and seeing how great God is, how awesome he is over all circumstances, no matter what they world may throw.
I want to add a further comment to "The God of Jacob". When we see this phrase, we need to understand that Jacob, by his name and his actions, was hardly a godly man. He took advantage of his weakened brother Esau to take his birthright. Jacob, whose name means "supplanter, grabber, cheat" took advantage of many to get his way, yet often his cheating ways caused him more trouble, especially when God wanted to bless him freely and liberally.
We need to tremble, indeed, and with great joy, before this good and wonderful God, who is so good, that He wants to bless us, in spite of ourselves.
Tremble at this good everywhere you go! Believe on Him, and let Him move in mighty ways in your life!
