Isaiah 54:10

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed,

yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you ~ Isaiah 54:10

The idea of a mountain is that it will remain forever, that it is everlasting, so this concept of a mountain being shaken was an unrestful image. The image continues though, for though the mountain is thought to be everlasting, gradually they crumble away. I was just reading the Dennison Forum, where he speaks about a new essay written by David Brooks entitled: The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake. He writes about the demise of the family unit which is fragmented from many sectors into single-parent families into chaotic families or no families. There are now more families with pets than children. Children, he writes, are especially affected by the breakdown of the nuclear family. It is as though we have driven our car into the ditch, or, to relate it to this scripture, the hills have crumbled around us and we did not even notice. But even for the nuclear family and for every person, there is hope. There is the perpetual providence of God! He, the Lord, states his covenant of peace will not be broken. Peace for the Jew carries more of a context than what we put to its meaning. In the Jews estimation peace carried the promise of every possible earthly advantage. It meant more than the ceasing of hostility. It meant success in business and commercial ventures, home-life, home-joys, as well as quiet, love, and happiness. God promised manifold blessings to the Jews! This too is a promise for us, but in that promise is an expectation. He expects us to fulfill our part of the covenant, and if we swerve from Him, there is no assurance of fulfillment. He will love us forever, though His face may be hidden, and affliction may come, still he will love His church and His people as ever.