39 - Heb_12:18-29

CHAPTER X X X I X.

MOUNT SINAI AND MOUNT ZION.

Hebrews 12:18-29. AS in his epistle to the Romans the apostle had argued, "Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace; "so here he confirms his exhortation to follow peace and holiness by the assertion, "for ye are not come unto Mount Sinai, but unto Mount Zion."

Mount Sinai and Mount Zion are contrasted, as in the epistle to the Galatians Hagar and Sara are contrasted. The contrast is very great, striking and far-reaching. The apostle speaks first of Sinai. He reminds us of seven things in connection with the giving of the law.¹ The mount which, writing to Hebrews it was not necessary to name, is that "Mount Sinai in Arabia, which gendereth to bondage." "The Lord descended upon it, and the whole mount quaked greatly."² There was fire also, that burned, symbolic of God s jealousy, and His holy anger against sin. We read also of blackness and darkness, the thick cloud upon the mount,³ and tempest; that is, thunders and lightnings on the third day in the morning. And more awful than the thunder was the sound of the trumpet, which sounded long and waxed louder and louder; and last of all, most solemn and more awful than the sound of thunder and the trumpet, the voice of words, "God spake all these words, saying," beginning, "I am the Lord thy God;" and ending, "Thou shalt not covet." [¹(1) The mount touched by God; (2) Fire; (3) Blackness of cloud; (4) Darkness; (5) Thunder; (6) The sound of a trumpet; (7) The voice of God.²Exodus 19:18;³Exodus 19:16.] The terrors of the majesty of God kept the people at a distance. Even Moses, the mediator of the old covenant, said, "I exceedingly fear and quake. Nothing can give us a more vivid impression of the awe and terror connected with the dispensation of mount Sinai than the significant fact, that even Moses, the chosen servant of God, and the mediator between God and the people, was not able to approach without fear and trembling. Nothing can show us more clearly that Moses was not the true mediator; that the true mediation by which the love of God is brought to us, and we are brought unto the holy God, is not through a sinful and finite man, but through Jesus, the holy Son of God.

We are not come to mount Sinai, but to mount Zion. Here are also mentioned seven great and solemn heavenly realities.

1. Mount Zion. Mount Sinai represents the law. It manifests the majesty of God above us as creatures, the wrath of God against us as sinners; it reveals to us God’s judgment and our condemnation; it convinces us of our guilt and of our strengthlessness; it represents the state of fear and darkness, of distance and alienation from God. There is no true mediation; Moses and the angels minister, but cannot truly and fully bring God and man together. Here we are not children and heirs of salvation; here we are in bondage, and under condemnation. It is winter, without sunshine, without flower and fruit, without the song of birds, the melody of praise.

2. Mount Sinai has passed away. It was only temporary. God touched it, but did not abide there. There is another mount, even Zion. "The Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it."^* Upon God’s holy hill of Zion He hath set His King, even the Son. Mount Sinai represents the law, temporary and intermediate; mount Zion the Gospel, eternal and abiding; Mount Sinai is connected with God’s dealings with man according to responsibility; Mount Zion with the eternal election of grace. The one is touched by God as it were for a moment; the other chosen to be His habitation. The one brings fear and terror; the other brings joy and peace, because God delights in it. In the one, the very Mediator trembles; in the other, God’s own Son, crowned with glory and power, brings nigh His people, who approach "boldly" in the peace and joy of Christ. (^*Psalms 132:13-14.)

Mount Zion represents the Gospel, but we know there is a real Mount Zion, of which the earthly Mount Zion was only a type. We read of Mount Zion, the citadel of David, the King of Israel, the place of the sanctuary of God, the glory of Jerusalem, the city of peace, where David had assembled the godly of the land, whither the tribes of the Lord went up to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. We know that these earthly places symbolized the heavenly, true, and eternal Zion and Jerusalem. There is the throne of God and of the Lamb: we read of the holy city coming down out of heaven.^* Jesus is preparing a place for us. The earthly Zion and Jerusalem have also a glorious future; but we believers are now come to the true mount Zion, even to the throne of grace, to the Jerusalem above, the heavenly city, free and holy. (^*Rev. 21.)

3. We have come to myriads of angels. This expression reminds us of what is written: "The Lord came with ten thousands of His holy ones;"¹ and again, "Thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him."² It is an innumerable multitude. The Lord is the Lord of hosts. While this thought fills us with awe, and helps us to realize the majesty and grandeur of the kingdom into which we have been brought, it also strengthens and gladdens the heart to think of so many bright and loving angels, who show forth God’s glory, and who minister unto the heirs of salvation. When the thought of Satan and his legions brings fear, we ought to comfort ourselves with the assurance that more in number, and greater in power, and may we not also say nearer to our bodies and spirits (for they are in communion with the Lord), are the loving and watchful angels, who for Christ’s sake regard us with the deepest interest and affection.³ The moment we came to Christ, He brought us unto all the angels, who rejoice in the salvation of sinners. (¹Deuteronomy 33:2;²Daniel 7:10. CompareRevelation 5:11.³The Bible teaching on angels has not been sufficiently woven into our daily thought. According to the teaching of the Lord’s Prayer, we should always remember "as it is in heaven.")

4. We have also come to the general assembly of the Church of the first-born ones, whose names are written in the heavens. The term general assembly (πανήγυριϛ) implies not merely a great, but the full number. And this circumstance, that all the members are collected, gives the assembly a character of solemn and joyous festivity.¹ The Church of the first-born ones, whose names are written in heaven, means evidently the New Testament believers who first trusted in Christ, who are the first-fruits unto God. As the priests in Israel represented the first-born, as Israel itself was called the first-born, and therefore the heir of the promise, so believers are chosen in Christ to be the first-born sons and heirs of the eternal inheritance.² Their names are enrolled as citizens of heaven. Christ Himself is the First-born. In eternity He is the Only-begotten; with reference to creation He who is the image of the invisible God is the First-born of every creature.³ Being thus the true First-born, His priesthood is perfect. After His death on the cross, as the First-begotten of the dead,⁴ He entered (strictly speaking) on His priesthood. Believers possess, by virtue of their union with Jesus, the rights and privileges of primogeniture. Their names are enrolled in the lists of the heavenly city (πολίτϵυμα); they all enjoy the same privilege of access, and the same hope of the inheritance. When we come to Jesus, we are admitted to communion with all the saints. (¹Kurtz.²CompareEphesians 1:12;James 1:18;Numbers 3:12; Num. 13;³Colossians 1:15;Revelation 3:14;⁴Revelation 1:5.)

5. In this blessed city of God there is no condemnation, there is no more judgment. But there is order, rule, government, to which all render obedience with joy and praise. We are come to God, the Supreme Ruler and Governor, who will vindicate His people, falsely accused and unjustly oppressed, who will give unto each his true position and just reward, who at present upholds the persecuted and tried saints on earth. By "the spirits of just men made perfect," are meant the Old Testament saints. They have finished their course. The discipline of divine grace has accomplished in them the purpose of wisdom and love. Every believer is called from earth at the right, the appointed moment. The measure of sorrow and trial, experience and work, is then complete. Delivered from sin and the body of death, they enter at once into the more immediate and, need we say, conscious communion with God. They are "perfected," they have reached the end of the journey and conflict, and are free from sin. They are called "spirits," because they are still waiting for the resurrection. In one sense, they are not made perfect, "without us," till the second coming of Christ; in another sense, as there is no sowing, and working, and trading with the talent beyond the grave, they have reached their ultimate condition. The departed saints of the old dispensation are now with the Lord, in whom, as the coming Saviour, they trusted; and we are brought into union with them because (6) we have come to the "Mediator of the new covenant." He, God and man, is the One Mediator between God and sinners; and having removed all our guilt, and overcome all obstacles which separated us from God, Jesus brings now to His people that perfect peace and joy which He Himself possesses. The apostle calls the great and glorious divine Mediator by His greatest and sweetest name - Jesus! In the Pauline epistles especially, the name of Jesus is frequently brought out as the name of greatest significance and consolation, as the name of the exalted Lord. The apostle seems to have been always hearing the Voice that said unto him, on that memorable day, "I am Jesus." This same Jesus, who died for us, is on the throne; and the blessings of the new covenant are in His pierced hands. Blessed are we, if by faith we always come to the Lord Jesus, and hear His voice: "Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore; "when we see it is Jesus, our brother Joseph, who is now exalted a Prince and Saviour.

Lastly (the seventh link of this chain), we have come to the blood of sprinkling.^*[^*(1) Mount Zion; (2) The heavenly Jerusalem; (3) The myriads of angels; (4) The Church of the First-born (The Judge, the God of all); (5) The spirits of just men.; (6) The Mediator of the new covenant; (7) The blood.] The precious blood of Christ, which was shed m Golgotha, is sprinkled (using a symbol of the Old Testament sacrificial ordinances) on the conscience and heart, and sinners are thus justified and sanctified.¹ We have frequently had occasion to notice in this epistle the special importance attached to the blood of Christ as distinguished from His death.² When we believe in Jesus, then the blood of Christ is applied to us. It is a great and solemn transaction, spiritual and real in its character. Christ is set forth by God a propitiation, and faith beholds the blood of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary as a great reality. Abel’s blood cried to heaven, and testified against his sinful brother; but the blood of the Lord Jesus, who was hated and killed by man because He was righteous, speaks more powerfully and effectively, securing our pardon and acceptance.³(¹CompareHebrews 9:13-14; Hebrews 10:22; Hebrews 13:12;²Lecture 6.³Holding last the spiritual character of the sprinkling of the blood of Christ by which we are sanctified, we may ask: When the apostle says we have come to the Mediator of the new covenant, Jesus, and to the blood of sprinkling, when he teaches us that Jesus entered with His own blood into the holy of holies, or that God brought Jesus from the grave (into heaven) through (ἑν) the blood of the everlasting covenant, is the language merely figurative, reminding us that, because Christ shed His blood on the cross, He is now our High Priest and Mediator? or does he mean that the blood of Christ is in the heavenly sanctuary? The latter view seems right for the following reasons: 1. According to the Old Testament type, the blood of the atonement, as we have already seen, pertains to the holy of holies. Jesus died outside the gate. Did He not fulfill the other part of the type, in which the high priest brought the blood into the most holy place? (Heb. 9;Hebrews 13:11-12.) 2. It is written that God will not suffer His Holy One to see corruption. The life is in the blood. The blood of our adorable Lord is called precious, it is contrasted with things that are corruptible, and compared with the "incorruptible" seed of the Word of God. 3. Our Lord distinguishes the body which is broken, and the blood which is shed. After His resurrection, speaking of His glorified body, He said, "It is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." (Luke 24:39.) He does not say "flesh and blood;" for "flesh and blood," coexisting as in our present condition, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 15:50.) This view is very fully defended by Bengel, Ötinger, and more recently by Slier. Some of theirinferencesdo not seem to me scriptural. Calvin and Goodwin use expressions which tend in the same realistic direction. It is better to take Scripture literally, even when we cannot fully understand or picture to .ourselves the thing stated, than to have recourse to weakening the force of the inspired expressions.) In this grand contrast of seven things, as the first link of the series was the two mounts, Sinai and Zion, so the last link is the voice of God uttering the Ten Commandments, and the blood of Jesus speaking peace. In our actual experience, the last link comes first. When we behold the blood, we are delivered out of Egypt, and from the condemnation of the law. Jesus is the door and the way. The door comes first, and then the path. The door is an open door, when we see Christ crucified. By this open door we must enter. Then comes the narrow way, the life of obedience in communion with God. But there is no walking on the narrow way before we enter in at the strait gate. Jesus is Alpha. Until we believe in the blood of Christ, we are outside the gate, and do not even see the path. The path commences when you enter in at the strait gate. What a discovery it is to one who has known only Mount Sinai and the ten commandments, to behold the Lamb of God and the blood of atonement! Convinced of sin, condemned as guilty, trembling before the majesty of the Holy God, and yet feeling that only in Him are blessedness and life for the immortal and God-created spirit, the heart looks up and sees nothing but thick darkness and clouds; it can discover no blue of loving heaven-speaking peace and hope; the mighty voice, louder than the trumpet-sound, is echoed in the conscience, and there is none to help. When to such a heart is brought the message of salvation by grace through a crucified Redeemer; when he hears of Jehovah-Tsiclkenu (the Lord our righteousness); of the Son of God, who was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; when there is declared to him complete and immediate forgiveness according to divine justice and truth, the infinite and never-changing love of God in Christ Jesus, what peace and what joy enter the soul! what astonishment, gratitude, and adoration! How beautiful is the light of peace which proceeds from the Lamb! How glorious is the love of Him who in Christ is now the Father, the justifier of the guilty who believe in Jesus! How sweet is the welcome of the Church, into which the Spirit baptizes us! How near are the angels who rejoice with the Shepherd over His found sheep! How radiant with grace is the heavenly sanctuary! Do you know the contrast between Mount Sinai and mount Zion? But as our privilege, so our responsibility is much greater under the gospel-dispensation. See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. God came down from heaven to earth, and spoke on Mount Sinai; Jesus ascended from earth to heaven, and speaks now to us from mount Zion. (Hebrews 12:25) The character of the present dispensation and of gospel-speaking is heavenly.^* The heaven-descended God gave the law on Sinai. The heaven-ascended Son declares glad tidings from His throne of glory. The blood of Abel cried from earth to heaven for vengeance; the blood of the Lord Jesus speaks peace from heaven to earth. How can we escape if we neglect so great salvation? (^*CompareJohn 3:31;1 Peter 1:12.)

Mount Sinai passed away, and the dispensation of the law has vanished; but Jesus is the Mediator of the new and everlasting covenant. Jesus speaking from heaven is God’s most perfect and loving, as well as His ultimate message. Jesus is the first and the last; He shall come again and reign for evermore. Heaven and earth shall pass away; all things that can be shaken shall be removed; Jesus shall make all things new, and the saints who have learned on earth the new song of eternal redemption shall rejoice in Him forever. How can we escape if we neglect the eternal salvation?

How solemn is it to hear the message proceeding from Him who is exalted above all heavens: "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken." To listen to the voice of the eternal Word, the Only-begotten of the Father, who declares to us the salvation-will of God, the counsel of eternal love - is most solemn and awful. It is the greatest and most sublime message. It is the sweetest message; for the salvation it declares has its source in electing love, its channel is the sacrifice of Christ, and its end in the glory, even the marriage supper of the Lamb. It is the ultimate and everlasting revelation of God. Heaven and earth shall pass away; this present world shall vanish; but the weird of Christ, the word of the gospel, shall abide for evermore. The blessed gospel reveals to us God our Father in Jesus, and therefore perfect peace; it reveals also the inheritance of glory, and therefore a lively hope for the future. This peace and hope are full of solemnity, we therefore serve God acceptably and with godly fear; for we know that our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:29.)

Before we are brought to Christ, we know there is a spiritual world as well as a world to come. Conscience testifies, and the heart believes, that beside the outer world, there is the true and spiritual world; in which God is the great Centre, Lord, and Judge, and that our true and real life depends on our relation to God Most High, whether we are with Him and in His favour, or whether God is against us, and we are far from Him.

We know also the future world. From earliest childhood we know that life is short, that all flesh is grass, that the flower fadeth, that the dearest and sweetest tie of earth must be broken, that the world passeth away, that it is appointed unto man to die. When we have scarcely a past to remember, when we have only emerged out of the mysterious morning - land of infancy, we already look forward to a boundless, never-ending future; for God has written eternity in the human heart When the child of man stands thus before God, not daring to lift up his eye unto the high and holy heaven; when God is above and against him; when he is convinced of sin, and yet thirsteth after the living God; and when he knows he is hastening to eternity on the wings of inexorable time - then out of the highest sanctuary, high above the clouds of Sinai, high above all created heights, comes forth the voice of the gospel, majestic and sweet, full of authority and grace, bringing light and love, "I am Jesus." In this gospel we hear that all that separated the heart from God, all that prevented the heart from breathing the atmosphere of divine life and love, is removed, and that according to the perfections of God. And now that sin, the condemnation of the law, the wrath of God, the sting of death, and the power of Satan are taken out of the way, the heart looks up to the Father and to Jesus - it looks forward to the Bridegroom’s return and the glory.

What else can we say to such a gift, but thanks! glory to God! Now we believe, and trust in God. Faith towards God (fiducia) never was in our hearts till Jesus came revealing the Father’s love and His grace. Faith is the daughter of revelation, the echo of the divine voice, the reflection of the manifestation of Christ to the soul. In Christ, whom God hath appointed heir of all things, we have also the promise of the in heritance. The object of God’s eternal purpose was the new, eternal, holy, and perfect world, which can never be moved; the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. They who trust in Jesus have received in Him the kingdom which cannot be moved. The apostle speaks now of this eternal and immovable kingdom as our great and immediate prospect; having such a promise, we are without excuse if we refuse to listen to the Lord in heaven, (Hebrews 12:25-29.) The prophet Haggai, whom the apostle quotes, comforted his people, who in troublous times, in the day of small things, were cast down. The glory of Solomon’s temple was remembered by the aged, and the present seemed to be a time of weakness and trial. Then the prophet announces that the second temple would excel the first in glory, that David’s house would be exalted. But before this kingdom is established, and this glory manifested, the whole world of nations will be shaken, and mighty signs of divine judgment and power will be seen throughout the realm of creation. "I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land: and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come." This catastrophe, crisis in the world’s history, hope of the godly, reminds the prophets of the awful signs and wonders and voices at the exodus and the giving of the law. God shall again appear with all His saints. All His enemies shall be subdued, and Jehovah be King of the whole earth. From this prophecy the apostle infers that the things that will be shaken will be removed, in order that there may be established that which is to be abiding. In other words, that the kingdom will be established which, according to the prophetic word, is to take the place of the powers and kingdoms of the world;¹ that the age will commence in which the name of the Lord alone shall be exalted, after all that is proud and lofty has been abased.²(¹Daniel 2:7;²Isaiah 2. "In the prophetic word the final manifestation of Jehovah is compared with the redemption out of Egypt, and the descent on mount Sinai. (Micah 7:15; Hab. 3.) What the LXX render yet once more means, that between the prophet’s time and the final catastrophe is only one period; that is, one uniform period, possessing the same character; and that this period will be short." (Condensed from Delitzsch.) The dealings of God with Israel in Egypt and on Mount Sinai form the beginning and type of that final manifestation of Jehovah in judgment on His enemies and in grace to His people, in the establishment of the theocracy (Christocracy), of which Haggai prophesies. Hence the apostle’s quotation, "yet once more," gives the true meaning of the passage. Onlyoneother great crisis, and then the final change of things that can be shaken and moved into the enduring and abiding kingdom, which was the purpose of God from the beginning.)

Let us therefore have and show gratitude for God’s unspeakable gift. If Jesus is ours, need we, can we, covet anything?^* If the kingdom is ours, are we not separated from this present evil world? Let us serve God acceptably with reverence and fear. (^*Compare the first word, "I am the Lord thy God," and the last commandment, "Thou shall not covet.") For our God, God in Christ, is a consuming fire. In Jesus we behold the holy, righteous, jealous God. We trust and rejoice, but it is with solemn awe, with godly tear. We have been brought nigh to God; we live in the presence of the Most High. The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all that is within us keep silence before Him. Let us worship and serve as priests, the first-born sons who are separated by the blood of the covenant, and by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; as kings who do not suffer sin to have dominion over them, and even in this present time of weakness and suffering live in the spirit of the future glory. "Our God is a consuming fire," perfect light, perfect love. In the everlasting covenant He is the Lord our God, who hath chosen us to be His, entirely and forever.