The Better Mountain - Hebrews 12:18-29
In the spring of 1998, I was in my sophomore year at Wofford College. For spring break that year, some college buddies and I took a trip to Colorado to ski. Fortunately, this was not my first-time skiing. I had been skiing twice before, once in middle school and once in high school. Both times were in the Appalachian Mountains of N.C. Those were enjoyable times. However, those early days of skiing did not compare to my skiing experience in college. There is a huge difference between skiing in the Appalachians and the Rockies. The biggest difference is, or course, the mountains themselves.
The Appalachians are significantly smaller, with the highest peak being about 6,600 ft while the highest peak in the Rockies is approximately 14,400 ft. The Appalachians are also covered by trees almost to the top of each mountain, whereas the Rockies have large portions, especially near the top of many mountains, that are fairly treeless. The combination of these two characteristics provides a very different experience from a skiing perspective. The runs in the Rockies are much wider, longer, and typically have better snow. Needless to say, for me the experience of skiing in the Rockies was much more enjoyable. Our passage in Hebrews today draws a similar contrast. The mountains of Sinai and Zion are contrasted, and for a new covenant believer, the difference is substantial. Though mountains are mentioned, it is what the mountains signify that commands our attention. We have in the first part of our passage a comparison of the old and new covenants. In essence, it is also a comparison between what is visible and invisible, between what is temporal and what is eternal. And the backdrop for all of it is the holiness of God. The holiness of God shines through, especially as we consider the implications for new covenant believers.
You may recall throughout the book of Hebrews; the concept of covenant has appeared over and over. Pastor Stacey and Pastor Jake have taught us about the idea of covenant multiple times over the course of our study in Hebrews. Even so, it would benefit us as we draw near to the end of our study of this epistle to review what we have learned regarding covenants. I remember I had a teacher in middle school, he taught 8th grade science, that used to say a person must hear something 22 times in order to remember it. I’m not sure how accurate that statistic is. We certainly didn’t have the convenience of Google back then so take that with a grain of salt, however, the point is it’s good to hear things repeated to help us understand and retain them. So, we have learned that a covenant is an agreement between two parties that establishes a relationship between the two parties.
Throughout the course of redemptive history, we can speak of God’s dealing with man by referring to two broad covenants: the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. The covenant of works was made between God and man (represented by Adam and Eve) wherein man obeys God’s laws and enjoys relationship with Him. When Adam and Eve failed to keep this covenant, God initiated another covenant, the covenant of grace, so that His people would be able to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. Continuing our review, we can see throughout the Old Testament the unfolding of the covenant by God confirming and expanding his covenant through key OT patriarchs. We see this in Genesis 8 & 9 with Noah and the promise to never destroy the Earth by flood again, in Genesis 15-17 with Abraham where God identifies the descendants of Abraham as the recipients of the covenant, in Exodus 17, 19, and 20 with Moses where God rescues his people and gives them rules and law to follow, and finally in II Samuel 7 with the establishment of David as king to rule over God’s people.
All of these covenants are pointing toward the ultimate expression of the covenant of grace. We discover throughout the OT that the sacrifices, the temples, the roles and offices that the OT prophets, priests, and kings lived out in front of us in the pages of Scripture are ALL pointing to things about THE prophet, THE priest, THE king who would keep the requirements of the covenant of works since His people could not. The covenant of grace is ultimately only available to us because Christ, as the second Adam, fulfills the covenant of works. There is our review. Hopefully this context will help as we look at our passage for today.
In verses 18–19, the author begins by contrasting the glory of the new covenant with the old covenant once again. In these verses, he tells those of us under the new covenant that we have not come to things that can be touched and seen. We read, “For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them”. The “you” here is referring to the Jewish Christians at the time and by extension all Christians, specifically new covenant believers. Those that came after Christ. This would include those of us who today are united to Christ by grace through faith. The verses that follow in 18-21 are a reference to Deuteronomy 4:11 where Moses is recalling the experience at Sinai for the benefits of the Israelites.
The Deuteronomy passage is, of course, referring to Exodus 19 when the Israelites reached Mt. Sinai. You may recall at this point in the people of Israel’s journey to the promised land, Moses was called by God to meet him on the mountain of Sinai. Moses left the Israelites in the charge of Aaron and went up Mt. Sinai to meet with God. It was at this time that God told Moses of the covenant that he was making with the Israelites. We read in Exodus 19:5, “ 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” Moses, of course, shared God’s word with the people and the people heard them and agreed to them. God then told Moses that he, God, would come down in the sight of all the people.
God also laid out limits for the people when He visited them. They were not to go up to the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever does would be put to death. No hand shall touch Him, whether man or beast, or they will die. We then read in Exodus of the coming of God to the people. Exodus records that God’s coming was accompanied by thunder, lightning, wind, a thick cloud, fire, smoke, and a very loud trumpet blast. And what was the response of the people? They of course trembled with fear. Fear of the majesty, and the power, and the holiness of God. In fact, the Israelites asked that God not speak to them. What would it be like to ask to not to hear from God?
I wonder do we tremble as we contemplate the holiness and majesty of God? Though it is awe inspiring, we should desire it. We should want to see His holiness and majesty. But often, we do not. J. I. Packer writes in his book Knowing God, “We are modern people, and modern people, though they cherish great thoughts of themselves, have as a rule small thoughts of God”. He continues, “Today, vast stress is laid on the thought that God is personal, but this truth is so stated as to leave the impression that God is a person of the same sort as we are – weak, inadequate, ineffective, a little pathetic. But this is not the God of the Bible! Like us, he is personal, but unlike us, he is great”. God is holy and His majesty was on display at Mt. Sinai to the people of Israel and the same God rules today.
Yet, we notice that the people of God then were kept at a distance from God. He wanted them to understand his holiness, that he was set apart from them. Therefore, only those appointed by God, the Levitical priests, could approach God. There had to be a mediator. At Sinai, it was Moses. Thus, the reason for the old covenant restrictions. Only those purified could approach God. Thus, the inferiority of the old covenant. But God did not intend for it to stay that way. God intended His people to worship him in His presence much like the Levitical priests. For the people of God to be priests in the fullest sense, another step had to be taken.
Look at verse 22. The conjunction “but” is conspicuous because it connotes an emphasis in the contrast. We, that is new covenant believers, have not come to Sinai, that mountain where there was darkness and gloom, and lightning flashed, and the tempest roared. That mountain where the sinner, the unclean, could not come into the presence of God. Instead, we have come to the “living God” and “the heavenly Jerusalem,” the place where we know even better the grace of God and have seen His faithfulness to His promises more tangibly than any Israelite who worshiped at Mt. Sinai (12:18–24). We come to “the assembly of the firstborn”. You will recall that at the Passover, the firstborns were consecrated to service in God’s presence. In the heavenly assembly all believers, redeemed from destruction, are firstborn.
We come to the “spirits of the righteous made perfect”, who represent the saints of old who are now with God in heaven. And finally, to Jesus. The key to it all. He is the better mediator. He was the sacrificial lamb whose blood, sprinkled over the doorposts of the hearts of the elect, has saved them from destruction. All of these realities show us the advantage of the new covenant. We have come to a better mountain. The Reformation Study Bible comments on verse 24, “Jesus’ presence in the heavenly Zion explains its atmosphere of joy and confidence. The blood of Abel cried for vengeance from the ground, but the blood of Jesus cries out for forgiveness for the children of God.”
We already have said that Hebrews is an epistle of contrast. In verses 25-27, the contrast is between the piece-by-piece revelation of God communicated to the people by Moses on earth, and the full revelation in Jesus Christ that “was first announced by the Lord”. In verse 26 and 27, we can see the difference in the God’s interaction with the Israelites at Sinai and God’s interaction after the advent of Jesus. The earth is described as shaking at Sinai, a display of the holiness and majesty of God. The earth also shook at the death of Jesus, but more importantly the preaching of the gospel and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit shook the entire world, a metaphor for the widespread reach and impact of the gospel.
The language here also looks forward to Jesus’ second coming when all the things which are temporal will be shaken and removed and those things that are eternal, or permanent, will remain. He points out in verse 28 that believers who are united to Christ by grace through faith are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. If we receive a kingdom, then we receive a king, and the King of the New Jerusalem is Jesus Christ who is the mediator of a new covenant. As we see in today’s passage, this final step that reconciled God’s people to Him was taken in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The book of Hebrews makes it clear time and again that the Sinai covenant was but a shadow of heavenly realities (Heb. 10:1–4).
With His atonement, Jesus entered the heavenly tabernacle and shed His blood to purify His people and make us the priests we were always meant to be (9:11–28). Consequently, we can enter the presence of our Father with confidence and with full assurance of faith (10:19–22). Unlike Sinai that could not be touched, Jesus can be touched. The Bible says we are coheirs with Christ. We enter the holy mountain, the tabernacle because of the righteousness of Christ. And this is why the new covenant trumps the old. In the new covenant, we are brought near to God by the blood of His son Jesus. We are ushered into the presence of God in the new covenant. The keeping of the law, established in the old covenant and that was required of man, was perfectly fulfilled by Christ during his life on earth.
The new covenant goes further as well. We look forward to the New Jerusalem because that is where our Savior is, and we will possess it forever. Simon Kistemaker notes in his commentary on Hebrews, “Those in the kingdom, then, cannot be shaken, remain forever, and partake of eternity. The privileges Christ grants his people are unbelievably rich. God told the Israelites at Mount Sinai that if they kept his covenant, they would be for him ‘a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’. That kingdom, however, came to an end because it was temporary. The new covenant is permanent. God’s covenant is kept because of Christ and we are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation because of the Lamb of God. How different for us, the New Testament believers, who are in the new covenant! We receive ‘a kingdom that cannot be shaken’.” And what is our response to be? Look at verse 28, “Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe”.
Thankfulness and worship. Thankfulness that flows from a life that has been redeemed by the blood of Christ. And worships, honors, and glorifies God. Kistemaker writes that giving thanks in word and deed and worshipping God are two sides of the same coin. Acceptable worship gives thanks to God in word and deed and is offered with reverence and awe. We do not worship God in a laze faire manner. This is the God whose presence was accompanied by fire, smoke, lightning, wind, and earthquakes. We must, as Moses did, tremble as we approach Him in reverence and awe. Not out of fear but out of respect. Why? Because our God is jealous for our worship. “He is a consuming fire, a jealous God”, as we read in Deut. 4:24. I wonder how we might judge our worship of God. Taking God’s weightiness, or holiness into full account as we worship Him is an essential part of ascribing the glory to His name that He is due (Lev. 10:1–3). Hebrews 12:18–29 guides us in this understanding. I think there are many in Christendom today that would have us believe we can worship God in any manner, with little regard for his majesty and holiness. This is not the picture we see painted here in Hebrews 12. It is true that there can be variety when it comes to the worship of God inasmuch as it is in harmony with the Word of God, and yet remain reverent. That is why the Word of God is central to the worship of God. The preaching and teaching of the Word is essential. It is through the Word of God that we discover the holiness of God and are drawn to worship Him properly.
As I was working on the sermon this week, I was listening to music in my truck. A song came on that truly is one of my favorite songs. It is called Go Rest High On That Mountain by Vince Gill. Now, no matter what your opinion is of Vince Gill, the man can sing. And Go Rest High on That Mountain is one of his best, if not the best. Do yourself a favor and go listen to it. But as I was listening, it struck me – he is speaking of Mount Zion. If you don’t know the context, Vince wrote that song after his brother passed away. I’m not sure where Vince stands spiritually; I think he would claim to be a Christian.
I do know that the truth of that song, that life on earth for the believer is a march to Zion and anticipating the New Jerusalem. Is that the pattern of your life? Is it reflected in your worship? We must, we must be aware of God’s awesomeness and holiness and worship Him with reverence and awe. We must remember that we have a better mountain where we can approach the holy God, not because of anything in us, but because of the worthiness of our mediator, Jesus Christ. Let us pray.