Hebrews 12:18-24 - A Look At The Great Contrast Between Coming To God By Sinai Or By Zion
Our text this morning is found in Hebrews 12:18-24 which says, “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. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
In this text you discover that the author of Hebrews is drawing a contrast between two things.
Hebrews 12:18 begins with these words, “For you have not come to…”.
Then in Hebrews 12:22 we read these words, “But you have come to…”.
The author of Hebrews is contrasting two mountains: Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion. It is clear that Hebrews 12:18-21 is speaking about God giving His Law to Israel on Mount Sinai. The author of Hebrews is retelling the description of the event that is recorded in Exodus 19:16-19.
It describesthis moment in this way, “On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.”
Interestingly, the author of Hebrews does not mention Mt. Sinai by name. Perhaps this is because every Jew would have been very familiar with Exodus 19 and what had happened there when God gave His people His Law.
Last week in Psalm 81we saw that Asaph reminded God’s people about what had happened at Mt. Sinai is five short words. He simply referred to Mt. Sinai as the ‘secret place where God thundered’.
Even for us who are so far removed from the events that are spoken of in Exodus 19we can still figure out rather easily what the psalmist is referring to Mt. Sinai.
The author of Hebrews in v. 18-21describes Mt. Sinai in a way that was far more exhaustive than Asaph described it in Psalm 81 when he says, “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. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”
In Hebrews 12:22-24 the author of Hebrews then contrasts those events on Mt. Sinai with another Mountain- Mt. Zion. Typically Mt. Zion is a reference to Israel’s capital city and the place where the Temple was located and where the priests mediated between God and His people according to the Law of God.
The author of Hebrews, however, is not describing earthly Jerusalem when he speaks of these things; rather, he is describing Mt. Zion as the heavenly Jerusalem where God dwells. He has already argued that the Old Covenant was coming to an end because something better had come. Therefore, the author of Hebrews does not point them toward Jerusalem but towards heaven where God’s kingdom is and where Jesus Christ is now at the right hand of the Father.
The author of Hebrews describes heavenly Zion in this way in v. 22-24, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”
It is important to see that Hebrews 12:18-24 is showing us that there are two ways to try to approach God. We could add these words to v. 18 and v. 22 and say…
“For you have not come to {God} through that which may be touched…”
“But you have come {to God by way of} Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem...”
The author of Hebrews speaks of Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion by giving each of them seven characteristics.
Mt. Sinai is described in seven terrifying ways.
Mt. Zion is described in seven hopeful and encouraging ways.
In Scripture the number seven can refer to something that is ‘perfect and complete’. I do not know if we are meant to draw this meaning from the number seven here in this text but these verses are drawing very clear conclusions about the contrast between these two mountains.
Mt. Sinai describes the ‘perfect storm’ which made it a terrifying place.
Mt. Zion is described as a perfect place of peace as Jesus mediates between God and people.
Mt. Sinai is summed up by the author of Hebrews with words like: terrifying and fearful (21). I think that it is good that the author of Hebrews summarizes Mt. Sinai with these words so that it is not left up to you and I to determine what Mt. Sinai would have been like. We may have tendency to downplay or ignore the clear description of this moment in Israel’s history.
In Exodus 19:21-22 we read, “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish. And let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.’”
If the people at that time were tempted to think that they could begin to make their way up that fearful and terrifying mountain, how much more might we think that we can do this?!
Like Christian in Pilgrims Progress, we to can be easily persuaded to leave the path which leads to Zion and head towards Sinai. This happens when a man named Worldly Wisdom promises that it is there that Christian would be relieved of his burden and find a place of deliverance. He persuades Christian that he needs to be shown a better way, which has fewer difficulties. However, when Christian arrived at Mt. Sinai he did not find the help he had hoped; only fear and terror.
The seven characteristics of Mt. Sinai give us a complete and perfect picture of just how terrifying and fearful it is when sinful men to stand at the base of this mountain. The seven descriptions of Mt. Sinai are...
mountain that can be touched
a blazing fire
darkness
gloom
a tempest
sound of a trumpet which gets louder and louder
a spoken word that the hearers begged to hear no more
Mt. Sinai cannot give us access to God. Sinai is a terrifying place where any man or beast who stepped on that mountain must be killed. Exodus 19:12- “And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.’”.
There are three things we learn from Hebrews 12:18-21. First, Mt. Sinai was a physical place. Mt. Sinai, like the Tabernacle and the Temple, was a place where God commanded the people to come but they could not approach God and have free access to Him. Do you remember Hebrews 9:8-9, “By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symolic for the present age.”? These physical things were types and shadows in this present age that were meant to point us to the heavenly realities.
Secondly, the LORD made it clear that they could not approach Him through the Mosaic covenant without dying. Mt. Sinai was dark and foreboding. It was full of smoke, fire, darkness, lightening and thunder. There was a trumpet blast that grew increasingly louder as God spoke. And there was a command that the people were not to be allowed to attempt to break through and come up the mountain.
Third, the LORD made it clear that it was terrifying to stand before a holy God without the right mediator. God had told them that if any person or beast touched the mountain they must be killed. Not evenMoses was the perfect mediator because even he cried out and said, “I tremble with fear.”
Mt. Zion is described in seven ways as well. These descriptions of heavenly Zion give us a full, complete and a perfect picture of the blessings and promises that every believer has when they approach God through Christ!These descriptions are spoken of in the present tense, “We have come to…”.
Mt. Zion and to the city of the living God
the heavenly Jerusalem
immeasurable angels in festal gathering
the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven
God, the judge of all
the spirits of the righteous made perfect
to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel
#1 Why is the author of Hebrews making this contrast between Mt. Sinai and Heavenly Zion?
One reason is because just before these verses the author of Hebrews exhorted everyone not to be like faithless Esau who sold his inheritance for a single bowl of soup. Esau despised his inheritance and treated something holy as if it was profane. Esau was tired and hungry and in that moment he sold his priceless birthright. Later Esau would be made a servant of Jacob by his father Isaac (Genesis 27:37-40).
Similarly, the author of Hebrews is encouraging these Christians who are tired and weary to not despise all of the things that they have now as an inheritance through Christ (22-24).
We also see that the author of Hebrews gives these Christians another warning right after this text. We read, “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.” (Hebrews 12:25)
Both of these warningsare meant to strongly exhort these tired, suffering, and discouraged believers to not forsake Christ or to despise the inheritance that they had by being in God’s family.
#2 Why is the author of Hebrews making this contrast between Mt. Sinai and Heavenly Zion?
The first reason for this contrast was a warning. The second reason that the author of Hebrews has made this contrast is to encourage them. In the broader context he has spoken to them about God’s discipline. These believers are experiencing God’s discipline and His ‘difficult providences’ but they are to remember that it is not as though they were experiencing the LORD at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Therefore, they should not be discouraged because the LORD is actually bringing them to heavenly Mt. Zion where they have received all of these blessings! They have so many reasons to ‘offer acceptable worship, with reverence and awe’ to God.
#3 Why is the author of Hebrews making this contrast between Mt. Sinai and Heavenly Zion?
A third reason is to remind us of something very critical about the nature of God and about the nature of men. God is unchangeable. He is immutable. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The unchangeable nature of God is mentioned three times in the LBC 2:1, ‘The living and true God...has no changeable emotions...He is unchangeable...(and) He works all things according to the counsel of His own unchangeable and completely righteous will.’
The same God that appeared at Mt. Sinai is the same God that we see in vv. 22-24. We know that nothing has changed about God between these two contrasting mountains because of Hebrews 12:29, “...our God is a consuming fire.” We are not told, ‘...our God was a consuming fire’!
We also know that we have not changed and that all since Adam are still sinners. Again, the LBC 6.2 says, ‘By this sin our first parents fell from their original righteousness and communion with God. We fell in them, and through this, death come upon all. All became dead in sin and completely defiled in all capabilities and parts of soul and body.’ No, left to ourselves no one has become righteous or attained the type of holiness that can be justified before God.
So what has happened between Hebrews 12:18-21 and Hebrews 12:21-24 so that we can now come to heavenly Zion with thanksgiving, reverence and awe?
The one thing that has changed between these two things is that God provided the perfect mediator- Jesus Christ and a new covenant. It is only through Him that we can come to God.
The covenant at Mt. Sinai was a schoolmaster and a teacher that pointed us towards the one person, the only mediator, who would fulfill all of the Laws requirements. One day the Promised One would come whowould…
obey all of the demands of the Law.
receive all of the curses of the law because of the sins of the people.
This is the only thing that changed between these two contrasting mountains. That perfect mediator has come-Jesus Christ. Right now Jesus is in heaven interceding for usand reigning at the right hand of the Father. Jesus is perfectly holy, righteous, and acceptable mediator who stands before the Father. We see this clearly in our text when we read that we have come “to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”
Hebrews 12:18-21is intended to persuade believers that Christ and His promises are far better than trying to relate to God through the Law which condemns all people and holds them accountable before the holy God.
Will we come to Mt. Sinai through the Law or will we try to approach a Holy God in our our righteousness?
Hebrews 12:18-21 is meant to warn every Christian to flee from Sinai where you try to approach God without Jesus Christ as the mediator. Then he gives us seven wonderful reasons to approach God through Jesus.
All of us, like Christian in Pilgrims Progress, are prone to wander. We need to hear the same exhortation that Christian hears when Evangelist says to him, “Your sin is very great. It involves two evils: you forsook the right way, and you walked in a forbidden path. Yet, the Man at the gate (Jesus Christ) will receive you, for He has great mercy, and goodwill for all mankind. Only take heed that you do not turn aside again lest you ‘perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little.’”
After these words we read, “Then Christian determined to go back to the good way...So he went back in haste, refusing to talk to anyone on the way. He walked like one treading on forbidden ground, for he did not feel at all safe until he was again in the way that he had been instructed to go.”
This morning every believer has an opportunity to come to Jesus and consider all that He has done for us as we take communion. We have sinned against Him but He has great mercy and goodwill for us. He will receive us and relieve us of our burdens. He will make sure that we will get to Heavenly Zion the city of the living God.