Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hebrews 12:18

For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,

18 29. The mercy and sublimity of the New Covenant as contrasted with the Old (18 24) enhance the guilt and peril of the backslider (25 29)

18. For ye are not come ] At the close of his arguments and exhortations the writer condenses the results of his Epistle into a climax of magnificent eloquence and force, in which he shews the transcendent beauty and supremacy of the New Covenant as compared with the terrors and imperfections of the Old.

unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire ] Unless we allow the textual evidence to be overruled by the other considerations, which are technically called “paradiplomatic evidence,” the verse should be rendered “For ye have not come near to a palpable and enkindled fire.” In any case the allusion is to Exo 19:16-19; Deu 4:11, and generally to “the fiery law.”

blackness, and darkness, and tempest ] Deu 4:11; Deu 5:22.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

For ye are not come – To enforce the considerations already urged, the apostle introduces this sublime comparison between the old and new dispensations; Heb 12:18-24. The object, in accordance with the principal scope of the Epistle, is, to guard them against apostasy. To do this, he shows that under the new dispensation there was much more to hind them to fidelity, and to make apostasy dangerous, than there was under the old. The main point of the comparison is, that under the Jewish dispensation, everything was adapted to awe the mind, and to restrain by the exhibition of grandeur and of power; but that under the Christian dispensation, while there was as much that was sublime, there was much more that was adapted to win and hold the affections. There were revelations of higher truths. There were more affecting motives to lead to obedience. There was that of which the former was but the type and emblem. There was the clear revelation of the glories of heaven, and of the blessed society there, all adapted to prompt to the earnest desire that they might be our own. The considerations presented in this passage constitute the climax of the argument so beautifully pursued through this Epistle, showing that the Christian system was far superior in every respect to the Jewish. In presenting this closing argument, the apostle first refers to some of the circumstances attending the former dispensation which were designed to keep the people of God from apostasy, and then the considerations of superior weight existing under the Christian economy.

The mount that might be touched – Mount Sinai. The meaning here is, that that mountain was palpable, material, touchable – in contradistinction from the Mount Zion to which the church had now come, which is above the reach of the external senses; Heb 12:22. The apostle does not mean that it was permitted to the Israelites to touch Mount Sinai – for this was strictly forbidden, Exo 19:12; but he evidently alludes to that prohibition, and means to say that a command forbidding them to touch the mountain, implied that it was a material or palpable object. The sense of the passage is, that every circumstance that occurred there was suited to fill the soul with terror. Everything accompanying the giving of the Law, the setting of bounds around the mountain which they might not pass, and the darkness and tempest on the mountain itself, was adopted to overawe the soul. The phrase the touchable mountain – if such a phrase is proper – would express the meaning of the apostle here. The Mount Zion to which the church now has come, is of a different character. It is not thus visible and palpable. It is not enveloped in smoke and flame, and the thunders of the Almighty do not roll and re-echo among its lofty peaks as at Horeb; yet it presents stronger motives to perseverance in the service of God.

And that burned with fire – Exo 19:18; compare Deu 4:11; Deu 33:2.

Nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest – see Exo 19:16.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Heb 12:18-24

The mount that might be touched

Sinai and Zion

I.

CHRISTIANITY IS A SPIRITUAL, NOT A MATERIAL, DISPENSATION. The mount that might be touched–a palpable mountain: the words indicate that the religion thereon proclaimed was a mass of ritual, legal service, and physical endurance; and not that spiritual surrender, and inner life of holiness, essentially belonging to the gospel. The apostle having elaborated this idea, shows that Christians have left behind them the barren Arabian mount, and in approaching God have increased the spirituality of their religion.

II. THOUGH CHRISTIANITY IS SPIRITUAL IN ITS NATURE, IT EMPLOYS MATERIAL FORMS AS ADJUNCTS. Sinai has given place to Zion. We have our material forms, but they are subordinate, not primary: bodies, not souls: servants, not lords.

III. SINAI AND ZION ARE ONLY MARKS OF PROGRESS, NOT FINAL DESTINATIONS. The home is further onward. Our past victories are only earnests of a universal conquest. Lessons:

1. Privilege is the measure of responsibility.

2. There is no limit to progress in love and knowledge. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The sensuous and the spiritual:

All things are capable of being intensified by contrast. There is no colour so bright but it may be made to look doubly so, by placing it by the side of its opposite. There is no beauty so exquisite but it may be made to appear more beautiful, by nearness to the unlovely and deformed. We should not know half the cheeriness of the day, if it were not for the gloom of night. There are some sculptured figures in St. Peters, at Rome, which are reduced, to the eye of the beholder, to a third of their real size, by the vastness of everything around them. One half, and sometimes more, of the pleasure of the things that please us comes of the sorrows we have known. Whose are the eyes that greet the light of the morning with the greatest eagerness? Surely, the eyes of those who have watched all the darkness of the night. Whose rest is the sweetest, if not theirs who have toiled the hardest through the day? Who were they whose shout in heaven was like the sound of many waters, as they said: Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb? It was the voice of them which had come out of great tribulation. And who was the man who seemed best to understand, and most to revel in, the freedom and love of the gospel, as a system of salvation? Why, it was the man who had most heartily yielded himself up to the whole influence of the former dispensation, and most conscientiously kept his neck in its yoke. And what was the spirit of the first dispensation, as contained in these words? Is it not this?–It was sensuous; it was artificial; it was based on fear. Whilst the great and blessed character of the second is that it is spiritual, it is real, and it is based on love.

I. FROM BEGINNING TO END, JUDAISM WAS AN APPEAL TO SENSE. It was Gods most merciful accommodation of His revelation of Himself and of His will to the necessities of mans weakness and ignorance. Sinai was designed to he, and was, a splendid Divine answer to a few of the deepest questions of the whole human soul–Is there a God? And have we anything to do with Him? And what? And will He dwell with us here, upon the earth? The true answer, Divinely written, at the first, upon the heart and conscience and intelligence of man; ay, written, too, on every leaf of natures living page, in golden letters of the sunlight, in silver gleamings from the moon and stars, sharp graven on the mountain edges, on azure page of heaven, had faded from mans heart and eye and ear. Is there a God? said the restless, troubled heart of man. And so, in His own time and way, God gave the answer Himself; and that answer was Sinai. Now look! Yon cloud! It is the robe of Deity. Doubt you? Then hark! And see! Those thunders and sharp lightning flashes are the tramping of His heralds, and the flashing of their spears. Only a storm, say you? Then hark again! What warrior blast is that? So piercing shrill, that, like a steeled sword, it darts through every heart–a blade of fear–and makes the stoutest tremble like a leaf. And then, more awful still, a voice, a voice of words–but not an earthly voice, of human words. The voice of very God. And so God answered these great questions of the human heart. There it was! A great, sensuous thing, that could not but make its own impression on those who saw and heard it, and, through them, might gain the ear and heart of posterity and all the world. And by as much as what we see impresses us more deeply than what we only hear, by so much was this peoples heart more deeply touched than by any simpler revelation of the truth. But because it was sensuous, it was artificial, unreal. As an allegory wraps up a truth in beauteous, but concealing folds; as a picture reveals the countenance of your friend, and yet is not himself, and cannot be more than a miserable substitute for himself; so, all this was not God; it was not even the likeness of God, it was but the shadow of God. And so again, because it was sensuous and artificial, it was terrible. It is of no use to appeal to the reason of a child, or of a savage, or of a man utterly under the dominion of his senses; you appeal to what is not, or to what has lost its power to act. You must, then, appeal to some lower part of his nature; to his self-interest, if he is capable of perceiving it, if not, to his fear. Now what was it that made it necessary for God to reveal Himself and His will to the Jews in a sensuous and artificial way? It was because they were not susceptible of the higher way. They were children, and wanted to see in order to believe. Ay, they were children morally, subject to great temptation, and God wanted them for their own sake to obey Him, and to worship Him; and so, in the first instance, He laid the foundations for their obedience in terrors.

He bound them to Himself by the bands of fear, and holding them thus He then, in the after history of the nation, began to draw them to Himself with the cords of love, the bands of a man. So they came to the mount, &c; to the sensuous, the artificial, the terrible.

II. Now, in the second place, let us view the contrast, in all its particulars, which marks THE DISPENSATION UNDER WHICH WE ARE PLACED.

1. All is spiritual. At the first, indeed, it pleased God so far to accommodate His ways to the wants of humanity in this respect, as to give us the truth in a sensible, bodily form. When the fulness of time was come, &c. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, &c. And so there was enacted, down here on the earth, once for all, the splendid mystery of the incarnation and the crucifixion and the resurrection. Jesus Christ is the full and complete answer to all those questions that man ever had asked or ever could ask about himself, and God, and all other spiritual facts. But after he had looked for a little while at the new Temple, and the new Priest, and the new law, and the new sacrifice–long enough to feel and see the Divine splendour that was in it, without fully comprehending what it was–it was taken up boldly into the heavenly, that men might know to the full what it was that had been amongst them. But mark you! When it was done, there was not a vestige of the sensuous left. The Holy of Holies was an empty shrine; the very temple was suffered to be thrown down so that not one stone was left upon another; ay, Jerusalem itself, the centre of the whole of the previous system, was desecrated, and has ever since been heathen ground; and the very Jews, the chosen people, the medium of the former revelation, ceased to be a nation, and were scattered among the nations of the earth. And what, then, have we in its place? We have a history, a record, a book, and nothing else. That is to say, we have the truth in its purest, simplest form. The world a temple, thrown open to all mankind; worship possible everywhere, at every time. Would you see God now? Look on the face of Christ, in the mirror of the book, and that is all that you can have. Would you go to God now? Kneel where you are, and He is there, to hear you and to bless.

2. All is real now. There is no exaggeration. Nothing artificial. Christ is the express image of the Father. I do not say that it is the whole truth about God, that we shall come to have some day, when this veil of flesh has been dissolved; but it is all that we can bear.

3. It is as loving and as winning as Sinai was terrible. It makes no appeal to our fears; only to our reason and our love. He is the tender Shepherd of the sheep, come to seek the lost. He is the Fathers plaintive pleading with His rebellious child. He is the outstretched hand of God to every repenting sinner. He is the utterer of a grand amnesty to all the world who will receive it. He lays His Cross athwart the threatening law, and takes away its curse. He is the rebuke of all mens guilt-born fears about God, and all their hard thoughts of Him. In a word, He is the incarnate love of God pleading with sinful man. (G. W. Conder.)

Mans place is Christianity

I. MANS PLACE IN CHRISTIANITY IS RELATED MORE TO THE SPIRITUAL THAN THE MATERIAL.

II. MANS PLACE IN CHRISTIANITY IS RELATED TO THE ATTRACTIVE RATHER THAN THE TERRIBLE. This subject presents a motive for

1. Gratitude.

2. Catholicity. Heaven is not a sect.

3. Self-inquiry. Are we cometo this system? How do we come to it? Not by mere birth, not by profession, but by a new creation in Christ Jesus. (Homilist.)

Ye are come unto mount Sion

The privileges and the duties of believers

I. What are the PECULIAR PRIVILEGES of the members of Christs Church?

1. The first and greatest, because the foundation of all the rest is, union with Christ.

2. Association with the whole body of the faithful.

3. The right to the heavenly inheritance.

II. If the PRIVILEGES of all who are come unto Mount Zion are thus precious and ennobling, their DUTIES are proportionate.

1. Correspondent to the first-named privilege there is the duty of loyalty to Christ.

2. Correspondent to the second privilege, there is the duty of love to the brethren.

3. It is the duty of the members of Christs Church, as heirs of the celestial inheritance, to set their hearts and hopes on heaven. (J. M.McCulloch, D. D.)

The heavenly life

The whole chapter shows that this is the nature of a picture motive. It is an influence rather than a knowledge. And yet how shall one feel influence except through the reason, or through knowledge? But it is the way of the highest instruction to enter through the imagination, and come to the reason in that way. That is the genius, certainly, of the New Testament, in its description of the life above–the life that is to come. It never defines. It seeks not so much to impart knowledge to the reader, as we should call it in this life, as to produce in his mind certain states of feeling. Unskilled men writing, without inspiration, of the new city beyond, of the great afterlife, would have fallen into the mistake of attempting to give in revealed distinctness and accuracy things which by the very terms of our existence we cannot comprehend accurately and distinctly. Not so the inspired teachers. They poetised heaven; they dramatised the future; they gave to man conceptions through his imagination–and not aimlessly, but because through the imagination the sympathies of our nature, hope, joy, trust, aspiration, and the rest, could all be reached. What men need is to be stirred up, and then to be quieted. Intensity and quietude are harmonious in the higher spiritual life. What we want is some motive that will propel us along the sphere of our present life. We do not so much need to know what is to be the daily bread, converse, and activities of the other life; but we do need to know that there is One who has promised us personal sensibility and personal identity there, and that we shall know and be known, love and be loved. We do need to know that heaven is more than a compensation for earth. We do need to know that our being here contributes to immortality, glory, all that belongs to the act of rising into a pure spiritual form and condition where that which is Divine remains and continues in activity. To this Revelation and all the Pauline teachings tend. To this the writings of the unknown author of the Book of Hebrews tend. They give us an inside revelation which reveals nothing. Well, say men, what kind of a revelation is that? When the poor wayfarer from old plantation life, hiding himself by day, and then beginning to live at night, pursued his weary way toward the north, he had but one guide and that was the polar star. That star said nothing to him. It shed no warmth on him. He did not know its contents. He knew nothing about it. But it was a star that, when he looked upon it, directed him to where liberty was. From that bright point in the far north he gathered zeal, so that in the darkness, through forest, through fen, across streams, over mountains, pressed by adversaries, with hounds baying on his track, he sped on his way. It was the inspiration of that star that supported him, though it revealed nothing to him but this: You will be free. So there is no real description of the future life given to us in the New Testament except this: It is more grand than anything that you can conceive. It hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive it. Nor can mans capacity compass it and take it all in. Nevertheless, what there is in human notions that inspires us with a sense of grandeur we apply to it. Now, the imagination teaches men in such a way that if you accept the description of heaven simply as a picture or vision, it is full of inspiration and hope. When you say that it shall be glorious, it is a good deal; but the moment you attempt to tell what the glory is, it is nothing at all. To say we shall reign, is a good deal; but to undertake to tell what reigning is spoils the whole thing. I love you fills the soul and makes it vibrate like a harp, but undertake to explain what the love is, and it is turned to ashes at once. Nevertheless, the emotion is real, and the highest and most potent of our feelings are those which do not suffer themselves to be touched. The most glorious things in us are silent, and will not submit to rude handling, dwelling as they do in the centre of the ineffable. How much greater, better, and more untranslatable by mortal knowledge than physical existence is the realm of love! It is all right if you do not want to know what it is and how it works; but the moment you undertake to philosophise about it, its character is changed. The realm of purity is glorious so long as you do not attempt to analyse it; but you may as well bid it good-bye if you commence to reason about it. There are, then, some lessons to be derived from this. Having thrown off the peril of misinterpretation, there are certain great truths that we may deduce from it without resorting to the curiosity-mongers process–without attempting to anatomise heaven and deal with it scientifically. There are certain elements that it was meant we should derive from the pictures of it, and that, if we consider them aright, may be of exceeding great comfort to us in our Christian life. If it be true that we are to live again; if it be true that we are living here that we may go forward and live in a higher state, then the grandeur of the life that now is out of sight. You cannot tell by the earlier condition of things what their later states are to be. You cannot tell by the bud what the inflorescence is to be. You cannot tell by the flower what the fruit is to be. We cannot understand human life by looking at what it has yet come to under the influence of physical economy. In this life many are discouraged; but let a man maintain integrity under all circumstances and in all conditions, let him always and everywhere act with simplicity and fidelity, let him ally himself to those great qualities which God has revealed to be the centre-current of the universe, and all will be well with him. Love works no ill to ones neighbour; Gods law is love; Thou shalt love is the command; and let a man conform himself to that central law of the universe, and then let death plant him, and we will run the risk of his coming up in the other life. And that ought to be a consolation to a man who in this world is poor and inconspicuous, and, as helpless amid the sweep of human affairs as a last years leaf on the current of the Amazon. There are multitudes of such men, to whom a view like that which I have been presenting should carry not only comfort, but a great deal of instruction. Consider another fact in this connection–namely, that in this life the things which make the most ado are not the things which are the most important. There is nothing on earth noisier than a storm beating on the shore, and yet what does it do? It is bred in the desert sea. It lashes itself into a useless rage. It thunders in the heavens, and shakes the earth, and comes pouring down, and is broken into a million globules on the immovable rocks. By-and-by its wrath ceases, it smooths its blow, and the sea is tranquil again. What has happened? Nothing. Not a single thing has been done. A mans life goes thundering on, and the things which are most in the eyes of men are often of the least possible importance. The rage of nations, the march of armies, the rise of inconspicuous tribes to power, and their deliquescence and fading away again–these things seem great to men; but they come and go, and the earth is no whit changed, and men are no whir changed. So the things which are actually worth chronicling, and which are being chronicled, for ever and for ever, are the things which no man hears or sees. This great empty scroll above our heads is Gods workshop, and He is writing there the history of time and the world. The scroll itself shall shrivel and depart; but the things that are written on that scroll shall never change. A man is not what he seems. This life is not what it appears to be. That which men call nothing–the great invisible realm–is the power which was declared by the apostle to be real. It is the things which are not that bring to naught the things that are. There is dominion in imagination, or in faith, to the man that knows how to avail himself of it. I remark, also, that if these views of the other life,. of the invisible, uninterpreted, and uninterpretable life, of the life of joy and power and grandeur which is to come–but which we cannot define any more closely than this–if these views be true, then how beautiful are the conceptions which are in the nature of comfort to men in the decays that take place in this state of existence! I have always been very much struck by that illustration of Pauls which is contained in the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians. He is speaking about the act of dying. And that which is true of the mere act of death is just as true of every other relation that terminates, or of any other composition which is analysed and goes back to its elements again. He says there are two sides to this matter. You cannot stand in the time-world and see what you will see in the world to come. You only see corruption, you only see dishonour, you only see weakness in the natural body. But then there is another side. There is the way in which God sees things, and there is the way in which the heavenly host see them. But what is to be seen on that side? Why, incorruption, glory, power, a spiritual body. If you look up at the bottom of the coffin from the earth side it is all sad and solemn. If you look down upon the coffin from the Divine side it is all radiant, triumphant, joyful. Those that I have known, whose virtues I have dwelt upon, and whose nature has shed great beauty in life, I love to follow, step by step, as they go down toward death. My faith rejoices in their advance till their voices fail out of my ear, and till their faces are hidden from me, because they have gone to live in Zion and before God: Wherefore comfort one another with words: Strengthen each other by the way. Sing and rejoice, knowing that, bright as is any experience here, it is but a twilight experience till the day shall dawn and the sun shall arise upon your souls. (H. W.Beecher.)

The Church likened to a mountain

1. For the height of it. A mountain is higher than the ordinary earth. The Church is high, it is above (Gal 4:26), and they that be of the Church must carry high and regal minds. We must leave earth, and mount up in our affections into heaven; we must seek the things that be above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God.

2. The Church is compared to a mountain: for the security of it.

3. For the difficulty of ascending to it. A man may not go up a high hill, but it must cost him pains, sweat and labour; so it is a laborious thing to get to heaven.

4. For the immobility of it. The Church is as Mount Zion that standeth fast for ever, and cannot be removed. Happy are they that be of the Church. (W. Jones, D. D.)

Within sight of it, but cannot see it:

Crossing from Belfast to Greenock by the night-boat late one autumn, after several attempts to sleep, I came upon deck soon after the steamer had entered the Clyde, and stood for a time in conversation with the mate, a true son of Erin. A dense haze prevented us from seeing far beyond the vessel, and I was disappointed in not being able to get a view of the coast. Thinking we were still at sea, I remarked to the man at the helm I suppose we shall soon be in sight of land? when, judge of my surprise, the following rejoinder was tendered in reply: Sure, and were within sight of it now, but ye cant see it I More than a little amused with the paradox, I thanked my Hibernian friend, and waited till the hills, purple with heather and crowned with the first signs of winter, rewarded my anxious gaze. I knew that with the firs beams which should penetrate the mist the land would be visible, so I kept looking, and had not long to wait. The landscape, aglow with a thousand blended charms as the sun chased away the gloom of night and the mist of the early dawn, soon stood revealed in all its beauty, and forms a memory to be fondly cherished. (V. J. Charlesworth.)

The heavenly Jerusalem

The heavenly Jerusalem

I. THE STATE OF HEAVEN AS A GLORIOUS CITY. Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. This is that city

1. Where the most glorious display of Divine wisdom appears, everything conducted with exquisite policy.

2. Where omnipotent goodness operates at large, and deals her favours with the richest profusion (Psa 16:11).

3. Where the King of Glory Himself dwells, and everything declares His more immediate presence (Rev 7:15).

4. Where the laws, manners, and employments of the inhabitants most resemble and are most worthy of God.

5. In fine, this is that city which is the first production of the grand Architect of nature, and whither we are at last conveyed; but not till duly prepared for it (Rev 21:27; Rev 22:14). See a fine description of this Rev 21:10-22). And of this city, all real Christians are represented as members, even while they are in this world.

II. OUR ACCESSION OR RELATION TO IT. There is a certain figure made use of by our Saviour and His apostles, a figure that makes futurity present and realises the distant glories of immortality (Mat 5:3; Eph 2:6). And the text says, Ye are come;–already come, etc. The Christian religion suggests particular grounds for this sublime representation, such as no other system can exhibit. For example, we have

1. The express promise of God to put every persevering Christian into the possession of Mount Zion above (Rev 22:14; Rev 2:7; Rev 2:10).

2. It is farther ascertained from the mediation of Christ, the grand end of which see Heb 2:10.

3. The supreme power of the Redeemer (Mat 28:18), which is equal to remove every difficulty, subdue every enemy, supply every necessity, and exalt to the highest dignity.

III. OUR RELATION TO THE HEAD AND TO THE MEMBERS OF THIS CITY.

1. Ye are come to God, the Judge of all, angels and men; the knowledge of God, His nature, unity, perfections, providence (Eph 5:8). The worship and service of God (1Th 1:9). To His favour Rom 5:1). His family and household (Gal 4:6-7). His presence; an event so certain that the apostle at once transports the Christian beyond the grave, to that Being who is the souls portion, her centre and final happiness.

2. To Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant: in and through whom both parts of the covenant are reciprocally conveyed and transmitted. Blessings from God to man, through Christ; and duties from man to God, acceptable through Christ. Come to the Mediator, so as to be united to Him; participate a new nature through Him (2Co 5:17), rely on His sacrifice, obey His commandments, and, according to the aforementioned figure, to be taken by Him at last to the city of God (Rev 3:21).

3. To an innumerable company of angels. Good men in this world have, indisputably, various connections with those superior beings; they are fellow-subjects and servants (Rev 22:9). Protected by them Psa 34:7). Minister to them (Heb 1:14). Conduct them to heaven (Luk 16:22). As public heralds, proclaim their Lords approach (Mat 24:31). The apostle here anticipates our incorporation with those happy spirits in glory (Rev 7:9-12).

4. To the spirits of just men made perfect. We are one community, of the same spirit and disposition, loving the same God, enjoying the same felicity, differing only in degree. They are got home, we are going; they have got the prize, we are wrestling for it.

5. To the general assembly and Church of the firstborn (Rom 8:29; Col 1:15-18). It may respect themselves; they are the chiefs the excellent ones, the firstborn. Written in heaven, alluding to the custom of ancient states, who enrolled their freemen; Christians enrolled in heaven Luk 10:20), to signify that they have a right to all the high privileges of the city of God: and when all collected, compose the general assembly, Mat 24:31; Rev 7:9).

Of this amazing corporation every Christian becomes a member at the moment of his conversion to God. Improvement:

1. Hence see the peculiar excellency of that religion which animates her proselytes with so glorious a hope.

2. Let our temper and conduct declare our kindred to those serene and happy intelligences.

3. Let the views of these glorious and animated prospects raise our souls to God in grateful adoration of His goodness and love (Psa 31:21; Psa 72:18-19). (J. Hannam.)

I live there:

Some one asked a Scotchman if he was on his way to heaven. Why, man, he said, I live there. He was only a pilgrim here. Heaven was his home. (D. L. Moody.)

Already in heaven:

Are you dreaming, father? I said one day, when he (Father Taylor) was leaning back in his chair, with closed eyes and a happy smile playing about his mouth. I am in heaven a little way, he answered, without moving. And what is heaven, really? I asked, climbing upon his knees. It is loving God, he replied, still with the same soft dreamy tone. (Mrs. Judge Russell.)

Heaven should be much in the thoughts

A lady, unused to the rough travelling of a mountain land, went thither to make her home, and received from one of her new friends this bit of advice. She had been telling of her faintness when guiding her horse through a deep ford where the waters ran swiftly and the roar was incessant, and said she feared she should never be able to overcome the abject physical terror which dominated her whenever she found herself in the strong current midway between the banks. Oh, yes, you will, said her companion. Just take a leaf in your mouth and chew it, and as you ride across keep your eyes on the other side. (M. E.Sangster.)

Heaven not flit away:

We measure distance by time. We are apt to say that a certain place is so many hours from us. If it is a hundred miles off, and there is no railroad, we think it a long way; if there is a railway, we think we can be there in no time. But how near must we say heaven is?–for it is just one sigh, and we get there. Why, our departed friends are only in the upper room, as it were, of the same house. They have not gone far off; they are upstairs, and we are down below. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The nobility of the Christian life:

How noble the lowest life may become, like some poor, rough sea-shell with a gnarled and dimly-coloured exterior, tossed about in the surge of a stormy sea, or anchored to a rock, but when opened all iridescent with rainbow sheen within, and bearing a pearl of great price! So, to outward seeming, my life may be rough and solitary, and inconspicuous and sad, but, in inner reality, it may have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living. God, and have angels for its guardians, and all the first-born for its brethren and companions. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

An innumerable company of angels

The office of angels

I. Angels are, as far as we know from revelation, the only beings who take an interest with us in God and the spiritual world. Angels are fellow-citizens with us in the kingdom of Christ. It is certain, moreover, that angels are immortal, but not eternal; that they are very numerous, and have different ranks; that they are used by God as His special ministers, and that they have sympathy with man. But how far this sympathy extends is not so certain. Are they cognisant of human things generally, and of their own accord, or must they in each case be informed by God? In the course of three thousand six hundred years there are, I believe, recorded only twenty instances of angels visits, which would allow on the average an interval of one hundred and eighty years between each appearance. Thus their visitations were, in the strict sense of the word, extraordinary, and will be found for the most part to accompany a great national crisis. Next, had angels in those days power to influence the souls of men? It is very questionable. That they led men by the hand, and spoke Gods messages to them, is certain; but it is not so sure that they instilled into the soul a secret thought, or endued the tempted spirit with heavenly grace. Again, when angels are said to have interfered, were they not visible, no phantom or vivid imagination of the mind, but the impression of a visible substance upon the eye and brain? Thus much of the Old Testament. Let us now proceed to the New. Perhaps the first thing which strikes us here is the frequent mention of angels in contrast with their rare appearance under the old dispensation. It is as if the light of the presence of God on earth brought out more vividly the lesser lights of the spiritual world; just as it has been remarked that the evil spirit also is more apparent in the Gospels, and as the light of Gods glory becomes more intense, so is Satan more evident (as witness the Book of the Revelation). Now some of these references belong to the office which angels hold in heaven, as do all the passages that occur in the Revelation. Of the rest, all but one are concerned with the Divine person of their and our Lord, or with momentous events in immediate connection with Him. The exception is the solitary instance of an angel stirring the waters of Bethesda. Thus there is no more evidence in the Gospels than in the Old Testament to justify us in believing that angels exercise their ministry on earth on ordinary occasions, or that they have any spiritual influence on man at all, or that they act in any way without making themselves visible to those whom they approach. Our next step, then, will be to examine what Holy Scripture says of angels after Pentecost. St. Peter is twice rescued by an angel; Cornelius is advised by an angel to send for Peter; Philip the deacon is sent by another to the eunuch; Herod is smitten by an angel; St. Paul had an angel standing by him in the ship. Thus it is clear that angels are not displaced by the Holy Ghost; and these passages are extremely important, as being those to which we should look, rather than to any which precede them, for an answer to the question, what place do angels hold in the Church of Christ on earth? The answer is very explicit on one point at least. The influence of angels in these instances is not spiritual, but external; their aid is in times of physical danger, not of inward temptation. Again the answer is explicit as to their visible presence–confirming the result to which former records in Scripture had led us, that when they interfere they are not only felt but seen. Finding this to be the case, it is natural to inquire how far this view of angels ministries agrees with the whole spirit and character of the Christian dispensation. Let me ask your close attention to this portion of the subject. What is the great change wrought in our condition by the holy incarnation of the Son and by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost? Words fail me when I try to answer; let me use the language of St. Paul:–Now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one Through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. And rising higher to St. Johns divine words, so wondrously simple and profound, on the truth of the incarnation: The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth; and of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit the words of Christ Himself: The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. This is the change wrought by Christ in the relation of man to God. I will not say, what room is there here for spiritual aid from angels? because we know not the boundaries of Gods scheme of mercy to man; but I will ask, is there not here in Gods own presence all that the spirit of man can desire or imagine? Tell me any sorrow, or doubt, or temptation, or critical emergency of life, in which your heart need look elsewhere for aid but to the Holy Ghost? To look for angels help against the enemy of souls, when God Himself has promised to abide in us, is worse than for the traveller to seek at his feet a glowworms light to show the path when the moon has risen and called the stars about her overhead. Still, after all, much is doubtful. As with the saints departed, so with angels; it is well to think of them often, but safer to think of them as above, not amongst us, each in his happy sphere midway between ourselves and heaven. (Canon Furse.)

The connection between Christian, s and angels

I. WE ARE COME TO THEM AS FRIENDS, from whom we have been separated by the fall. Men and angels, in their original creation, formed but one family; and, though they differed in nature and in residence, they had one Father, and there would have been a free and pleasing intercourse between them. But sin destroyed the harmony of the world. Sin disunited heaven and earth. Sin separated not only between God and men, but between angels and men. When man revolted from his lawful Sovereign, they remained in their allegiance; and as sin rendered God our enemy, so it rendered angels our enemies too. Accordingly we read of their being the executioners of the Divine vengeance. But, in consequence of the mediation of our Lord and Saviour, the breach is healed. We are reconciled not only to God, but to the angels. Men and angels form again one family; they remained in their original state; we are restored to it; and such is the disposition of those celestial beings, that they do not repine, like the elder brother, at the return of the prodigal, but rejoice to welcome the younger branches of the family home.

III. WE ARE COME TO THEM AS ATTENDANTS, whose care is to follow us through life. Gods noblest creatures are His childrens servants. Such honour have all the saints.

III. WE ARE COME TO THEM AS WITNESSES, whose observations we are to reverence. It would be well for us to remember that we are always in sight. The eyes of our fellow-creatures are often upon us; and if they were always upon us, they would restrain us from a thousand sins. But invisible beings always behold us. There are cases in which two guilty individuals are implicated. They accuse each other; and no human being was privy to their wickedness. But angels saw Abel and Cain when they were alone together in the field. They can decide, in an intrigue, who was the seducer, and who the seduced. What a world of private wickedness will they develop!

IV. WE ARE COME TO THEM AS PATTERNS, whose example we are to imitate. To these models our Saviour Himself leads us in the form of devotion He gave to His disciples; in which He teaches us to pray, Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. And, even now, this prayer is accomplished. Between believers and angels there is a resemblance, though not an equality. Wherein does it appear?

1. It appears in the nature of their obedience. We are told that the angels, however great, find it their privilege to serve. Their obedience is ready, without delay; cheerful, without reluctance; constant, without intermission; and impartial, without choice. The reason is, they love God, and it is His will alone they regard. And whatever low idea you may form of a

Christian, such is, and such must be, His leading desire, and His prevailing endeavour.

2. It appears in their union. These beings have various degrees among them. Yet these produce no contempt, no envy, no eagerness to dictate, no backwardness to co-operate. They perfectly harmonise. They have but one spirit, one wish. Shall I say that Christians do resemble all this? Alas 1 there is too little of it in our churches and assemblies.

3. It appears in the subject of their study. The angels are proverbial for knowledge; we read of being wise as an angel of God. Had we heard only of such exalted beings, we should be anxious to know what things they deemed most worthy of their attention. But we are informed. They are the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow–which things the angels desire to look into. Are you like-minded? Is this the most welcome subject to your hearts? The most important to your minds?

4. It appears in their worship. They adore the incarnate Redeemer. And is there a Christian upon earth that does not delight in the same praise?

V. WE ARE COME TO THEM AS ASSOCIATES, with whom we are to blend our future being, and from whom we shall derive no inconsiderable part of our happiness. It is not good for man to be alone. He is formed for social enjoyment; and it is a great source of his present pleasure. The representation of heaven meets this propensity. And there are two classes of beings that will contribute much to our satisfaction and improvement. The one is endearing. It takes in those you loved in life, with whom you took sweet counsel together, and went to the house of God in company, your pious friends and relations, who now sleep in Jesus. The other is dignifying. It comprehends patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs–angels. You shall be introduced to company of the very first sort. Angels are the flower of the creation; and the poorest, meanest believer shall enjoy it; and be prepared for it. Let us conclude with two questions.

1. How can it be said that we are come to this blessed assembly? By the certainty of the event. By promise–and he Scripture cannot be broken. By hope-and hope maketh not ashamed. By anticipation, by earnests, by foretastes of this exalted felicity.

2. To whom are you come? (W. Jay.)

The nature of angels:

I. THEY ARE THE HIGHEST OF ALL CREATED BEINGS, WHOSE HOME IS THE IMMEDIATE PRESENCE OF GOD. They were heavens earliest inmates, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. They see God face to face continually; they worship Him, and rest not day and night from praising Him; their obedience is perfect and secure; where laws end, love begins. To borrow the image of South, like a cup of crystal thrown into a brim-ruing river, which first is filled, then lost in the stream, so sinks their overflowing love in the love of God. Nor is their vision limited to heaven. Once they saw the eternal Son descend from thence to earth, and marked His life and death, and ministered to Him in His abasement and His glory. With sympathetic insight into the mystery of redemption, yet there remained things into which they desired to look. And now that the Son has returned in glory to His eternal home, they look for the fulfilment of His joy; watching for the coming in of souls for whom He died; rejoicing when one by one are drawn into the circle those for whom He prayed, Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me, where I am. And when through the contentions of a doubtful life grace has at last prevailed, who can tell the joy with which through the yielding air they spread their level wings, and bear in their hands the sour of the contrite, secure from sin, far off into Abrahams bosom?

II. Lastly, as to THEIR ADORATION OF GOD IN HEAVEN. Worship is angels work; and in the contemplation of their office here no room is left for difference or doubt. The Old Testament and the New conspire in holy emulation to reveal the heavenly vision in the noblest terms. Worship is the sum of the life in heaven; and what is the noblest work of our life on earth? The same. As among our natural passions and affections towards our fellows love is the highest, and has mightiest influence, so towards God is worship. Worship is love sublimated by the majesty of God. Think what the example of angels teaches us in this great portion of the Christian life.

1. First, that worship is only possible in the presence of God. Their worship in the Church above is only more perfect than that of saints in the Church below, because they are more near to God. The sight of Him is their joy; and such will be yours, if yours be the promise, Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Meanwhile what sight is now to angels, and will hereafter be to you, is at the present time your faith.

2. Next this apprehension of the Divine Presence fills them with awe and reverence. The cherubim with his wings covers his face and his feet; the angels before the throne fall on their faces. Such a thought may give us a rule of conduct in our acts of worship. In all our public devotions, above all at Holy Communion, let our commonest actions be ruled by a tender spirit of reverence.

3. Again their worship exercises not only their affections, but their intelligence. They understand what they worship. The principle of all true worship is this–I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

4. Above all with their praises and their prayers goes on the sweet accompaniment of an obedient will, a heart attuned to the love of God, sympathy with all His doings in judgment and in mercy, sympathy with His holiness and His vengeance against sin.

5. Again we little know how much we are affected by the example of numbers. The numbers on one side or the other decide the choice of waverers. We cast our lot into the heaviest scale. The broad way, though it lead to death, has its contented wayfarers, chiefly because it is so broad; the narrow way discourages so many, because there are so few that walk in it. Then, like Elishas servant, open your eyes and see the hosts of angels serving God, exceeding in number the generation of men, whom you see afraid to confess Him here.

6. Lastly to think of their happiness! happiness, so rare a gift, that among friends it is but seldom named, and then under their breath, and in a tone almost of despair of finding it; each heart knowing its own bitterness; the stranger not intermeddling with it, the friend unable to hear it, so he must let that alone for ever! And then to read of angels happiness, so perfect, so secure! (Canon Furse.)

General assembly and Church of the firstborn

The Church of the firstborn

I. THE SPIRIT OF THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION.

It is pre-eminently mild and gracious. This being so, it becomes those who are under it, and who have been made partakers of its blessings, to cultivate a spirit in accordance therewith. A spirit of slavish terror, however befitting the law, is altogether unsuitable to the gospel. It is related of Titus, the Roman emperor, when a certain petitioner presented his address to him with a trembling hand, that he was much displeased; and addressing the affrighted suppliant, he asked, Dost thou present thy petition to thy prince as if thou wert giving meat to a lion? While a spirit of reverence might have been proper on such an occasion, he regarded the extreme fear which this person displayed as altogether unbecoming. A spirit of trembling fear should be avoided by the Christian, being forbidden by the many gracious assurances which God has given to encourage us in our approaches to His throne; and also as being opposed to the distinctive features of the dispensation under which we dwell,

II. THE NATURE AND PRIVILEGES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

1. Its unity.

2. Its glory. Judging by outward appearance, the Church of Christ may appear despicable; much that is ignoble and mean may be seen in its members. But is it so in reality? What I ignoble, when the city they belong to is the city of the great King; a city whose streets are of gold, whose gates are of pearls, and into which the glory and honour of the nations shall be brought! And then there is, not merely the city of the believers habitation, but his associates and his friends. Talk of meanness, when myriads of angels, and the great multitude of the redeemed, are his companions [

3. Its spirituality. But ye are come–come to what? To things pre-eminently glorious; but they are at present invisible, being spiritual realities, objects of faith, and not of bodily vision.

(1) Let the Christian seek to realise his true character and position. Where your treasure is, there let your heart be also.

(2) That the only way in which we can become members of the heavenly commonwealth, is by a believing application to the Redeemer. Having an interest in Him, an interest in all the rest will follow. (Expository Sermons.)

The firstborn

Sweeter to our ear than the full chorus of bright skies and greenwood, are the first notes of the warbler that pipes away the winter, and breaks in on its long, drear silence! And more welcome to our eye than the flush of summers gayest flowers, is the simple snow-drop that hangs its pure white bell above the dead bare ground. And why? These are the firstborn of the year, the forerunners of a crowd to follow. In that group of silver bells that ring in the spring with its joys, and loves, and singing birds, my fancys eye sees the naked earth clothed in beauty, the streams, like children let loose, dancing and laughing, and rejoicing in their freedom, bleak winter gone, and Natures annual resurrection. And in that solitary simple note, my fancy hears the carol of larks, wild moor, hillside, and woodlands full of song, and ringing all with music. And in Christ, the Firstborn, I see the grave giving up its dead; from the depths of the sea, from lonely wilderness and crowded churchyard they come, like the dews of the grass, an innumerable multitude. Risen Lord! we rejoice in Thy resurrection. We hail it as the harbinger and blessed pledge of our own. The first to come forth, Theft art the Elder Brother of a family, whose countless numbers the patriarch saw in the dust of the desert, whose holy beauty he saw shining in the bright stars of heaven. The firstborn! This spoils the grave of its horrors, changing the tomb into a capacious womb that death is daily filling with the germs of life. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

The general convocation around Mount Zion

I. First, I want to set out, A CONTRAST PRESENTED IN THE ENTIRE PASSAGE–a contrast between the economy of law and the economy of grace.Every good thing is enhanced in value by its opposite. The contrast between free grace and law makes grace appear the more precious to minds that have known the rigour of the commandment. The contrast presented here is sevenfold. First, as to place, Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched (Heb 12:18); But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 12:22). Behold Sinai with its rugged crags: scarce had a human foot ever trodden it: perhaps until that hour in which Jehovah descended upon it in splendour it had remained a virgin peak, which the foot of man had never polluted. It was sublime, but stern and tempest-beaten. God came upon Sinai with His law, and the dread mount became a type of what the law would be to us. It has given us a grand idea of holiness, but it has not offered us a pathway thereto, nor furnished a weary heart with a resting-place. The Jews under the law had that stern hill for their centre, and they compassed it about with pale countenances and trembling knees. We gather to quite another centre, even unto the palace-crowned steep of Zion. There David dwelt of old, and there Davids Lord revealed Himself, This mount which might be touched, we are told, in the next place, burned with fire. Gods presence made the mountain melt and flow down. Jehovah revealed Himself in flaming fire. What, then, have believers come to instead of fire? Why, to another form of fire: to an innumerable company of angels–He maketh His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire. God comes to us by them: He rode upon a cherub, and did fly. Pursue the contrast, and you find on Mount Sinai that there was blackness, doubtless made the more intensely black as the vivid lightnings flashed out from it. Ye are not come unto blackness, says Paul, What is the contrast to this? But ye are come to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven. Blackness is the symbol of sorrow, it is the garb of mourning. Everywhere we associate blackness with grief; but now Paul sets before us the grandest embodiment of joy. The word for general assembly in the original suggests a far-reaching festivity. Ye are come to the paneguris: to a solemn festive assembly, comparable to the National Convocation of the Greeks, which was held around the foot of Mount Olympus, every four or five years, when all the Greeks of different states came together to keep up the national feeling by festivities and friendly competitions. Follow the next point of contrast, and you have darkness mentioned. Nor unto blackness, and darkness. The cloud on Sinai was so dark as to obscure the day, except that every now and then the lightning-flash lit up the scene. What are we come to in contrast to that darkness? To God the Judge of all. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. What a contrast to the darkness of the law is a reconciled God! And what follows next? Why, tempest. It is said, Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest. All over the top of Sinai there swept fierce winds and terrible tornadoes, for the Lord was there. All heaven seemed convulsed when God did rend it, and descended in majesty upon the sacred mount. But what do you and I see? The very reverse of tempest–The spirits of just men made perfect, serenely resting. They are perfect, they have fought the fight, they are full of ecstatic bliss, the glory of God is reflected from their faces; they have reached the fair haven, and are tossed with tempest no more. Follow the contrast further, and you coma to the sound of a trumpet. This resounded from the top of Sinai. Clarion notes most clear and shrill rang out again and again the high commands of the thrice-holy God. You are not come to that. Instead of a trumpet, which signifies war and the stern summons of a king, ye are come unto Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and the silver tones of Come unto Me, all ye, &c. The seventh contrast lies in this–together with the trumpet there sounded out a voice, a voice that was so terrible that they asked that they might not hear it again. We have coma to another voice, the voice of the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. There is a voice from Zion, there is a voice that rolls over the heads of the innumerable company of angels, a voice of the Lord that is full of majesty, and exceedingly comfortable to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, who know the joyful sound.

II. There is A COMPARISON in our more central text. We are come to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven. It is a comparison, not with anything Jewish, for that would not have been suitable, but with a Gentile festival, which more readily lent;itself to the apostles great thought. In Greece, in her happier times, in order to preserve a national unity, the various states, kingdoms, or republics, which constituted Greece proper, held at the foot of Olympus a great gathering, to which none came as participators except citizens of the various Greek nationalities. The object of the gathering was that every part of the Greek nature might be educated and displayed, and the unity of the Greek race be remembered. How much I wish that we could look upon all the conflicts, sufferings, and troubles of this mortal life as occupations of the great festive gathering which is now being held in heaven and in earth around the city of our God. If we all understand that this period is not comparable to a battle, whereof the result hangs in the balance, but comparable to those deeds of prowess wherewith of old men celebrated a victory, then the face of things is altered, and our toils are transfigured. Angels come down, and poor men and women are lifted up, in patience triumphing, and giving pleasure to their Lord, and bringing honour to that favoured city which God has prepared for them. Oh, the bliss of feeling that even nosy heaven is begun below, and the sufferings of this present life are but a part of the glory of the Lord manifested in His people!

III. The third point is–A COMING TO BE ENJOYED. This is the essence of it all We are come unto this general assembly and Church of the firstborn. How then do we come? This festival is only for the firstborn, and you are not that by nature. You must first be born again, and become one of the firstborn. The Spirit of God must make you a new creature in Christ Jesus, and then the porter will open the wicket, and say, Come in, and welcome. Which part are you going to take in this great gathering? Will you fight against sin? Will you wrestle against error? Will you run for the crown? Will you sing or speak? What will you do in this great congress of all the saints? (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Anticipating holy society

Socrates was glad when his death approached, because he thought he should go to Hesoid, Homer, and other learned men deceased, whom he expected to meet in the other world. How much more do I rejoice, who am sure that I shall see my Saviour Christ, the saints, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and all holy men who have lived from the beginning of the world! Since I am sure to partake of their felicity, why should not I be willing to die, to enjoy their perpetual society in glory? (Henry Bullinger.)

Intercourse between heaven and earth

I was reading the other day that, on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, the wives of fishermen whose husbands have gone far out upon the deep are in the habit, at eventide, of going down to the seashore, and singing, as female voices only can, the first stanza of a beautiful hymn. After they have sung it, they listen till they hear, borne by the wind across the desert-sea, the second stanza, sung by their gallant husbands as they are tossed by the gale upon the waves; and both are happy. Perhaps, if we could listen, we, too, might hear on this desert-world of ours some sound, some whisper, borne from afar, to remind us that there is a heaven and a home; and, when we sing the hymn upon the shores of earth, perhaps we shall hear its sweet echo breaking in music upon the sands of time, and cheering the hearts of them that are pilgrims and strangers and look for a city that hath foundations. (J. Cumming, D. D.)

The general assembly written in heaven:

We have in this whole passage a description of the Catholic Church as it is now revealed to us under the gospel. And this is put in contrast with the state of the Church under the law. The kingdom is now united, and the Church is catholic; and those who come into it are not only joined in mutual earthly fellowship, but they come into union, as real, although not so conscious and apparent, with the Church invisible and glorified. As we consider some aspects of this subject, let us try to think and feel ourselves into that higher fellowship.

I. We come to that unseen and glorious company BY OUR KNOWLEDGE. We have far more actual knowledge of the invisible world than we vivify and use. We know, that when flitting like shadows here, from place to place, and ever nearer to the grave, there is a city which hath foundations, in the records of which our names may be enrolled. We know that when struggling and crowding here–striving for space and room, and particular standing–there is a house of many mansions, and a place prepared for each, large enough for the developments of the immortal life. Our knowledge is in some respects limited enough. We cannot see it; we cannot come to it in the flesh; flesh and blood shall not inherit it; no mortal hand can draw aside the veil, nor pierce it, although it sometimes seems so thin. Perhaps if we were better, purer, more saintly, we could safely be trusted with more light on the future, and it is certain that if we ask and look and wait we shall attain to more. We are like men gazing towards the land from the deck of a ship. A dim outline appears, like a cloud, at which they strain their sight; until by the movement of the vessel and the custom of the eye it becomes clearer and clearer still. The mountains gradually reveal their peaks; then the valleys show; then the corn; then the smoke of the cottage; the group by the cottage door; the apples on the tree; and then–the vessel is in port. So, by looking, heaven becomes clearer; as welook, it comes more near. To us as individuals, this revelation will be much or little, according to our personal realisation of it. Our knowledge may be a lamp unlighted as well as burning. It may be a map of a country on which we seldom look, or on which we trace with careful finger every mountain ridge, every river and plain. Central Africa is now opened, and to the world it can never be a blank any more. Some individuals may know very little of it, yet that knowledge is a possession to the race for ever. And so, to the world has been given the unalienable possession of the knowledge of the better country, the heavenly, which is on the other side of death, in which the Saviour is, into which He has already gathered myriads of His friends, to which so many of our own friends have gone, and to which we ourselves are travelling.

II. We come to the invisible Church BY OUR FAITH. We come to it more by our faith than by our knowledge. Faith is knowledge glorified, and vitalised; it is, as the former chapter tells us, the substance of things hoped for. It makes the objects of our cognition so real and vivid that we possess in our thought the very substance of them. We have such assured confidence in their existence that the removal of them from the realm of faith would be like taking away the solid world from our senses. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. It proves them, and presents them so that the mind feels their presence; sees them; is solemnised by them; holds them fast! It redeems our humanity from its degradation to know that there are men, who, while living here, are also living yonder–who have a life hidden as well as visible with Christ in God. We believe that He is. We believe that our friends are with Him; and if we can come to Him, and to them, in our daily faith–in the seekings, strivings, and settlings of our souls, then we are believers indeed. We may form what views we will on the time and nature of the resurrection–on the intermediate state, or on the physical characteristics of the life to come. If only we come to Him–our High Priest within the veil, and our forerunner there–we shall in due time stand rejoicing in His presence.

III. We are come to that invisible triumphant Church, IN OUR LOVE, as truly as in our knowledge and our faith. All heaven-born souls love the place of their birth. Born again, or born from above, is to have enrolment and citizenship there–it is to have our treasure there and our heart also.

IV. And all these comings, need we say? are presages of THE FINAL PERSONAL COMING BY DEATH into the general assembly and Church of the firstborn in heaven. We speak often of death as a going away, and picture to ourselves the spirit passing into vast solitudes, friends and dear familiar scenes all left behind, as it looks out upon the first reaches and roundings of the everlasting journey. Some thoughtful writers have dwelt much on the loneliness of death, until one has felt intensely solitary in the prospect. They have fixed upon the fact that each of us must meet death alone, and, of course, that is true, at least as regards earthly companionships. But that even then we shall be absolutely alone is only conjecture; and if we must conjecture, I for one would rather take the other side, and believe that since God gives us company here from the moment of birth to the moment of death, He will have other company awaiting us there, so that we shall take no step in loneliness or dread, but enter at once and easily into the higher fellowships, and go forward with a cheerful confidence through the valley of transition. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)

God the Judge of all

Faiths access to the Judge and His attendants

I. FAITH PLANTS US AT THE VERY BAR OF GOD. Here is a truth which it is the office of faith to realise continually in our daily lives. Your loving access to God, Christian men and women, has brought you right under the eye of the Judge, and, though there be no terror in our approach to that tribunal, there ought to be a wholesome awe as to the permanent attitude of our spirits, the awe which is the very opposite of the cowering dread which hath torment. Then, again, notice that this judgment of God is on e which a Christian man should joyfully accept. The Lord will judge His people, says one of the Psalms. You only have I known of all the inhabitants of the earth; therefore will I punish you for your iniquities, says one of the prophets. Such sayings represent this present judgment as inevitable, just because of the close connection into which true faith brings a man with his Father in heaven. Inevitable, and likewise most blessed and desirable, for in the thought are included all the methods by which, in providence, and by ministration of His truth and of His Spirit, God reveals to us our meannesses; and delivers us sometimes, even by the consequences which accrue from them, from the burden and power of our sin. So, then, the office of faith in regard of this continuous judgment which God is exercising upon us because He loves us is, first of all, to open our hearts to it by confession, by frank communion, by referring all our actions to Him to court that investigation. And then, further, remember that this judgment is one that demands our thankful acceptance of the discipline which it puts in force. If we knew ourselves we should bless God for our sorrows. These are His special means of drawing His children away from their evil.

II. FAITH CARRIES US WHILE LIVING TO THE SOCIETY OF THE LIVING DEAD. The Judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect. Immediately on the thought of God rising in the writers mind there rises also the thought of the blessed company in the centre of whom He lives and reigns. The spirits of men made perfect. That is to say, they dwell freed from the incubus and limitations, and absolved from the activities, of a bodily organisation. Then, further, these spirits are perfect. The writer has said, at the close of the preceding chapter, that the ancient saints without us should not be made perfect. And here he employs the same word with distinct reference, as I suppose, to his previous declaration. From which I infer that Jesus Christ shot some rays of His victorious and all-reconciling power from His Cross into the regions of darkness, and brought thence those who were waiting for His coming through many a long age. A great painter has left on the walls of a little cell in his Florentine convent a picture of the victorious Christ, white-robed and banner-bearing, breaking down the iron gates that shut in the dark rocky cave; and flocking to Him, with outstretched hands of eager welcome, the whole long series from the first man downwards, hastening to rejoice in His light, and to participate in His redemption. So the ancient Church was perfected in Christ; but the words refer, not only to those Old Testament patriarchs and saints, but to all who, up to the time of the writers composition of his letter, had slept in Jesus. They have reached their goal in Him. But yet that perfecting does not exclude progress, continuous through all the ages; and especially it does not exclude one great step in advance which, as Scripture teaches us, will be taken when the resurrection of the body is granted. Corporeity is the perfecting of humanity. Body, soul, and spirit, these make the full-summed man in all his powers. And so the souls beneath the altar, clothed in white, and lapt in felicity, do yet wait for the adoption, even the redemption of the body. Mark, further, that these spirits perfected would not have been perfected there unless they had been made just here. That is the first step, without which nothing in death has any tendency to ennoble or exalt men. If we are ever to come to the perfecting of the heavens, we must begin with the justifying that takes place on earth. Let me point you to one other consideration bearing not so much on the condition as on the place of these perfected spirits. It is very significant that they should be closely associated in our text with God the Judge of all. Is there any hint that men who have been redeemed, who, being unjust, have been made just, and have had experience of restoration and of the misery of departure, shall, in the ultimate order of things, stand nearer the throne than unfallen spirits, and teach angels? (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

God the Judge of all

I. I am to show THAT IT IS A VERY AWFUL, THOUGH A COMFORTABLE, THING TO CONVERSE WITH GOD THE JUDGE OF ALL.

1. The majesty and glory of the great God makes it awful conversing with Him.

2. Gods omniscience is another thing which makes it solemn conversing with God as Judge of all (Heb 4:13).

3. The purity and holiness of God make it a solemn thing for polluted sinners to have any converse with Him.

4. The strictness of Gods law, which is the rule of judgment, makes it a solemn thing to converse with this great and glorious Judge. God judges of all my thoughts and actions by the same law now that sentence is to be passed by in the great day of accounts.

Use 1. Is it so solemn a thing for believers in Christ to come to God the Judge of all; how or where then must the sinner and the ungodly appear?

2. Is it so solemn a thing to converse with God the Judge of all? Then, believer, how seldom art thou in a right frame for duty. You know with what solemnity and preparation they of old attended on God when giving the law. The people were sanctified to-day and to-morrow, and washed their clothes to be in readiness against the third day (Exo 19:10). Is there less call for preparation and solemnity under the gospel? are trifling frames and a worldly spirit any part of that liberty we have in Christ? Dare we go to holy ordinances drowned in the cares of this life, reeking in the filth of some unsubdued lust?

3. Learn from what has been said, the only way to think of future judgment with pleasure and comfort. It is by coming to God the Judge of all, now.

4. What a blessed gospel is that which reveals the only righteousness wherein a poor guilty sinner may appear before God with comfort!

II. How Is IT THAT SUCH A CONVERSE IS BEGUN BETWEEN A HOLY GOD AND POOR SINNERS?

1. It is begun in the conviction or sensibleness a soul has that he is a guilty lost sinner.

2. In order to a poor sinners comfortably conversing with God the Judge of all, there must be a free confession of all sin and a subscribing to the rights of His justice. This is called an accepting of the punishment of ones iniquity (Lev 26:41) and a clearing and justifying God when we are judged (Psa 51:4).

3. In order to a poor sinners comfortable converse with God the Judge of all, there must be an absolute renouncing all righteousness of his own.

4. The way to have comfortable converse with God the Judge of all is to come before Him in the Mediators righteousness and to plead it with Him as thy justifying righteousness.

Use: 1. If there be no coming to God as Judge of all with comfort but by confessing sin, their state must be sad who seek comfort by hiding or lessening sin.

2. Must a soul be brought to submit to the rights of Gods justice in order to a comfortable converse with Him as Judge of all? then woe to all such as quarrel with Gods judgment.

3. Must all self-righteousness be renounced in order to a comfortable converse with God the Judge of all? How contrary is that doctrine which sets up the creatures sincere obedience as a part of our gospel-righteousness!

III. IN WHAT INSTANCES AND BY WHAT METHODS THIS CONVERSE WHICH BELIEVERS HAVE WITH GOD THE JUDGE OF ALL IS MAINTAINED AND CARRIED ON.

1. I am to give some instances wherein believers have comfortable converse with God the Judge of all, through the whole of their gospel profession and walk. The apostle speaks of it as a privilege attending their state, not a blessing peculiar to some extraordinary frames. It is a believers settled mercy and daily duty to converse with God the Judge of all.

(1) A great part of this comfortable converse with God lies in those high and honourable thoughts which believers have of His righteousness as Judge of all.

(2) Another instance wherein believers have comfortable converse with God lies in their pleading justification before God upon the footing of righteousness.

(3) Another instance wherein believers have comfortable converse with God the Judge of all lies in their referring themselves to His righteous judgment with respect to their state, their frames, and all their actions.

(4) Another instance wherein believers have comfortably con versed with God the Judge of all lies in a hearty approval of all providential dispensations to themselves and others.

(5) Another instance of this comfortable converse which believers have with God the Judge of all is in a Way of anticipating, or antedating as it were, that sentence of absolution which shall be openly pronounced upon them at the last day.

2. How or by what special methods this comfortable converse with God is promoted and maintained.

(1) By looking often to the everlasting settlements and grace of the covenant; what God does in time is by virtue of covenant-agreement with His Christ and our Surety in eternity (Psa 98:3).

(2) This comfortable converse with God is promoted and maintained by the souls daily faith on the person of Christ as God-man.

(3) This comfortable converse with God is promoted and maintained by earnest endeavours after conformity to God in righteousness and true holiness (1Pe 1:16).

(4) A believers converse with God the Judge of all is promoted and maintained by his coming often to the blood of sprinkling.

(5) This comfortable converse with God as Judge of all is promoted by the believers application to God as a Father in Christ (Eph 2:18).

(6) This comfortable converse with God as Judge of all is promoted and maintained by direct acts of faith on the promises of the covenant.

(7) A daily application to the Spirit as the glorifier of the Father and of Christ. All the glory of the Fathers provision for lost sinners in the person and blood of Christ, and in the grace of the covenant, depends upon the Spirits revelation of it to and in the soul (Gal 1:15-16). It is His work as well to convince of sin as of righteousness (Joh 16:8).

3. By what means this comfortable converse with God as Judge of all is prevented and interrupted?

(1) This comfortable converse with God is greatly obstructed when it is apprehended that only the benefits and effects of Christs righteousness are communicated to believers, and not the very righteousness itself.

(2) This comfortable converse is interrupted by supposing that the great God has put all His creatures, believers as well as others, into a state of probation or trial, and that a man cannot be fully persuaded of the safety of his state till the day of his death.

(3) Believers comfortable converse with God is further prevented or interrupted by a changing or shifting the foundation of our faith and hope. Some that have begun in the spirit think to be made perfect by the flesh Gal 3:3).

Use: 1. Surely a believers converse with God must be very precious when Satan finds out so many ways to prevent and interrupt it. Were it then, the office of faith in regard of this continuous judgment which God is exercising upon us because He loves us is, first of all, to open our hearts to it by confession, by frank communion, by referring all our actions to Him to court that investigation. And then, further, remember that this judgment is one that demands our thankful acceptance of the discipline which it puts in force. If we knew ourselves we should bless God for our sorrows. These are His special means of drawing His children away from their evil.

II. FAITH CARRIES US WHILE LIVING TO THE SOCIETY OF THE LIVING DEAD. The Judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect. Immediately on the thought of God rising in the writers mind there rises also the thought of the blessed company in the centre of whom He lives and reigns. The spirits of men made perfect. That is to say, they dwell freed from the incubus and limitations, and absolved from the activities, of a bodily organisation. Then, further, these spirits are perfect. The writer has said, at the close of the preceding chapter, that the ancient saints without us should not be made perfect. And here he employs the same word with distinct reference, as I suppose, to his previous declaration. From which I infer that Jesus Christ shot some rays of His victorious and all-reconciling power from His Cross into the regions of darkness, and brought thence those who were waiting for His coming through many a long age. A great painter has left on the walls of a little cell in his Florentine convent a picture of the victorious Christ, white-robed and banner-bearing, breaking down the iron gates that shut in the dark rocky cave; and flocking to Him, with outstretched hands of eager welcome, the whole long series from the first man downwards, hastening to rejoice in His light, and to participate in His redemption. So the ancient Church was perfected in Christ; but the words refer, not only to those Old Testament patriarchs and saints, but to all who, up to the time of the writers composition of his letter, had slept in Jesus. They have reached their goal in Him. But yet that perfecting does not exclude progress, continuous through all the ages; and especially it does not exclude one great step in advance which, as Scripture teaches us, will be taken when the resurrection of the body is granted. Corporeity is the perfecting of humanity. Body, soul, and spirit, these make the full-summed man in all his powers. And so the souls beneath the altar, clothed in white, and lapt in felicity, do yet wait for the adoption, even the redemption of the body. Mark, further, that these spirits perfected would not have been perfected there unless they had been made just here. That is the first step, without which nothing in death has any tendency to ennoble or exalt men. If we are ever to come to the perfecting of the heavens, we must begin with the justifying that takes place on earth. Let me point you to one other consideration bearing not so much on the condition as on the place of these perfected spirits. It is very significant that they should be closely associated in our text with God the Judge of all. Is there any hint that men who have been redeemed, who, being unjust, have been made just, and have had experience of restoration and of the misery of departure, shall, in the ultimate order of things, stand nearer the throne than unfallen spirits, and teach angels? (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

God the Judge of all

I. I am to show THAT IT IS A VERY AWFUL, THOUGH A COMFORTABLE, THING TO CONVERSE WITH GOD THE JUDGE OF ALL.

1. The majesty and glory of the great God makes it awful conversing with Him.

2. Gods omniscience is another thing which makes it solemn conversing with God as Judge of all (Heb 4:13).

3. The purity and holiness of God make it a solemn thing for polluted sinners to have any converse with Him.

4. The strictness of Gods law, which is the rule of judgment, makes it a solemn thing to converse with this great and glorious Judge. God judges of all my thoughts and actions by the same law now that sentence is to be passed by in the great day of accounts.

Use: 1. Is it so solemn a thing for believers in Christ to come to God the Judge of all; how or where then must the sinner and the ungodly appear?

2. Is it so solemn a thing to converse with God the Judge of all? Then, believer, how seldom art thou in a right frame for duty. You know with what solemnity and preparation they of old attended on God when giving the law. The people were sanctified to-day and to-morrow, and washed their clothes to be in readiness against the third day (Exo 19:10). Is there less call for preparation and solemnity under the gospel? are trifling frames and a worldly spirit any part of that liberty we have in Christ? Dare we go to holy ordinances drowned in the cares of this life, reeking in the filth of some unsubdued lust?

3. Learn from what has been said, the only way to think of future judgment with pleasure and comfort. It is by coming to God the Judge of all, now.

4. What a blessed gospel is that which reveals the only righteousness wherein a poor guilty sinner may appear before God with comfort!

II. How Is IT THAT SUCH A CONVERSE IS BEGUN BETWEEN A HOLY GOD AND POOR SINNERS?

1. It is begun in the conviction or sensibleness a soul has that he is a guilty lost sinner.

2. In order to a poor sinners comfortably conversing with God the Judge of all, there must be a free confession of all sin and a subscribing to the rights of His justice. This is called an accepting of the punishment of ones iniquity (Lev 26:41) and a clearing and justifying God when we are judged (Psa 51:4).

3. In order to a poor sinners comfortable converse with God the Judge of all, there must be an absolute renouncing all righteousness of his own.

4. The way to have comfortable converse with God the Judge of all is to come before Him in the Mediators righteousness and to plead it with Him as thy justifying righteousness.

Use: 1. If there be no coming to God as Judge of all with comfort but by confessing sin, their state must be sad who seek comfort by hiding or lessening sin.

2. Must a soul be brought to submit to the rights of Gods justice in order to a comfortable converse with Him as Judge of all? then woe to all such as quarrel with Gods judgment.

3. Must all self-righteousness be renounced in order to a comfortable converse with God the Judge of all? How contrary is that doctrine which sets up the creatures sincere obedience as a part of our gospel-righteousness!

III. IN WHAT INSTANCES AND BY WHAT METHODS THIS CONVERSE WHICH BELIEVERS HAVE WITH GOD THE JUDGE OF ALL IS MAINTAINED AND CARRIED ON.

1. I am to give some instances wherein believers have comfortable converse with God the Judge of all, through the whole of their gospel profession and walk. The apostle speaks of it as a privilege attending their state, not a blessing peculiar to some extraordinary frames. It is a believers settled mercy and daily duty to converse with God the Judge of all.

(1) A great part of this comfortable converse with God lies in those high and honourable thoughts which believers have of His righteousness as Judge of all.

(2) Another instance wherein believers have comfortable converse with God lies in their pleading justification before God upon the footing of righteousness.

(3) Another instance wherein believers have comfortable converse with God the Judge of all lies in their referring themselves to His righteous judgment with respect to their state, their frames, and all their actions.

(4) Another instance wherein believers have comfortably conversed with God the Judge of all lies in a hearty approval of all providential dispensations to themselves and others.

(5) Another instance of this comfortable converse which believers have with God the Judge of all is in a way of anticipating, or antedating as it were, that sentence of absolution which shall be openly pronounced upon them at the last day.

2. How or by what special methods this comfortable converse with God is promoted and maintained.

(1) By looking often to the everlasting settlements and grace of the covenant; what God does in time is by virtue of covenant-agreement with His Christ and our Surety in eternity (Psa 98:3).

(2) This comfortable converse with God is promoted and maintained by the souls daily faith on the person of Christ as God-man.

(3) This comfortable converse with God is promoted and maintained by earnest endeavours after conformity to God in righteousness and true holiness (1Pe 1:16).

(4) A believers converse with God the Judge of all is promoted and maintained by his coming often to the blood of sprinkling.

(5) This comfortable converse with God as Judge of all is promoted by the believers application to God as a Father in Christ (Eph 2:18).

(6) This comfortable converse with God as Judge of all is promoted and maintained by direct acts of faith on the promises of the covenant.

(7) A daily application to the Spirit as the glorifier of the Father and of Christ. All the glory of the Fathers provision for lost sinners in the person and blood of Christ, and in the grace of the covenant, depends upon the Spirits revelation of it to and in the soul (Gal 1:15-16). It is His work as well to convince of sin as of righteousness (Joh 16:8),

3. By what means this comfortable converse with God as Judge of all is prevented and interrupted?

(1) This comfortable converse with God is greatly obstructed when it is apprehended that only the benefits and effects of Christs righteousness are communicated to believers, and not the very righteousness itself.

(2) This comfortable converse is interrupted by supposing that the great God has put all His creatures, believers as well as others, into a state of probation or trial, and that a man cannot be fully persuaded of the safety of his state till the day of his death.

(3) Believers comfortable converse with God is further prevented or interrupted by a changing or shifting the foundation of our faith and hope. Some that have begun in the spirit think to be made perfect by the flesh Gal 3:3).

Use: 1. Surely a believers converse with God must be very precious when Satan finds out so many ways to prevent and interrupt it. Were it not a great privilege, it would be less envied, less obstructed.

2. How needful is a doctrinal clearness in the business of a sinners justification in the sight of God! Confusion in the mind and judgment makes confusion in the souls comfort.

3. To show what a blessed privilege such a comfortable converse is in the whole of believers course heavenwards. Wherein the privilege of such a converse does consist.

(1) This blessed converse makes all other comforts blessings.

(2) This comfortable converse which believers have with God sweetens all their afflictions and crosses. No trial befals thee but it was put into the covenant. It comes from the hand of God as a reconciled Father for thy profit and purging; not from His hand as a sin-revenging Judge for thy punishment.

(3) This comfortable converse with God makes duties and ordinances sweet; why should there be terror and fear where there is no enmity, no distance?

(4) This comfortable converse with God makes all reproaches we receive from men sit easy upon us (Psa 31:14-15).

(5) This comfortable converse with God secures against the threats, the wiles, and hellish designs of Satan.

(6) This comfortable converse with God makes death and judgment without terror. Doth the law acquit thee now? it will never condemn thee then. A serpent without a sting may affright, but it cannot injure. (John Hill.)

Christians have to do with God as Judge:

When, a few years since, a Mahometan convert at Calcutta came to Lal Behouri Sing for baptism, the missionary asked him, What was the vital point in which he found Mohammedanism most defective, and which he found that Christianity satisfactorily supplied? His prompt reply was–Mohammedanism is full of the mercy of God; and while I felt no real consciousness of guilt as the breaker of Gods law, this satisfied me; but when I felt my guilt, I felt that it was not with Gods mercy, but with His justice that I had first to do. Now to meet the claims of Gods justice Mohammedanism had made no provision; but this is the very thing that I have found fully accomplished by the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, and therefore Christianity is now the only adequate religion for me, a guilty sinner. (C. Stanford, D. D.)

The spirits of just men made perfect

The contemplation of departed saints

1. The contemplation of departed saints is calculated to reconcile us to our lot upon earth, however adverse and afflictive in its nature. What was the condition of these exalted and glorified spirits while they tabernacled upon earth? Did their station here in any way resemble the state in which they are now placed? Or, did their worldly circumstances foreshow what they have come to enjoy? No doubt some of them were men of rank and affluence; but still, it is well known that many of them were persons of low degree, who were subjected to want, who were pinched with poverty, and oppressed with both personal and relative affliction during the period of their mortal life. Amongst these there is a Job, there is a Lazarus, who was under the disagreeable necessity of begging his bread. We here learn that neither poverty nor affliction is any mark of the Divine displeasure; but that the troubles which afflict the just, on the contrary, may be great and many in number. Besides, we have here the most convincing evidence that God will reject none on account of his indigent circumstances or diseased body; but that the poor and afflicted may nevertheless be amongst the friends of heaven.

2. The contemplation of departed saints is calculated to preserve us from despondency under a consciousness of guilt and imperfection. As this may be occasioned by a deep sense of guilt and depravity, so a means of preventing it may be found in contemplating the spirits of just men made perfect. Though they were created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works, and were studying to die unto sin and live unto righteousness; yet they had reason to complain of the little progress which they made in the way of holiness. Though they all delighted in the law of the Lord after the inward man, and in some measure accounted it as their meat and drink to do the will of God; yet they were at times neglectful of their duty, and, through inadvertence or the strength of temptation, were stepping aside from the path of rectitude. There was not one of them that always did good and never sinned. Why, then, should Christians despond while they recollect what these objects of their contemplation once were, and attend to what they now are. These once struggled against the corruption of nature, but they have obtained the victory. Instead of being excluded from the beatific presence of Jehovah, and falling under the condemnation of the Almighty, they are now reaping the honours and the felicity of the righteous. Yes, they are the spirits of just men made perfect: their guilt is wholly cancelled, and their depravity is completely done away.

3. The contemplation of departed saints is calculated to support and comfort us under all our trials and afflictions. The saints in heaven have been made perfect as in holiness, so also in blessedness: they have entered into glory; they have removed from a world of trial and suffering to the land of eternal rest, where there is no more sorrow nor sighing, no more sickness nor death.

4. The contemplation of departed saints is calculated to animate us in the discharge of duty, and to make us persevere in the practice of holiness. Methinks I now see them holding forth the ensigns of royalty, and hear them saying to us who profess to be the disciples of Jesus: These are the rewards which God hath given, Be not weary, then, in well-doing, for you will at length reap if you faint not.

5. The contemplation of departed saints is calculated to console our minds while mourning on account of the death of our Christian friends. Though they are absent from the body, yet they are present with the Lord. Though the frail house of their earthly tabernacle is dissolved, yet they have obtained the building of God, the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (John Ralston, M. A.)

Benefits of meditation on Gods saints

1. First, let us think what an encouragement it is to us to go forward on our Christian course with zeal, perseverance, and steadiness, when we reflect on that perfect state of peace and holiness to which the spirits of the just shall be admitted in the eternal world.

2. Again, let us consider, that if we are indeed faithful servants of Christ Jesus, then we are members of that Comumnion of Saints, that mystical body, whereof He is the Head. Then we are entitled to a place among patriarchs, prophets, saints, and martyrs. Then the glory to which we shall be admitted at last is as much above the glory of the greatest prince or potentate on earth, as heaven itself is above this world. Such, and so great, is the dignity of the true Christian.

3. Another thing to be considered is, of the deep, sincere, and thorough humility which must be expected of those who think to be admitted into the blessed society of the spirits of just men made perfect. Indeed, the true dignity of the Christian consists in his humility:–He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. How can we in reason expect to be numbered with Gods saints in glory everlasting, if it be not our constant study to follow them as they followed Christ, in all lowliness and meekness, in long-suffering and loving forbearance? And these considerations will be still further heightened in proportion as we remember, on the one side, our own worthlessness even at the best; and on the other, the vastness of that mercy, the boundlessness of those promises which are held out to us. For to a mind which is at all well disposed, nothing can be more touching, nothing more humbling, than to receive kindnesses from one whom we have injured. What, then, must be our feelings when we contemplate our behaviour to God, and how He has requited us! What heart can think of these things worthily? or how can we sufficiently bow ourselves down with humility?

4. Let me, in conclusion, call to your thoughts what comfort and encouragement there is in this heavenly doctrine of the spirits of just men made perfect, to be received into the eternal joy of their Lord. Comfort and encouragement in respect of ourselves, in making us patient, cheerful, and thankful; and in our conduct towards others, in making us brotherly and kind, and still looking forward to a happier meeting in a world where neither sin nor sorrow can enter. (Plain Sermons by Contributors to Tracts for the Times. )

The immediate blessedness of departed saints:

What an announcement! For the manner in which this passage is introduced sufficiently shows that it is designed to impart encouragement and solace, to awaken spiritual-mindedness and hope. And yet there is something which seems to mock us, which may excite our consternation, depress our zeal. Ye are come to the spirits of just men made perfect. Know we not otherwise? The link between ourselves and those whom we loved is broken. Does it not seem to trifle with us, when we are bereaved indeed, to tell us that we are come to them from whom we are so hopelessly and irreparably torn? Ye are come to the spirits of just men made perfect. Our natural apprehensiveness is thus excited by the appeal. Creatures of flesh and blood, nothing seems so strongly to fasten upon our instinctive fear as spiritual contact and communication. Who would wish to behold the dearest friend whom he had ever loved, returning a spirit from the region of spirits, with their manner and mystery? What nerve could encounter the interview? What fondest heart could endure the shadowy embrace? And do we not shrink when we are bidden to approach this ghostly band? Ye are come to the spirits of just men made perfect. Our ardour is depressed. Our sympathy is checked. Our imitation is debarred. Little fellowship can we claim with their refined essences, their unalloyed purity and bliss- they subsist beyond the range of our ideas and susceptibilities. But the purpose of the Holy Ghost in these words must stand: that purpose can only be tender, consolatory, assuring. And is it not most kind and cheering to inform and certify us, that they, who are thus departed, are not lost? That, rescued from the burden of this flesh and delivered from the hazard of this world, they expatiate in the freedom of a nature ethereal and incorruptible? And is it not animating and triumphant for us to perceive, in their release, the pledge and model of our exaltation, when our spirits shall throw off their oppressions, and shall attain to yonder state of immaterial being? Come, then, to these spirits–endeavour to conceive of them, to catch their fervours, to reciprocate their joys, to respond their strains!

I. WHO ARE THEY? WHENCE CAME THEY? They are not the natives of heaven. They have no proper birthright in it. They belong to a very different sphere. They are men. They have been prepared, while on the earth which was given to them, for their present abode. They have been brought hither by an act utterly independent of their original constitution. It is a state altogether strange and new. They constitute the just. Only the just can be in a condition of safety and favour, only the just can be endued with a nature of sanctity and love. Theirs is a true sense of right, of duty, the firm habit of fidelity.

II. THESE JUST MEN ARE NOT ANY LONGER IN OUR PRESENT SPHERE, OR KIND, OF EXISTENCE. We are summoned to meditate them in a new condition. The image of the earth is effaced. They are no more seen in a compound nature. They are spirits. All beside is left in the grave. Nothing material cleaves to them. But it is the higher essence–the intellect the consciousness–the self–which this disembodiment must suppose. How may this state of spiritualism be conceived? It is described as subsisting in intimate union with the Saviour. It is to depart and to be with Christ. It is to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. He receives them. This is the great distinctiveness of their present condition. Their inward nature, drawn forth from the outward, is in a relationship; in an access to the Blessed Redeemer far different from any enjoyment of His presence, or communion with His person, known on earth. In addition to this immediate presence of the Redeemer-God, that light in which they see light, the light of the Lamb -the spirits of just men are made perfect. This is a discovery of their state which greatly explains itself. This spirit is matured in its powers and consummated in its joys. According to its capacities it is complete. All its true aims are unfolded. It is wrought out into its fullest development. It is a condition of pure spiritualism. Certain facts suggest themselves as the necessary accompaniments of such a condition.

1. The consciousness must be very distinct. The self revolves upon its own centre, ever substantiating what it really is, ever enjoying its proper exercises of understanding and emotion. This hidden man lives in his own light. Nothing is attached to the spirit which can divert this concentrated impression.

2. The inward life must be very strong. The whole soul, all that is within it, is absorbed in that deep and holy sense.

3. The intellectual faculty must be very clear. It still follows on to know the Lord, it still follows hard after God.

4. The meditative abstraction must be very intent.

5. The adoring gratitude must be very earnest.

6. Its awaiting aspiration must be very glad. The disembodied saint ascertains the future stage to which it constantly approaches, which is the last of all, and which is only wanted to complete his entire being. He understands its nature. He is assured of its certainty. Oh, the transition, the passage of the spirit, escaped from earth, released from mortality, to this glorious state! Spirit!–which hast long walked in darkness, brooded in sorrow, pined in weariness–spirit! which wast long tossed with tempest, harassed by hostility, vexed with care–spirit! which didst long groan within thyself–spirit! long bound to sense and chained to infirmity spirit! long lacerated and bruised with inward wounds–spirit! the shadow of whose guilt hitherto lay upon thee though forgiven, the effort of whose depravity until now struggled in thee though subdued–Christian soul depart! Go forth to rest and home!

III. THESE SEPARATED SPIRITS ARE REPRESENTED TO US AS IN A STATE OF EXALTED ADVANCEMENT, DEPENDING UPON THEIR DISEMBODIMENT. This doctrine of immediate happiness was not entirely concealed from the ancient saints. Their language occasionally leads us to think that they had some conception of it (Psa 16:10; Psa 73:24; Psa 49:15; Isa 57:2).Christ was the Conqueror. He spoiled principalities and powers. Of Him it was declared that He should swallow up death in victory. He ascends! He is received up into glory! There are not only the angels and the chariots in their thousands of thousands–there is another train! All holy spirits follow Him who had appeared a spirit to them in their place of keeping. They now forsake that place for things above. And, therefore, it is said in the text: Ye are come to the spirits of just men made perfect. But this is asserted as a privilege unknown before. It arises from the new covenant in contradistinction from the old. It is explained: God having provided some better things for us (than for those who died before the rising of Christ) that they without us (without living until our time and under our dispensation) should not be made perfect. But they are now made perfect, in common with us. This perfection is bestowed upon all past, as well as for all future, time, and ye are come to the spirits of just men made perfect!

1. The spirits of just men will be made perfect in holiness.

2. Such spirits are raised to the perfection of wisdom.

3. These souls of the departed are perfectly secure.

4. A fulness of beatitude must be contained in their perfection.

They can know no want: yet are they full of holy desires, ever waking only to be satisfied, ever longing only to be fulfilled. The vessel at each moment overflows: but at every moment it also is enlarged. There are pleasures for evermore. The source of all is in the Infinite Plenitude. The river of life proceedeth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

IV. THERE ARE RELATIONS WHICH UNITE THE JUST ON EARTH, AND THE SPIRITS OF THE JUST IN HEAVEN, NOTWITHSTANDING THE DISPARITY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE CONDITIONS. Certain affinities may be discovered between mind and mind in this world, which are not restricted to personal intercourse, which operate as in defiance of the laws of space. And the announcement of the text is but the enlargement of such mental affinities. It is not said that we shall come to the spirits of just men made perfect, but that we are.

1. There is unity. To impress this upon our minds the Church is shadowed by various figures, all of which have respect to its indivisibility. It is a city, a corporate community, but all, who are enrolled in it, partake of common immunities, and are fellow-citizens with the saints. It is a household. It is a household of faith and of God. They of this household are all they who are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Its distribution in these different abodes affects not its identity. It shall find even in heaven many mansions. It is a body. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

This, then, is no fiction nor ideal. It is based on our union with Christ. We are all one in Him. We are joined to the Lord, and are one spirit. It is, therefore, declared to have been the design of God in redemption, to bind, in communion and identification, all His people, however scattered abroad on earth, or however raised to the glories of a higher existence. That in the dispensation of the fulness of times, He might gather together in one, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in Him. And having made peace through the blood of his Cross, by Him to reconcile, or to unite, all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. These are the links which separation cannot weaken, and which death cannot dissolve.

2. There is resemblance. Heaven is doubtless a place. But we must rather conceive of it as a state of mind. The heaven of perfect spirits must be chiefly this. This state of mind–far transcending all present attainment of knowledge, sanctity, and joy–consists not in estrangement and extreme. It is not alien from what is now experienced. There is no principle, no companionship, no employment, no rapture, of that region, but has in the Christian on earth its foretaste and counterpart. He hath the Father and the Son. The Spirit dwelleth in Him. He hath eternal life. He is a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. The heaven which he enters and enjoys is but the expansion of principles and emotions he long has known. He has been changed already into the image of the Divine glory, from glory to glory. He wanted but this consummation. The last of dying triumph, and the first of empyrean rapture, may thus easily and naturally blend: and in the yearnings of a kindred mind, we now come to the spirits of just men made perfect. Do we not know it? Have we not found it? Are now our affections set on things above? Does not the holy city come down from God out of heaven? Is not our conversation in heaven?

3. There is endearment. A holy affinity unites us to the spirits of just men made perfect. They are the Church of the first-born: they are our elder brethren. Our desire is to them. Are they weaned from us? Are we forgotten? Is all sympathy withdrawn? Hearts grow not selfish in heaven. Spirits made perfect can abandon no love which it was ever their right to form, their duty to maintain, their benefit to exercise: their perfection is the pledge that each holy attachment is raised to that perfection.

4. There is appropriation. We already have obtained a portion in heaven. Joint-heirs with Christ Jesus, He has claimed it for us. He is our

Forerunner. He has for us entered. He now appears in the presence of God for us. We come to the spirits of just men made perfect, for they inhabit our country, they dwell ill our home. They have preceded us, but things to come are ours, and their title is no surer than our own. (R. W. Hamilton, D. D.)

Disembodied saints

I. THEY CONSCIOUSLY LIVE IN A DISEMBODIED STATE.

II. THEY CONSCIOUSLY LIVE IN A MORALLY PERFECT STATE.

III. THEY CONSCIOUSLY LIVE IN A GLORIOUSLY SOCIAL STATE.

IV. THEY CONSCIOUSLY LIVE IN A SPIRITUALLY ACCESSIBLE STATE.

1. We come to them in a loving memory of their histories.

2. We come to them by appropriating their principles of action.

3. We come to them by a participation of the sources of their joy.

4. We come to them in earnest hope.

Lessons:

1. The worthlessness of all worldly and adventitious distinctions.

2. The paltriness of religious sectarianism.

3. The infinite value of Christs office.

4. The blessedness of death to the good. (Homilist.)

Advent of the living to spirits departed

Spirits–because resurrection is future. The bodies still tenant the grave or the deep–only the spirits are free. This is that state of deliverance from the bondage of the flesh, in which Jesus Himself, quickened with a new vitality, went and preached, between death and resurrection, to spirits, themselves separate from the body. This is that state, Paradise Jesus called it, in which the dying penitent beside Him should that day be His companion, spirit with spirit. Just men, or righteous: not in that self-righteousness which is of the law; not in that righteousness which Christ Himself, He said, came not so much as to call or to evangelise; on the contrary, just in the justice of the Just One–righteous in the merit of a full justification, and in the grace of a progressive and at last perfect sanctification. Just men made perfect. Completed and consummated in that holiness which, begun below by the work of the Holy Spirit, is at last finished and accomplished for ever; to be sullied no more, nor grieved any more, by the contact or presence of evil: sealed now with the stamp of a blessed immortality, and waiting only the gift of a transformed body to make the whole man anew in the very image and likeness of God. Ye are come to the spirits of just men made perfect. We read and speak often of Christs coming–His coming in the flesh, His coming in the Spirit, His coming in glory. Here we read of an advent, not of Christ, but of the Christian; an advent, not in the future tense, but in the perfect–not anticipative or progressive, but finished and done. But this is not the world which the text opens. The text bids us see ourselves tenants and citizens of a world out of sight. Like the prophets servant in Dothan, we are to open our eyes to a mountain full of chariots and horsemen of fire–and those chariots of God are thousands of angels; and those horsemen are Gods saints, already gone from amongst the living, but present with us, for companionship and for sympathy and for communion still. You have had, you have made, an advent–an advent for abode, an advent for perpetuity. Ye are come to the spirits of just men made perfect.

1. The first and least thing here said–itself great and glorious too–is the union of the Christian living with the Christian dead in their faith and in their example. It is a thought not without comfort, that, as Christians, we have an ancestry and a pedigree. The continuity is not broken. The Church of all time is one. Then disgrace not your family. Bring no blot upon your escutcheon. You are come to the spirits of the perfect. You join on to them in the genealogical tree. Be followers, be imitators of them, as they once, in their day and generation, were of Christ.

2. Ye are come to the spirits and souls of the righteous in their sympathy. There is a living as well as a memorial sympathy between the Church on earth and the Church in heaven. All the glimpses given us in Holy Scripture of the mind and life of Paradise seem to point this way. It was of no sleeping soul that Christ spoke on the Cross to the malefactor beside Him. It is no bathing in Lethe, for the obliteration of earths memories and the annihilation of human affections, which the gospel opens to us as the prize of the race to him that overcometh. Rest with us is something different from this selfish, this isolated, this drowsy repose. Even nature demands something different. There is an instinct as well as a revelation of this advent of the living to the departed. We want it for comfort, we want it for admonition. God has knit together His elect in one communion and fellowship. There is a communion of saints as well as a Catholic Church; the militant and the perfected are not two societies, they are one. Have any of as a friend in the happy land–father or mother, sister or wife, friend closer than a brother? Remember then, remember for use as well as for consolation, that you are come to that other–come, by an advent such as there is none between the living. The stripping off of this carcase gives a sympathy, gives a contact, gives an intuition of love such as cannot be had here. You are come to the dead, as you cannot come to the living. See then that you give joy, only joy, to the inhabitants of that world.

3. Ye are come to the spirits of the righteous in their single, their engrossing devotion to Christ their Lord. It is said, I scarcely care to ask whether in history or fiction, that there was one from whom had been taken away by the stroke of death the desire of his eyes, the wife of his youth. He had laid her in the earth; yet night after night she visited him in his chamber, herself yet not herself, the same but a thousandfold more beautiful–and in that periodical converse, making night day for him and darkness light, he half forgot his bereavement and his desolation. One night she came, and he could not repress an exclamation upon her peculiar beauty. I never saw you, he said, so lovely. She said, It is my last visit to you: to-morrow I am to see Him, and after that sight I shall have no eye for aught else. He saw her no more. Is not this, perhaps, the answer to those questions so often agitated by the mourner as to the future sight and recognition of friends? Be sure that nothing shall be denied thee in that world, which could give thee solace or satisfaction. If thou desirest there thy friends face or voice or hand, be sure thou shalt have it. Nevertheless, when thou shalt have been there but a little while; when, if so it be, after a season of preparation, as it were of purifying and anointing for the day of the espousals, thou shalt actually have seen the King in His beauty–I say not that thou shalt be debarred then from other sight or other converse; but this I say–the desire for aught else will have left thee; all other love, not destroyed, not diminished, rather ten thousandfold enhanced, will yet be absorbed and swallowed up in that; thy loved one, and thou, will be so wrapped up in another love and higher, that the selfish love will be gone, and only the Divine love will continue. (Dean Vaughan.)

Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant

The messenger of the covenant and its seal:

I. GODS REVELATION TO US IS IN THE FORM OF A COVENANT. Just as when a king gives forth a proclamation, he is bound by the fact that he gave it forth, so God, out of all the infinite possibilities of His action, condescends to tell us what His line is to be, and He will adhere to it. He lets us see the works of the clock, if I may so say, not wholly, but in so far as we are affected by His action. What, then, are the terms of this covenant? We have them drawn out, first, in the words of Jeremiah, who apprehended, when he was dwelling in the midst of that external system, that it could no be a final system; and next, by the writer of this letter quoting the prophet; who, in the midst of the vanishing of that which could be shaken, saw emerging, like the fairy form of the fabled goddess out of the sea-foam, the vast and permanent outlines of a nobler system. The promises of the covenant are, then, full forgiveness as the foundation of all, and built upon that knowledge of God inwardly illuminating and making a man independent of external helps, though he may sometimes be grateful for them; then a mutual possession, which is based upon these, whereby I, even I, can venture to say, God is mine, and, more wonderful still, I, even I, can venture to believe that He bends down from heaven, and says: And thou, thou art Mine! And then, as the result of all–named first, but coming last in the order of Nature–the law of His commandment will be so written upon the heart that delight and duty are spelt with the same letters, and His will is our will. If these, then, be the articles of the paction, think for a moment of the blessedness that lies lived in this ancient, and to some of us musty, thought of a covenant of Gods. It gives a basis for knowledge. Unless He audibly and articulately and verifiably utters His mind and will, I know not where men are to go to get it. And then, again, let me remind you how here is the one foothold, if I may so say, for confidence. If God hath not spoken there is nothing to reckon upon. There are perhapses, probabilities, if you like, possibilities, but nothing beyond. And no man can build a faith on a peradventure.

II. JESUS CHRIST IS THE EXECUTOR OF THIS COVENANT. The depth of the thought is only reached when we recognise His divinity and His humanity. He is the ladder with its foot on earth and its top in heaven. Because God dwells in Him, and the Word became flesh, He is able to lay His hand upon both, and to bring God to man, and man to God. He brings God to man by the declaration of His nature incarnate in humanity. And, on the other hand, He brings man to God; for He stands to each of us as our true Brother, and united to us by such close and real bonds as that all which He has been and done may be ours if we join ourselves to Him by faith. And He brings men to God, because in Him only do we find the drawings that incline wayward and wandering hearts to the Father. And He seals for us that great covenant in His own Person and work, in so far as what He in manhood has done has made it possible that such promises should be given to us. And, still further, He is the Mediator of the covenant, in so far as He Himself possesses in His humanity all the blessings which manhood is capable of deriving from the Father, and He has them all in order that He may give them all. There is the great Reservoir from which all men may fill their tiny cups.

III. NOTE THE SPRINKLING OF THE BLOOD WHICH SEALS THE COVENANT. The blood shed establishes the covenant; and the blood sprinkled brings us into it. If Jesus had not died there would have been no promises for us, beginning with forgiveness and ending in wills delighting in Gods law. It is the new covenant in His blood. The death of Christ is ever present to the Divine mind and determines the Divine action. Further, that sprinkling, which introduced technically and formally these people into that covenant, represents for us the personal application to ourselves of the power of His death and of His life, by which we may make all Gods promises our own, and be cleansed from all sin. It is sprinkled. Then it is capable of division into indefinitely small portions, and of the closest contact with individuals. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Christ the Mediator of the covenant

I. Consider Christ, our Mediator, in His REASON. His person is amiable; He is all made up of love and beauty. He is the effigies of His Father, the express image of His person. Consider

1. Christs person in two natures.

2. His two natures in one person.

II. Consider Christ, our Mediator, in His GRACES: these are the sweet savour of His ointments that make the virgins love Him. Christ, our blessed Mediator, is said to be, full of grace and truth. He had the anointing of the Spirit without measure. Grace in Christ is after a more eminent and glorious manner than it is in any of the saints.

1. Jesus Christ, our Mediator, hath perfection in every grace. He is a panoply, magazine, and storehouse of all heavenly treasure, all fulness.

2. There is a never-failing fulness of grace in Christ.

3. Grace in Christ is communicative, His grace is for us; the holy oil of the Spirit was poured on the head of this blessed Aaron that it might run down upon us. Use

1. Admire the glory of this Mediator; He is God-man, He is co-essentially glorious with the Father.

2. If Christ be God-man in one person, then look unto Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

3. Is Jesus Christ God and man in one person? This, as it shows the dignity of believers, that they are nearly related to one of the greatest persons that is, in Him dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily, so it is of unspeakable comfort. Christs two natures being married together, the Divine and human, all that Christ in either of His natures can do for believers, He will do. (T. Watson.)

The privileges and blessings of the new covenant

I. WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THIS GRAND AND AMIABLE CHARACTER BY WHICH OUR BLESSED LORD IS HERE REPRESENTED TO US AS MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT? The Mediator betwixt God and man, acting in the Fathers name, and by His authority, and acting in our behoof, and for our salvation.

1. But more particularly, in our serious attention to this subject, our urgent need of Him, in this great capacity, may first naturally occur to our thoughts. What man could not do, God hath effected. Our help is laid upon One who is mighty and able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God through Him.

2. For it is to be observed that Jesus Christ is constituted and appointed by the Father Himself to this great office, to be Mediator of the new covenant.

3. But further. The Mediator of the new covenant is fully qualified to discharge this great office, to sustain this high character. The Redeemer of man is the Sea of God. Hence the infinite value and efficacy of His meritorious sufferings, and prevailing mediation

4. But He is the Mediator of the new covenant, through whom, and in virtue of whose atonement for sin, and satisfaction to Divine justice, the covenant is established and ratified, and all its benefits purchased. In a word, the full pardon of sin; established peace with God; the adoption of children; the grace of His Spirit; victory over sin and death; and a state of eternal happiness in the world to come.

5. But further, as Mediator of this covenant, He acts with God for man, that we may be brought to a compliance with the terms of the covenant, be reconciled in our hearts unto God, and live as the ransomed of the Lord. This is evidently necessary, in order to our receiving the blessings of this covenant. This work of mediation is carried on by His Word, by His servants speaking in His name, by the ordinances of the gospel, and by the influences of His Spirit.

6. He is the Mediator of the new covenant, who carrieth on the blessed work of mediation for us, now in His exalted state, and will continue to do so, until all its purposes shall be finally accomplished.

II. Consider WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THE EXPRESSIONS WE ARE COME TO HIM. Ye believe in Him as the Mediator of the new covenant. Ye see His excellency and all-sufficiency. Ye have received Him to be your Redeemer; ye have assented to the terms of His covenant on your part, and have yielded yourselves unto the Lord through this Mediator. Ye are spiritually united to Him. Ye live in a state of union and friendship with Him. Ye abide in Him by faith and love, and ere long shall ye be for ever with Him. That communion is now begun, which shall be hereafter perfected; because He liveth ye shall live for ever also. (J. Williamson.)

What is required in the Mediator between God and men:

He must have the natural power of God and the natural power of man. In an advocacy so original and peculiar as that which involves mediation between God and man, it is past our ability to conceive how it could be otherwise. The stairway of light seen in the splendid imageries of the patriarchs dream, touched both worlds, or it would not have been a medium of communication; a bridge flung across the river must touch both shores, or it could not be a medium of passage; and it seems but the language of fair analogy to say that a mediator between God and man must, in the mystery of his being, touch both natures, or he could not be the medium of intercourse. (C. Stanford, D. D.)

The blood of sprinkling

The blood of Abel and the blood of Jesus

I. JESUS BLOOD SPEAKS BETTER THINGS IN GENERAL. What did the blood of Abel say? Was it not the blood of testimony? When Abel fell to the ground beneath his brothers club, he bore witness to spiritual religion. He died a martyr for the truth that God accepteth men according to their faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ, being also a testifier and witness for the faith of God, spake better things than Abel, because He had more to speak, and spake from more intimate acquaintance with God. Moreover, the blood of Abel spake good things in that it was the proof of faithfulness. His blood as it fell to the ground spake this good thing–it said, Great God, Abel is faithful to Thee. But the blood of Jesus Christ testifies to yet greater faithfulness still, for it was the sequel of a spotlessly perfect life, which no act of sin had ever defiled; whereas Abels death furnished, it is true, a life of faith, but not a life of perfection. Moreover, we must never forget that all that Abels blood could say as it fell to the ground was but the shadow of that more glorious substance of which Jesus death assures us. Jesus did not typify atonement, but offered it. It is well to add that our Lords person was infinitely more worthy and glorious than that of Abel, and consequently His death must yield to us a more golden-mouthed discourse than the death of a mere man like Abel.

II. Now we will remember that THE BLOOD OF JESUS SPEAKS BETTER THINGS TO GOD than the blood of Abel did. The blood of Abel cried in the ears of the Lord, for thus He said to Cain, The voice of thy brothers blood crieth unto Me from the ground. That cry did not go round to seek a mediator, but went directly to the judgment-seat of God, and laid an accusation against the murderer. Can you stand at Calvary now and view the flowing of the Saviours blood from hands, and feet, and side? What are your own reflections as to what that blood says to God? That blood crieth with a loud voice to God, and what doth it say? Does it not say this? O God, this time it is not merely a creature which bleeds, but though the body that hangs upon the Cross is the creature of Thy Holy Spirit, it is Thine own Son who now pours out His soul unto death. O God, wilt Thou despise the cries and the tears, the blood of Thine own Son? Then, moreover, the voice would plead, It is not only Thy Son, but Thy perfectly innocent Son, in whom was no necessity for dying, because He had no original sin which would have brought corruption on Him, who had moreover no actual sin, who throughout life had done nothing worthy of death or of bonds. Canst Thou see it, Thou God of all, canst Thou see the infinite holy and just Son of Thy heart led here to die, and not feel the force of the blood as it cries to Thee? Was there not added to this fact that our Lord died to vindicate the honour of His Father? For Thee, O God, for Thee He dies! If Thou wert content to stain Thine honour or to restrain Thy mercy, there were no need that He should give Himself. Is there not power in this voice? Yet over and above this the blood must have pleaded thus with God:–O God, the blood which is now being shed, thus honourable and glorious in itself, is being poured out with a motive which is Divinely gracious. O God, it is a chain for God in heaven which binds the victim to the horns of the altar, a chain of everlasting love, of illimitable goodness. Now you and I could not see a man suffer out of pure benevolence without being moved by his sufferings, and shall God be unmoved? the perfectly holy and gracious God?

III. Furthermore, JESUS BLOOD SPEAKS BETTER THINGS TO US IN OUR OWN HEARTS than the blood of Abel. When the sinner looks to Jesus slain, he may well say, If I did not know that all this blood was shed for me as well as by me, my fears would multiply a thousandfold; but when I think that that precious blood is shed instead of mine, when I think that that is the blood of Gods own dear Son, whom He has smitten instead of smiting me, making Him bear the whole of His wrath that I might not bear it, O nay God, what comforts come streaming from this blessed fountain! Just in proportion as thought of murder would make Cain wretched, in the same proportion ought faith to make you happy as you think upon Jesus Christ slain; for the blood of Christ must have a more powerful voice than that of Abel, and it cries therefore more powerfully for you than the blood of Abel cried against his brother Cain.

IV. JESUS BLOOD, EVEN IN MY TEXT, SPEAKS BETTER THINGS THAN THAT OF ABEL. It speaks the same things but in a better sense. Did you notice the first text? God said unto Cain, What hast thou done? Now that is what Christs blood says to you: What hast thou done? Ah! Lord, done enough to make me weep for ever if it were not that Thou hast wept for me. What I want mainly to indicate is this. If you notice in the second text, this blood is called the blood of sprinkling. Whether Abels blood sprinkled Cain or not I cannot say, but if it did, it must have added to his horror to have had the blood actually upon him. But this adds to the joy in our case, for the blood of Jesus is of little value to us until it is sprinkled upon us. Faith dips the hyssop in the atoning blood and sprinkles it upon the soul, and the soul is clean. The application of the blood of Jesus is the true ground of joy, and the sure source of Christian comfort; the application of the blood of Abel must have been horror, but the application of the blood of Jesus is the root and ground of all delight. There is another matter in the text with which I conclude. The apostle says, We are come to the blood of sprinkling. Now, from the blood of Abel every reasonable man would flee away. He that has murdered his fellow desires to put a wide distance between himself and the accusing corpse. But we come to the blood of Jesus. It is a topic in which we delight as our contemplations bring us nearer and nearer to it. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The blood of sprinkling

I. WHAT IS IT? What is this blood of sprinkling? In a few words, the blood of sprinkling represents the pains, the sufferings, the humiliation, and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, which He endured oil the behalf of guilty man. He properly, but yet most generously and spontaneously, came and shed His precious blood in the stead of sinners, to bring the guilty near to God. But the text does not merely speak of the blood shed, which I have explained to you, but of the blood of sprinkling. This is the atonement applied for Divine purposes, and specially applied to our own hearts and consciences by faith.

1. The blood of sprinkling is the centre of the Divine manifestation under the gospel. Observe its innermost place in the passage before us.

2. I next ask you to look at the text and observe that this sprinkling of the blood, as mentioned by the Holy Ghost in this passage, is absolutely identical with Jesus Himself. If you have done with the blood of sprinkling, you have done with Jesus altogether; He will never part with His mediatorial glory as our sacrifice, neither can we come to Him if we ignore that character.

3. Observe that this blood of sprinkling is put in close contact with the new covenant. To us Jesus in His atonement is Alpha and Omega, in Him the covenant begins and ends.

4. But I want you to notice that according to the text the blood is the voice of the new dispensation. Observe that on Sinai there was the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they heard that entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more. You look, therefore, under the new dispensation, for a voice, and you do not come to any till you reach the last object in the list, and there see the blood of sprinkling that speaketh. Here, then, is the voice of the gospel; it is not the voice of a trumpet, nor the voice of words spoken in terrible majesty; but the blood speaks, and assuredly there is no sound more piercing, more potent, more prevailing.

5. Observe, that this voice is identical with the voice of the Lord Jesus.

6. This blood is always speaking. It always remains a plea with God, and a testimony to men.

7. This precious blood speaks better things than that of Abel. It saith, There is redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. He His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes we were healed. He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The voice of the blood is this, For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.

II. WHERE ARE WE? I have to explain what is meant by the expression which is found in the twenty-second verse of the chapter, Ye are come. Link the twenty-second verse with this twenty-fourth, and read, Ye are come to the blood of sprinkling.

1. Well, first, ye are come to the hearing of the gospel of the atoning sacrifice. You are come to hear, not of your sin and its doom, not of the last judgment and the swift destruction of the enemies of God, but of love to the guilty, pity for the miserable, mercy for the wicked.

2. In a better sense, going a little further, we have not only come to the blood of sprinkling by hearing about it, but we have come to it because the great God now deals with us upon methods which are founded and grounded upon the atoning sacrifice of Christ.

3. Further, there is a far more effectual way of coming to the blood of sprinkling than this–when by faith that blood is sprinkled upon our souls. This is absolutely needed: the blood shed must become to each one of us the blood sprinkled.

4. Further, to come to this blood of sprinkling means thankfully to enjoy all that comes to us through the blood of sprinkling.

5. I think, once more, that this coming to the blood of sprinkling means also that we feel the full effect of it in our lives. The man who knows that Jesus shed His blood for him, and has had that blood applied to his conscience, becomes a sin-hating man, consecrated to Him who has cleansed him.

III. WHAT THEN?

1. Do not refuse the voice of Jesus by cold indifference.

2. When you resolve to study the doctrine, do not approach it with prejudice through misapprehension.

3. Do not refuse the voice of the Lord Jesus by rejecting the principle of expiation.

4. Do not refuse this voice of mercy by preferring your own way of salvation. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 18. – 21. For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched] I believe the words should be translated to a palpable or material mountain; for that it was not a mountain that on this occasion might be touched, the history, Ex 19:12; Ex 19:13, shows; and the apostle himself, in Heb 12:20, confirms. It is called here a palpable or material mount, to distinguish it from that spiritual mount Sion, of which the apostle is speaking. Some contend that it should be translated tacto de caelo, thunder-struck; this sense would agree well enough with the scope of the place. The apostle’s design is to show that the dispensation of the law engendered terror; that it was most awful and exclusive; that it belonged only to the Jewish people; and that, even to them, it was so terrible that they could not endure that which was commanded, and entreated that God would not communicate with them in his own person, but by the ministry of Moses: and even to Moses, who held the highest intimacy with Jehovah, the revealed glories, the burning fire, the blackness, the darkness, the tempest, the loud-sounding trumpet, and the voice of words, were so terrible that he said, I exceedingly fear and tremble.

These were the things which were exhibited on that material mountain; but the Gospel dispensation is one grand, copious, and interesting display of the infinite love of God. It is all encouragement; breathes nothing but mercy; is not an exclusive system; embraces the whole human race; has Jesus, the sinner’s friend, for its mediator; is ratified by his blood; and is suited, most gloriously suited, to all the wants and wishes of every soul of man.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

For showeth, Heb 12:18-24, the apostle enforcing on these Hebrews, and with them on all Christians, the pursuit of holiness and peace, by subjoining the great helps they have for it, beyond what the Old Testament church had, they being freed from the legal dispensation, which was less helpful to it, and admitted to that of the gospel, most promoting it. The first he layeth down, Heb 12:18-21; and the other, Heb 12:22-24. They are freed from the covenant dispensation at Mount Sinai.

Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched; you have not been called, as to your body, to journey it to Sinai, or as to your faith to close with that covenant administration, to depend on, or have any expectation from it, as delivered by Moses at Mount Sinai in Arabia; a mountain visible, tactible, sensible, on earth, signifying the covenant dispensation from this mount to be low and earthy, occasioning earthy thoughts of God and carriage to him, sticking in an earthy altar sacrifice, and carnal and sensual religion; to the law written in stones, without minding the spirituality of it, or having it in their hearts; walking wisely in this wilderness state, yet, by the charge of God, not touchable by Israel at that time, though they came near to it in the third month after their coming out of Egypt, Exo 19:1,12,13,23.

And that burned with fire; to the fire, in the which the Lord descended on the mount, Exo 19:18; which burnt unto the midst of heaven, Deu 4:11; 5:23,24, and would consume them that broke that law which he spake to them out of it, Deu 33:2.

Nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest; to the black, thick smoke that ascended as the smoke of a furnace, Exo 19:18; to darkness, occasioned by the thick clouds enveloping the mount, Deu 4:11; 5:23; to tempest, the storm of thundering, and lightnings, and earthquake, the terrible attendants of this solemnity, Exo 19:16,18; 20:18. All these shadowing forth the fiery and terrible storms of wrath and indignation, which should pursue the breakers of this covenant to the lowest hell; giving them, in this delivery of the law, a visible type of what should be the issue of their breaking it, Exo 19:22,24. These terrors of the Almighty did so fright them, that they ran from God, and set not themselves to the serious pursuit of holiness, Isa 33:14.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

18. ForThe fact that we arenot under the law, but under a higher, and that the lastdispensation, the Gospel, with its glorious privileges, is the reasonwhy especially the Hebrew Christians should “look diligently,”c. (Heb 12:15 Heb 12:16).

are not comeGreek,“have not come near to.” Alluding to De4:11, “Ye came near and stood under the mountain; andthe mountain burned with fire . . . with darkness, clouds, and thickdarkness.” “In your coming near unto God, it has notbeen to,” c.

the mountThe oldestmanuscripts and Vulgate omit “the mount.” But still,”the mount” must be supplied from Heb12:22.

that might betouchedpalpable and material. Not that any save Moses wasallowed to touch it (Exo 19:12Exo 19:13). The Hebrews drew nearto the material Mount Sinai with material bodies; we, to thespiritual mount in the spirit. The “darkness” was thatformed by the clouds hanging round the mount; the “tempest”accompanied the thunder.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched,…. The design of the apostle in the following words is, in general, to engage the Hebrews to adhere closely to the Gospel, from the consideration of the superior excellency of it to the law; and in particular, to enforce his former exhortations to cheerfulness under afflictions; to an upright walk in the ways of God; to follow peace with all men, even with the Gentiles, and holiness both of heart and life; and to value the doctrine of the Gospel; and to take heed that none fail of it, or act unbecoming it: and here the apostle observes, what the believing Hebrews were not come to, being delivered from it, namely, the legal dispensation, which was their privilege; the happiness of which as expressed by a detail of particular circumstances, which attended the giving of the law to the Jews: it was given on a “mount which might be touched”; that is, by God, who descended on it, and by, touching it caused it to smoke, quake, and move, Ex 19:18. Compare with, Ps 68:8 for it was not to be touched by the Israelites, nor by their cattle,

Ex 19:12, that is, at the time that the law was given, and Jehovah was upon it, otherwise it might be touched; and the meaning is, that it was an earthly mountain, that might be approached to, and be seen and felt, and not of a spiritual nature, as Sion, or the church of God; and so may be expressive of the carnality of the law, and also of the movableness of it:

and that burned with fire; as Mount Sinai did, Ex 19:18 De 4:11 which set forth the majesty of God, when upon it, at whose feet went forth burning coals; and also the wrath of God, as an avenging lawgiver and Judge; and the terror of that law, which strikes the minds of the transgressors of it with an expectation of fiery indignation; and so points out the end of such transgressors, which is, to be burnt:

nor unto blackness and darkness; which covered the mount when God was upon it, Ex 19:16 and which also may express the majesty of God, round about whom are clouds and darkness; and also the horror of the legal dispensation, and the obscurity of it; little being known by the Jews of the spirituality of the law, of the strict justice of God, and of the righteousness which the law requires, and of the end and use of it; and especially of the way of salvation by Christ; and so dark were they at last, as to prefer their own traditions before this law: it is added,

and tempest; there being thunderings and lightnings, which were very terrible, Ex 19:16 and though there is no express mention made of a tempest by Moses, yet Josephus d speaks not only of very terrible thunderings and lightnings, but of violent storms of wind, which produced exceeding great rains: and the Septuagint on De 4:11 use the same words as the apostle does here, “blackness, darkness, and tempest”. This also may denote the majesty of God, who was then present; the terror of that dispensation; the horrible curses of the law; and the great confusion and disquietude raised by it in the conscience of a sinner.

d Antiqu. l. 3. c. 5. sect. 2.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Nature of the Christian Economy.

A. D. 62.

      18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,   19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:   20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:   21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)   22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,   23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,   24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.   25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:   26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.   27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.   28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:   29 For our God is a consuming fire.

      Here the apostle goes on to engage the professing Hebrews to perseverance in their Christian course and conflict, and not to relapse again into Judaism. This he does by showing them how much the state of the gospel church differs from that of the Jewish church, and how much it resembles the state of the church in heaven, and on both accounts demands and deserves our diligence, patience, and perseverance in Christianity.

      I. He shows how much the gospel church differs from the Jewish church, and how much it excels. And here we have a very particular description of the state of the church under the Mosaic dispensation, v. 18-21. 1. It was a gross sensible state. Mount Sinai, on which that church-state was constituted, was a mount that might be touched (v. 18), a gross palpable place; so was the dispensation. It was very much external and earthly, and so more heavy. The state of the gospel church on mount Zion is more spiritual, rational, and easy. 2. It was a dark dispensation. Upon that mount there were blackness and darkness, and that church-state was covered with dark shadows and types: the gospel state is much more clear and bright. 3. It was a dreadful and terrible dispensation; the Jews could not bear the terror of it. The thunder and the lightning, the trumpet sounding, the voice of God himself speaking to them, struck them with such dread that they entreated that the word might not be so spoken to them any more, v. 19. Yea, Moses himself said, I exceedingly fear and quake. The best of men on earth are not able to converse immediately with God and his holy angels. The gospel state is mild, and kind, and condescending, suited to our weak frame. 4. It was a limited dispensation; all might not approach to that mount, but only Moses and Aaron. Under the gospel we have all access with boldness to God. 5. It was a very dangerous dispensation. The mount burned with fire, and whatever man or beast touched the mount must be stoned, or thrust through with a dart, v. 20. It is true, it will be always dangerous for presumptuous and brutish sinners to draw night to God; but it is not immediate and certain death, as here it was. This was the state of the Jewish church, fitted to awe a stubborn and hard-hearted people, to set forth the strict and tremendous justice of God, to wean the people of God from that dispensation, and induce them more readily to embrace the sweet and gentle economy of the gospel church, and adhere to it.

      II. He shows how much the gospel church represents the church triumphant in heaven, what communication there is between the one and the other. The gospel church is called mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, which is free, in opposition to mount Sinai, which tendeth to bondage, Gal. iv. 24. This was the hill on which God set his king the Messiah. Now, in coming to mount Zion, believers come into heavenly places, and into a heavenly society.

      1. Into heavenly places. (1.) Unto the city of the living God. God has taken up his gracious residence in the gospel church, which on that account is an emblem of heaven. There his people may find him ruling, guiding, sanctifying, and comforting them; there he speaks to them by the gospel ministry; there they speak to him by prayer, and he hears them; there he trains them up for heaven, and gives them the earnest of their inheritance. (2.) To the heavenly Jerusalem as born and bred there, as free denizens there. Here believers have clearer views of heaven, plainer evidences for heaven, and a greater meetness and more heavenly temper of soul.

      2. To a heavenly society. (1.) To an innumerable company of angels, who are of the same family with the saints, under the same head, and in a great measure employed in the same work, ministering to believers for their good, keeping them in all their ways, and pitching their tents about them. These for number are innumerable, and for order and union are a company, and a glorious one. And those who by faith are joined to the gospel church are joined to the angels, and shall at length be like them, and equal with them. (2.) To the general assembly and church of the first-born, that are written in heaven, that is, to the universal church, however dispersed. By faith we come to them, have communion with them in the same head, by the same Spirit, and in the same blessed hope, and walk in the same way of holiness, grappling with the same spiritual enemies, and hasting to the same rest, victory, and glorious triumph. Here will be the general assembly of the first-born, the saints of former and earlier times, who saw the promises of the gospel state, but received them not, as well as those who first received them under the gospel, and were regenerated thereby, and so were the first-born, and the first-fruits of the gospel church; and thereby, as the first-born, advanced to greater honours and privileges than the rest of the world. Indeed all the children of God are heirs, and every one has the privileges of the first-born. The names of these are written in heaven, in the records of the church here: they have a name in God’s house, are written among the living in Jerusalem; they have a good repute for their faith and fidelity, and are enrolled in the Lamb’s book of life, as citizens are enrolled in the livery-books. (3.) To God the Judge of all, that great God who will judge both Jew and Gentile according to the law they are under: believers come to him now by faith, make supplication to their Judge, and receive a sentence of absolution in the gospel, and in the court of their consciences now, by which they know they shall be justified hereafter. (4.) To the spirits of just men made perfect; to the best sort of men, the righteous, who are more excellent than their neighbours; to the best part of just men, their spirits, and to these in their best state, made perfect. Believers have union with departed saints in one and the same head and Spirit, and a title to the same inheritance, of which those on earth are heirs, those in heaven possessors. (5.) To Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. This is none of the least of many encouragements there are to perseverance in the gospel state, since it is a state of communion with Christ the Mediator of the new covenant, and of communication of his blood, that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel. [1.] The gospel covenant is the new covenant, distinct from the covenant of works; and it is now under a new dispensation, distinct from that of the Old Testament. [2.] Christ is the Mediator of this new covenant; he is the middle person that goes between both parties, God and man, to bring them together in this covenant, to keep them together notwithstanding the sins of the people and God’s displeasure against them for sin, to offer up our prayers to God, and to bring down the favours of God to us, to plead with God for us and to plead with us for God, and at length to bring God and his people together in heaven, and to be a Mediator of fruition between them for ever, they beholding and enjoying God in Christ and God beholding and blessing them in Christ. [3.] This covenant is ratified by the blood of Christ sprinkled upon our consciences, as the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled upon the altar and the sacrifice. This blood of Christ pacifies God and purifies the consciences of men. [4.] This is speaking blood, and it speaks better things than that of Abel. First, It speaks to God in behalf of sinners; it pleads not for vengeance, as the blood of Abel did on him who shed it, but for mercy. Secondly, To sinners, in the name of God. It speaks pardon to their sins, peace to their souls; and bespeaks their strictest obedience and highest love and thankfulness.

      III. The apostle, having thus enlarged upon the argument to perseverance taken from the heavenly nature of the gospel church state, closes the chapter by improving the argument in a manner suitable to the weight of it (v. 25, c.): See then that you refuse not him that speaketh–that speaketh by his blood and not only speaketh after another manner than the blood of Abel spoke from the ground, but than God spoke by the angels, and by Moses spoke on mount Sinai; then he spoke on earth, now he speaks from heaven. Here observe,

      1. When God speaks to men in the most excellent manner he justly expects from them the most strict attention and regard. Now it is in the gospel that God speaks to men in the most excellent manner. For, (1.) He now speaks from a higher and more glorious seat and throne, not from mount Sinai, which was on this earth, but from heaven. (2.) He speaks now more immediately by his inspired word and by his Spirit, which are his witnesses. He speaks not now any new thing to men, but by his Spirit speaks the same word home to the conscience. (3.) He speaks now more powerfully and effectually. Then indeed his voice shook the earth, but now, by introducing the gospel state, he hath shaken not only the earth, but the heavens,–not only shaken the hills and mountains, or the spirits of men, or the civil state of the land of Canaan, to make room for his people,–not only shaken the world, as he then did, but he hath shaken the church, that is, the Jewish nation, and shaken them in their church-state, which was in Old-Testament times a heaven upon earth; this their heavenly spiritual state he hath now shaken. It is by the gospel from heaven that God shook to pieces the civil and ecclesiastical state of the Jewish nation, and introduced a new state of the church, that cannot be removed, shall never be changed for any other on earth, but shall remain till it be made perfect in heaven.

      2. When God speaks to men in the most excellent manner, the guilt of those who refuse him is the greater, and their punishment will be more unavoidable and intolerable; there is no escaping, no bearing it, v. 25. The different manner of God’s dealing with men under the gospel, in a way of grace, assures us that he will deal with the despisers of the gospel after a different manner than he does with other men, in a way of judgment. The glory of the gospel, which should greatly recommend it to our regard, appears in these three things:– (1.) It was by the sound of the gospel trumpet that the former dispensation and state of the church of God were shaken and removed; and shall we despise that voice of God that pulled down a church and state of so long standing and of God’s own building? (2.) It was by the sound of the gospel trumpet that a new kingdom was erected for God in the world, which can never be so shaken as to be removed. This was a change made once for all; no other change shall take place till time shall be no more. We have now received a kingdom that cannot be moved, shall never be removed, never give way to any new dispensation. The canon of scripture is now perfected, the Spirit of prophecy has ceased, the mystery of God is finished, he has put his last hand to it. The gospel church may be made more large, more prosperous more purified from contracted pollution, but it shall never be altered for another dispensation; those who perish under the gospel perish without remedy. And hence the apostle justly concludes, [1.] How necessary it is for us to obtain grace from God, to serve him acceptably: if we be not accepted of God under this dispensation, we shall never be accepted at all; and we lose all our labour in religion if we be not accepted of God. [2.] We cannot worship God acceptably, unless we worship him with godly reverence and fear. As faith, so holy fear, is necessary to acceptable worship. [3.] It is only the grace of God that enables us to worship God in a right manner: nature cannot come up to it; it can produce neither that precious faith nor that holy fear that is necessary to acceptable worship. [4.] God is the same just and righteous God under the gospel that he appeared to be under the law. Though he be our God in Christ, and now deals with us in a more kind and gracious way, yet he is in himself a consuming fire; that is, a God of strict justice, who will avenge himself on all the despisers of his grace, and upon all apostates. Under the gospel, the justice of God is displayed in a more awful manner, though not in so sensible a manner as under the law; for here we behold divine justice seizing upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and making him a propitiatory sacrifice, his soul and body an offering for sin, which is a display of justice far beyond what was seen and heard on mount Sinai when the law was given.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Ye are not come ( ). Perfect active indicative of . There is no word here in the Greek for “a mount” like in verses Heb 12:20; Heb 12:22 (and Exod 19:12; Deut 4:11), but it is clearly understood since the dative participles agree with it unless they be taken as descriptive of (“a palpable and kindled fire ” when would be the dative case after ).

That might be touched (). Present passive participle (dative case) of , old verb to handle, to touch (Lu 24:39).

That burned with fire ( ). Perfect passive participle of , old verb to burn, with instrumental case (fire), unless the other view (above) is correct.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Following this allusion to Esau, and perhaps suggested by it, is a passage setting forth the privileges of the Christian birthright and of Christian citizenship in contrast with those under the old covenant. The mount that might be touched and that burned with fire [ ] . Orei mount is omitted by the best texts, but should be understood. 241 Yhlafan is rare in N. T. and LXX; fairly frequent in Class. Radically, it is akin to yan, to rub, wipe; hence feeling on the surface, as Gen 27:12, 21, 22, LXX : a touch which communicates only a superficial effect. It need not imply contact with an object at all, but simply the movement of the hands feeling after something. Hence often of the groping of the blind, as Deu 28:29; Isa 59:10; Job 5:14. Appropriate here as indicating mere superficial contact. The present participle that is being touched, means simply that the mountain was something material and tangible. The A. V. which might be touched, although not literally correct, conveys the true sense.

That burned with fire [ ] . See Exo 19:18; Deu 4:11; Deu 5:4; Deu 9:15. The participle is passive, set on fire; kindled with fire : not attributive of puri, enkindled fire.

Blackness, darkness, tempest [, , ] . Gnofov (N. T. o) and zofov (elsewhere only 2 Peter and Jude) belong to the same family. As distinguished from skotov darkness that conceals, as opposed to light, these words signify half – darkness, gloom, nebulousness; as the darkness of evening or the gathering gloom of death. It is a darkness which does not entirely conceal color. Thus dnofov, the earlier and poetic form of gnofov, is used by Homer of water which appears dark against the underlying rock, or is tinged by mire. Gnofov and skotov appear together, Exo 10:22; Exo 14:20; Deu 4:11; Deu 5:22. Gnofov alone, Exo 20:21. Zofov only in the later version of Symmachus. See on Joh 1:5. Quella N. T. o, from quein to boil or foam. It is a brief, violent, sudden, destructive blast, sometimes working upward and carrying objects into the upper air; hence found with ajeirein to lift and ajnarpazein to snatch up (see Hom. Od. 20 63). It may also come from above and dash down to the ground (Hom. Il. 12 253). Sometimes it indicates the mere force of the wind, as ajnemoio quella (Hom. Od. 12 409; Il. 6 346).

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, (pu gar proseleluthate pselaphomen) “For you all have not approached a mountain that might be touched or felt.” In drawing near unto God such as Israel, people of the old covenant, had once come, and had been forbidden to touch the mount, Mt Sinai, lest they die, Exo 19:12; Exo 19:23.

2) “And that burned with fire,” (kai kekaumeno puri) “And that mount that is having been ignited with fire,” when the Mosaic Law, law of the covenant was being given, Exo 19:16-18 – to show that God is as a consuming fire to the impenitent, Deu 4:24. Israel came to a fire flaming mountain, thunderous darkness, as a terror stricken multitude.

3) “Nor unto blackness,” (kai gnopno) “Even toward darkness; So holy is God and so holy is his law that men, sinful men could not look upon it and live, 2Co 3:7-9.

4) “And darkness,” (kai zopho) “And to or toward deep gloom,” Exo 20:21; Exo 34:29-35. God dwells in great darkness, to curtain his glory from man, lest man die, 1Ki 8:12; Lev 16:2.

5) “And tempest,” (kai thuelle) “And to or toward a whirlwind or hurricane,” Deu 4:11-12; 2Co 3:11-14.

Beholding the law of the Lord should now be a joy, a delight, an assurance, because it now perfectly and thoroughly furnishes his people unto every good work, 2Ti 3:16-17; 1Pe 3:15.

Fears of His holiness, and our approach to him thru the Christ of Calvary, should be gone forever, Rom 8:15; Heb 2:15.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

18. For ye are not come, etc. He fights now with a new argument, for he proclaims the greatness of the grace made known by the Gospel, that we may reverently receive it; and secondly, he commends to us its benign characters that he might allure us to love and desire it. He adds weight to these two things by a comparison between the Law and the Gospel; for the higher the excellency of Christ’s kingdom than the dispensation of Moses, and the more glorious our calling than that of the ancient people, the more disgraceful and the less excusable is our ingratitude, unless we embrace in a becoming manner the great favor offered to us, and humbly adore the majesty of Christ which is here made evident; and then, as God does not present himself to us clothed in terrors as he did formerly to the Jews, but lovingly and kindly invites us to himself, so the sin of ingratitude will be thus doubled, except we willingly and in earnest respond to his gracious invitation. (260)

Then let us first remember that the Gospel is here compared with the Law; and secondly, that there are two parts in this comparison, — that God’s glory displays itself more illustriously in the Gospel than in the Law, — and that his invitation is now full of love, but that formerly there was nothing but the greatest terrors.

Unto the mount that might be touched, (261) etc. This sentence is variously expounded; but it seems to me that an earthly mountain is set in opposition to the spiritual; and the words which follow show the same thing, that burned with fire, blackness, darkness, tempest, etc.; for these were signs which God manifested, that he might secure authority and reverence to his Law. (262) When considered in themselves they were magnificent and truly celestial; but when we come to the kingdom of Christ, the things which God exhibits to us are far above all the heavens. It hence follows, that all the dignity of the Law appears now earthly: thus mount Sinai might have been touched by hands; but mount Sion cannot be known but by the spirit. All the things recorded in the nineteenth chapter of Exo 19:1 were visible things; but those which we have in the kingdom of Christ are hid from the senses of the flesh. (263)

Should any one object and say, that the meaning of all these things was spiritual, and that there are at this day external exercises of religion by which we are carried up to heaven: to this I answer, that the Apostle speaks comparatively; and no one can doubt but that the Gospel, contrasted with the Law, excels in what is spiritual, but the Law in earthly symbols.

(260) The connection of this part has been viewed by some to be the following: — Having exhorted the Hebrews to peace and holiness, and warned them against apostasy and sinful indulgences, the Apostle now enforces his exhortations and warnings by showing the superiority of the Gospel over the Law. This is the view of Doddridge and Stuart. It appears that Scott connected this part with Heb 10:28, and that he considered that the object of the apostle was to bring forward an instance, in addition to former ones, of the superiority of the Gospel, in order to show that the neglect of it would involve a greater guilt than that of the Law. And this appears to have been the view of Calvin, which seems to be favored by the concluding part of the chapter. The word γὰρ may be rendered “moreover.” — Ed

(261) It has been conjectured that μὴ has been omitted before “touched;” for in that case the passage would more exactly correspond with the account given in Exodus, for the people were expressly forbidden to touch the mountain. An omission of this kind was surely not impossible. The phrase as it is hardly admits of a grammatical construction: it has been found necessary to give the sense of an adjective to the participle. There would not be this necessity were the words rendered “To a mount not to be touched and burning with fire, and to,” etc. — Ed

(262) The words used here are not taken literally from the Hebrew nor from the Sept. the four things mentioned in this verse, and the two things mentioned in the following verse, are found in the narrative in Exo 19:0 and 20; but not consecutively as here; nor are the same terms used. “Blackness ” γνόφῳ, should be “a dark or thick cloud,” Exo 19:16. “Tempest,” θυέλλη, is not mentioned in Exodus or in Deuteronomy; but it includes evidently “the thunders and lightnings” mentioned twice at least in Exodus, [Exo 19:16 ] ] though not once in Deuteronomy. — Ed

(263) “The Hebrews,” says Grotius, “came in the body to a material mountain, but we in spirit to that which is spiritual.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

THE OLD AND THE NEW

Heb 12:18-25.

THE Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the most unique Books in the New Testament. It might very properly be styled the key with which to unlock the mysteries of the Old Testament and set them in the glorious brightness of New Testament interpretation. If it be true, as is popularly supposed, that Paul penned this Epistle, then we can readily see how God selected the best man, from among all the inspired of New Testament times, to do such a work. A Hebrew himself, thoroughly trained in essential Judaism, the one thing needful to his correct interpretation of Old Testament teachings was given when his eyes were marvelously opened to see how they all pointed to Christ, and found their highest meaning in the person and character of the Man of Nazareth.

From the beginning of this Epistle to its close, the author is seeking to set so plainly before Israelites the relation of the old revelation of God through signs, wonders and symbols, Prophets and Priests, to the new with its Gospel and Apostles, that even their darkest prejudices might not wholly exclude the great light that had risen in Christ. Read the Epistle to the Hebrews at a single sitting some night, and you will see the masterly work of a man who set himself to the task of showing the perfect harmony of the two great systems of truth that God has given to the world.

The text that we have for this study has to do with this very question, and is a striking setting forth of this relation of the new to the old.

In these days we hear a great deal about new things. We have new commercial interests, new mechanical methods, new social relations, new educational methods, new and improved theories of government, and we also hear of The New Theology. But the theology that is really new is that of which our text speaksthe theology that makes Gods Word the one and only rule of faith and practice, and crowns Christ as the Sovereign of souls.

There is no novelty in commercial, social or governmental progress that compares with that of the new religion called Christianity. You say, It is nineteen hundred years old, and so out of date.

The sun hanging now in yonder heavens is eighteen million years old, for aught we know, and more, and yet it was the newest thing in the material universe six hours ago. So Christianity, like Gods mercy, is new every morning, every moment if you please, and our text seeks to set forth the blessed phases of this new faith in Christ.

THE FIRST THING THAT IMPRESSES ONE, UPON READING THIS TEXT IS THE CONTRAST IT CONTAINS

The Apostle takes the hour out of which the Law was born and contrasts it with the hour when the Gospel was given. In the first we see a God of awful majesty and power and justice and judgment. The very mount of His presence smokes and shakes and starts from its base and is full of threatening and death to disobedient men.

It was from a cloud that enveloped Him, shooting out flashes of fire, symbolic of His judgment, and shaking the hills and vales in illustration of His power, that His voice was heard in giving the Law.

But when the Gospel came it was amid the silences of the night, under the shining of that brightest of stars, the Star of Bethlehem, and all the tramp of feet was that of angel visitors, and the sound of voices was either that of the most Heavenly host, or the most meek of the earth come to worship before Him who was born the Prince of Peace.

The contrast of those hours is the perfect illustration of the difference in the Old Revelation and the New. The first taught men to fear God and obey His Law, while the last instructed them to love Him who so loved us as to give His Only Begotten to die that men might live.

There is a mighty step between the Old Testament and the New. The five hundred years in time was not so long as the religious distance between Malachi and Matthew. But this step forward was a natural step. The difference between the Law of the Old Testament and the Gospel of the New was not the difference between error and truth, so that when the last was given we threw the first away. The advanced reader is in no contradiction with the primer, and our new religion is but the full blown blossom of the bud that grew on the stem of Israel. Christ Himself said to those who feared or hoped that He would discard the Old Revelation:

Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil (Mat 5:17)

Those people who talk of casting away the Old Testament Scriptures oppose the Christ of the New who said again:

For verily I say unto you, Till Heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled.

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat 5:18-19).

He would be a foolish husbandman who thought that when the branches, blossoms and fruit came to his trees, he had no longer need of the old homely roots and began to dig about them to cast them into some burning heap.

He is a poor friend to the New Testament who thinks he honors it by dishonoring and attempting to destroy the root revelation out of which it came. It is the contrast of advance, not of antagonism.

EXCEEDING SUPERIORITY OF CHRISTIANITY OVER JUDAISM

The Apostle here makes it to show the exceeding superiority of Christianity over Judaism. The Law could do no more than impress men with Gods power and justice and demands; and all of Judaism, with its many ceremonies, and its wonderful and striking symbols, only taught men truth in the concrete, as children learn many things by picture representation. I saw a boy not long since who could turn through the pages of a picture-book and recite every story between its lids and yet he knew not even his letters and was unable to go further until taught principles instead of pictures.

So, in the infancy of Gods Church the religious system of Judaism was suited to poorly developed souls, who were not advanced as yet to the better truths of a more perfect revelation. What the Law could not do, in that it was weak (Rom 8:3), we are told, God sent His only begotten Son to accomplish. To Henry Ward Beecher, the Old Testament stood for a religion of ceremony while the New is the best embodiment and boldest expression of eternal principles that shall live and meet the wants of every age. He says justly enough, Every system that multiplies ordinances, every system that runs after rites and ceremonies, runs back to Judaismthat is, runs back to childhood.

When one goes into many a modernly built church, he sees services that lead him to think that the edifice should have been dedicated to the memory of Moses instead of In the Name of Christ.

Ceremony and symbol are in everything. The singing is ceremonial; the prayer is ceremonial; the reading of Scripture is ceremonial; the sermon is ceremonial; the preachers dress is ceremonial, and even his intonation is ceremonial. On the walls are pictures, and about the altar there hang or stand relics of an age that Paul considered past, eighteen hundred years ago.

You cant call it religious death; but if it is Christianity, then Christianity is subject to being Judaized. They have given up eternal verities for the ordinances that appeal to the physical senses of eye and ear. At one time in New York City, at the St. Jean Church of Rome, there was on exhibition a musty bone that Catholicism claimed as from the arm of St. Ann, the mother of the Virgin. The Holy Church charged her children for seeing this relic of a religious past, and the gracious priest, who looked well to the dimes, explained to each religious dupe, This is from the arm of the grandmother of God and may have been often around the infant Jesus. Oh, Twentieth Century! how thy great heart of progress and hope must have sorrowed to see men returning to a false relic of a faded past, leaving the newer and better revelation of Christianity, which teaches not that musty bones are valuable because they supported the Son of God, but rather that the arm of the Living Christ is always wound tenderly about His own. Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (Mat 28:20), is being fulfilled afresh every hour.

It is a strange thing that many new theology people are the very ones who make most of forms and ceremonies. Those who think the Gospel of Jesus Christ is too old for twentieth century advancement, propose to whitewash it and fix it up to suit by special music, responsive readings, chants, gowns, pictures and ritual; as if these were not the garments of Judaism which Christ left off because His revelation was too full-grown to fit such abbreviated habiliments.

Those things are as old as the Temple and its service, and when God destroyed the Temple by Roman armies, he left no remnant of them all, and purposed to give men to the better service of communion face to face with Himself. How ridiculous to dig up the ashes of ritualism and parade them as an improvement on Christianity. It reminds one of Dr. Lorimers story, which he related at the first meeting of the Baptist Young Peoples Union, in Chicago.

It seems that a widower, having discovered in a maiden lady the ideal of his heart, wooed and won her as the queen of his home. Upon their arrival at the old place, after the wedding, the father called the children and began to present his bride to them one by one. Coming to his half-grown son he said, Johnnie, this is your new mother. Johnnie eyed her closely, looked at the wrinkles of the face and the gray in the hair, and motioning his father aside he said, Hold down and let me tell you something! The happy father bowled and gave ear, and Johnnie added, You are sold! You are sold! She is not new; she is old!

Ritualism is not new. It is old, and for a twentieth century church to return to it and live in it, is going back from Mount Sion to Sinai; from the Gospel to the Law; from the City of the Living God to the courts of a primitive temple; from the company of angels and just men made perfect to the companionship of scribes and Pharisees; from the Mount of Transfiguration where Christs glory is supreme, to the Mount of Sinai where Moses was mediator; from the priesthood of Gods Son to the priesthood of sinful man. Who would roll the wheels of religious thought back two thousand years, let him indulge the conceit that ritualism is new and improves the services of a sanctuary dedicated to the cause of Christ.

It was a blessing to the Church of England that Philipps Brooks remained in it, to plead by precept and by example that ritualism be not allowed to come in the room of Christianity. We need such men in all our denominations. There are Baptists, not a fewand many of them good peoplewho are infected with the leaven of Phariseeism, and love form, regardless of its deadening effect. They plead for it as essential to the aesthetic tastes of the time. But who can prove that such things are more popular with men than the Gospel of Christ unadorned?

Look across the ocean and see the greatest gathering of worshipers the nineteenth century knew. Six thousand strong they gathered in the old London Tabernacle, through many summers, and yet Dr. Pierson, when he came to succeed Spurgeon, said something like this: The continued gathering of those great assemblies in the tabernacle, where for nearly forty years six thousand people assembled, morning and evening to worship, and where there was no choir, no organ, and the Gospel was simply preached, without an attempt at any high art, presents a standing contradiction of the slander that the old Gospel has lost one jot or one tittle of its ancient power, or that there is any necessity for any modern resort to these aesthetic standards in order to bring the common people to hear the same Gospel that they heard from the lips of Christ.

I am not opposing good music, vocal or instrumental; nor such responsive readings as may enlist and educate the pew; but the dead line of church life lies just where we attempt to attract men or please God by forms and ceremonies, regardless of the presence or absence of soulful worship.

Beecher said truly enough; We are not Christians because we keep the Sabbath Day, nor because we pray, nor because we read the Bible, nor because we perform duties. They are Christians through whose spirit is struck that vitalizing influence by which the soul says Father and beholds God. Ceremonies that reveal Him are worthy, but those that attract attention to themselves and so hide Gods face from our vision are a hindrance, not a help.

THE NEW NOT BEST APPROACHED BY WAY OF THE OLD

Let us remember further that the new is not best approached by way of the old. Because Christianity is a natural development of Judaism, bringing all its dead forms to spiritual existences, is no reason why we should come to Christianity by way of Judaism. You remember the Hebrew Christians had that notion. They demanded that men who wished membership in their Jewish-Christian Church should first be proselytes of the gate and submit to the Jewish ceremonies. Paul and the other Apostles opposed that teaching and affirmed, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature (Gal 6:15), as the one and only requisite to spiritual light and life. We need to emphasize that fact to this hour. People are still coming to Mount Sion by way of Sinai. Three-fourths of the Christians in this house came that way.

When you were first convicted of sin, instead of looking off to Jesus, the great Saviour, you looked within and said, What a wretch am I! Who shall deliver me? I have broken the commandments; I have sinned, and Gods frown is on me, and the lightnings of His judgment threaten my life.

It was a dreadful hour! It was dark! It was thunderous, and God was full of wrath to you! Why? Because you came up to Mount Sinai instead of Sion; to the Law instead of the Gospel.

The mount of Gods wrath and judgment is always dark and frowning and causing fear. Whoever seeks to be saved by the Law, to meet the requirements of the voice from Sinai, will be full of fear, and come, eventually to signal failure and despair of soul. Some people contend that all that is necessary. They tell us how Paul saw a light from Heaven and was stricken down and was blind for days, and so we all must come to Jesus by way of mourning and darkness and despair. Peter didnt come that way; John didnt; James didnt; Lydia didnt. They went directly to Christ. They had sins, but instead of waiting for days to grieve over them and attempting to atone for them by tears and get Gods favor by presenting a gloomy face and a sad heart, they rose and went direct to Him. They forgot the Law with its demands in the joy of the Gospel. They forgot that Moses ever lived, and cared but little what the priest of old had said when they saw Christ and heard the great Mediator speak the promise of pardon and peace.

One of the most genuine conversions that ever came under my observation knew no thought of Law. Nina Brown of La Fayette, Indiana, came forward at the close of service, and with a sweet, peaceful face said, I want to be a Christian. Show me the way. I turned to Joh 6:37 and read, Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out, and asked, Will you accept that offer of Christ? She said with a face full of light, I will, and went home with perfect trust and a happy heart. People who saw her, and knew that she had spent no hours in agony, comparing her weaknesses with a perfect Law, and weeping as a result, doubted her conversion; but nobody who knew her life long doubted. On the other hand, they coveted her faith and love and wished for a kindred life in Christ.

She came straight to Jesus! She knew about the thunders of Sinai but felt no distress because she fled at once to the arms of Christ.

Everything Mosaic excites fear and produces distrust in self to compel trust in God. Everything Christian whispers peace and love to the soul that starts toward the Cross and goes by the straight path of perfect trust. These very emblems of The Lords Supper whisper pardon and peace, and are full of consolation. They stand for a stricken Christ, for one who died to meet every demand of the Law, and provide for men that better way of Grace. He suffered that we might be free from the Law, and by these symbols He says, The last demand of Sinai I fulfilled; have no fear, but come! The last dart from Gods bow drank the blood of My heart; have no fear, but come! The last sin of any soul I atoned on the Cross; have no fear, but come! See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

Heb. 12:18. Might be touched.A figure of speech for a material thing. A palpable and enkindled fire. For the terrors accompanying the giving of the law on Sinai, see Exodus 19, 20.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Heb. 12:18-21

Emblems of the Older Revelation.The rhetorical character of this passage is very marked, and it should be treated as we properly treat rhetorical work. It is unreasonable to press for a precise meaning and a logical relation in the terms of a rhetorical passage. Farrar says: At the close of his arguments and exhortations the writer condenses the results of his epistle into a climax of magnificent eloquence and force, in which he shows the transcendent beauty and supremacy of the new covenant as compared with the terrors and imperfections of the old. The point which comes out most prominently is, that the old was an outward and material religion of bodily acts, relations, obediences, and ceremonies. Its character could therefore be indicated by material signs: nature-moods and nature-forces could be wisely associated with the founding of that religion, and the promulgation of that law. Dr. Geikie recalls to mind the sublimity of the great day of Sinai: At last, on the morning of the third day, the peaks of the mountain were seen veiled in thick clouds, through which lightnings quivered vividly and unintermittently, as if the vast height were aflame; terrible thunders leaped from crag to crag, and reverberated in multiplied echoes, like the sound of mighty trumpets announcing the approach of God. The phenomena of thunder-storms were in all ages associated by the Hebrews, as by other early and simple races, with the Divine presence, and were its fitting accompaniments when Jehovah now actually drew nigh. All nature was moved, and seemed to tremble before Him. The people had been led out by Moses to see a spectacle so august, but its terrors awed small and great; for as they gazed the mountain appeared to smoke like a furnace, and to reel on its foundations. But if the sight presented were august, the words which sounded above the thunders were still more so. What, in comparison with a moment like this, was the whole record of the Hindoo, Egyptian, or other nations, however ancientwith all their wisdom, or their gigantic creations of temples, pyramids, and colossi? The transaction on Sinai was for all time, and for the life beyond. It laid the foundation of true morality and human dignity among mankind. It was the birth-hour of a people differing from all yet seen. The simple but profound truths of a spiritual God of whom no likeness was to be madea Being who draws to Himself the oppressed and wretched; of the veneration to be shown to parents; of chastity; of the sacredness of human life and of property; of truth between man and man; and of the necessity of a clear conscience, were first revealed at Sinai, as a legacy for all ages. Dean Stanley gives us even a deeper impression of the relation in which nature stood to the old revelation: The outward scene might indeed prepare them for what was to come. They stood in a vast sanctuary, not made with handsa sanctuary where every outward shape of life, animal or vegetable, such as in Egypt had attracted their wonder and admiration, was withdrawn. Bare and unclothed, the mountains rose around them; their very shapes and colours were such as to carry their thoughts back to the days of primeval creation, from everlasting to everlasting, before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made. At last the morning broke, and every eye was fixed on the summit of the height (Ras Sufsafeh). Was it any earthly form, was it any distinct shape, that unveiled itself? There were thunders, there were lightnings, there was the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud; but on the mount itself there was a thick clouddarkness, and clouds, and thick darkness. It was the secret place of thunder. On the summit of the mountain, on the skirts of the dark cloud or within it, was Moses himself withdrawn. They saw not God; and yet they were to believe that He was there. They were to make no sign or likeness of God, and yet they were to believe that He was then and always their one and only Lord. This sublime scene the writer of the paragraph before us recalls to mind; but it is the materiality of it all on which he dwells. These were nature-emblems of a ceremonial and outward religion.

I. A material mountain.A mount that might be touched. It had substance. It was a real mountain. It has been noticed that those who are born and dwell in mountain districts, though they feel passionately attached to their country, seldom either intellectually or poetically interest themselves in the hills. Those who visit such districts receive the mental and spiritual impressions which they are calculated to produce. And the Israelites were visitors to Sinai, to whom the mountain impressions fully came, giving thoughts of the eternity, stability, and sublimity of Him who made these everlasting hills His throne. How the mountains waken thought may be illustrated by one of R. Buchanans Coruisken Sonnets.

Ghostly and livid, robed with shadow, see!

Each mighty mountain silent on its throne,
From foot to scalp one stretch of livid stone,

Without one gleam of grass or greenery.
Silent they take the immutable decree

Darkness or sunlight comethey do not stir;

Each bare brow lifted desolately free,

Keeping the silence of a death-chamber.

Silent they watch each other until doom;

They see each others phantoms come and go,

Yet stir not. Now the stormy hour brings gloom,

Now all things grow confused and black below,

Specific through the cloudy drift they loom,

And each accepts his individual woe.

Monarch of these is Blaabhein. On his height

The lightning and the snow sleep side by side,

Like snake and lamb; he broodeth in a white

And wintry consecration.

II. An earthly form.The awful majesty of tempests in mountain districts is told by travellers. The thunders roll from hill to hill, and gather force as they roll. The might of nature-powers is overwhelmingly impressed on the soul, and man feels his utter nothingness and helplessness in their presence. And yet Elijah learned in this very region of Sinai, that the fire and tempest are but material forces, and belong to the lower ranges of Divine revelation. Those lower, earthly ranges were the only ones which the Israelites could then reach. The time for the spiritual revelations was not then fully come.

III. A trumpet-voice.Which seems to mean sound without sense. The appeal to fear, rather than to love. A call to attention, an awakening to concern; but the time was not fitted for the utterance of words which could be taken into thought and heart, and made the guide and rule of life. At least the words could not then come from God Himself. His voice sounded to Israel but as the blare of some mighty trumpet, and it did but fill them with fear.

IV. A strict injunction.They were to consider that mountain so entirely sacred, that they must not permit even a stray beast to overpass the boundaries. The living symbol of that sacredness of the Holy of Holies, where God dwelt, which was the very centre of their religious system. All the emblems suggested a formal, outward, material revelation and religion. And it is of the very essence of outward, material religionthe religion of forms and rites and ceremoniesthat it treats men as children, and helps them to goodness through fear. A spiritual revelation and religionwhich comes to man and spirit in the power of the Holy Spiritalone can treat men as men, and help them to goodness by principle and trust and love. The way of help to goodness through fear is always called for, since in every age there are found men who are but children, and therefore must be treated as such. Sinai that may be touched, till there can be apprehension of Zion that cannot be touched.

SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES

Heb. 12:18-19. Sinai and Zion.

I. Christianity is a spiritual, not a material, dispensation.

II. Though it is spiritual in its nature, it employs material forms as adjuncts.

III. Sinai and Zion are only marks of progress, not final destinations.Jesus is the grand resting-point.

Learn

(1) that privilege is the measure of responsibility;
(2) that there is no limit to progress in love and knowledge.Dr. J. Parker.

Heb. 12:18-21. The Gospel Church and the Jewish Church.Here the writer goes on to engage the professing Hebrews to perseverance in their Christian course and conflict, and not to relapse into Judaism. He shows how much the gospel Church differs from the Jewish Church, and how much it excels. We have a very particular description of the state of the Church under the Mosaic dispensation.

1. It was a grossly sensible state. Mount Sinai, on which that Church-state was constituted, was a gross, palpable place. It was very much external and earthly.
2. It was a dark dispensation. Upon that mount there were blackness and darkness; and that Church-state was covered with dark shadows and types.
3. It was a dreadful dispensation; the Jews could not bear the terror of it.
4. It was a limited dispensation; all might not approach to that mount, but only Moses and Aaron.
5. It was a very dangerous dispensation. The mount burned with fire, and whatever man or beast touched the mount must be stoned or thrust through with a dart. This was the state of the Jewish Church, fitted to awe a stubborn and hard-hearted people, to set forth the strict and tremendous justice of God, to wean the people of God from that dispensation, and induce them more readily to embrace the sweet and gentle economy of the gospel Church, and adhere to it.Matthew Henry.

Heb. 12:18-24. The Two Mounts.There, on the right hand, are the flowery slopes of the mount of blessing; there, on the left, the barren, stern, thunder-riven, lightning-splintered pinnacles of the mount of cursing. Every clear note of benediction hath its low minor of imprecation from the other side. Between the two, overhung by the hopes of the one, and frowned upon and dominated by the threatenings of the other, is pitched the little camp of our human life, and the path of our pilgrimage runs in the trough of the valley between. And yet, might I not go a step further, and say that above the parted summits stretches the one overarching blue, uniting them both, and their roots deep down below the surface interlace and twine together?A. Maclaren, D.D.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 12

Heb. 12:18. Mount Sinai.Among the characteristics of Sinai one must not be omittedthe deep stillness, and consequent reverberation of the human voice. From the highest point of Rs Sufsfeh to its lower peak, a distance of about sixty feet, the page of a book, distinctly but not loudly read, was perfectly audible; and every remark of the various groups of travellers, descending from the heights of the same point, rose clearly to those immediately above them. It was the belief of the Arabs who conducted Niebuhr, that they could make themselves heard across the gulf of Akabaa belief, doubtless, exaggerated, yet probably originated or fostered by the great distance to which, in these regions, the voice can actually be carried, and it is, probably, from the same causes that so much attention has been excited by the mysterious noises which have, from time to time, been heard on the summit of Gebel Mousa, in the neighbourhood of Um-Shmer, and the mountains of Nks, or the Bell, so called from the legend that the sounds proceed from the bells of the convent enclosed within the mount. In this last instance the sound is supposed to originate in the rush of sand down the mountain-side, and here, as elsewhere, playing the same part as the waters or snows of the North. In the case of Gebel Mousa, where it is said that the monks had originally settled on the highest peak, but were, by these strange noises, driven down to their present seat in the valley, and in the case of Um-Shmer, where it was described to Burckhardt as like the sound of artillery, the precise cause has never been ascertained. But in all these instances the effect must have been heightened by the death-like silence of the region, where the fall of waters, even the trickling of brooks, is unknown.Dean Stanley.

Roots Uncomely but Useful.The root of a plant is often a rough and very unsightly part. Its colour is unpleasing, and its form ungainly, yet it plays an all-important part in the economy of the plants life. You may pluck off the bright flowers and leaves one by one till all is stripped bare, and it will still survive; but the root is essential to its life: injure or remove it, and the plant perishes. Again, the oxygen, the life-sustaining element of the air, given off by the various members of the vegetable kingdom, comes entirely from the stem and leaves, the green parts of the plant, the more beautiful flowers and fruit only exhaling poisonous carbon. So it is with the body mystical of Christ, the Church of the firstborn, and its members in particular. Often God brings a rough, uncouth Luther to far more distinction than a refined Erasmus, and exalts Bunyan the tinker above the most polished of his pious contemporaries. The uncomely parts have more honour, for it is Gods method of working to place more honour upon them, and make them of more use. It is very humbling to pride, especially spiritual pride, but it is His way, who will have no flesh to glory before Him.James Neil, M.A.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

C.

The nature of the old covenant in contrast with that of the new. Heb. 12:18-24.

1.

The terror of the old. Heb. 12:18-21.

Text

Heb. 12:18-21

Heb. 12:18 For ye are not come unto a mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, Heb. 12:19 and the sound of a trumpet, and the Voice of words; which Voice they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them; Heb. 12:20 for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If even a beast touch a mountain, it shall be stoned; Heb. 12:21 and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:

Paraphrase

Heb. 12:18 Now, that ye may understand the value of your birthrights as Abrahams seed, (Gal. 3:18), which I am exhorting you not to throw away, know, that ye shall not, like your fathers, come to a tangible mountain which burned with fire, to show that God is a consuming fire to the impenitent; and to blackness, and to darkness, which was an emblem of the obscurity of the Mosaic dispensation, and to tempest.

Heb. 12:19 And to the noise of a trumpet, like that by which the angels called the Israelites together to hear the law, and which, by waxing louder and louder, terrified the Israelites exceedingly; and to the sound of words uttered by God Himself, the hearers of which, strongly impressed with the holiness and power of their Lawgiver and Judge, earnestly entreated to hear not a word more, (Exo. 20:18-19).

Heb. 12:20 Although, before they were affrighted by the voice of God, they could not bear that which was strictly commanded, Even if a beast touch the mountain while the symbol of the Divine Presence rests on it, it shall be stoned or shot through with an arrow. It seems they expected, by drawing near, to see God without being terrified.

Heb. 12:21 And so terrible was that manifestation of the Divine Presence which appeared, that Moses cried to God, I am exceedingly afraid and quake.

Comment

For ye are not come unto a mount that might be touched

We have no sacred mount or place, as did the Jews. Joh. 4:21. Adventist, you cant come to Mount Sinai and expect salvation, The mountain was not to be touched, although being a mount it might be touched. Exo. 19:12-13.

and that burned with fire

This was the way God taught them reverence, Cf. Deu. 4:11 and Deu. 5:4-5. This was magnificent, but not to be compared with our mount.

and unto blackness and darkness

We have the revelation of light. The blackness probably refers to a dark or thick cloud. Cf. Exo. 19:16.

and tempest

We have the one who stills the tempest. Tempest is not mentioned in Exodus or Deuteronomy, but it includes evidently the thunders and lightnings.

and the sound of a trumpet

Does this mean there is no musical instrument in the church or heaven?

a.

No, he is including the trumpet as part of the frightening experience. See Exo. 19:16; Exo. 20:18.

b.

Observe the use of musical instruments.

1.

Joel 2 was quoted on Pentecost.

2.

Joe. 2:1 : Blow the trumpet.

3.

Joe. 2:15 : Blow the trumpet.

a)

We may assume a musical instrument was used on the birthday of the church.

b)

Psa. 49:4, will open myon the harp, suggests the use of instruments in relationship to the Gospel.

and the Voice of words

The whole group heard the voice. Deu. 5:22. Heb. 12:26 says this Voice shook the earth.

which Voice they heard and entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them

The giving of the law excited terror; the Gospel brings peace. In Exo. 20:19 the people requested that Moses speak to them in place of the Voice.

for they could not endure that which was enjoined

Exodus 19 speaks of the serious bounds put on the people. The frightening trumpet, voice, quaking, and all was more than they could stand without a mediator.

if even a beast touch the mountain it shall be stoned

This was enjoined in Exo. 19:12-13. Absolute reverence was demanded, even to the animals being required to be away.

and so fearful was the appearance that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake

Is this statement of Moses found here only?

a.

Some suggest that Paul received it from Jewish tradition.

b.

Some say the author inferred it.

c.

Some suppose Exo. 19:16-17 is referred to where Moses stood with all the people.

In Exo. 19:19 we read, Moses spoke.

a.

What he spoke is not recorded.

b.

If Paul were inspired, he could have written what Moses said that day.

c.

Jesus promised the disciples guidance into all truth. See Joh. 16:13.

Study Questions

2624.

What mountain is referred to in Heb. 12:18?

2625.

Does the Christian have a sacred mountain?

2626.

What did Jesus say about worship at a mountain? Cf. Joh. 4:21.

2627.

Why did the mount of Moses burn with fire? Cf. Deu. 4:11; Deu. 5:4-5.

2628.

What was the name of the mountain?

2629.

Could the mountain be touchedwas there any danger? Cf. Exo. 19:12-13.

2630.

What is meant by blackness and darkness?

2631.

How does darkness compare with our mountain?

2632.

What is meant by the word tempest?

2633.

Is there any tempest described? What could it refer to?

2634.

Was there a musical instrument at Mount Sinai?

2635.

Does this imply that a musical instrument is not to be included in the church?

2636.

Why is it mentioned? See Exo. 19:16; Exo. 20:18.

2637.

What is the trumpet referred to in Heb. 12:19?

2638.

Tell of the various uses of the trumpet in the Bible.

2639.

What is referred to in the Voice of words? Cf. Heb. 12:26 and Deu. 5:22.

2640.

What was Israels reaction to the words heard first from the mount?

2641.

Why did the Hebrews request the Voice to be silenced?

2642.

Will men ever feel that way again?

2643.

Does the Gospel strike terror to some?

2644.

How did the scene at Sinai impress the Hebrews?

2645.

What factors were frightening?

2646.

Why were animals forbidden to be near the mountain?

2647.

Should we be careless about the Lords house today?

2648.

Why was the mountain out of bounds for man and beast?

2649.

Where did Moses make the statement found in Heb. 12:21?

2650.

What explanations are made?

2651.

Could Moses have spoken with others recorded in Exo. 19:16-17?

2652.

In the giving of the law, what was Moses first reaction?

2653.

What did Moses speak in Exo. 19:19?

2654.

How did the author of Hebrews get this information?

2655.

Could Joh. 16:13 be an answer?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(18-29) The exhortation to faithfulness is most impressively enforced by means of a comparison between the earlier revelation and that which is given in Christ.

The mount that might be touched.It appears certain that the word mount has no place in the true Greek text. Had this word been in the sentence as originally written, its absence from all our more ancient authorities would be inexplicable; whilst, on the other hand, the contrast with Heb. 12:22, and the recollection of Deu. 4:11, from which the last words in this verse are taken, would very naturally lead a transcriber to supply this word, which he might suppose to have accidentally dropped out of the text. If, however, the writer did not make use of the word here, though the contrast of Heb. 12:22 was already before his mind, it seems certain that the word was not in his thought; and hence we have no right to introduce it in the explanation of the verse. The true translation, in all probability, is as follows: For ye are not come unto a material (literally, a palpable) and kindled fire, and unto gloom and darkness and tempest. The object of the writer is to set forth the terrors which accompanied the giving of the Law,that which the awe-stricken people saw and heard. Not the mount, but the terrible fire was that which met their gaze. Thus again and again in Deuteronomy we find reference to the voice and the fire alone (Deu. 4:33; Deu. 4:36; Deu. 5:4; Deu. 5:25-26; Deu. 18:16). Shortly before the day of the assembly in Horeb Israel had been led by a pillar of fire (Exo. 13:21); in Heb. 12:29 of this chapter the figure of a consuming fire is applied to God Himself. To avoid such associations as these, and vividly to represent what then was shown to the Israelites, he speaks of a material and kindled fire. The metaphor in palpable as applied to fire is hardly more remarkable than that involved in a darkness which may be felt (Exo. 10:21, where the word used in the LXX. is almost the same as that which we have here).

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

4. INSPIRATIONAL. In view of our Mount Zion, so superior to Sinai, let us have grace and confidence, Heb 12:18-29.

18. For In view of the above warning of forfeiting their birthright by relapsing from the gospel dispensation into the Sinaitic, he will draw them a symbolic picture of the two.

Ye are not come The word come, here and in Heb 12:22, is significant. It is said, (Deu 4:11🙂 “Ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.”

The journeyings of Israel are typical of our probationary journey in life and history. The Jew has only arrived as far as Sinai; we Christians have attained to Zion.

Bengel, followed by Delitzsch, finds in the two pictures a series of particulars, amounting each to seven, which are in some degree antithetical.

1 . The mountain (Sinai) that can be touched. 1. Mount Zion. 2 . Kindled fire. 2. City of the living God. 3 . Dense clouds. 3. Myriads of angels and firstborn. 4 . Darkness. 4. God the judge of all. 5 . Storm. 5. Spirits of just perfected. 6 . Sound of the trumpet. 6. Jesus, mediator of the new covenant. 7 . Voice of words. 7. Blood of sprinkling.

An understanding of this tabulated parallelism is facilitated by a comparison with a similar tabulation in our notes to Gal 4:22-26. The same two things are illustrated in both tables, namely, the old theocracy, or Judaism, and the new, or Christianity. Both are furnished for the same purpose, namely, to prevent a relapse from the new to the old. In both cases the two mountains, Sinai and Zion, form the basis of the whole conceptual framework. And it is curious to note that as in Galatians the reader finds the actual name Zion to be omitted, so, by the best readings here, the actual name of Sinai is omitted. The term mount is, in fact, absent from the text of so many good manuscripts that both Lachmann and Alford omit it; but the sentence is thereby so lamed, that Delitzsch holds it to have been omitted by the carelessness of an early copyist. Tischendorf’s text reads, Ye are not come to a touched and kindled (lighted to full conflagration) fire, and to black clouds, and darkness, and tempest. Perhaps the phenomena crowning the mount are named as an elegant implication of the mountain; or, rather, we might say the fire stands for the mountain itself, as volcano would stand for the mountain in which it rages, or as a burning building is called “a conflagration.” Yet Alford’s view may be best, namely, that the author’s mind has mount here, though the word is unwritten until the opposite Mount Zion is reached in Heb 12:21.

Might be touched That is a tangible material mountain, though it was forbidden to be touched, in Exo 19:12-13. Bengel interprets as “lightning-touched,” that is, by God; Wordsworth, a mountain that had to be groped after, that is, in the darkness; a sense justified indeed by the Greek word for touched, but hardly making a congruous idea. The mount was a material object, and all the particulars ascribed to it in this passage are physical and sensible. Nevertheless the literal mountain is really the base on which is overlaid the conception of old Judaism. Our author does not merely tell his readers that they have not come unto the literal Sinai; but that they have truly gone beyond the Sinaitic dispensation and come to the Zionic.

Blackness The dense dark cloud encircling the mountain on whose summit was the fire, shadowing the lower sides of the mountain with darkness, while from the cloud and darkness issued the tempest.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘For you are not come to what might be touched, and which burned with fire, and to blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words.’

The situation of those of old is first dealt with vividly. He is trying to establish for his readers, by negatives, a sense of the holiness and awesomeness of God. For the new covenant and the new realities have not changed the nature of God. Let them not forget that. He is still a consuming fire (Heb 12:29). What they have changed is the situation for those who are truly responsive to Christ, and His approachability.

When the first covenant was given it was on an earthly mountain, one that was tangible and of this world. And yet it had with His presence become so holy that it could not be touched, because God was there. It was a mountain which burned with awesome fire. It was a mountain of blackness and pitch darkness (gnopho and zopho) and tempest. See for this general picture Deu 4:11 LXX, ‘the mountain burned with fire up to heaven, with darkness, cloud and the great sound of a tempest’. Note the repetitions in order to bring out its dark and mysterious nature and the reference to tempest which indicates the thunder and savagery of nature that accompanied it. It was a mountain from which came a blaring sound as of a trumpet and the voice of words. There was no closeness of relationship here, no sense of ease and calm, no easy approach, but a sense of fear, and terror before the glory of the Lord that shook the very being, and an awareness that God was revealed and yet hidden, local and yet could not be approached. (See Exo 19:16; Exo 20:18-19; Deu 4:11-12).

‘What might be touched.’ This stresses that Mount Sinai could in fact normally be touched because it was of the earth and therefore attainable by man when God was not there. It was of this world. For with all its manifestations at that time it was in the end but an earthly mountain, in total contrast with the heavenly Mount Zion. However, because God was there it could not be touched at that time, for even an animal straying onto it would immediately become ‘holy’ and had to be slaughtered by stone or arrow (it could not itself now be touched) – Heb 12:20. Thus it was both earthly and heavenly at the same time.

‘And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words.’ The sound of a trumpet is regularly the indication that God is approaching to act, and here He acted with the voice of words in giving the covenant in terms of being their sovereign Lord in a way that would never be forgotten. And yet even so it failed because of the sinfulness of their hearts. The background may have been powerful thunder, or it may have been some unearthly noise which gave the impression of the blaring tones of a trumpet, but it alerted them to the seriousness of what God was about to say.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Hear God’s Word (Mental Perseverance) – We are then exhorted to hear and receive God’s word from Mount Sion as a measure of our mental perseverance. With this exhortation the author uses an Old Testament comparison of God delivering His Word to the children of Israel from Mount Sinai. In Heb 12:18-29 the author makes a clear contrast between the way man communicates with God in the new covenant with the old covenant. He emphasizes the negative aspects of Mount Sinai in Heb 12:18-21 when the children of Israel were gathered around it to hear the voice of God. In Heb 12:22-24 he emphasizes those who are already in Heaven to assist in our redemption. He then interprets this Old Testament event under the New Covenant (Heb 12:25-29).

Heb 12:22 Comments This heavenly city is the city for which the patriarchs were searching (Heb 11:10).

Heb 11:10, “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Heb 12:23 “and to the spirits of just men made perfect” Comments – Heb 10:14 says that we have been “perfected” by the one-time offer of the blood of Jesus Christ. According to Heb 12:23, this perfection is referring to the born-again spirit of man, which reads, “and to the spirits of just men made perfect.” God is now at work in the life of every believer to bring him into perfection, spirit, soul and body.

Heb 10:14, “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”

Comments At 5:00 a.m. Monday morning, March 28, 2011 my brother Jerry called me from the hospital to inform me that our mother had just died. I hung up the phone and the first thing that I felt an urge to do was go to God’s Word. The Lord then quickened to me the phrase “and to the spirits of just men made perfect.” I understood that Mom had just been made perfect in spirit, soul, and body when she left this life and entered the gate of heavenly Jerusalem. Although our spirits are made perfect at the time we are born again, our soul and body must wait until we reach Heaven in order to partake of this perfection.

Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Heb 12:24 Comments – Both Abel and Jesus shed blood because of their faith in God. The book of Genesis tells us that Abel’s sacrifice was superior to that of his brother Cain (Heb 11:4), and in his death his offering still speaks of right standing by faith in God (Heb 11:4). Yet, Christ’s sacrifice is far superior to Abel’s in that it paid for the sins of all of mankind, while Abel’s sacrifice only made atonement for his sins. We can understand Abel’s sacrifice and death to be a type and figure of Christ’s future death and sacrificial offering unto God. Heb 12:23 tells us that “the spirits of just men were made perfect,” referring to Christ’s work of redemption to bring us to perfection.

Heb 11:4, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”

Heb 12:22-24 Comments A Description of Heaven – We can imagine leaving this earthly life and going to Heaven. We first approach the Heavenly city ( but ye are come unto mount Sion) and we immediately feel the very presence of God everywhere ( and unto the city of the living God). We enter the city ( the heavenly Jerusalem) and see the host of angels as they go about their divine duties ( and to an innumerable company of angels). We meet our loved ones and the saints of old ( to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven). We approach the throne of God and sense His holiness and understand why He created Hell ( and to God the Judge of all). As we meet with the saints we begin to understand their immortal characteristics ( and to the spirits of just men made perfect). Soon there is a stir as Jesus walks us to greet us ( and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant). We notice the scars on His hands and feet and began to realize the sacrifice that He made for you and me ( and to the blood of sprinkling), a sacrifice that far exceeded anything that we could have done as mortals on earth ( that speaketh better things than that of Abel).

Paul, whom the early church fathers bear witness as the author of the epistle of Hebrews, was caught up into Heaven and saw these things (2Co 12:1-4). The vivid description contained in Heb 12:22-24 very likely serves as a description of what he saw and experienced during this heavenly rapture.

Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

Heb 12:25 Comments – We must understand Heb 12:25 b to be a similar statement to the ones made in Heb 3:13; Heb 6:4-6; Heb 10:28-29; Heb 12:15, warning us of divine judgment for those who refuse His voice.

Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

Heb 12:26 “Whose voice then shook the earth” – Comments Exo 19:18-19 tells us that God’s voice shook the entire mountain when He spoke from Mount Sinai to the people.

Exo 19:18-19, “And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.”

Deu 4:11-13, “And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.”

Deu 5:22-26

Psa 68:7-8, “O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah: The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.”

Heb 12:26 “but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven” – Comments – The Old Testament quote in Heb 12:26 is most likely a paraphrase taken from Hag 2:6, “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;”

Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

Heb 12:28 Word Study on “let us have grace” – The Greek construction ( ) or ( ) [268] or some variation of this phrase is found no less than thirteen times in the Greek New Testament (Luk 17:9, Rom 6:17; Rom 7:25, 1Co 10:30; 1Co 15:57 , 2Co 2:14; 2Co 8:16; 2Co 9:15, Col 3:16, 1Ti 1:12, 2Ti 1:3, Phm 1:7 [t.r.], Heb 12:28). It is properly translated in a variety of ways; “I am grateful to God,” or “I thank God,” “Let’s give thanks,” or “with thanks to the Lord.”

[268] Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger, M. Robinson, and Allen Wikgren, The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (with Morphology) (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1993, 2006), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), Hebrews 12:28.

ESV, “let us be grateful”

NET, “let us give thanks”

NCV, “let us be thankful”

NIV, “let us be thankful”

NLT, “let us be thankful”

Rotherham, “let us have gratitude”

RSV, “let us be grateful”

However, there are a number of modern versions that translate the word (G5485) as “grace.”

ASV, “let us have grace”

BBE, “let us have grace”

Murdock, “let us grasp the grace”

WEB, “let us have grace”

YLT, “may we have grace”

Heb 12:28 Comments Taking the Greek word (G5485) to mean, “divine grace” rather than “thanks,” we can say that it is only by God’s grace that we are able to live a life of holiness and well-pleasing unto God, who is a consuming fire. The grace of God empowers us to persevere in the Christian life as described Heb 12:1-27. In other words, holiness is a product of divine grace, something a Christian cannot obtain without the empowering of the Holy Spirit, and High Priesthood of Jesus Christ, and divine providence of God the Father.

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

Heb 12:29 Comments Heb 12:29 is probably taken from Deu 4:24, “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”

One of the characteristics of fire is that it consumes. We do not expect fire to burn without performing its natural behaviour, which is to consume. In like manner, one of God’s divine characteristics is to consume all that is sinful, since He is a judging God. If an unregenerate man stood in the presence of God he would instantly be consumed by God’s presence, because His character is similar to that of fire in that He consumes all that is evil. Thus, the author of Hebrews says, “For our God is a consuming fire.”

Illustrations We find examples of God consuming people with fire in the book of Leviticus and Numbers.

Lev 10:1-2, “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.”

Num 16:35, “And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.”

Scripture References – Note similar verses:

Deu 9:3, “Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.”

Also:

Psa 18:7, “Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.”

Psa 68:2, “As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.”

Isa 30:27, “Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The covenant of fear contrasted with that of grace:

v. 18. For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,

v. 19. and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore;

v. 20. (for they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart;

v. 21. and so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake;)

v. 22. but ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

v. 23. to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn which are written in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

v. 24. and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Here is another reason for the entire appeal and warning as contained in this chapter, namely, the fact that grace is the compelling motive in the Christian’s life, and not fear: For you have not approached to the mountain that can be touched and burns with fire, to darkness and gloom and hurricane, and to the sound of a trumpet and to a voice sounding in words, which they that heard earnestly begged that further speech might not be added to them. The reference is evidently to the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, Exo 19:1-25; Deu 4:1-49. That was a solemn, a fearful occasion, for the mountain itself was burning with fire, Deu 4:11, and yet the rest of the country in the neighborhood was covered with a misty gloom, with a heavy darkness, while a storm-wind having the proportions of a hurricane made every heart quake, Deu 4:11; Deu 5:22. To this fearsome scene was added the sound of a trumpet, in itself calculated to make even a stout heart shrink under such conditions, Exo 19:16-19; Exo 20:18, and then the voice of words which were spoken from the top of the mountain, Exo 20:1-26; Deu 5:4-22. No wonder that the children of Israel were filled with such terror that they earnestly entreated and begged Moses to arrange in some way that this fearful voice might not sound for them any more, Exo 20:18-19; Deu 5:23-27. The very enumeration of the various phenomena gives some idea of the terrifying character of the spectacle.

How great the terror of the people was, is indicated in the following verses: For they could not bear that which had been ordered, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, Exo 19:12-13. It was a day when all hearts quaked with a fear that could not be quieted, since all nature seemed in an uproar, and the Lord Himself appeared to be their threatening enemy. So inexpressibly great was the glory and majesty of God on Mount Sinai that Moses, upon returning from the presence of God with the two tables of the Law, and finding that the people had so far forgotten themselves as to become guilty of the basest idolatry, was terrified by the very thought of God’s possible revenge upon them, and cried out: I am extremely afraid and tremble, Deu 9:9; Deu 9:15-19. That is a picture which properly characterizes the Law with its terrible threats and curses of damnation.

Fortunate are the Christians that they are no longer under the Law, the very giving of which struck abject terror into the hearts of a whole nation: But you have drawn near to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the perfected righteous, and to the Mediator of a new covenant, Jesus, and to the blood of sprinkling, whose message is more excellent than Abel’s. The contrast between the old and the new covenant is brought out by every expression. For the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, is not an earthly, visible mountain, but a fellowship of saints, whose excellence can be but feebly indicated by attributes of human speech. Because David, the forefather of Christ, lived on Mount Zion and in the city of Jerusalem, and because the salvation of the Messiah was to take its beginning from this neighborhood, therefore the congregation and communion of saints, where God lives with His salvation in Christ, is commonly called Mount Zion, the city of God, in the prophecies, Psa 9:11; Psa 76:2; Psa 110:2; Isa 2:2-3; Mic 4:1-2. The ideal Zion is the place where God manifests His presence, the fullness of His grace in Christ. It is the heavenly Jerusalem, since it is not earthly and made with hands, and yet will be the final abode of all believers, Gal 4:26. God has His home, the throne of His mercy, in the midst of His Church, Rev 14:1; Rev 21:2; 1Co 3:16; 2Co 6:16. Into this communion the believers have entered. They are thus united with many thousands of angels in a fellowship of bliss, heaven and earth being united through the coming of Christ, Col 1:20; Eph 1:10. We belong, by faith, to the great festival assembly, to the congregation of God’s first-born children, those that have been converted to faith in the foremost First-born, the eternal Son of God. We have come to God, the Judge of all men, and are able to stand before Him in trusting confidence by virtue of the justifying faith which has been kindled in our hearts through the Gospel. We are even one great congregation with the spirits of the saints that have reached the final perfection, the last goal, the bliss of heaven, Luk 23:43; 2Co 5:8; Php_1:23 . All this, however, is possible because we have come to the great Mediator of the New Testament, to Jesus, who restored mankind to the original relation of children to the heavenly Father, through His own holy, innocent blood, with which we have been sprinkled in faith. The blood of Abel may indeed act as a witness and as such have value for this life, Heb 11:4. But the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all sins, and therefore pleads before God with a voice so loud and persuasive that it secures perfect righteousness for us. Thus the inspired writer brings home to us the fact that we have come to the pleasant, merciful, saving Gospel. What a glorious privilege!

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Heb 12:18. For ye are not come, &c. What here follows is assigned as a reason to confirm the preceding advice; namely, that they should follow peace with all men, and continue in the grace of God, Heb 12:14-15. The motive hereto is briefly this: “Because you are not come to Sinai, but to Sion. You must maintain peace with, and receive to your communion, not only your brother Jews, but also the uncircumcised believers; because you are not come, as your ancestors once came, to mount Sinai, where the law was given to none but the Jews; but you are come to mount Sion, to which all believers pertain.” When the apostle exhorted them not to fall from the grace or favour of God, Heb 12:15 he thereby represented the gospel, as the dispensation of the grace of God. He now sets himself to prove this, by observing, that the law spoke nothing but terror, Heb 12:18-21 whereas the gospel discovers abundant grace, particularly a Mediator,his atoning blood,the happiness of heaven, and the eternal glories of the New Jerusalem: (Heb 12:22-24.) and every thing the apostle says concerning these two different states, will be found to answer one or other, and often both of his purposes; namely, to excite the Hebrews to follow peacewith all men, and to continue in the grace of God. Instead of the mount that might be touched, Dr. Heylin reads very properly, to a palpable mountain: For the apostle does not mean that it was lawful or allowed that the Israelites should touch this mountain, while the law was giving; (for he observes this was forbidden, Heb 12:20.) but that it was a real, material, earthly mountain, whichwas in itself capable of being touched or felt; while mount Sion is a spiritual thing which cannot be touched.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Heb 12:18 . ] enforces, by a reason adduced, the exhortation to sanctification at Heb 12:14 ff., inasmuch as there is an underlying reference to the fact that, according to Exo 19:10 f., Exo 19:14 f., the people of Israel in their day, before they were permitted to approach Mount Sinai in order to receive the law, had to sanctify themselves (Exo 19:10 : ; Heb 12:14 : ), to wash their clothes, and to preserve themselves free from all defilement.

] for ye did not, sc. when ye became Christians, draw near . Comp. Deu 4:11 : .

] to a mountain which is touched, i.e. felt, or laid hold of with hands. That which is intended is Mount Sinai, the place of revelation of the Mosaic law, mentioned also Gal 4:24-25 as the representative of Judaism. As a mountain, however, which is touched or felt with hands this mountain is spoken of, in order thereby to express its character of externally perceptible, earthly, in opposition to the supra-sensuous, heavenly ( , Heb 12:22 ). The form is not to be taken as synonymous with , that could be touched , as is still done by Knapp, Bhme, Stuart, Bleek, de Wette, Tholuck, Bloomfield, Ebrard, Bisping, Kurtz, Ewald, and the majority of modern expositors. For the participle is indeed employed for the verbal adjective in the Hebrew, but never in the Greek. Neither can signify: “touched of God by lightning, and therefore smoking” (Schttgen, Kypke, Bengel, Chr. Fr. Schmid, Storr, Heinrichs, and others; comp. Exo 19:18 : ; Psa 104:32 : ), since signifies not the contact made with the view to the producing of an effect, but only the touching or feeling (handling), which has as its design the testing of the quality or the presence of an object. Comp. Luk 24:39 ; 1Jn 1:1 ; Act 17:27 . Moreover, the participle present is unsuitable to this explanation, instead of which a participle of the past must have been chosen.

] is understood by Erasmus, Calvin, Beza, Grotius, Bengel, Knapp, Paulus, Stuart, Stengel, Bisping, Delitzsch, Riehm ( Lehrbegr. des Hebrerbr . p. 114), Maier, Moll, Kurtz, Ewald, al. , as a new particular, co-ordinate with the : “and enkindled fire.” On account of the like nature of the additions, . . ., immediately following, this acceptation seems in itself the more natural; but since, in the passages of the Pentateuch which were before the mind of the writer in connection with this expression, there are found the words: (comp. Deu 4:11 ; Deu 5:23 ; Deu 9:15 ), it is more probable that the author referred still to , and would have taken as dativus instrum . to : and which (mountain) was enkindled , or set on flame, with fire .

] and to gloom and darkness and tempest . Comp. Deu 4:11 ; Deu 5:22 : , , .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

Heb 12:18-29 . To the endeavour after sanctification the readers are bound, by the constitution of that New Covenant to which they have come. While the Old Covenant bore the character of the sensuous, earthly, and that which awakens merely fear, the New Covenant has the character of the spiritual, heavenly, brings into communion with God and all saints, and confers reconciliation (Heb 12:18-24 ). Against apostasy, therefore, from the New Covenant (by an immoral walk), are the readers to be on their guard; for their guilt and culpability would be thereby incomparably enhanced. Rather are they to be filled with thankfulness towards God for the participation in the immovable kingdom of the New Covenant, and with awe and reverence to serve Him (Heb 12:25-29 ).

On Heb 12:18-24 , comp. G. Chr. Knapp in his Scripta varii argum. , Exo 2 , Hal. Saxon. 1823, tom. I. pp. 231 270.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

IV
We are held under obligation to this by the nature of the New Covenant

Heb 12:18-24

18For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched [to a mountain7 that is handled], and that burned with fire [and to burning fire], nor [and] unto blackness, 19and darkness,8 and tempest, And [to] the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice [om. voice] they that heard entreated [deprecatingly begged, , that the word should not be spoken to them any more [that (further) speech might not be added to them]: 20(For they could not endure [endured not] that which was [om. was] commanded, And if so much as [Even if] a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart [om. or thrust through with a dart9]: 21And so terrible was the sight, that [Andso fearful was the spectacle] Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake). 22But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23To the general assembly and church of the first-born [and to myriads, a festal company of angels and the congregation of the first-born], which are written [who are registered] in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all [or, and as Judge, to the God of all], and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the [a] new covenant, 24and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of [more mightily10 than] Abel.

[Heb 12:18., scil., , to a mountain that is felt of, handled, palpable to touch=material and earthly. , and to kindled, hence, burning fire, better than burning with fire.

Heb 12:19., etc., begged off against any further word being said to them; , to beg off for oneself, to deprecate, not= (as Alf.), but , with force of aside from, against.

Heb 12:20. , they did not bear that which commanded=the command.

Heb 12:21.. So, perhaps, it is better to punctuate, carrying over to ., as otherwise a , or with ., could hardly be dispensed with.

Heb 12:22-23. . . The Eng. ver., an innumerable company of angels and the general assembly and church, etc., is rendered impossible by the absence of the conjunction before . while again to connect . with without the , involves an unaccountable departure from the general structure of the passage, in which all the other principal members are connected by . It remains then either to take as a collective term distributed into the of angels, and the of the first-born, or to take as belonging only to the clause in which case again it is a question whether we are to read, to myriads, a festal company of angels, or, to myriads of angels, a festal company. In regard to the first construction, is justly remarked by Moll to be naturally suggestive, from Old Testament associations, of angels, and it seems better so to restrict it. Thus restricted again, if governs . the noun . comes in as a dragging and halting apposition. With Moll, I prefer, therefore, to myriads, via., a festal host of angels. If (with Alf., etc.) covered both . and ., so elegant a writer would hardly have omitted after ., not merely a general assembly, but, a festal gathering, a joyful and jubilant host.. ., perhaps better rendered by the indefinite art., a congregation of first-born ones, suggested by the case of Esau, who had to lose his birthright in order that Jacob might obtain it.. , registered., enrolled, whose citizenship is in heaven. , and to God the judge of all, so E. V., etc., and still Alf., while among others Be Wette, Bleek, Ln., Del. and Moll construct: and as judge to the God of all, which certainly has the order of the words, and I think the sentiment in its favor.

Heb 12:24.. , of a new covenant. , speaking better, or, more mightily. , in comparison with Abel.K.].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Heb 12:18. Which is handled.The pres. particip. can be scarcely regarded as=the verbal adjective in , hence is not=which might be touched, as is commonly maintained, nor=touched by God, i.e., by the lightning, and therefore, smoking (Beng., Storr, and others); but it expresses that which, in its nature, is material and perceptible to the sense. The position of is opposed to the construction which would connect with it, and make dat. of the instrument (Bl., De W., Thol., Lun., etc.), with reference to Deu 5:23; Deu 9:15, etc. Del. also remarks, in defence of the cordinate construction of these words adopted by Erasm., Calv., Beza, Grot., Beng., etc., that also at Deu 4:36; and elsewhere the great fire is mentioned by itself. is borrowed from Exo 19:16; from Deu 4:12; the relative clause , etc., refers to Deu 5:22; Deu 18:16; comp. Exo 20:18 ff.; the command, Heb 12:20, refers to Exo 19:12 ff. To understand as=that which is ordained (Storr, Schultz, etc.), is contrary to the New Testament usage, which employs the verb only as a middle.

Heb 12:21. Andso fearful, etc.The proper punctuation originated with Beza. Previously, were always taken together. Heb 12:21 is a heightening of the idea of 820; but the is not=also, or even (Carpz., Boehm., and others). This interpretation is inconsistent with its position in the clause. The words here ascribed to Moses are not found in the Scripture account of the giving of the Law. According to Calov, the author drew from immediate inspiration. According to Erasm., Beza, Schlicht., and others, from tradition. Recent commentators more correctly refer the words to Deu 9:19, where Moses expresses his fear of the wrath of God, after the defection of the people in worshipping the golden calf, by the words . Stephen, at Act 7:32, in recounting the appearance of God in the burning bush, represents Moses as , which words, also, are not found at Exo 3:6.

Heb 12:22. To Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem.With Mount Sinai, the representative of the legislation of the Old Covenant (Gal 4:24), is contrasted Mt. Zion as the city of the fulfilled Messianic promises (Psa 48:3; Psa 50:2; Psa 78:68; Psa 110:2; Psa 132:13; Isa 2:2; Mic 4:1; Joe 3:5; Oba 1:17; Rev 4:1), and as the true dwelling-place of God (Micah 14:3; Isa 26:21; Eze 3:12). So also the Heavenly Jerusalem, which (Gal 4:26) is also mentioned as Mother of the redeemed and truly free children of God, is contrasted with the earthly Jerusalem, the city of the great King (Mat 5:35), as the city in which the living God, who is also its Founder and Architect (Heb 11:10; Heb 11:16), has not so much His dwelling-place as His people. That the contrast of the earthly and the heavenly is here arranged according to the sacred number seven (Beng., Del., Kluge), is not indicated in the text.

Myriads, etc.By the term myriads, we are involuntarily reminded of angels (Deu 33:2; Dan 7:10; Judges 14). It is therefore very natural to regard angels also here as exclusively meant, and to take the term not as a collective conception, distributing itself into the two parts of a festal assemblage of angels, and the congregation of the first-born (as with Beng., Bl., De W., Ebr., Del., etc.). It is, indeed, in my judgment, most natural to conceive the angelic hosts as a festal company (Son 7:1), yet, as in apposition with myriads; to which there is then subjoined the mention of the Christian church. For inasmuch as the term myriads does not of necessity, under all circumstances, denote angels, Num 10:36, it would be almost indispensable to add some specializing clause. Should we, on the contrary, connect not with (Seb. Schmidt, Griesb., Knapp, etc.), but with (Bez., Calov, Storr, Thol., Ln., etc.), we must, in that case, either take . as in opposition with , which would be dragging and heavy, or connect it with the following, giving it quite another reference. Thol. makes, alongside of the myriads of angels, a festal company of glorified saints, who are already celebrating the Sabbath of the people of God (Num 4:19), and the community of Christians still walking upon the earth. To these latter the certainly has reference, inasmuch as they are said to be registered or enrolled in heaven; because by the introduction of their names into the book of life, they are registered as citizens of the kingdom of heaven, with an assured prospect of the heavenly inheritance, (Dan 12:1; Luk 10:20; Php 4:3; Rev 3:5; Rev 13:8; Rev 20:15); and they are called First-born, not in reference to the time of their conversion, whether understood of Apostles (Primas., Grot.), or of the earliest Jewish and Gentile believers (Schlicht., Bl., Ebr., etc.), or of those who have been glorified by martyrdom (De W.); but in reference to their dignity as first-fruits of the creatures of God ( ), Jam 1:18, Rev 14:4; 2Th 2:13 (Bhm., Thol., etc.). [May there not be a reference in the term , here to the case of Esau, a little above alluded to, who sold his birth-right, , and whose selling or parting with it was indispensable to its passing over to Jacob? In earthly families and relationships there can be but one first-born; the prerogative is restricted by the nature of the case. But in the family of God they are all first-born. The congregation of ancient Israel was made up in but a small proportion of those who held this honor; but the spiritual church of the New Testament is a community or congregation of First-born onesthey are all first-born. This need not exclude the reference to the import of the term as given by the author.K.]. The term . forbids our referring the first-born, either to those already dwelling in heaven, or to angels, as the oldest inhabitants of heaven (Nss., Storr, etc.), or to the patriarchs and saints of the Old Testament (Calv., Beng., Ln., etc.), or to the glorified first fruits of Christianity (De W.); for the sealing borne by the 144,000, as their characteristic mark on the heavenly Zion (Rev 14:1), and which had been already impressed upon them on the earth (Heb 7:3), is an entirely different thing from the registering of their names in the list of the citizens of the kingdom of heaven. But it is very questionable whether we are authorized to refer . to the festal company of the glorified, as such a reference is in no way exegetically involved in the text. It were much more natural in such a cordination of and in reference to the , not, indeed, to adopt the view of Ln., that the collective community of the first-born are characterized partly as a festal and exulting assemblage (.); partly as bound in an inward unity (), but rather that of Hofmann, who finds in it the united and kindred designations of the church, partly as a religious and worshiping, partly as a political organization. But there is absolutely no ground apparent for this double representation; on the contrary, the absence in this case of the connecting particle between the two principal members would be entirely inexplicable.

Heb 12:23. As Judge, to the God of all, etc.[So Moll with many, instead of to God, the Judge of all]. We need absolutely assume no inversion (with the old translators and interpreters). The subject is the prerogatives of the Christian revelation; hence in regard to the Judge before whom the first-born, who are enrolled for the kingdom of heaven, i.e., Christians, are yet to appear, the comforting declaration is made that He is the God of all; i.e., stands in a positive religious relation to all the members of this community. This explanation is suggested by the context, and is entirely satisfactory. It makes also a natural connection with what follows. To take as neuter, thus designating the Judge who protects His people by His judgment, in His omnipotence as God over all beings and things (Del.) is totally unnecessary, and, in fact, would require with . It is equally erroneous to find in the passage a reference to the narrow and bigoted conceptions of the Jews (Bl., De W., Ln.).

Spirits of the just made perfect.By virtue of their religious communion with God the Christians, while yet living, stand in the same political fellowship to which the departed spirits of the righteous belong, not barely those of the Old Covenant (Schlicht., Bl., De W., Ebr., etc.), nor merely those of the New (Grot., Beng., Storr, Ln., etc.), but of both (Bhme, Thol., Bisp., Del., Riehm, Alf.). They are called , not because they have completed their earthly life (Calv., Limb., Bhme, etc.), and not in the sense of , perfect ones (Theophyl., Luth., etc.), but because Christ has brought them to the goal of perfection. For although they have not yet experienced the resurrection, and that ultimate perfection () which is common to all the believers of the Old and the New Testament, still awaits them (Heb 11:40), yet Christ who descended and ascended, Eph 4:10, has already opened to them the gates of the realm of death (Rev 1:18). Even before the resurrection they have been permitted to enjoy the presence of the Lord (Php 1:23; compare Joh 14:2).

Heb 12:24. Jesus, mediator of a new covenant.The writer selects the personal historical name of the Mediator, because by the death of the Incarnate One upon the cross, that covenant was effected which (Heb 8:8; Heb 8:13; Heb 9:15) was called , as being new in its quality (fdus novum), but is here called which Bhme, Kuin., and others here without ground regard as identical in meaning, but which rather characterizes this covenant as recent, as new in time and fraught with youthful vigor.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The legislation of Mount Sinai has a threatening, and even fearful character, which brings out in strong relief the majesty of the God, who, by His voice indeed reveals Himself on earth, but remains Himself invisible; and in view of it fills sinful man with terror in the feeling that he stands exposed to the avenging lightnings of this Heavenly King, and has nothing to oppose to the thunders of His speech; so that, instead of rejoicing in the presence of God, he would rather flee from the stormy terrors of His approach, unless restrained by the hand and mandate of the Almighty. This fearful shuddering before God was felt even by the Mediator of Gods revelation to the world, inasmuch as He was only a man who Himself stood in need of a reconciling mediator. Although there existed an earthly place for the revelation of God, yet God still remained Himself unapproachable, and the natural phenomena in which He announced His presence, and indicated the character of His revelation for the time being, at the same time veiled His real essence. In accordance with this, the character of Gods Old Covenant people is only that of an external holiness and union with God, which expresses, and represents that which should be, but is unable to obtain and impart it.

2. Christians, on the contrary, are the true people of God, endowed with a citizenship in heaven, and with all the means of grace on earth, so that in their pilgrimage below, they are not merely blest with heavenly goods, but are transformed into the heavenly character, (Eph 2:6), and have their citizenship () in heaven (Php 3:20), with whose inhabitants they now already, as belonging to the kingdom of God, have fellowship, and their approach to which, as members of the New Covenant, is rendered possible by the blood of its Mediator, which brings them who are sprinkled with it into a gracious relation to the Judge, and which, as the blood of the Righteous One, who, in the power of an indestructible life, stands completely and forever in our stead, powerfully surpasses the cry of Abel for vengeance, who, murdered in his innocence, is not forgotten of God (Heb 11:4).

3. The mention of the spirits of the just made perfect, argues decisively alike against the assumption of a sleep of the souls of the departed, and against the doctrine of a purgatory.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

By what means we ascertain that the Mediator of the Old Covenant revelation was not the genuine Mediator.The diversity of the voice of God in the Law and in the Gospel.By our entrance into the Christian Church we come into communion with a heavenly world.That which most terrifies us, most powerfully consoles, most tenderly allures.Our connection with heaven, prepares us on earth to triumph over the world.

Starke:The glory of the New Covenant pledges all who live in it to the greater sanctity.The law of the Most High is no childs play; it commands and threatens. If we are unable to fulfil it, we must still fear in holy reverence, and seek protection with Him who has fulfilled it on our behalf.Here on earth believers are really blessed and they pass in their blessed state of grace from one degree of blessedness to another.See, we are to be citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, associates with Christ, with the holy angels and the elect.By faith, Christ dwells in our hearts; we have Him and enjoy Him; but in heaven we shall properly see Him, possess Him, and be satisfied.

Hahn:We are, as it were, so loaded down with grace, that it were the greatest ingratitude and insensibility if this did not spur us on.The fact that a part of His people are still in a distant land, and some are already at home, is matter of no account with the Lord Jesus, and occasions Him no concern; for, in His own time, He will bring us all thither.We have, in the Spirit, perpetual access on high, and perpetual enjoyment from on high.

Heubner:The Church of Christ on earth is a nursery for the Church of Christ in heaven.The Christian alone has the hope of a blessed communion with all saints.

Tholuck:The greater the grace which is evinced toward us, the heavier our responsibility, if we refuse to heed it.

Appuhn:The children of God on earth and the children of God in heaven, are intimately united.

Hedinger:Grace, not wrath, is to quicken our obedience.The fairer the city, the more cheerful and glad the service of its citizens.

Footnotes:

[8]Heb 12:18.Instead of read, after Sin. A. C. D., 17, 31, 39, the more rare and elegant . The former comes from Deu 4:11; Deu 5:22, and is added in Sin. by the corrector.

[9][Heb 12:20.The clause . of the Rec. (but inserted after , Heb 12:21), is as deficient in authority as it is injurious to the rhetoric of the passage, and is rejected as an interpolation by all the best editors.K.].

[10]Heb 12:24.Instead of , the uncials uniformly, and the minusc. generally read .

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 2339
THE TRANSCENDENT EXCELLENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION

Heb 12:18-25. Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (for they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) but ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.

IN explaining the Holy Scriptures, it is often requisite that we carefully bear in mind, not only the immediate context, but the whole scope of the book in which any particular passage occurs. This is of the first importance in considering several expressions in the Epistle of St. James, and it is not unimportant in the passage before us.
The general scope of the Epistle to the Hebrews is, to encourage the Jewish Christians to hold fast their profession in the midst of all the persecutions they endured. And the principal argument used for their encouragement is, the great superiority of the Christian religion above that which they had renounced. In the foregoing part of the epistle, this subject is treated at large: and, in the words which we have read, there is a kind of recapitulation of it, purposely introduced, in order to confirm the Hebrews in a steady adherence to the faith which they had embraced, and to shew them the dreadful danger of departing from it.
Hence, in elucidating this passage, we shall have occasion to shew,

I.

The transcendent excellence of the Christian dispensation

The circumstances which took place at the giving of the law, are all particularly and distinctly referred to [Note: Compare ver. 1821. with Exo 19:14-25.]: and they exhibit in very striking characters the nature of the law itself. The law was never given in order that the people might rest in it, or expect life from it; but that they might be made to know and feel their need of that better covenant which God would make with them under the Gospel dispensation. Instead of bringing men to God, it kept them at the greatest distance from him, not a soul being suffered to touch the mount on which he revealed himself, nor so much as a beast touching it without having instant death inflicted on him. Instead of producing any thing like filial love and confidence, it inspired only fear and terror, and, as the Apostle says, gendered to bondage [Note: Gal 4:24.]. Even Moses himself said, I exceedingly fear and quake. Instead of offering life to any one, it was altogether a ministration of condemnation and death [Note: 2Co 3:7; 2Co 3:9.].

Now, says the Apostle, ye who have received the Gospel are not come to such a dispensation as that; ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear [Note: Rom 8:15.]: but ye are come,

1.

To a better place

[Mount Sinai differed not from any other mount: it might be seen and touched like any other place. But not so the mount to which those who believe in Christ are come: they are come to Mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, a place not visible to mortal eyes, nor like to any place which mortal hands have formed: it is a place formed by Almighty God for his own immediate residence, and for the fullest manifestations of his glory.]

2.

To a nobler society

[Angels indeed were present at the giving of the law: but the Jews had no communion with them: they were only Gods agents for augmenting the terror of the scene [Note: Act 7:53. with Psa 68:17.]. Their whole tribes too were there convened: but it was only that they might all be filled with the same dread of Gods wrath, and be made to unite in that urgent request, that God would speak to them no more by an audible voice, but only through Moses as a mediator [Note: Deu 5:22-28.]. But those who believe in Christ are come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant. Yes, the glorified saints and angels all belong to the same blessed assembly to which believers are now called: and God, even as a Judge, is no longer to them an object of dread, because they know that he at the same time is their Father: and they have Jesus as their Mediator with him; and the new covenant as the rule according to which they shall be dealt with by him. Here all is no longer fear and terror, but peace and joy.]

3.

To far more exalted privileges

[Moses, the morning after the giving of the law, offered burnt-offerings; with the blood of which he sprinkled both the book of the covenant which had been made with the people, and the people themselves, saying, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words [Note: Exo 24:4-8.]. But what did this covenant avail them? The very blood with which it was ratified served only to testify against them as violating their own engagements, and making void every promise contained in it. But the blood of sprinkling to which the Christian is come, effectually removes from him all his sin, and prevails for his perfect reconciliation with God. The blood which Abel offered in sacrifice, received a visible and most honourable token of Gods acceptance of it [Note: Heb 11:4.]: but, however blessed that external testimony was, it was not worthy to be compared with that internal witness of the Spirit, with which believers in Christ are sealed; which assures them of their adoption into Gods family, and their everlasting fruition of his glory: it seals them, not for a time only, but unto the day of redemption; and is to them, not a seal only, but a pledge and earnest and foretaste of heaven itself [Note: Eph 1:13-14.]. The very same eternal love which elects them to obedience, elects them also to this sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ [Note: 1Pe 1:2.].]

The Apostle, however, not content with exhibiting thus the transcendent excellence of Christianity, proceeds to point out,

II.

The indispensable necessity of paying to it the attention it requires

The warning which he gives to the Hebrews is most solemn; See that ye refuse not him that speaketh: and the argument with which he enforces it is most awful; for, if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.
Hear then the warning
[Look into the history of the Hebrews: see what became of those who refused obedience to the Sinai covenant: they perished; even that whole nation perished, (of those at least who had attained the age of full maturity,) with the exception of two. For one single transgression of it was Moses himself excluded from the earthly Canaan [Note: Deu 32:50-51.]. The extreme severity of the law against any wilful and presumptuous violation of its commands, is again and again held forth as a warning to us under the Gospel dispensation, and particularly in the epistle before us: If the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation [Note: Heb 2:2-3.]? So again; He that despised Moses law died without mercy, under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite to the Spirit of grace [Note: Heb 10:28-29.]? Well may such warnings as these sink down into our ears, and make us tremble at the thought of disobedience to the Gospel covenant!]

Acknowledge also the justice of it
[Think how the Christian covenant has been delivered: not by a terrific voice, uttered from a cloud by a Being that was invisible, but by the Lord Jesus Christ himself descending from the highest heavens to make it known to us in the mild accents of love and mercy. Think too of its contents. To what does it call us, but to a conformity with the holy angels, and the spirits of the just made perfect? It brings us into favour with God, precisely as they are. It invites us to begin their employments now, and even on earth to participate their bliss. It makes every provision for the end: it offers pardon, and peace, and righteousness, and glory, to all who by faith will lay hold upon it. Say then, what do not they deserve who refuse to listen to invitations like these? Verily, we cannot but acknowledge, that, if the judgments denounced against the disobedient Israelites were just, much more must the heaviest judgments that can ever be inflicted upon us be just, if we refuse to listen to Him who speaks to us with such astonishing condescension and grace.]
We must not omit to notice, that the Apostle here takes for granted, respecting every true Christian, that he is thus come to Mount Sion.

Permit me then, in conclusion,
1.

To make this a matter of inquiry

[Have you indeed come thus to Mount Sion? Have you turned your backs on Mount Sinai, from a deep conviction that you are condemned by the law, and have no hope at all but from the gracious provisions of the Gospel? Have you obtained an insight into the nature of true religion, as consisting in a communion with God and with the heavenly hosts, and an actual participation of the mind, the spirit, the blessedness of heaven? Ah! how rarely is Christianity viewed in this light! It is regarded rather as a mere system of restraints enforced with terror, than as an earnest and antepast of the heavenly bliss! I pray you, not to imagine that you have ever yet set out aright, if you have not thus passed from Mount Sinai unto Sion, and from Moses unto Christ.]

2.

To address you under the supposition which is here made

[I will suppose, that you are come unto Mount Sion. Yet much would I guard you, as the Apostle did the Hebrews, against yielding to any species of temptation that may deprive you of the blessings to which, according to your Christian profession, you are entitled. It is no uncommon thing for persons to make shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience, even after they have for some time maintained, in appearance at least, an upright walk and conversation. But beware lest ye be in any wise hindered in running the race that is set before you: difficulties ye must meet with, both within and without: and it is well that you do meet with them; for how else shall your fidelity to God be tried? But ask yourselves, what any of the holy angels would do if they were in your place? or what any of the spirits of the just that are now made perfect would reply to those who should either by menaces or allurements attempt to turn them from God? You cannot doubt. Be ye then like them, to whose society you are brought, and with whom you are to dwell through everlasting ages: and as ye are already come to the very gate of heaven, see that an entrance into it be ministered unto you abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

(18) For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, (19) And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (20) (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: (21) And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) (22) But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (23) To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (24) And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Within the compass of these verses, we have the most striking description drawn, and by the pencil of the Holy Ghost himself, of the vast difference between Mount Sinai, and Mount Zion; that is, the law, and the Gospel; a Covenant of Works, and a Covenant of Grace. And it is such a description, as is enough under divine teaching, to arrest the heart, with the most sensible apprehension, of the awfulness of the one, and the blessedness of the other; the soul’s approaches unto God.

The first account is of Mount Sinai. And the very solemn and awful demonstrations, of the Lord’s presence, in giving the law; are described in characters so terrible, as even in the recital, makes the flesh to tremble. Moses himself was so overwhelmed, that he said, I exceedingly fear and quake. And all Israel cried out, and said unto Moses, speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die, Exo 20:18-19 . Nothing can be more plain, than that the leading design of the Lord, in those manifestations, of thunderings, and lightnings, and the like, were to impress the Church of God, with an holy awe and reverence, in the consciousness of the divine presence. And also to shew them, the blackness, darkness, dread, and horror, which every soul must feel, through divine teaching, when brought under the conviction of having broken the Lord’s precepts.

And, on the other band, in the most blessed and gracious description, given of Mount Zion, the Church is taught the high privilege of the Lord’s redeemed ones, who now may come, and who indeed do come, to the assembly of the first-born; yea, to God himself the Judge of all, when coming in the name of Jesus., the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling. And here is implied, in being come, that there is an holy familiarity, and acquaintance, in this approach; a birth-right, by the new-birth; a redemption, an adopted-character, by Jesus’s blood, and righteousness; and the Covenant faithfulness of God the Judge of all. So that this is the Gospel privilege of God’s redeemed ones: their stated daily, hourly, minutely mercy; to which they are supposed to come boldly, and find mercy, and grace to help in all time of need, Heb 4:16 .

One point I would beg however to remark, on this different description of those Mounts, in the dispensation of the Law and the Gospel. The Holy Ghost hath most graciously and blessedly taught the Church, in this divine scripture, from the different manifestations in which the Lord was pleased to make himself known to Old Testament saints, and New Testament believers; how blessed an alteration is made, in the mode of worship, by the open revelation of Christ; but it must not be understood from thence, that the way of acceptance with God in Christ, differed in the Old Testament Church from the New. Both were one, and the same. The former, was a shadow of good things to come; but then, as now, the body was Christ. And blessed be God, our fathers, both under the Law, and before the Law, as well as their children under the Gospel, in every ministration, and in every service, had an eye to the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World. Their services, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, yea, the Book of the Law, and all the people, were sprinkled with blood, Exo 24:6-8 ; Heb 9:19-22 . And hence we find Old Testament saints chanting their hymns of salvation to God, and the Lamb. Job knew, that his kinsman Redeemer lived, Job 19:25 . David sung his dying love song, in the believing views he had of a Covenant ordered in all things and sure; and which was all his salvation, and all his desire, 2Sa 23:5 . And indeed, all the faithful, in every age of the Church, from the first dawn of revelation, in Abel’s faith offering, down to Zachariah’s day at the Altar of Incense, in the moment of Christ’s coming, blessed God, in the soul-living expectation of the mercy promised, Luk 1:72 . Reader! learn to estimate, the high privileges of redemption in Jesus; and be it your daily song of thanksgiving, and praise, that you are not come to the Mount that might be touched, (that is on which the Lord by his descent might be said to touch, though not touched by man,) and that burned with fire; but you are come to Jesus the Mediator; and to the blood of sprinkling! Oh! the blessedness, the preciousness, the unspeakable greatness of the mercy! Jesus, your Jesus, if so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious; to whom coming, 1Pe 2:3-4 . And in, And through, and by Jesus, to God the Judge of all.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

XXVII

THE OUTCOME OF THE CHRISTIAN’S LIFE

Heb 12:18-24 .

The sixth great promise of the new covenant is the outcome of the Christian life (Heb 12:18-24 ). This paragraph is the climax, but not the end of the argument of this letter. The thought has been touched more than once already, but here is gathered in a correlated group the sum of all detached antecedent teachings. Here is not one star, but a constellation more luminous and alluring than the Pleiades. Indeed, it is a vivid contrast between two opposing constellations “The sweet influences of Pleiades” vs. “The bands of Orion,” for it presents both negative and positive aspects, to wit: What the Christian is not coming to, and what he is coming to.

Heb 12:18-20 tell us that the Christian is not coming to Mount Sinai, i.e., to the old covenant, ministered by angels and mediated by Moses, with its terrors of voice, earthquake, tempest, fire, darkness, and trumpet so awful that even Moses feared exceedingly and trembled a mountain whose touch was death and whose yoke gendered to bondage and death. Elsewhere Paul has declared that this mountain as an allegory, “answereth to Jerusalem that now is; for she is in bondage with her children” (Gal 4:21-25 ). Indeed, Gal 4:21-31 parallels our paragraph and demonstrates Pauline authorship of this letter. At the giving of the law, the trumpet of heaven which marshaled the angels, waxed louder and louder until its awful peals smote the people with terror an unearthly trumpet sound that earth never heard before and will not hear again until the final advent, when again it marshals the angels to attend our Lord for gathering the elect and for burning the tares, and not, according to Negro theology, to wake the dead. (See Mat 13:30 ; Mat 13:38-43 ; Mat 13:49 ; Mat 24:31 ; 1Th 4:16 for the meaning of the trumpet.) The outcome of the old covenant is death, to which the Christian never comes, for “Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,” and himself said, “I am the resurrection and the life . . Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” .

If we construe the word “come” in “ye are not come” and ”ye are come,” In the present or perfect tense, the meaning is: “Ye are not come unto the old covenant as a regime, but to the new covenant as a regime.” But it is prophetic present, or perfect, and represents the outcome or destiny.

THE PARTICULARS OF THE OUTCOME 1. To a definite place. “But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” This accords with the statements in Heb 11:10 : “For Abraham looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God,” and Heb 11:14-16 : “For they that say such things make it manifest that they are seeking after a country of their own. And if indeed they had been mindful of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city.”

On the same line speaks our Lord: “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go, ye know the way” (Joh 14:2-4 ). And in the Apocalypse of John we have these precious words to the conditions there.

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning nor crying, nor pain any more; the first things are passed away. Rev 21:1-4 .

And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof. And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb, And the nations [of the saved] shall walk amidst the light thereof, and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there shall be no night there) and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it: and there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie; but only they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Rev 21:22-27 .

And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, preceding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no curse any more, and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall be night no more: and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun: for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign forever and ever. Rev 22:1-6 .

It was this paradise regained that Paul was himself permitted to see: “I must needs glory, though it is not expedient; but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know not …: God knoweth), such a one caught up even to the third heaven. And I know such a man (whether in the body, or apart from the body, I know not; God knoweth), how that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for man to utter” (2Co 12:1-4 ). And it was concerning this place and condition he also said: “While we look not at the things which are seen, . . . for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens” (2Co 4:18-5:1 ).

We need to impress our minds with the fact that all finite beings must have a place, whether in the body or out of the body only the infinite is omnipresent and that the clearness of our conception of heaven much affects our lives. Many Christians live far from God and are unhappy, and prone to backsliding, because their conception of heaven is so vague and misty. They do not lay hold of the powers of the world to come. Dr. Chalmers, in his greatest sermon, on “The Expulsive Power of New Affections,” says substantially: “Oh, if some island of the blessed could be loosed from its heavenly moorings and float down the tide of time so that we could just once behold the serenity of its skies, the tranquillity of its peace if just once we could inhale the aroma of its flowers, catch the sheen of the apparel of its inhabitants just once have our hearts ravished with the melody of its music then never again would we count this world our home.”

I once heard at a great camp meeting a thousand happy voices singing that old-time Methodist hymn: Have ye heard, have ye heard, of that sunbright clime, Undimmed by sorrow and unhurt by time; Where age hath no power o’er the fadeless frame; Where the eye is afire and the heart is aflame: Have ye heard of that sunbright clime?

The effect was electrical and the impression uneffaceable.

I stood by the bedside of a once gifted, but now brokenhearted woman, from whose life all earthly joy had been cruelly snatched away and crushed and dying, but with face illumined, she said, “Old-time friend and schoolmate of my happy girlhood, have your people sing to me.” “And what, would you have us sing?” “Sing to me of heaven.” And so we sang, Oh I sing to me of heaven When I am called to die; Sing songs of holy ecstasy To waft my soul on high.

Her face shone as the face of an angel, and in a low, sweet voice she repeated the last stanza, and whispered, Let music cheer me last on earth And greet me first in heaven.

And so her soul passed upward in a gentle sigh. We recall the ecstasy of martyred Stephen: “But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Act 7:55-56 ).

THE COMPANIONSHIP OF HEAVEN Our companions there forever are of the three classes: Angelic, human, and divine. Let us consider them in order:

(1) “To an innumerable company of angels.” All those ministering spirits who, since the throne of grace was established, have served the heirs of salvation. Jacob saw them in his dream at Bethel, descending and ascending the ladder which reached from heaven to earth, which ladder was our Lord himself (Joh 1:51 ). Cherubim and seraphim, which constitute the chariot of God, and overlook the mercy seat, and sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.” They hover over our assemblies on earth and are instructed in the manifold wisdom of God as the church unrolls and reveals that wisdom. They gather the elect for glory, and the wicked for destruction.

(2) Human companionship in heaven. The “heaven” of the text must be considered as the place where the disembodied souls of the paints now go, and in the references to the human companionship there are five distinct ideas:

(1) The first idea relates to them individually.

(2) The second idea relates to their sanctified state. Both these ideas are in the expression: “The spirits of Just men made perfect.”

(3) The third idea relates to their official character while on earth, “firstborn” this has been explained as meaning that every regenerate man possesses the right and office of primogeniture constituting him a priest unto God.

(4) The fourth idea relates to them as having been an organized assembly, or the enrolment of the “firstborn” ones into a church Greek, ekklesia. The third and fourth ideas are in the phrase: “Church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.” This is a back reference to their church life as a business body on earth.

(5) The fifth idea relates to them collectively in heaven, and is an entirely new one. These churches of the first-born ones on earth, enrolled in heaven, are in their disembodied state, no longer business bodies, but have become a “general assembly” Greek, panegyris. Here the apostle, following the idea of Greek civic or state bodies, each an independent business body, beholds them gathered in one great assembly, not for business or war, but for joyous festivity. Let not the Spartan ekklesia “come with arms to the panegyris. ” “The panegyris and ekklesia of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.”

The author utterly repudiates any interpretation of panegyris which makes it a festive assembly of angels. There is not an allusion in the Bible to angels keeping a festival, but the references are abundant to the festival of the saints in heaven, as will be shown when we come to the seventh great promise of the new covenant.

These several ideas restated are as follows:

1. When we die we go at once to heaven and become a companion of every saint whose death preceded ours. We will know then, not in part, but as we are known. We will recognize and enjoy Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and all the prophets and all the apostles, evangelists, and martyrs. We will enjoy the companionship of Spurgeon, Bunyan, and every other faithful preacher or layman. We will, like David, go to our own dead children, our sainted father, mother, brother, or sister.

2. We ourselves, completely sanctified in spirit, will join the spirits of all the justified now made perfect.

3. On earth we were not only a priest unto God, offering spiritual sacrifices, but

4. Were enrolled in heaven as belonging to an organized business body an ekklesia.

5. There we will be a member, not of a business body, but of a general assembly panegyris an assembly, not for war as on earth, but for a festival of eternal joy.

We now enjoy the companionship of every imperfect saint of our acquaintance. We now enjoy our church relations, offering jointly with our brethren assembled in worship, spiritual praises as priests unto God. We now enjoy our gatherings for co-operation in Christian work and warfare, whether in district associations, state conventions, national conventions, or international assemblies, for the promotion of the cause of our Redeemer, but then and there, when earth’s business is ended and its warfare has ceased, we join the general assembly of all the saints who have crossed the flood and there are ready to welcome those who follow, “till all the ransomed church of God are saved to sin no more.”

Dr. Talmage tore his rhetoric to tatters in a vain attempt to describe the home-coming of the Federal Army a million men at the close of the Civil War, as they passed in one grand review, company by company, regiment by regiment, brigade by brigade, division by division, army corps by army corps infantry, cavalry, artillery drums beating, bands playing, cannon thundering, flags floating, and cheer after cheer saluting. But how shall all that compare with the grand review of the redeemed, which John saw in vision from Patmos? “After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands; and they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God who sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb. . . . These are they that come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God; and they serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat: for the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev 7:9-10 ; Rev 7:14-17 ).

3. Divine companionship. “Ye are come to God, the Judge of all . . . to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant.” The desire of the ages to see God has been baffled by the statement: “No man hath seen God at any time, or can see him.” Job cried out: “O that I knew where I might find him and talk to him face to face as with a friend!” Philip prayed: “Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth.” But it is the promise of the new covenant that we shall see God. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” The spirits of the just made perfect do see him. They come to him: “Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! That with an iron pen and lead they were graven in the rock forever I But as for me, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and at last he will stand up upon the earth; and after my skin, even this body, is destroyed, then without my flesh shall I see God, whom I, even I, shall see on my side and mine eyes shall behold and not as a stranger” (Job 19:23-27 ). Not only so, but in our glorified bodies we shall see him: “And they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads” (Rev 22:4 ).

The spirits of the just made perfect shall see Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant. We never saw him in the flesh that “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” but when we die we shall see him anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. Then with Paul elsewhere we may say: “Whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord;” for us “to die is gain, for when we are absent from the body we are present with the Lord.”

Not only so, but when absent from the body we come “to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things for us than the blood of Abel.” This does not mean the application of the blood of Christ to our hearts that is done in regeneration but it means that we come, when we die, to the holy of holies in heaven and see where Christ’s blood, shed on earth for expiation, was sprinkled on the mercy seat in heaven for atonement, in the interval between his death and resurrection.

We now need to understand the meaning of “which speaketh better things for us than the blood of Abel,” i.e., the blood of Abel’s typical lamb, which could not possibly take away sin. Yet Spurgeon in a great sermon on this text, construes it to mean Abel’s own blood which Cain shed, according to Gen 4:10-11 : “And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened its mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand.” The great preacher draws a vivid picture of the evicted soul of Abel rushing into heaven and crying: “Vengeance! Vengeance, O God, on my murderer I” But our Lord’s blood cries: “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.”

I wish I could close my discussion here, but inexorable duty requires, at least, an outline of the outcome of the impenitent sinner:

1. He, too, when he dies, comes to a place “a place prepared for the devil and his angels.”

2. The conditions of that place are foreshown by our Lord in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luk 16:23-31 ). A place of intolerable thirst and torment, so far from the water of life. Between this place and the place of the righteous is a deep impassable gulf, a place of unanswered prayers, a place not only unreachable by agents of mercy in heaven or in earth, but a place from which no mission can be sent to earth to warn loved ones not to join him there.

3. It, too, has its human companions all liars, thieves, gamblers, extortioners, covetous men, adulterers, and idolaters.

4. It has its angelic companions the devil and his demons, whom the impenitent in life preferred to God and holy angels. Ah! “Wide is the place, and deep as wide, and ruinous as deep, while over head and all around, wind wars with wind, and storms unceasing hurl the lightning bolts of wrath, and remorse, the undying worm forever gnaws.” The outcome the outcome of the path whose steps take hold of death and hell!

QUESTIONS

1. What is the climax of the argument in this letter?

2. State the negative outcome of the Christian life.

3. Cite the particulars, without the scriptures, of what the Christian comes to.

4. Give scriptures on the place.

5. Give the scriptures on the conditions of the place.

6. Why do many Christians live so unhappily, so unprofitably, so prone to backsliding?

7. Quote Dr. Chalmers.

8. Quote the great Methodist hymn.

9. Give the scriptures on the angelic companionship.

10. What are the several ideas on the human companionship?

11. What are the scriptures on coming to the Father and seeing him?

12. On coming to the Son? In the passage from Job 19 on seeing the Redeemer, which version is correct, common or revised? In other words, does Job expect to be “without his body” or “in his risen body” when he beholds his Redeemer?

13. Explain “coming to the blood of sprinkling,” and do you agree with Spurgeon?

14. State the particulars of the sinner’s outcome, by way of contrast.

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,

Ver. 18. For ye are not come, &c. ] q.d. You are not under the law, but under grace, beware therefore of profaneness and licentiousness. For think you that God hath hired you to be wicked? are you delivered to do all these abominations Jer 7:10 . Ought you not to walk gospel high? Phi 1:27 . Will not the angel (Christ) that goeth along with you, destroy you after that he hath done you good, if ye turn not and repent according to the rules of the law, the gospel? Exo 33:2-4 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

18 29 .] Connected with what has preceded by . Take heed that there be not such (as in Heb 12:15-16 ) among you : for ( not only have we the solemn warning of Esau, but ) we are not under the law with its terrors, but under the gospel with its promises, hearing one who speaks for the last time, who speaks from heaven and receiving a kingdom which shall not be moved .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

18 .] For (see above) ye have not drawn near to (‘in your approaching unto God (reff.), it has not been to, &c.’ The E. V. “ye are not come unto” omits the approach to God implied in ) that which was being touched (understand , which is expressed below with , and hence has come in as a gloss here. From the seeming difficulty of this, and from all who omit here having taken the two dative participles as agreeing with , and in consequence giving no adequate sense, many even of our critical editors and expositors have here forsaken the testimony of antiquity, and inserted the . But if we suppose to have been before the Writer’s mind from the first, there is no difficulty in his deferring the so long.

has been variously interpreted. Some, as Schttgen, Kypke, Bengel, al., and Bretschneider, and even Palm and Rost, Lex., understand it, “ touched by the fire of God,” cf. Ps. 103:32, . But this seems hardly consistent with the present part., nor indeed at all with the sense of the word itself, which is to touch by feeling about, as a blind man does, contrecto, palpo Isa 59:10 , ; Gen 27:12 , : Gen 27:21-22 ; Jdg 16:26 , : Deu 28:29 , , : Job 5:14 , : Heb 12:25 , : Exo 10:21 , . And this sense will I believe fit our passage very well. Mount Sinai was a material mountain, which not only might be touched , as many (Knapp, Bhme, Bleek, De Wette, Tholuck, Ebrard, Bisping, al.), identifying with , but was being touched , would have been touched by the people had it not been forbidden. So that the part. pres. (or imperf.) is in that peculiar sense of incompletion in which we so often find the imperf. itself, inviting after it an in Greek, or a ‘ ni ’ in Latin. Unless we bear this in mind, we are open to the objection that, while it was forbidden to be touched, it yet was touched. The other objection, brought by Delitzsch, that the Writer mentions this fact of touching below in other terms, with , is readily answered, that he is there using the very words of the prohibition in Exodus, whereas here he is giving scope to the graphic and rhetorical style of the passage. For the whole, cf. Exo 19:12-13 , where leads very naturally to ), and which was burnt with fire (cf. the same expression in reff. Deut., where nearly the same words, , , , following, put it beyond all doubt that is used here ablatively, not as a dative with , as Erasm., Calv., Beza, Bengel, Knapp, and more recently Delitzsch. (Such a connexion is perfectly allowable, against Ebrard, who ventures here one of his rash assertions: “ cannot be an attribute of : for to designate a fire as ‘a burning fire’ would be superfluous, unless a burning fire is to be contrasted with a painted fire, which is not the case here.” And this in the face of , Lev 6:13 ; see numerous other examples in Bleek.) The perfect participle, in either case, is somewhat startling. The present would seem the more natural. But if in the case where it is taken with it is rendered ‘ kindled ’ (see Del.), there can be no reason why it should not in the other be rendered ‘ lit up .’ ‘ Consumed ’ would be : cf. Exo 3:2 , , ), and to blackness and darkness and tempest (cf. reff. Deut.), and to sound of trumpet (see ref. Exod. The Writer avoids the there used, having so soon to use . As regards the method of declining , see Winer, 9, Remark 2. This form, which is blamed by Thomas Magister, is very commonly used by the classics. When Delitzsch states that it is the only form known to common Greek, he is as wrong the other way: see Aristoph. Av. 215: Plato, Rep. vii. p. 435: Herod. ix. 34: Callim. Hymn. in Jov. 53: Pind. Ol. 14. 29. Cf. Palm and Rost’s Lex.) and the voice of words (ref.),

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Heb 12:18-29 . In this paragraph we have the climax of the Epistle. Its doctrine and its exhortation alike culminate here. The great aim of the writer has been to persuade the Hebrews to hearken to the word spoken by God in Christ (Heb 1:1 , Heb 2:1-4 ). This aim he still seeks to attain by bringing before his readers in one closing picture the contrast between the old dispensation and the new. The old was characterised by material, sensible transitory manifestations; the new by what is supersensible and eternally stable. The old also rather emphasised the inaccessible nature of God, His unapproachable holiness, His awful majesty, and taught men that they could not come near; the new brings men into the very presence of God, and though He be “Judge of all” yet is He surrounded with the spirits of perfected men. But as the writer seeks to quicken his readers to a more zealous faith He shows also the awful consequences of refusing Him that speaketh from heaven. Not the fire and smoke of Sinai threaten now to consume the disobedient, but “our God is a consuming fire”; not a symbolic and material element threatened, but the very Eternal and All-pervading Himself. And, returning to the idea with which he commenced the Epistle and so making its unity obvious, the writer contrasts the voice that shook the earth with the infinitely more terrible voice that shakes the heavens also, that terminates time and brings in eternal things.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Heb 12:18 . “For ye have not approached,” assigning a further reason for the previous exhortation. Your fathers drew near [Deu 4:11 , ] to hear God’s word. The word is used in its general sense, and the idea of drawing near as an accepted worshipper is not intended. As MS. authority removes , the construction is doubtful. The R.V. renders “ the mount that might be touched,” indicating that “the mount” is not in the text. This is justified by the antithetic clause, Heb 12:22 , , which already was in his mind. Others translate “ye are not come to a palpable and kindled fire,” which is grammatically possible, but open to the objection that “a palpable fire,” a fire that can be touched is precisely what this fire was not, and it is an awkward mode of expressing a “material” fire. A third rendering is “Ye are not come to that which can be touched and is kindled with fire”. , “that burned with fire” is in agreement with Deu 4:11 , , , ; see also Deu 5:22-23 ; Deu 9:15 ; Exo 19:18 . The “gloom and mist and tempest (or hurricane) and the blast of trumpet (Exo 19:16 , ) and voice of words” (Deu 4:12 , ) are enumerated to accentuate the material and terrifying character of the revelation on which the O.T. dispensation was founded. The regularly recurrent gives emphasis to this enumeration; all the features of the manifestation were of the same character. The article is omitted before each particular, because each is introduced not for its own sake but for the general effect. From to (Heb 12:21 ) describes the terror induced by these manifestations, (1) first in the people ( ) who begged that not a word more should be added to them ( suggested by Deu 5:25 ; Deu 18:16 , , “we will not any more hear, etc.,”) for they could not endure that which was being commanded, “If even a beast touch the mountain it shall be stoned” (Exo 19:12-13 ); and (2) also in Moses, for, so terrifying was the appearance that Moses said, “I am extremely afraid (Deu 9:9 ) and tremble”. ( was uttered by Moses when God’s anger was roused by the people’s idolatry; Stephen (Act 7:32 ) uses of Moses at the burning bush.)

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Heb 12:18-24

18For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, 19and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. 20For they could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.” 21And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.” 22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

Heb 12:18-21 This section is a description of the giving of the Mosaic Law on Mt. Sinai (cf. Exo 19:16-25; Deu 4:11-14).

“to darkness and gloom” This is possibly an allusion to Deu 5:22.

Heb 12:19 “blast of a trumpet” God’s voice sounded like a trumpet (cf. Exo 19:16; Exo 19:19; Exo 20:18)

“who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them” YHWH’s awesome power on Mt. Sinai frightened the people (cf. Exo 20:19; Deu 5:22-27; Deu 18:16).

Heb 12:20 “if even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned” This is a third class conditional sentence. It is another allusion to the awesome holiness of God descending on Mt. Sinai (cf. Exo 19:12-13).

Heb 12:21 “I am full of fear and trembling” This is a quote from Deu 9:19 which refers to Aaron’s golden calf. Rabbinical hermeneutics used this phrase for Moses’ fear of God at Mt. Sinai.

Heb 12:22 “But you have come” This is a strong contrast. These believing readers are not trusting in a Sinaitic covenant, but in a new covenant, a heavenly Jerusalem, a new Mt. Zion, a new city. In Gal 4:21-31 Paul uses the same type of analogy using two OT mountains (Mt. Sinai versus Mt. Zion).

“Mount Zion” The author is comparing the first covenant at Mt. Sinai to the new covenant with the new heavenly city (cf. Heb 11:10; Heb 11:16; Heb 13:14; Rev 3:12; Rev 21:2; Rev 21:10).

“of the living God” This is a play on the covenant name for God, YHWH, which is a form of the Hebrew verb “to be.” YHWH is the ever-living, only-living One. In the OT He swears by Himself, “the living God.” See Special Topic: Names for Deity at Heb 2:7.

Heb 12:23 “church of the firstborn” Because of Exo 4:22 some commentators understand the references to OT Israelites, but context demands that it be understood as all the people of faith (cf. Heb 11:40). The “first born” is a reference to Christ, “the first born”

1. of many brothers (the image of God, Rom 8:29)

2. of all creation (the image of God, Col 1:15)

3. of the dead (Col 1:18 and 1Co 15:20; 1Co 15:23 [first fruits])

Look at all the ways the new covenant is designated in this paragraph.

1. Mt. Zion

2. the city of the living God

3. the heavenly Jerusalem

4. myriads of angels

For “church” see Special Topic at Heb 2:12. For “firstborn” see Special Topic at Heb 1:6.

“enrolled” The Bible speaks of two books of God (cf. Dan 7:10 and Rev 20:12). One is the book of life (cf. Exo 32:32; Psa 69:28; Dan 12:1; Luk 10:20; Php 4:3; Rev 3:5; Rev 17:8; Rev 20:12; Rev 20:15; Rev 21:27). The other is the book of remembrances (cf. Psa 56:8; Psa 139:16; Isa 65:6; Mal 3:16). The first is for believers, the second for both (cf. Rev 14:13). These are metaphors for the memory of God. See Special Topic: The Two Books of God .

“to God, the Judge of all” The OT regularly depicts God as Judge (cf. Gen 18:25; Psa 50:6; Psa 96:13; Psa 98:9; Isa 2:4; Isa 51:5; Jer 11:20; Lam 3:59; Eze 7:3; Eze 7:27). The coming Messiah is also depicted as Judge (cf. Isa 11:3-4; Isa 16:5). The Father has placed all judgment in the Son’s hands (cf. Joh 5:22-23; Joh 5:27; Joh 9:39; Act 10:42; Act 17:31; 2Ti 4:1; 1Pe 4:5).

“to the spirit of the righteous made perfect” This is a perfect passive participle, implying “made perfect by God and the results continue.” Because of Heb 11:40 this may refer to the OT saints of chapter 11 and all believers before Christ’s coming.

For “perfect” see note at Heb 10:1.

Heb 12:24 “Jesus the Mediator” Jesus, the high priest and sacrifice (1) stands before the Father for us and (2) brings a better covenant (cf. Heb 7:22; Heb 8:6; Heb 8:9-10; Heb 9:15; Jer 31:31-34; Eze 36:22-36).

“to the sprinkled blood” This was the way OT covenants were inaugurated (cf. Heb 9:19; Heb 10:22; 1Pe 1:2).

“better” See full note at Heb 7:7.

“blood of Abel” Abel’s blood cried out for vengeance; Jesus’ blood cries for mercy, forgiveness, and love.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

mount. The texts omit.

that might, &c. = that was touched. Greek. pselaphao. The reference is to Exo 19:16-19.

and. This and other five “ands” in verses: Heb 12:18, Heb 12:19 exemplify the Figure of speech Polysyndeton (App-6).

nor = and.

blackness = a thick cloud. Greek. gnophos. Only here.

darkness. Greek. skotos, but the texts read zophos. See 2Pe 2:4, 2Pe 2:17. Jud 1:6, Jud 1:13.

tempest. Greek. thuella. Only here.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

18-29.] Connected with what has preceded by . Take heed that there be not such (as in Heb 12:15-16) among you: for (not only have we the solemn warning of Esau, but) we are not under the law with its terrors, but under the gospel with its promises,-hearing one who speaks for the last time, who speaks from heaven-and receiving a kingdom which shall not be moved.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Heb 12:18. ) The reason why they ought to obey this whole exhortation, which has been derived from the priesthood of Christ, because the salvation is more immediately at hand and the vengeance is more nearly at hand. Comp. ch. Heb 2:1, etc.-) Deu 4:11, LXX., , , , .-) which was touched, by God, so that the whole was put in commotion (was shaken by an earthquake), Heb 12:26; Psa 104:32; Psa 144:5, and was to be touched meanwhile by no man or brute, Heb 12:20. So , to touch, is used in Jdg 16:26. The mountain was touched at that one time; but GODS eternal habitation is described in Heb 12:22.-, to the mount) The name of Sinai is elegantly passed over in silence, whereas Sion is mentioned.- , to the fire which burned) [But Engl. Vers., that burned with fire].- , and to mist [blackness] and darkness) Ephraim Syrus, f. 85, ed. Oxon., says, There is no light without fire, nor darkness () without blackness or mist (). Whence the strict meaning of the words is evident.[78] We have already seen that the LXX. use the same expressions: is a synonym of .

[78] is the Germ. dunkelheit, gloom, or mist. It is related to , darkness, Germ. finsterniss, as fire is to the light. or , mist, is the cause or embodiment of the . So , mist of darkness, 2Pe 2:17.-ED.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Heb 12:18-29

FURTHER WARNINGS AGAINST

APOSTASY, AND EXHORTATIONS TO

GREATER ZEAL AND STEADFASTNESS

IN THE DIVINE LIFE,

Heb 12:18-29

Heb 12:18 —For ye are not come, etc.-For connects this verse with what precedes. Ye should, says the writer, look to it diligently that no one fall short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness spring up to trouble you, and so to defile the many, and that there be among you no such licentious and profane person as Esau: for your privileges and responsibilities under the New Covenant are greatly superior to those of your fathers under the Old Covenant. For ye have not come near to the mountain that is tangible [material, and so capable of being touched], and that burned with fire; and to blackness, and darkness, and tempest, etc. The word mountain (orei) is not expressed in our best manuscripts, but it is manifestly understood.

Some expositors take the words mountain, fire, blackness, darkness, and tempest, as indicating so many separate and distinct objects of approach. Thus, Ye have not come near to a tangible mountain, and to a kindled fire, and to blackness, and to darkness, and to a tempest, etc. The construction is ambiguous, but the rendering of our English Version is more in harmony with the parallel passage given in Deu 4:11, to which our author here evidently refers. See also Deu 5:23 Deu 9:15. In all these parallel passages, flaming fire is taken as an attribute of the mountain, and not as a separate object.

Heb 12:19 —And the sound of a trumpet,-The several clauses of this verse are best illustrated by the following brief extracts from the original narrative as given in Exodus: And it came to pass on the third day [that is, say the Jews, on the sixth day of the month Sivan, just fifty days after the Exodus] in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. (Exo 19:16-19.) After giving some further instructions to the people through Moses, God himself spoke to them from the top of Sinai, saying, I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me, etc. Thus, in an audible voice, he delivered to them all the words of the Decalogue; and in the meantime, all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not the Lord speak with us, lest we die. (Exo 20:18-19.) Thus they entreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.

Heb 12:20 —For they could not endure that which was commanded, -Our author now assigns parenthetically the reason why the ancient Hebrews felt so much terror and alarm, as they stood at the foot of Sinai, in the immediate presence of God, and heard from his own lips, in awful solemnity, the words of the Decalogue. They could not bear that which was commanded, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned. The original decree as given in Exo 19:12-13, is as follows: And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not into the mount, or touch the border of it; whosoever toucheth the mount shall surely be put to death: there shall not a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether it be a beast or a man, it shall not live. The Apostle quotes freely from the Hebrews, giving in this, as in many other instances, the substance but not the exact words of the original. The phrase thrust through with a dart is manifestly an interpolation from the Septuagint, introduced into our text by some post-apostolic writer. See critical note.

Heb 12:21 —And so terrible was the sight, etc.-No such saying of Moses, as that given in our text, is found in the Pentateuch. And hence the question has been often asked and considered, Whence did our author obtain these words? Some think that he obtained them from Jewish tradition, while others suppose that this is a mere inference of Paul, drawn from the appalling circumstances of the case. But how very absurd and unsatisfactory are all such hypotheses! The only proper answer to such questions is to be found in the promise which Christ gave to the Apostles touching all such matters: Howbeit, says he, when the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth. (Joh 16:13.) See also Joh 14:26, and 1Co 2:10-13. The Holy Spirit, then, was Pauls infallible guide in writing every word and sentence of this Epistle. From it, and not from Jewish tradition or logical inference, he learned whatever facts and principles were necessary for our edification, as well as for the edification and encouragement of his own persecuted and disheartened Hebrew brethren.

The occasion of this utterance was probably that to which Moses himself refers in Exo 19:19 : Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. When Moses went up into the mount, and drew near to the thick darkness out of which issued the thunders, and lightnings, and the great fire which burned to the midst of heaven, it seems that his courage failed, and he spoke tremblingly. But when God answered him encouragingly, his fears were allayed. The whole scene, however, was awful in the extreme, and served to strike terror into the hearts of all Israel. Their drawing nigh, as Delitzsch well observes, was at the same time a shrinking back, a remaining at a distance. The mount of Divine revelation was to them unapproachable; the Divine voice was full of terror; and yet it was only the visible and tangible forms of nature through which God then manifested, and behind which he hid himself. The true and inward communion with God had not yet been revealed. It was necessary that the law should first bring men to a painful consciousness of the hindrances opposed to such communion by sin, and their longing excited and intensified that such hindrances might be taken away. Under the New Covenant, we have no longer a tangible mountain, as the place of Divine revelation, and that made only from a distance; but heaven itself, a divine and supersensual world, is now thrown open, and we are permitted ourselves to approach there the very throne of God; it is thrown open for us by the Mediator of the New Covenant, and made approachable by us through his atoning blood. All this the Apostle now proceeds to explain and illustrate by a series of the most sublime and interesting specifications.

Heb 12:22 —But ye are come unto Mount Sion-The exact topography of Mount Sion, or rather Mount Zion (Sion) is still a matter of inquiry. The name seems to have been at first limited to the mount in the southwestern part of the city of Jerusalem, but it was afterward made to embrace Mount Moriah; and in some instances, it seems to have included the site of the entire city, just as it is sometimes used by metonymy for the city itself. See, for example, 1Ma 4:37 1Ma 4:60 1Ma 5:54 1Ma 6:48 1Ma 6:62 1Ma 7:33. Being then the seat of both the royal and sacerdotal authority, it was properly called the holy hill of Zion (Psa 2:6), and the chosen habitation of Jehovah (Psa 132:13). And hence it seems to be used in our text as a type of heaven itself, the mount of God, the site of the heavenly Jerusalem. To this intangible and glorious mountain, Christians have now come by virtue of their citizenship in the kingdom of heaven: for our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Php 3:20.)

Heb 12:22 —and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, -That is, the city where God dwells; the city of which he is the Architect and Builder, and which is here called symbolically the heavenly Jerusalem. During the most prosperous period of the Old Economy, under the reign of David and Solomon, Jerusalem was the metropolis of the whole kingdom of Israel. Thither the tribes of God went up to offer their sacrifices and to pay their vows. (Psalms 122.) There stood the typical throne of David, and there also was the Shekinah, the symbol of Gods presence in the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle and Temple. And hence it came to pass that this city was made typical of the metropolis of the kingdom of the Messiah, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city which hath the foundations, whose site is the heavenly Mount Zion, which abideth forever. See references. To this celestial city, the antitype of the city of David, all now come who put on Christ and become citizens of his kingdom. The Apostle does not of course mean to say that those of us who are still in the flesh have yet actually entered these celestial mansions, but as all foreigners who become citizens of these United States may, wherever located, be said to have come to their metropolis; so, also, though in a much higher sense, may all who are translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Gods dear Son, be said to have come to Mount Zion, and to the heavenly Jerusalem.

Heb 12:22 —and to an innumerable company, etc.-The critics are much divided with regard to the proper construction and punctuation of this and the two following clauses. The words of the original are plain enough, and may be fairly rendered without any marks of punctuation as follows: And to myriads of angels a festive assembly and to the church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven. But how is this to be punctuated? The following methods have been proposed: (1) And to myriads, a festive assembly of angels; and to the church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven (Gries- bach, Knapp, Bohme, Kuinoel, Moll); (2) And to myriads of angels, a festive assembly; and to the church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven ((Ecumenius, Theophylact) ; (3) And to myriads of angels; to the festive assembly and church of the first-bom who are enrolled in heaven (Elzevir, Beza, Liinemann, Hofmann, English Version) ; (4) And to myriads, a festive assembly of angels and the church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven (Bengel, Lachmann, Ebrard, Deltizsch, Alford). I have thus plainly indicated the several modes of punctuation, so that the thoughtful reader may see and judge for himself. More than this is, I think, unnecessary. A discussion of their relative merits would be tedious and uninteresting to most readers. It seems to me, however, that the choice lies between the first and the fourth, and that of these, the first is the most simple and natural. For it is manifestly the intention of the writer to introduce each of the leading members of this majestic sentence by means of the conjunction and (kai), and to add such as are only explanatory without the use of any connecting particle. Keeping this in view as one of our distinctive landmarks, the whole sentence may, I think, be fairly rendered as follows: But ye have come near to Mount Zion; and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; and to myriads, a festive assembly of angels; and to the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven; and to God the Judge of all; and to the spirits of just ones made perfect; and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant; and to the blood of sprinkling which speaks better [more encouragingly] than Abel. The word myriads is often applied to the hosts of angels (Deu 33:2; Psa 68:17; Dan 7:10; Jud 1:14; Rev 5:11), but as this is not its exclusive use in the Scriptures, it was necessary to add the explanatory phrase, a festive assembly of angels The word rendered general assembly (paneguris) means properly an assembly of all the people, met to celebrate a public festival. Here, it denotes the joyful and multitudinous assembly of angels around the throne of God, who there forever celebrate his praises (Rev 5:11; Rev 7:11 -i2).

Heb 12:23 —and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven,-This has reference to the church of Christ on earth, all the members of which are, on account of their high honors and privileges, called the first-born, just as Christ is himself called the First-born of every creature. (Col 1:15.) Of his own will, says James, begat he us [all Christians] with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures. (Jas 1:18.) These first-born of God are also still further honored by having their names all registered in heaven, as citizens of the New Jerusalem. See Luk 10:20; Php 4:3. There is, says A. Clarke, allusion here to the custom of enrolling or writing on tables the names of all the citizens of a particular city; and all those, thus registered, were considered as having a right to live there, and to enjoy all its privileges. All genuine believers are denizens of heaven: that is their country, and there they have their rights. and to God the Judge of all,-God himself in his own proper person judges no one (Joh 5:22); but he judges all by Jesus Christ (Act 17:31) ; and hence he is properly called the Judge of all. The Judge of all the earth will do right. (Gen 18:25.)

Heb 12:23 —and to the spirits of just men made perfect,-That is, to the spirits of all the redeemed, from Abel downward to the present time. These just ones have finished their course and reached the goal of their destiny and, therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his Temple; and he that sit- teth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more; neither thirst any more; neither shall the Sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne feeds them, and leads them unto fountains of water of life; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Rev 7:15-17.)

Heb 12:24 —And to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant,-The Israelites at Sinai drew near to Moses, as the Mediator of the Old Covenant; but Christians now draw near to Christ, as the Mediator of the New Covenant. See note on 8:6. He it is who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (1Co 1:30), and through whom we have access into this grace wherein we now stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Rom 5:2.)

Heb 12:24 —and to the blood of sprinkling,-This is the same as the blood of Jesus, by means of which the New Covenant was ratified (Heb 10:14 -18), and through which the hearts of all Christians have been sprinkled from an evil consciousness. (Heb 9:14 Heb 10:22.) There is an allusion here to the ratification of the Old Covenant by the sprinkling of blood (Exo 24:8), and also to the sprinkling of the blood of atonement (Lev 16:14-15).

Heb 12:24 —that speaketh better things than that of Abel:-Or rather, Which speaks better than Abel speaks (kreitton lalounti para ton Abel). See critical note. Here again the critics are divided. The common opinion is that the blood of Christ calls for mercy; whereas the blood of Abel calls for vengeance (Calvin, Ebrard, Stuart, Scott, Bloomfield, Delitzsch, Alford). But as Adam Clarke says, This interpretation reflects little credit on the understanding of the Apostle. To say that the blood of Christ speaketh better things than that of Abel, is saying little indeed. It might speak very little good to any soul of man, and yet speak better things than that of Abel, which speaks no good to any human creature, and only called for vengeance on him that shed it. The meaning of the passage then fairly construed is obviously this: Abel speaks well, but the blood of Christ speaks better. By faith, says our author, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it [his faith] he being dead yet speaketh. (Heb 11:4.) What then does he say? What did he say to the ancient Patriarchs, and what does he still say even to Christians? Evidently this and only this: that mercy has in some way been provided for every true believer; that God will in some mysterious way pardon, justify, and save all who believe and obey him. This he said by his faith and obedience in offering to God the required sacrifice. But he could say no more: for as yet the way, the truth, the resurrection, and the life, had not been made manifest (Joh 11:25 Joh 14:6). The Word had not yet become flesh; and Jesus had not yet died for our sins according to the Scriptures. And, consequently, it was not yet understood how God could be just in justifying the believer. (Rom 3:25-26.) But now all this is made manifest through the shedding and application of Christs blood. And hence it is that God has reserved some better thing (kreitton) for us (Heb 11:40); which thing is now fully revealed through the blood of sprinkling, which cleanses from all sin.

Such then is the contrast between the former and the latter dispensations ; between the terrors of the Old Covenant and the more encouraging privileges of the New. But as it is a principle of the Divine government that wherever much is given, there also much is always required, it follows, as our author now proceeds to show, that the superior privileges of the Hebrew Christians served very greatly to increase their obligations; and that there was, in fact, no possible way for them to escape the righteous vengeance of God, if they neglected the great salvation that was so freely offered to them in the Gospel. See notes on Heb 2:1-3.

Heb 12:25 —See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.-The warning given in this verse is very plain, as well as very solemn and emphatic. But who is he that speaketh? Certainly not Christ, as Mediator of the New Covenant (Chrysostom, CEcumenius, Ebrard, Stuart, Clarke, Bloomfield), but God himself in Christ, as in Heb 1:1 (Grotius, Bleek, Scott, Delitzsch, Alford, Moll). God anciently spoke from Sinai through Moses and the administration of angels, but now he speaks to us from Heaven through his own Son. It was the voice of Jehovah that once shook Sinai from its summit to its deepest foundations; and it is his voice which, according to Haggai (Hag 2:6-7), will once more shake both the Earth and the Heavens. The context will manifestly allow of no other interpretation. The same Almighty Sovereign who in the twenty-ninth verse is represented as a consuming fire, is the speaker in both instances. The greater obligations of Christians do not, therefore, arise from the fact that they are now addressed by a speaker of greater dignity and authority; but simply from the fact that God himself now speaks to us through different media and under different circumstances. This is made plain by the reasoning of the Apostle in the beginning of the second chapter. We ought, he says, to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should be drifted away from them. For if the word spoken [by God] through angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience [of that word] received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation which God has, in these last days, revealed to us in and through his own dear Son ?

Heb 12:26 —Whose voice then shook the earth:-That is, when he spoke to the Israelites from Mount Sinai. (Exo 19:18.) To this in connection with the other stupendous miracles of the Exodus, the Psalmist beautifully and encouragingly refers in Psa 114:1-4. When Israel, he says, went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion. The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.

Heb 12:26 —but now he hath said, Yet once more, etc.-The reference here is to the prophecy of Hag 2:6-7, relating primarily to the building of the second Temple by Zerubbabel; the historical circumstances of which may be briefly stated as follows: The Temple of Solomon had been destroyed by the Chaldeans about 588 B.C. (2Ki 25:1-17.) And in the year 536 B.C., Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, issued a decree, permitting all Jews, who were willing, to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. (Ezr 1:111.) More than forty-two thousand of them gratefully accepted the privilege, and set out immediately under Zerubbabel the governor, and Joshua the High Priest. (Ezr 2:46; Neh 7:66.) They first, after their return, set up the altar of burnt-offerings and offered the required sacrifices (Ezr 3:1-6); and on the second month of the second year the foundation of the Temple was laid with shoutings of joy and gladness on the part of the multitude. (Ezr 3:8-11.) But some of the old men who had seen the first Temple in all its glory, when they saw the great inferiority of the second, wept with a loud voice. (Ezr 3:12.) This, of course, greatly discouraged the hearts of the people: and besides, the Samaritans and other hostile tribes, by their violent opposition and misrepresentations, so weakened the hands of the Jews that but little more was done during the short remnant of the reign of Cyrus and the reign of his successor, Ahasuerus or Cambyses. And in the reign of Artaxerxes (Smerdis the Usurper), the work was, by his decree, wholly suspended. (Ezr 4:24.) But in the second year of the reign of Darius Hystaspes (519 B.C.), God stirred up the minds of the people, by the prophecies of Haggai and Zecha- riah, to begin again the work of rebuilding the Temple. The first message of Haggai was delivered by Zerubbabel and Joshua on the first day of the sixth month of the second year of Darius, in which he severely reproves the people for neglecting the Temple. (Hag 1:1-11.) His appeal was successful: for on the twentieth day of the same month, the work of rebuilding was commenced. But in order to comfort and encourage the hearts of those who were mourning over the manifest inferiority of this second Temple, Haggai was sent to them again on the twentieth day of the month following, and directed to say to them that God was with them to give them success in their labors; and to assure them that the glory of the second Temple would even surpass the glory of that which was builded by Solomon. For thus saith the Lord of host, yet once, it is a little while, and 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; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former, saith the Lord of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. (Hag 2:6-9.)

On this passage it may be well to remark (1) that the second Temple derived its chief glory from the presence of him who, as the Savior of the world, is here called the Desire of all nations. In all other respects the temple of Zerubbabel even with the additions that were made to it by Herod the Great, was quite inferior to that of Solomon. For in it, as the Jews themselves confess, the chief glory of Solomons Temple was wholly wanting. It had no Ark of the Covenant, no Mercy-seat, and no Shekinah. No symbol of Gods presence was there manifested, until the Word became flesh and dwelt among his people. I know it is often said that the desire of all nations can have no reference to the Messiah; because, says the objector, the word desires is in the plural number. But this is not the case in the Hebrew. In the Septuagint, the corresponding word is in the plural; the choice things (ta ek- lekta) of all the nations shall come: but in the Hebrew the word is singular; the desire of all the nations shall come. True, indeed, the verb come is in the third person plural, masculine, showing that the noun, though in the feminine singular, really conveys the idea of a masculine plural; indicating most likely the royal majesty of Christ and the superabounding fullness of the blessings of his mediatorial reign. He is called the Desire of all nations (a) because he alone is capable of satisfying their desires; and (b) because for some time before the coming of Christ there was a very general expectation among the civilized nations that the Golden Age would soon be restored through the righteous administration of some great one who was about to be born in Judea, and who would give to the Jews the dominion of the world. To this Tacitus refers as follows: There was, he says, in the minds of many a conviction that it was contained in the ancient writings of the Priests, that at that very time it would come to pass that the east would acquire strength, and that those who had gone forth from Judea would become the masters of affairs. (Hist. 5: 13.) Suetonius also testifies to the same effect: Throughout the whole east, he says, an old and firmly fixed opinion became prevalent that it was included in the decrees of fate, that those who had gone forth from Judea should at that time become the masters of affairs. (In Vesp. 100: 4.) (2) It is obvious that the shaking of the heavens and the earth was to commence soon with the coming of the Messiah and the inauguration of the new era under him. For says God by the Prophet, It is yet but a little while, when I will shake once for all (hapax) the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all the nations; and the Desire of all the nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory. The shaking of the world is therefore chronologically connected with the coming of the Messiah; but the Prophet does not say explicitly how long this shaking of all things will continue. This is more clearly indicated by the Apostle in what follows.

Heb 12:27 —And this word, Yet once more, etc.-The Apostle now explains what is meant by the phrase, Yet once more (eti hapax). It denotes, he says, the removal of the things shaken, as of things which have been made, so that the things which are not sh?k^n may remain. That is, since there is to be but one more shaking of all things, it is implied in this phrase, Yet once more that the shaking will continue until all things perishable shall be removed; so that nothing will remain but what is eternal and immutable. It will continue therefore until Judaism and all false systems of religion and philosophy are taken out of the way; until the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ (Rev 11:15); and until the heavens and the earth which are now shall be transformed into new heavens and a new earth, wherein nothing but righteousness will forever dwell. For Christ came not merely to remove the shadows of the Old Economy, and to introduce the sublime realities of the New; but he came also to destroy the works of Satan (2: 14), and to establish a kingdom which will endure forever (2Pe 1:11). And consequently he must reign and shake the world until his mission shall be fully accomplished. (1Co 15:24-25.)

Heb 12:27 —as of things that are made:-That is, made by art or mans device, and are therefore perishable. For all flesh is grass, and all its glory as the flower of grass: the grass withereth, and the flower falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth forever. (1Pe 1:24-25.)

Heb 12:27 —that those things which can not be shaken may remain.-These are all such as have their foundation in the nature and truth of God; having particular reference, however, to the kingdom of Christ. Judaism with all its splendid ritual was, like a work of art, made for a temporary purpose; and, like all things else of the same class, it was destined to pass away when its end was accomplished. But the kingdom of Christ is wholly different. Its object is not temporal but eternal. It was set up during the shaking of thrones and kingdoms, and it will continue when the heavens shall have passed away as a scroll. (1Co 15:24; 2Pe 1:11.) And hence it follows that the kingdom of Christ can never, like Judaism, give place to anything better (Dan 2:44); for this, says Peter, is the true grace of God wherein ye stand (1Pe 5:12). God has nothing better to offer to any man than salvation through Christ. The man, therefore, who rejects Christ and his kingdom seals of necessity his own eternal condemnation.

Heb 12:28 —Wherefore we receiving a kingdom, etc.-Since it is true that we Christians have received a kingdom which cannot, like the Jewish Theocracy and false systems of religion and philosophy, be shaken and removed, let us hold fast our confession: let us by patiently and perseveringly submitting to the will of God in all things, obtain from him such measures of grace as will enable us to serve him with godly fear and dread.”

Heb 12:29 —For our God is a consuming fire.-This is a quotation from Deu 4:24. It is cited here as furnishing an additional reason why we should serve God with godly fear and dread.” To the faithful in Christ Jesus, God is life, and light, and love: but to the willfully disobedient he has always been a consuming fire.” See references. Nothing, therefore, remains for the apostate and the finally impenitent but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries.”

REFLECTIONS

1. It is pleasant to think of the many faithful witnesses for the truth, who having finished their course now stand to encourage us in our conflicts with the world, the flesh, and the devil, (verse 1). These by their own heroic example have clearly demonstrated that the way of duty, though strait and narrow, may nevertheless be trodden by all, as the way that leads to certain victory. This should encourage us to lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us,” so that we too may run with patient endurance the race that is set before us.”

2. But our main ground of encouragement is to be found in the example of Jesus, the Leader and Perfecter of the faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,” and through it triumphed over all his and our enemies (verses 2, 3). So full of instruction indeed is his whole life that it of itself serves us as a general directory, and gives us comfort and consolation under all the circumstances of our earthly conflict. When tempted, for instance, it will always assist us to say with Jesus, It is written, It is written, It is written; and when solely persecuted for righteousness sake, the best we can do is to say in the spirit and temper of our great Exemplar, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

3. It is a good thing to be afflicted, (1) because it serves to mortify the flesh with its affections and its lusts; (2) because it serves to keep us humble and mindful of our mortality; and (3) because it serves to purify our hearts, and so to make us partakers of Gods holiness (verses 4-11). Thus it is that our light afflictions which are but for a moment, serve in the providence of God to work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. To those who have their portion in this life, and whose daily concern is about what they shall eat, and, what they shall drink, and wherewithal they shall be clothed, I know all this appears very absurd. But not so to the true child of God who looks upon the present as but a preparation for the eternal world that is beyond. To him everything appears in the light of a blessing which serves to purify his heart, and so to prepare him for the high and holy destiny that is set before him. Let us then with Paul ever glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation worketh patience ; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and that all things in fact work together for good to them that love God.

4. Many for whom Christ died go to perdition through our inexcusable neglect (verses 12-17). This is true not only of many who are still in the world, and who if properly cared for might be converted and brought into the fold of Christ; but it is also equally true of many weak and sickly ones in the Church, whose hands are hanging down, whose knees have become feeble, and who are even now ready to perish for want of the proper aid, sympathy, and support of their brethren. This ought not so to be. And it would not be so did we but realize as we should our relations to each other, and our obligations to the one living and supreme head. But when, alas! will this lesson be duly learned by the professed followers of the Lord Jesus? Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one anothers burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal 6:1-2.)

5. The object of God in providing and revealing to us the whole economy of redemption, is to make us holy as he himself is holy (verse 14). Without this all else will be in vain: our confession will avail us nothing, nor will our baptism, nor our alms, nor our prayers. For without holiness no man shall see the Lord; and unless we see him, and have fellowship with him, Heaven itself will be no Heaven to us. In that event the hell within us would in fact only be made deeper and deeper by the infinite contrast of the Heaven without us. How earnestly then we should all strive after holiness of heart and purity of life; and how earnestly we should beseech God day by day to search our hearts and lead us in the way everlasting.

6. The vail that now conceals God from the eyes of sinful mortals is a vail woven by the hand of Mercy (verses 18-21). If the children of Israel could not bear to look on even the natural phenomena through which God manifested himself on mount Sinai, what must have been the consequence if the vail had been wholly removed, and the full-orbed glory of Jehovahs power, and majesty, and holiness, had been allowed to burst forth in all its infinite splendor and fullness on the astonished eyes and trembling hearts of the multitude! Such a sight would have been too much for poor sinful mortals. (Exo 33:20.) And hence we can never be sufficiently thankful, that even under the more benign influences of the New Covenant, God deals with us through the medium of a Mediator. We are not yet prepared for any higher and fuller manifestations of his glory than what we now see in the face of Jesus. But thanks be to God, that the time is coming when we shall see his face and when his name shall be on our foreheads. (Rev 22:4.) Then we shall see as we are seen, and know even as also we are known. (1Co 13:12.)

7. How very near and dear are our relations to God, to Christ, to holy angels, and to the spirits of the redeemed (verses 22-24). We are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints made perfect. For in covenant we have already come to mount Zion; and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusa-lem ; and to a countless host of angels composing as it were a joyful and festive assembly around the throne of God; and to the Church of the first-born whose names are registered in Heaven; and to God the judge of all; and to the spirits of the just made perfect; and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant; and to the blood of sprinkling which speaks more encouragingly than even Abel speaks by his faith and obedience. Who, then, would ever think of turning back to the weak and beggarly elements of this world? Who would renounce this holy society and these high and holy relations for the society and fellowship of Satan and his angels ? May God save us all from such folly and madness.

8. Paul was not an advocate of either the Popish dogmas about purgatory, or of the doctrine of soul-sleeping (verse 23). With him it was a fundamental article of faith that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2Co 5:8); and to be present with the Lord is to be made perfect. And hence he himself preferred to depart and to be with Christ. (Php 1:23.)

9. Rejection of the highest grace is always followed by the severest punishment (verse 25). And consequently our destiny will be even more intolerable than that of the disobedient Israelites, if we neglect the overtures of mercy that are now offered to us in the Gospel.

10. The Gospel is Gods last manifestation of mercy for the recovery of lost sinners (verse 28). When Christ comes the second time, it will not be to convert the world, but to judge it. It will be to raise the dead saints (1Th 4:16) ; to change the living (1Th 4:17) ; to renovate the world by fire (2Th 1:7-8; 2Pe 3:7-13) ; to raise the wicked out of the molten mass (Joh 5:28-29; Act 24:15) ; and then to reward every man according to his works (Mat 16:27 Mat 25:31-41; Rom 2:5-16; 2Ti 4:1). It will not be to set up a new kingdom on earth, but simply to bring to an end his mediatorial reign, and then will he deliver up the Kingdom to the Father. (1Co 15:24-25.) Wherefore [since] we have received a kingdom which can not be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

Commentary on Heb 12:18-29 by Donald E. Boatman

Heb 12:18 –For ye are not come unto a mount that might be touched

We have no sacred mount or place, as did the Jews. Joh 4:21. Adventist, you cant come to Mount Sinai and expect salvation, The mountain was not to be touched, although being a mount it might be touched. Exo 19:12-13.

Heb 12:18 –and that burned with fire

This was the way God taught them reverence, Cf. Deu 4:11 and Deu 5:4-5. This was magnificent, but not to be compared with our mount.

Heb 12:18 –and unto blackness and darkness

We have the revelation of light. The blackness probably refers to a dark or thick cloud. Cf. Exo 19:16.

Heb 12:18 –and tempest

We have the one who stills the tempest. Tempest is not mentioned in Exodus or Deuteronomy, but it includes evidently the thunders and lightnings.

Heb 12:19 –and the sound of a trumpet

Does this mean there is no musical instrument in the church or heaven?

a. No, he is including the trumpet as part of the frightening experience. See Exo 19:16; Exo 20:18.

b. Observe the use of musical instruments.

1. Joel 2 was quoted on Pentecost.

2. Joe 2:1 : Blow the trumpet.

3. Joe 2:15 : Blow the trumpet.

a) We may assume a musical instrument was used on the birthday of the church.

b) Psa 49:4, will open my-on the harp, suggests the use of instruments in relationship to the Gospel.

Heb 12:19 –and the Voice of words

The whole group heard the voice. Deu 5:22. Heb 12:26 says this Voice shook the earth.

Heb 12:19 –which Voice they heard and entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them

The giving of the law excited terror; the Gospel brings peace. In Exo 20:19 the people requested that Moses speak to them in place of the Voice.

Heb 12:20 –for they could not endure that which was enjoined

Exodus 19 speaks of the serious bounds put on the people. The frightening trumpet, voice, quaking, and all was more than they could stand without a mediator.

Heb 12:20 –if even a beast touch the mountain it shall be stoned

This was enjoined in Exo 19:12-13. Absolute reverence was demanded, even to the animals being required to be away.

Heb 12:21 –and so fearful was the appearance that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake

Is this statement of Moses found here only?

a. Some suggest that Paul received it from Jewish tradition.

b. Some say the author inferred it.

c. Some suppose Exo 19:16-17 is referred to where Moses stood with all the people.

In Exo 19:19 we read, Moses spoke.

a. What he spoke is not recorded.

b. If Paul were inspired, he could have written what Moses said that day.

c. Jesus promised the disciples guidance into all truth. See Joh 16:13.

Heb 12:22 –But ye are come into Mount Zion

Ye are come unto Mount Zion is in contrast to Mount Sinai.

a. They had a mount that they had to avoid.

b. We have a mount that we can approach.

c. McKnight: But ye shall come, making it future.

Mount Zion.

a. Mount Zion stands for grace, and not a literal mountain.

b. Mount Zion is a part of the hill of Jerusalem, and being the seat of both the royal and sacerdotal authority it was properly called the holy hill of Zion. Psa 2:6.

c. No Gentile ever came before Mount Zion, except as he came as a Jewish proselyte or to plunder or to destroy.

Heb 12:22 –and unto the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem

Zion is spoken of as being the habitation of God. Psa 132:13, This is the celestial city that Abraham looked for. Heb 11:10. This city is described in Revelation 21, 22. I understand it to be the Jerusalem above as Paul taught in Gal 4:26. We are come unto it, but our bodies not yet redeemed. We have not seen the new city except by faith.

Heb 12:22 –and to innumerable hosts of angels

The throne of God seems to have great numbers of angels present. See Rev 5:11; the number was thousands of thousands. It is to such a place of praise that we shall some day come; not to praise the angels, but the object of the angels praise.

Heb 12:23 –to the general assembly

Milligan says: Here it denotes the joyful and multitudinous assembly of angels around the throne of God, who there forever celebrate His praises. See Rev 5:11; Rev 7:11-12.

a. This makes it a festive assembly of angels.

b. This rules out that our assembly on earth is meant.

If all thus far is future, then let us assume that the general assembly will someday be held, when Christ gathers His faithful from the ends of the earth.

Heb 12:23 –church of the Firstborn

We, of course, have come to the church already, being members of it; but is this what he meant?

a. McKnight says this refers only to those pious Israelites of all ages who by faith deserve to be called Gods firstborn.

b. Milligan says it refers to the church on earth.

1. He quotes Jas 1:18 to show we are first fruits.

2. All its members are honored with this title, he says.

c. Calvin says it refers to the patriarchs and renowned saints of the earthly church.

d. Newell says Israel is the firstborn of earth, but the church is the first fruits of heaven.

I prefer to allow the church to mean the called out that will someday be called into the great assembly. This is church future, not church present.

Christ wears the title Firstborn, Rom 8:29, and the church is His.

Heb 12:23 –who are enrolled in heaven

God does the writing, for we cant climb or fly to the book to do the writing. It is a source of joy to have the privilege of having our name there. Luk 10:20 and Php 4:3.

Some prefer to have their names in social registers, so-called churches, lodges, etc., than on the church of the firstborn.

Heb 12:23 –and to God the Judge of all

Who does judge? This is a big subject.

a. God will judge the sinners.

1. Heb 13:4 : God will judge adulterers.

2. Rom 2:16 : God will judge the secrets of men.

b. The saints will likewise do some judging.

1. 1Co 6:2 : will judge the world.

2. 1Co 6:3 : will judge the angels.

3. Compare Rev 20:4.

The problem of judgment is Gods. It will be just how He planned it.

a. We have come to Him already, and He no longer is our Judge but our. Saviour.

b. In a sense He is our Judge, so let this inspire fear on our part to do His will.

Heb 12:23 –and to the spirit of just men made perfect

This refers to our heavenly position, Are there any spirits made perfect there now?

a. What God does with a spirit after death is His business, and I am confident that it is fair and just, But I do not know.

b. I agree with 1Jn 3:2 : It is not yet manifested.

1. John says, What we shall be.

2. I add my own ignorance, When it shall be.

Heb 12:24 –and to Jesus the Mediator of a new covenant

What covenant is this?

a. Newell says this is not the better covenant of Chapter Eight, but the new covenant with Israel which lies in the future with Israel.

b. Here Newell is in error.

1. The characteristics of the covenant are the same; they must be the same.

2. Jesus only spoke of one covenant, on the night of His betrayal, and He calls it a new covenant. Luk 22:19-20.

3. In Heb 13:20 the covenant is spoken of as an eternal covenant, and surely he means the same covenant as in Chapter Eight.

4. In Heb 8:7 he speaks of the old being replaced by the second, but does not mention a third covenant.

The covenant is the one by which the blood of Jesus will save all men, and to Whom He acts as Mediator.

Heb 12:24 –and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel

Abels sacrifice speaks, according to Heb 11:4.

a. Abels sacrifice by faith spoke, saying that it pays to be obedient. In a sense, it is a warning.

b. Abels sacrifice is not meant here, but his blood.

What does Abels blood speak?

a. Gen 4:10-11 says, Brothers blood crieth.

b. The blood of Abel called for judgment.

What does this blood speak that is greater?

a. Newell says it speaks of judgment past forever and of eternal peace.

b. The popular idea is that the blood of Abel speaks a call for mercy.

c. Milligan: Abels blood speaks well, but Christs speaks better.

d. If the following verses are considered, we might say this blood speaks a greater warning-refuse not. Heb 12:25.

No one questions that the blood is that of Christ.

a. Christs blood speaks better because it avails pardon for sin.

b. His blood cries out, The atonement is made.

Heb 12:25 –See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh

Who speaks?

a. Evidently God, but there is an allusion to the shaking at Sinai.

b. Christ spoke not threats that He carried out as this verse suggests, Of course Christ is the Word of God, but only in this sense can this verse apply to Him.

Heb 12:25 –for if they escaped not when they refused Him that warned them on earth

What occasion is referred to?

a. Noah surely is a possibility.

b. Moses warning is a better one, since it fits the context better.

Does this imply that now there is a warning direct from God without the messenger, man?

a. No. Neglect for so great a salvation demands heavier judgment. Heb 2:3.

b. No speaker of greater dignity speaks, but a greater message is delivered.

Heb 12:25 –much more shall not we escape

We should not expect to go free, just because Christ taught that God is a Father. We sin against a greater demonstration of love, and we should expect a greater demonstration of wrath if we trample upon Christ.

Heb 12:25 –who turn away from Him that wameth from heaven

Observe that warneth is in italics. Actually it reads that is from heaven.

a. This clarifies the point perhaps. He is simply locating the Voice.

b. Of course Moses message was from heaven, but it was more directly from a mountain that shook and trembled.

This atoning message is from heaven, and it must not be rejected. Mar 16:16.

Heb 12:26 –Whose Voice then shook the earth

This refers to Mount Sinai, described in Exo 19:18. The Psalmist described it, Psa 114:4 : the mountains skipped like rams.

Heb 12:26 –but now He hath promised, saying.

Hag 2:6 is the quotation though not literal, says Calvin. Milligan says it was spoken primarily to the building of the second temple by Zerubbabel and is therefore chronologically connected with the coming of the Messiah.

Heb 12:26 –yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only but also the heavens

Though God shook the earth when He published the law, yet now He speaks more gloriously, for He shakes both earth and heaven. Has this been fulfilled?

a. Calvin: The voice of the gospel not only thunders through the earth, but also penetrates above the heavens.

b. The earth quaked at Jesus crucifixion and resurrection, so this could have been fulfilled.

The heavens, says McKnight, refers to the Jewish state and worship.

a. He says here it pictures an alteration which was to be made in the political and religious state of the world.

b. If heavens is literal, no explanation can be given unless it refers to the event of darkness that accompanied the shaking of the earth at the cross.

There is a possibility that this refers to the end of time.

Heb 12:27 –and this word, Yet once more

Newell says this is the divine interpretation of the above verse, and three things are seen:

a. Heaven and earth are to be done away.

b. The reason is that their end is accomplished.

c. Things unshaken will remain.

McKnight feels that Haggai 2 proves that earthly kingdoms, the Levitical system, etc., are meant.

a. He feels that yet once means that the gospel will remain to the end of the world, as the only form of religion acceptable to God.

b. This means then that shaking will continue until Gods will prevails. Milligan agrees to this and refers to 2Pe 1:11 and 1Co 15:24-25.

The words of the prophet are these, Yet a little while.

Heb 12:27 –signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken

The destruction of Jerusalem almost destroyed Judaism, but God is still shaking it, for Jews will not give up their faith, The kingdoms of the world are yet to surrender to Jesus, but they will. Rev 11:15. If earth means idolatry, and heaven the Jewish economy, as McKnight suggests, much shaking needs to be done, Newell insists that heavens are included here, for sin began in heaven, and it too must be shaken.

Heb 12:27 –as of things that have been made

Some suggest that this means things made with hands of man. McKnight and Milligan agree. Some suggest the creation.

Heb 12:27 –that those things which are not shaken may remain

The kingdom of heaven was set up during the time when kingdoms and thrones were being shaken.

a. It will endure when the heavens shall have passed away as a scroll. Cf. 1Co 15:24 and 2Pe 1:11.

b. This kingdom will not give way as did the old law. Dan 2:44. Man has done everything that he can to shake the church, but it cannot be done.

1. He tried persecution, burning Bibles, creating division, false doctrines, modernism, and worldliness and yet the church grows.

2. The church will remain, for the gospel is to shake this world.

Heb 12:28 –wherefore receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken

How wonderful it is to be a part of something eternal, victorious and with a destiny. Things created are subject to decay, to destruction, but not the church; for not even the gates of Hades can prevail against it.

Heb 12:28 –let us have grace

Grace has been given to us, in that salvation has been provided. Calvin says this expression is strained. It reads as an exhortation. It should read, we have grace.

I prefer to let it be an exhortation.

a. We will have more grace as we offer up service.

b. The Christian is to work at grace, not just rejoice in it. Pulpit Commentary says it means, Let us show thankfulness.

Heb 12:28 –whereby we may offer service well pleasing to God

Well pleasing is familiar. We read that without faith we cannot please God. Heb 11:6.

Service is the watchword for those in the kingdom.

a. We were won to win, told to tell, saved to serve.

b. James makes it plain that faith without works is dead.

Heb 12:28 –with reverence and awe

Reverence is also translated, godly fear, We are to serve with promptness and delight, yet it must be united with humility and due reverence. If let us have grace means to give thanks, then with thankfulness, reverence, and fear we serve. Awe is also translated dread.

Heb 12:29 –for our God is a consuming fire

This verse is from Deu 4:24. Here the Israelites were warned of forgetting the covenant. The Lords nature is not changed; He is a consuming fire as He declared at Sinai. If we scorn this present dispensation of grace, the day of judgment will be to us a day of terror.

Study Questions

2656. Contrast the Christians mountain with Moses mountain.

2657. Is our mountain figurative or literal?

2658. What is the name of our mountain?

2659. What was the location of Mount Zion?

2660. What did it represent?

2661. What else does the Christian have a right to approach?

2662. Compare other verses that speak of Zion. Cf. Psa 132:13; Heb 11:10; Revelation 21, 22; Gal 4:26.

2663. Is this verse to be interpreted as past tense, present, or future?

2664. How do we see the city? Like Abraham? Heb 11:10.

2665. When does the heavenly Jerusalem take place, according to Revelation?

2666. If this is present, how may we explain that we are in the midst of angels?

2667. How numerous are Gods angels? Rev 5:11.

2668. Does it say into Mount Zion or unto?

2669. How many are 12 legions of angels?

2670. Is this general assembly that of angels or men?

2671. Is it an earthly assembly?

2672. What is the description of the church here?

2673. What is meant by Firstborn?

2674. Is this the church on earth?

2675. If all of the other expressions refer to future experiences, can we assume that the church on earth is referred to here?

2676. Does Christ wear the title Firstborn? Rom 8:29.

2677. Who all will be in His church?

2678. Who enrolls men in heaven?

2679. Compare Luk 10:20 and Php 4:3.

2680. If God writes our name, what can we do to cause God to write it there?

2681. Do men seem to prefer other registers?

2682. If God is Judge, do we come to Him?

2683. Will the Christian come to Him?

2684. Do we come to Him to be judged? Do we come to Him as Judge or Savior?

2685. Will Christians do any judging?

2686. Compare 1Co 6:2-3; Rev 20:4.

2687. What is meant by spirits?

2688. Could this refer to our heavenly position or to our state now as Christians?

2689. If we have already come to Mount Zion, the new Jerusalem, how may we explain, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, in Heb 12:23 when we know none are perfect?

2690. If none are perfect on earth now, can we interpret this whole message as present action?

2691. Is this covenant the one of which we are a part?

2692. How many new covenants are there? Is there one for Jews and one for Gentiles?

2693. Is the one in Chapter Eight the same here and in Heb 13:20?

2694. How many covenants did Jesus teach? Cf. Luk 22:19-20.

2695. What is the purpose of the covenant? To save from sin or to get Jews back to Jerusalem?

2696. What did Abels blood sacrifice speak?

2697. What adjectives are used to describe the covenant?

2698. What is meant by, we are come to the blood of sprinkling?

2699. Whose blood is sprinkled?

2700. Why is the word sprinkled used?

2701. Could it be figurative that Christ is our Passover?

2702. Is Abels blood, or Abels sacrifice, referred to here?

2703. If his sacrifice is meant, what does it speak?

2704. From where did Abels blood speak?

2705. Could it be that Abel speaks, and not his blood or sacrifice?

2706. Which could do a better job of speaking, Abels blood or Abels sacrifice?

2707. Who is speaking in the reference of Heb 12:25?

2708. Does this verse refer to one specific persons warning, or several warnings of men through one God?

2709. Name some warnings that went unheeded.

2710. Does this verse refer to one of them?

2711. Does this verse teach that God gave a warning that did not come through man as other warnings did?

2712. Why should we have less chance of escaping?

2713. Do we sin against a greater speaker?

2714. Do we sin against a greater demonstration of love?

2715. Is the word warn in the original?

2716. How does it actually read?

2717. Was Moses message from heaven or from a mountain?

2718. Who warns from heaven and what warning is meant?

2719. Does the verse refer to Moses warning in comparison to Christs warning?

2720. Is the place the point of emphasis, or the person?

2721. Does Heb 12:26 help to answer whether it is Christ or God referred to in Heb 12:25?

2722. Whose voice shook the earth?

2723. How does Psa 114:4 describe it?

2724. Where is the saying referred to here?

2725. What is the difference in the second shaking?

2726. Could it have been fulfilled when Christ was on the cross?

2727. How was heaven shaken at Christs crucifixion?

2728. What does heavens refer to-that God will shake?

2729. Could this refer to the end of time? Why?

2730. Are shaking and trembling synonymous in ideas?

2731. Could it be a shaking of political and religious conditions?

2732. If the shaking is being done by the Gospel, what has been shaken?

2733. What is meant by heavens?

2734. Explain what is meant by yet once more.

2735. What did God permit that was greatly responsible for breaking up organized Judaism?

2736. Could Heb 12:27 be an interpretation of Heb 12:26?

2737. How long will God shake heaven and earth?

2738. What bearing does 1Pe 1:11 and 1Co 15:24-25 have?

2739. What is signified?

2740. Will the kingdoms of the world ever be annihilated?

2741. What made things are referred to here?

2742. Are they of Gods making or mans?

2743. Has the church been shaken?

2744. Can it be shaken down?

2745. What has man done to the church?

2746. What remains in the earth that cannot be shaken?

2747. Is there room for pessimism in Heb 12:28?

2748. Does this suggest that evil will win and that the church will be impotent?

2749. What is meant by let us have grace?

2750. Is this an exhortation?

2751. Is there any way for grace to be increased?

2752. How can we offer service to God?

2753. What is a prerequisite to pleasing God?

2754. Will God always be pleased with things done in Christs name?

2755. Is there any spur to labor when you realize Gods grace and victory are to be had?

2756. What should be our attitude as we serve God?

2757. Define reverence.

2758. Define awe.

2759. Were the Pharisees of Jesus day failing here?

2760. What is our attitude in service to please God?

2761. Where is the expression consuming fire found in the Old Testament?

2762. How did the author prove that we should be in awe?

2763. Will it be demonstrated again?

2764. If we are not in awe, how will we appear some day?

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The discourse from hence unto the end of the chapter is of great weight, and accompanied with sundry difficulties, of which expositors do scarcely so much as take notice. Hence many different interpretations are given concerning the design of the apostle, and the principal things intended in the words. And because on the whole it gives the best rule and guidance for its own interpretation, in all the particulars of it, I shall premise those general considerations which will direct us in its exposition, taken from the scope of the words and nature of the argument in hand; as,

1. The whole epistle, as we have often observed, is, as unto the kind of writing, parenetical. The design of the apostle in it, is to persuade and prevail with the Hebrews unto constancy and perseverance in the profession of the gospel For herein they seem at this time to have been greatly shaken. To this end he considers the means and causes of such backslidings as he warned them against. And these may be referred unto four heads:

(1.) An evil heart of unbelief, or the sin that doth easily beset them;

(2.) An opinion of the excellency and necessity of Mosaical worship and the old church-state;

(3.) Afflictions and persecutions for the gospel;

(4.) Prevalent lusts and sins, such as profaneness, fornication, and the like: all which we have spoken unto in their respective places, Hereunto he adds a prescription of that universal obedience, and those especial duties of holiness, which their profession required, and which were necessary to the preservation of it.

2. The main argument which he insists on in general unto this end, and wherein the didactical part of the epistle doth consist, is the excellency, glory, and advantage, of that gospel-state whereunto they were called. This he proves from the person and office of its Author, his priesthood and sacrifice, with the spiritual worship and privileges belonging thereunto. All these he compareth with things of the same name and place under the law, demonstrating the excellency of the one above the other; and that especially on this account, that all the ordinances and institutions of the law were nothing but prefigurations of what was for to come. 3. Having insisted particularly and distinctly on all these things, and brought his especial arguments from them unto an issue, he makes in the discourse before us a recapitulation of the whole: for he makes a brief scheme of the two states that he had compared, balanceth them one against the other, and thereby demonstrates the force of his argument and exhortation from thence unto constancy and perseverance in the faith of the gospel. It is not therefore a new argument that here he proceeds unto; it is not an especial confirmation of his dehortation from profaneness, by the example of Esau, that he doth design: but as Heb 8:1, he gives us the , the head or sum of the things which he had discoursed concerning the priesthood of Christ; so here we have an , or recapitulation of what he had proved concerning the two states of the law and the gospel.

4. This summary way of arguing he had before touched on in his passage, as Heb 2:2-3; Heb 3:1-3, etc., Heb 4:1. And he had more distinctly handled the antithesis in it on an alike occasion, Gal 4:21-28. But here he makes use of it as a close unto his whole disputation, adding nothing unto it but a prescription of particular duties.

5. It must be observed, that the great honor and privilege of the Judaical church-state, whereon all particular advantages did depend, was their coming unto and station at mount Sinai, at the giving of the law. There were they taken into covenant with God, to be his peculiar people above all the world; there were they formed into a national church; there had they all the privileges of divine worship committed unto them. Hereon theirs was the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, as the apostle speaks, Rom 9:4. This is that glory which they boast of unto this day, and whereon they rely in their unbelief and rejection of the gospel.

6. Wherefore the apostle, allowing all this communication of privileges unto them at Sinai, observes, that it was done in such a way of dread and terror as that sundry things are manifest therein; as,

(1.) That there was no evidence, in all that was done, of Gods being reconciled unto them, in and by those things. The whole representation of him was as an absolute sovereign and a severe judge. Nothing declared him as a father, gracious and merciful.

(2.) There was no intimation of any condescension from the exact severity of what was required in the law; or of any relief or pardon in case of transgression.

(3.) There was no promise of grace, in a way of aid or assistance, for the performance of what was required. Thunders, voices, earthquakes, and fire, gave no signification of these things.

(4.) The whole was hereby nothing but a glorious ministration of death and condemnation, as the apostle speaks, 2Co 3:7; whence the consciences of sinners were forced to subscribe to their own condemnation as just and equal.

(5.) God was here represented in all the outward demonstrations of infinite holiness, justice, severity, and terrible majesty, on the one hand; and on the other, men in their lowest condition of sin, misery, guilt, and death. If there be not, therefore, something else to interpose between God and men, somewhat to fill up the space between infinite severity and inexpressible guilt, all this glorious preparation was nothing but a theater, set up for the pronouncing of judgment and the sentence of eternal condemnation against sinners. And on this consideration depends the force of the apostles argument: and the due apprehension and declaration of it are a better exposition of verses 18-21 than the opening of the particular expressions will amount unto; yet they also must be explained.

7. It is hence evident, that the Israelites, in the station of Sinai, did bear the persons of convinced sinners under the sentence of the law. There might be many of them justified in their own persons by faith in the promise, but as they stood and heard and received the law, they represented sinners under the sentence of it, not yet relieved by the gospel. And this we may have respect unto in our exposition, as that which is the final intention of the apostle to declare, as is manifest from the description which he gives us of the gospel-state, and of those that are interested therein.

These things are necessary to be premised, unto a right understanding of the design of the apostle in the representation he gives us of the original of the old church-state. And one thing must be observed concerning his description of the gospel-state, which doth ensue. And this is,

8. That all spiritual things of grace and glory, in heaven and earth, being recapitulated in Christ, as is declared Eph 1:10, all brought unto a head and all centring in him, our coming unto him by faith gives us an interest in them all; so as that we may be said to come unto them all and every one, as it is here expressed. There is not required a peculiar acting or exercise of faith distinctly in reference unto every one of them; but by our coming unto Christ we come unto them all, as if every one of them had been the especial object of our faith, in our initiation into the gospel-state. Hence is the method or order in their expression; he and his mediation being mentioned in the close of the enumeration of the other privileges, as that upon the account whereof we are interested in them all, or as the reason of our so being.

9. The remainder of this discourse consists of two things:

(1.) The enforcement of the exhortation from the balancing of these states, and comparing them together. And this falls under a double consideration:

[1.] Of the things themselves on the part of the gospel: and this is from the eternal sanction of it, namely, the certain, infallible salvation of them that do believe, and the no less certain destruction of unbelievers and apostates.

[2.] Of the comparison itself between the two states, which confirms that part of the exhortation which is taken from the certain destruction of unbelievers, by evidencing the aggravation of their sin above theirs who despised the law, Heb 12:25.

(2.) He issues and closeth the whole argumentative part of the epistle, here summarily represented, with a declaration of the end and issue of the two states which he had so compared; namely, that one of them was speedily to be removed and taken out of the way, and the other to be established for ever, Heb 12:26-27. And hereon he closeth the whole with a direction how to behave ourselves in the evangelical worship of God, in the consideration of his glorious majesty and holiness, both in giving the law and the gospel.

A due attendance unto these rules will guide us in the exposition of this whole context.

Heb 12:18-19. , , , , , , , . . is the word constantly used by our apostle to express a sacred access, or coming unto God in his worship. See Heb 10:1.

. the mountain, is not in the Syriac translation, nor the Arabic; but they retain, which may be touched, referring it to the fire, to the fire which burned, and might be touched. But the failure is evident; for that of touching relates unto the order about the mount, and not to the fire, which would also be improper. Vulg., ad tractabilem montem; Rhem., a palpable mount; improperly. Bez., contrectabilem. Tactus sensui expositum.

. Vulg., accessibilem ignem; Rhem., an accessible fire: probably accensibilem was intended, whence the Rhemists put kindled or burning in the margin; for the fire was inaccessible. Bez., et ardentem ignem. Ignem incensum. Some refer to , as we do, the mount that burned; some join it with , the fire that burned, which I rather choose.

. Syr., to the voice of the horn; alluding to the ramshorns whereof they made a kind of trumpets.

Heb 12:18-19. For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, [or the fire that burned,] nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of the trumpet, and the voice of words, which [voice] they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more.

The general scope of the words must be first opened, and then the particular expressions contained in them.

The principal design in hand is a description of that evangelical state whereinto the Hebrews were called, which they were come and entered into; for from thence the apostle infers his ensuing exhortation. But this their coming he expresseth negatively, to introduce a description of the church-state under the old testament, and the manner of the peoples entrance into it; whence he confirms both his argument and his exhortation: Ye are not come. And two things are included in that negative expression:

1. What their fathers did. They came, as we shall see, unto the things here mentioned. 2. What they were delivered from by their call unto the gospel. They were no more concerned in all that dread and terror. And the consideration of this deliverance was to be of moment with them, with respect unto their perseverance in the faith of the gospel; for this is the fundamental privilege which we receive thereby, namely, a deliverance from the terror and curse of the law.

And we may observe some few general things, in this proposal of the way of the peoples approach unto God at Sinai, before we open the several passages contained in the words; as,

1. The apostle in this comparison, between their coming of old into the legal church-state, and our admission into the state of the gospel, includes a supposition of the way and manner whereby they approached unto God in the giving of the law. This was by the sanctification of themselves, the washing of their clothes, (as an outward sign thereof,) with other reverential preparations, Exo 19:10-11. Whence it will follow, that, the gospel church-state being so much more excellent than that of old, God himself being in it in a more glorious and excellent manner, we ought to endeavor a more eminent sanctification and preparation, in all our approaches unto God therein. And therefore he closeth his discourse with an exhortation thereunto: Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, verse 28. This therefore he teacheth us in the whole, namely, that the grace, love, and mercy of God, in the dispensation of the gospel, requires an internal sanctification and due preparation, with holy fear and reverence, in all our approaches unto him in his worship; answerable unto the type of it in the peoples preparation for the receiving of the law, and the fear that was wrought in them by the terror of God therein Our fear is of another kind than theirs was; yet ought it to be no less real and effectual in us, unto its proper end.

2. As unto the appearance of the divine Majesty here declared, we may observe, that all such apparitions were still suited unto the subject-matter, or what was to be declared of the mind of God in them. So he appeared unto Abraham in the shape of a man, Gen 18:1-2; because he came to give the promise of the blessing Seed, and to give a representation of the future incarnation. In the like shape he appeared unto Jacob, Gen 32:24; which was also a representation of the Son of God as incarnate, blessing the church. Unto Moses he appeared as a fire in a bush which was not consumed, Exo 3:2-6; because he would let him know that the fire of affliction in the church should not consume it, because of his presence in it. He dwelt in the bush. Unto Joshua he appeared as an armed man, with his sword drawn in his hand, Jos 5:13; to assure him of victory over all his enemies. But here he appears encompassed with all the dread and terror described; and this was to represent the holiness and severity of the law, with the inevitable and dreadful destruction of sinners who betake not themselves unto the promise for relief.

3. These appearances of God were the glory of the old testament, the great fundamental security of the faith of believers, the most eminent privilege of the church. Yet were they all but types and obscure resemblances of that which was granted in the foundation of the gospel church-state: and this was, that God was manifest in the flesh; the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; or the incarnation of the Son of God. For therein the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily, Col 2:9; that is, really and substantially, whereof all other appearances were but shadows.

4. We may also observe some things in general concerning this appearance of the divine Majesty, which intimate the glory and terror of it; as,

(1.) It was on the top of a high mountain, not in a plain. As this had a great appearance of the throne of majesty, so, it being above the people, as it were over them, it was meet to fill them with dread and fear. They looked up, and saw the mountain above them full of fire and smoke; the whole mount quaking greatly, thunders and terrible voices being heard in the air, Exo 19:18; Exo 20:18; Deu 4:11. They could have no other thoughts hereon, but that it was a fearful thing to come to judgment before this holy God. And one view of that terror of the Lords holiness and severity, which were here represented, is enough to make the stoutest sinner to quake and tremble.

(2.) To increase the reverence due to this appearance, the people were commanded their distance, and straitly forbidden an approach beyond the bounds fixed unto them.

(3.) This prohibition was confirmed with a sanction, that every one who transgressed it should be stoned, as detestable and devoted unto utter destruction. These things, accompanied with the dreadful spectacles here mentioned by the apostle, did all lead to ingenerate an awful fear and reverence of God, in his giving of the law. This was the way whereby those under the old testament entered into their church-state; which begot in them a spirit of bondage unto fear, during its continuance.

That expression, They came, included in this, Ye are not come, compriseth all the sacred preparation which, by Gods direction, the people made use of when they approached unto the mount; concerning which the reader may see our Exercitations in the first volume of the Exposition, Exercitations 19.

There are two things in the remaining words: first, What the people so came unto; secondly, What effect it had upon them, especially as unto one instance.

1. The things that they came unto, as recorded by the apostle, are seven:

(1.) The mount that might be touched.

(2.) The fire that burned.

(3.) Blackness.

(4.) Darkness.

(5.) Tempest.

(6.) The sound of the trumpet.

(7.) The voice of words.

2. The event was, that they entreated that the words might be spoken to them no more.

FIRST, They came to,

1. The mount that might be touched. This mount was Sinai, in the wilderness of Horeb, which was in the deserts of Arabia So saith our apostle, mount Sinai in Arabia, Gal 4:25. And the apostle mentions this in the first place, because with respect unto this mountain all the laws and directions of the peoples approach unto God were given, Exodus 19.

Of this mount it is said, It might be touched. is to feel, to touch, to handle, Luk 24:39; 1Jn 1:1; and it is sometimes applied to any means of attempting the knowledge of what we inquire after, Act 17:27. And the apostle observes this concerning the mountain, that it might be touched, felt, or handled, that it was a sensible, carnal thing, exposed to the outward senses, to the most earthly of them, namely, feeling, from the prohibition given, that none should touch it: for unless it might have been touched naturally, none could have been morally prohibited to touch it. And he makes this observation for two ends:

(1.) To manifest how low and inferior the giving of the law was, in comparison of the promulgation of the gospel, which was from heaven; as we shall see afterwards, verse 25. It was that which might be touched with the hands of men, or by beasts themselves.

(2.) To intimate the bondage and fear the people were then in, who might not so much as touch the mountain where were the signs of Gods presence, though it was in itself a thing exposed to the sense of all creatures.

And there is much of divine wisdom, that manifests itself in the choice of this place for the giving of the law. For,

(1.) It was an absolute solitude, a place remote from the habitation and converse of men. Here the people could neither see nor hear any thing but God and themselves. There was no appearance of any relief, or place of retreat; but there they must abide the will of God. And this teacheth us, that when God deals with men by the law, he will let them see nothing but himself and their own consciences: he takes them out of their reliefs, reserves, and retreats. For the most part, when the law is preached unto sinners, they have innumerable diversions and reliefs at hand, to shield themselves from its terror and efficacy. The promises of sin itself are so, and so are the promises of future amendment; so also are all the businesses and occasions of life which they betake themselves unto. They have other things to do than to attend unto the voice of the law; at least it is not yet necessary that they should so do. But when God will bring them to the mount, as he will here or hereafter, all these pretences will vanish and disappear. Not one of them shall be able to suggest the least relief unto a poor guilty sinner. His conscience shall be kept to that which he can neither abide nor avoid. Unless he can make the great plea of an interest in the blood of Christ, he is gone for ever. And God gave herein a type and representation of the great judgment at the last day. The terror of it consists much in this, that sinners shall be able to see nothing but God and the tokens of his wrath. Nor doth the law represent any thing else unto us. (2.) It was a barren and fruitless desert, where there was neither water nor food. And, answerably thereunto, the law in a state of sin, would bring forth no fruit, nothing acceptable unto God nor useful unto the souls of men. For there was nothing on Sinai but bushes and brambles; whence it had its name. These made an appearance at a distance of some fruitfulness in the place; but when it came to be tried, there was nothing but what was fit for the fire. And so is it with all that are under the law. They may seem to perform many duties of obedience, yea, such as they may trust unto, and make their boast of: but when they are brought unto the trial, they are no other but such as God speaks of, Isa 27:4 :

Who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.

Other fruit the law will not bring forth. Nor was there any water in that desert of Horeb, to make it fruitful. That which the people lived on was brought out of the rock; and that rock was Christ. From him alone are all refreshments to them that are under the law.

(3.) No place in the habitable world hath been ever since more desolate and forsaken; and such it continueth unto this day.

And thereby we are taught,

[1.] That although there was a necessity for the renovation of the law at that season, to give bounds unto sin, yet that that dispensation should not be continued, but be left for ever as it is under the gospel.

[2.] That those who will abide under the law, shall never have any token of Gods presence with them, but shall be left to desolation and horror. God dwells no more on Sinai. Those who abide under the law, shall neither have his presence nor any gracious pledge of it. And all those things are spoken, to stir us up to seek for an interest in that blessed gospel-state which is here proposed unto us. And thus much we have seen already, that without it there is neither relief from the curse of the law, nor acceptable fruit of obedience, nor pledge of divine favor, to be obtained.

[3.] It manifests that the holiness of things and places is confined unto their use; which when it ceaseth, they become common. What more holy place than Sinai, during the presence of God on it? What now more desolate, forlorn, and despised? For although the superstition of latter ages hath built a house or monastery on the top of this hill, for a mere superstitious devotion, yet God in his providence hath sufficiently manifested his regardlessness of it, and the casting it out of his care. And he denounceth sentence herein on all that superstition and idolatry which are in the church of Rome, in their veneration of relics, and pilgrimages to places of a supposed holiness, though utterly forsaken of all pledges of the divine presence.

2. The second thing they came unto was the fire that burned; for so I rather read the words, than the mount that burned with fire. For the fire was of itself a distinct token of Gods presence, and a distinct means of filling the people with dread and fear. This fire is mentioned, Exo 19:18, The LORD descended on the mount in fire; and Deu 4:12, The LORD spake out of the midst of the fire. It is said, indeed, that the mountain burned with fire; that is, fire burned on the mountain. And this fire had a double appearance:

(1.) That which represented the descent of God on the mount: The LORD descended in fire. The people saw the token of Gods presence in the descent of fire on the mount.

(2.) Of the continuance of his presence there, for it continued burning all the while God spake: He spake out of the fire. And it was a flaming fire, which raised a smoke, like the smoke of a furnace, Exo 19:18; which our apostle seems to express by blackness, in the next word. Yea, this fire flamed, and burned unto the midst of heaven, Deu 4:11. This fire was an emblem of the presence of God; and of all the appearances on the mount, it was of the greatest terror unto the people. And therefore, in their request to be freed from the dread of the presence of God, they three times mention this fire as the cause of their fear, Deu 5:24-26. And God is often in the Scripture represented by fire, Deu 4:24; Isa 30:33; Isa 33:14. And his severity in the execution of his judgments is so called, Isa 66:15; Amo 7:4; Eze 1:4. And although here the light, purity, and holiness of the nature of God, may also be represented by it, yet we shall confine it unto the interpretation given of it in the Scripture itself. And first, as unto God himself, it signified his jealousy. So Moses expounds it, Deu 4:24, for he closeth his discourse hereof with these words, For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. And the jealousy of God is his holy severity against sin, not to leave it unpunished. And with respect unto the law which he then gave, From his right hand went a fiery law for them, Deu 33:2, it signified its inexorable severity and efficacy to destroy its transgressors. And we may add hereunto, that it declared the terror of his majesty, as the great legislator. Hence in the Scripture he is often said to be accompanied with fire. See Psa 18:9-12. Psa 1:3, A fire shall devour before him. Psa 97:3. A fire goeth before him. Dan 7:10, A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. For there is nothing more apt to fill the hearts of men with a majestic awe than a fire absolutely prevalent above the power of all creatures.

This is the first thing which the people beheld when they came to the mount. And when men under the law have to deal with God, their first apprehensions of him are his holiness and severity against sinners, with his anger and displeasure against sin. There the law leaves them; and thence they must be consumed, without relief by Jesus Christ. These things are hid from sinners, until they are brought to the law, or the law to them. They have no views, no notices of them in a due manner. Hence, until the law comes, they are alive; that is, at peace and in security, well satisfied with their own condition. They see not, they think not of the fire, that is ready to consume them; yea, for the most part they have quite other notions of God, Psa 50:21, or none at all. But this is the second work of the law: when it hath by its convictions brought the sinner into a condition of a sense of guilt which he cannot avoid, nor will any thing tender him relief, which way soever he looks, for he is in a desert, it represents unto him the holiness and severity of God, with his indignation and wrath against sin; which have a resemblance of a consuming fire. This fills his heart with dread and terror, and makes him see his miserable, undone condition. Infinite holiness, inexorable justice, and fiery indignation, are all in this representation of God. Hence the cry of those who find not the way of relief wilt one day be, Who among us shall dwell with that devouring fire? Who shall inhabit with those everlasting burnings?

This is the way and progress of the work of the law on the consciences of sinners: First, when they are brought unto it, it stops their mouths, makes them guilty before God, or subject to his judgment, Rom 3:19; it shuts them all up in unbelief, Rom 11:32; it concludes, or shuts them up, under sin, Gal 3:22, gives them to see their lost condition, without help, without relief. They are in a wilderness, where is none but God and themselves. And, secondly, in this condition they see the fire: God is represented unto them therein in his jealousy and severity against sin; which fills their hearts with dread and terror. O this fire will consume them! If they continue to hear the voice out of the fire, they shall die! Somewhat hereof, in some degree, is found in all on whom the law hath its proper and effectual work, in order unto the bringing of them unto Christ, the deliverer. And all others shall find it in the highest degree, when it will be too late to think of a remedy.

3. Unto fire the apostle adds blackness, as we render the word; whereto follow darkness and tempest. Before we speak unto the words and things signified in particular, we must consider the consistency of the things that are spoken. For, whereas fire is light in itself, and giveth light, how is it said that together with it there was blackness and darkness?

Some distinguish the times, and say there was an appearance of fire at first, and afterwards of blackness and darkness. But this is directly contrary to the text, which frequently assigns the continuance of the fire unto the end of Gods speaking unto the people. Others would have respect to be had unto several distinct parts of the mountain; so as that the fire appeared in one part, and the darkness in another. But it is evident, in the description given by Moses, that they were mingled all together. For he affirms sometimes, that God spake in and out of the fire; sometimes out of the thick darkness, Deu 5:22-24. The LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, Deu 5:22. The voice out of the midst of the thick darkness, Deu 5:23. The voice out of the midst of the fire, Deu 5:24. And the same is fully expressed, Deu 4:11-12. So that it is evident there was a mixture of them all together; and so it is described by David, Psa 18:8-13. And nothing can be conceived of greater dread and terror, than such a mixture of fire, and darkness, and tempest, which left nothing of light unto the fire but its dread and terror. For by reason of this blackness and darkness, the people had no useful light by the fire. This filled them with confusion and perplexity.

The word , here used by the apostle, is intended by some turbo; Syr., , tenebrae, darkness; but that is , the word following. Turbo is a storm or tempest. The apostle by these words expresseth those of Moses, , Deu 4:11, which we render, darkness, clouds, and thick darkness; the LXX. using the same words with the apostle, but not in the same order, , saith Eustathius, is from ; , a cloud, in the AEolic dialect. Wherefore the apostle in this word might have respect unto that blackness which was caused by the thick cloud wherein God descended, Exo 19:9, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud; which cloud abode upon the mount, verse 16, the blackness of it being not taken away by the fire that was in it, every part of the appearance reserving its own terror. Or he might have respect unto the smoke caused by the fire, which was as the smoke of a furnace, verse 18; for he doth not mention it in particular. But the Syriac and Arabic, with other translations, put the words in construction, and render them, the blackness or obscurity of the cloud; which probably is intended in this word and that following.

But this , blackness or obscurity, had evidently three things in it:

(1.) As it was mixed with fire, it increased the dread of the appearance.

(2.) It hindered the people from clear views of the glory of God in this dispensation. With respect hereunto, it is often said that clouds and darkness are round about him, Psa 98:2.

(3.) It declared the dread of the sentence of the law, in fire and utter darkness.

And this is a third thing in the progress of the work of the law on the consciences of sinners: When they are shut up under guilt, and begin to be terrified with the representation of Gods severity against sin, they cannot but look to see if there be any thing in the manifestation of God and his will by the law that will yield them relief. But here they find all things covered with blackness, or obscurity. The glory of God, in his design in bringing them unto the law, or the law to them, is hid and covered under the veil of this blackness. The design of God herein is not death, though the law in itself be the ministration of death; but he deals thus with them to drive them to Christ, to constrain them to flee for refuge unto him. But this design, as unto the law, is covered with blackness; the sinner can see nothing of it, and so knows not how to order his speech towards God by reason of darkness, Job 37:19. It is the gospel alone that reveals this design of God in the law. But instead hereof, this blackness insinuates into the mind a dread of worse things than yet it can discern. When men see blackness in a cloud, they are apt to expect that thunder will break out of it every moment. So is it with sinners; finding all things covered with blackness, in the view they would take of God by the law, it increaseth their dread, and lets them into the things that follow. Wherefore,

Obs. 1. A view of God as a judge, represented in fire and blackness, will fill the souls of convinced sinners with dread and terror. How secure soever they may be at present, when God calls them forth unto the mount their hearts cannot endure, nor can their hands be strong.

4. Unto this blackness the apostle adds darkness. Blackness is a property of a thing in itself; darkness is its effect towards others. This blackness was such as withal caused darkness, with respect unto them unto whom it was presented. So we may distinguish between the blackness and darkness of a thunder cloud. It is black in itself, and causeth darkness unto us. But this darkness is mentioned distinctly, as a part of the appearance: Exo 20:21, Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was; and Deu 4:11, Darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. What this darkness was, we cannot well apprehend. But this it teacheth us, that notwithstanding the revelation that God made of himself in this dispensation of the law, he was, as unto his glory in the purposes of his grace and mercy, in thick darkness unto the people; they could not see him nor discern him. Sinners can see nothing thereof, in or by the law. How this darkness was removed by the ministry of Christ and the gospel, how this cloud of darkness was scattered, and the face of God as a father, as a reconciled God, uncovered, revealed, and made known, is the subject of the writings of the New Testament. Hence the execution of the law is called blackness of darkness, Jud 1:13.

5. Hereunto the apostle adds, and tempest. And in this word he compriseth the thundering, lightning, and earthquake, that were then on and in the mount, Exo 19:16; Exo 19:18; Exo 20:18. These increased the terror of the darkness, and made it , a thick darkness,as it is in Moses.

As it was without in the giving of the law, so it is within in the work of the law; it fills the minds of men with a storm, accompanied with darkness and perplexity. This is the issue that the law brings things unto in the minds and consciences of sinners. Its work ends in darkness and tempest. It hath these two effects: First, it brings the soul into darkness, that it knows not what to do, nor how to take one step towards its own relief. It can see no light, either for its direction or consolation. And hereon it either tires and wearies itself with vain endeavors for relief by its own works and duties, or else sinks into heartless despondencies and complaints; as is the manner of men in darkness. And secondly, it raiseth a tempest in the mind, of disquieting, perplexing thoughts; ofttimes accompanied with dread and terror. In this state the law leaves poor sinners; it will not accompany them one step towards deliverance; it will neither reveal nor encourage them to look after any relief. Yea, it declares that here the sinner must die and perish, for any thing that the law knows or can do. This, therefore, is the place and season wherein Christ interposeth, and cries unto sinners, Behold me! behold me!

Now, though all these things tend unto death, yet God was, and God is, exceedingly glorious in them. Yea, this administration of them was so. The ministration of death and condemnation was glorious; though it had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth, namely, in the dispensation of the gospel, 2Co 3:7; 2Co 3:10-11. Howbeit in itself it did, and it doth, manifest the glory of the holiness, justice, and severity of God; wherein he will be glorified, and that unto eternity.

These things, with all their dreadful effects, the apostle minds the Hebrews of their deliverance from by Jesus Christ and his gospel, to oblige them unto constancy and perseverance in the profession of the faith; which we shall speak somewhat unto afterwards.

Heb 12:19.

6. They came to the sound of the trumpet. This is called , the voice of the trumpet, Exo 19:16; Exo 19:19; and was of great use in that solemnity. It is well rendered by the apostle, the sound of a trumpet; for it was not a real trumpet, but the sound of a trumpet, formed in the air by the ministry of angels, unto a degree of terror. So it waxed louder and louder, to signify the nearer approach of God. This sound of the trumpet, or an allusion unto it, is of great use in sacred things. Here it was used in the promulgation of the law. And there was under the law a memorial of blowing of trumpets, on the first day of the seventh month, to call the people unto the solemn day of expiation, Lev 23:24; which was a type of preaching the gospel, and a declaration of the remission of sins by the atonement made in the sacrifice of Christ. But the principal solemnity hereof was in the proclamation of the jubilee, every fiftieth year, Lev 25:7-9, when liberty was proclaimed throughout all the land, to all the inhabitants thereof, verse 10; which was fulfilled in the ministry of Christ, Isa 61:1-2. Whence the people were blessed that heard that joyful sound, Psa 89:15. So it is frequently applied unto the promulgation of the gospel. It is also used as an indication of the entrance of divine judgments on the world, Rev 8:6. And lastly, it is used as the means of summoning all flesh to judgment at the last day, 1Co 15:52; 1Th 4:16.

Here it had a treble use, and a double typical signification:

(1.) It was to intimate the approach of God, to prepare the hearts of men with a due reverence of him.

(2.) It was to summon the people to an appearance before him, as their lawgiver and judge; for on the sound of the trumpet, Moses brought forth the people to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount, Exo 19:17.

(3.) It was the outward sign of the promulgation of the law, with the sanction of it; for immediately upon the sound of the trumpet God spake unto them. And as unto its typical signification, it was,

(1.) A pledge of the future judgment, when all flesh shall be summoned before the judgment-seat of Christ, to answer the terms of the law. And,

(2.) As it was changed in the following institution of the feast of expiation, and in the year of jubilee, it was, as was observed, a type of the promulgation of the gospel in the ministry of Christ himself. And,

Obs. 2. When God calls sinners to answer the law; there is no avoiding of an appearance; the terrible summons and citation will draw them out, whether they will or no. In some the word is made effectual in this life, to bring them into the presence of God with fear and trembling; but here the whole matter is capable of a just composure in the blood of Christ, unto the glory of God and eternal salvation of the sinner. But those that here escape must answer for the whole, when the final summons shall be given them by the trumpet at the last day.

Obs. 3. It is a blessed change, to be removed from the summons of the law to answer for the guilt of sin, unto the invitation of the gospel to come and accept of mercy and pardon. He that shall compare this terrible citation of sinners before the throne of God, to receive and answer the law, with those sweet, gracious, heavenly invitations, with proclamations of grace and mercy, given by Christ in the gospel, Mat 11:28-30, may apprehend the difference of the two states here insisted on by the apostle. And thus are things stated in the consciences of sinners, with respect unto the different sounds of the trumpet: The summons of the law fills them with dread and terror. Appear they must before God, there is no avoidance; but stand before him they cannot. They are like Adam, when he could no longer hide himself, but must appear and answer for his transgression. They have no refuge to betake themselves unto. The law condemns them; they condemn themselves; and God is represented as a judge full of severity. In this state, when mercy is designed for them, they begin to hear the voice of the trumpet for the promulgation of the gospel, and of grace and mercy by Jesus Christ. This proclaims liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, Isa 61:1; that is, to such poor condemned creatures as they are. At first they are not able to believe it, it is so contrary to the summons which was given them by the law; but when it is made manifest unto them that the charge of the law is answered, and thereon mercy and peace are freely tendered unto them, it is as life from the dead, Hab 2:1-4.

Under this dreadful summons of the law the gospel finds us; which exceedingly exalts the glory of the grace of God and of the blood of Christ, in the consciences of believers, as the apostle declares at large, Rom 3:19-26.

7. Hereunto is added, the voice of words. It is said that God spake by a voice, Exo 19:19; that is, an articulate voice, in the language of the people, that might be understood by all. Hence he is said to speak with the people, Exo 20:19. The LORD spake unto them out of the midst of the fire, and they heard the voice, Deu 4:12; Deu 5:23. Now, the words that were uttered with this voice were the ten words, or ten commandments, written afterwards in the two tables of stone, and no more. This the people all of them heard of the voice of God, and this only:

Deu 5:22, These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly (speaking of the ten commandments) in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice, and he added no more: and he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me; that is, afterwards.

Wherefore, from the midst of the dreadful appearance of fire, clouds, and darkness, all other noises of thunder and the trumpet ceasing, God caused a voice, speaking the words of the ten commandments articulately in their own language, to be heard by the whole congregation, men, women, and children, in the station wherein they were placed at the foot of the mount And this voice was so great and terrible as that the people were not able to bear it; for although it is evident that they were terrified with the dreadful appearances on the mount, yet was it this speaking of God himself that utterly overwhelmed them.

This law, for the substance of it, was written in the hearts of mankind by God himself in their original creation; but being much defaced, as to the efficacious notions of it by the entrance of sin and the corruption of our nature, and greatly affronted as unto the relics of it in the common practice of the world, God gave it in the church this becoming renovation with terror and majesty. And this he did, not only to renew it as a guide unto all righteousness and holiness, as the only rule and measure of obedience unto himself and of right and equity amongst men, and to give check, by its commands and sanction, unto sin; but principally to declare in the church the eternal establishment of it, that no change or alteration should be made in its commands or penalties, but that all must be fulfilled to the uttermost, or sinners would have no acceptance with God: for it being the original rule of obedience between him and mankind, and failing of its end through the entrance of sin, he would never have revived and proclaimed it, in this solemn, glorious manner, if it had been capable of any abrogation or alteration at any time. Therefore these words he spake himself immediately unto the people, and these only. His will concerning alterable institutions, he communicated by revelation unto Moses only. How this law is established and fulfilled, is declared in the gospel. See Rom 10:1-4.

The unchangeable nature and sanction of this law, as unto its rewards and punishments, were eternally secured in the hearts and consciences of mankind; for it was so inlaid with the principles of our nature, so ingrafted on all the faculties of our souls, that no flesh is able utterly to subduct itself from under its power. Though sinners find it contrary unto them in all their desires and designs, and that which continually threatens their ruin, yet are they not able to cast off the yoke of it; as the apostle declares, Rom 2:14-15. But there are many additional evidences given hereunto, in this solemn renovation of it. For,

(1.) It was for the promulgation of this law alone that there was all that dreadful preparation for the presence of God on mount Sinai. (2.) These were the first words that God spake unto the people; yea,

(3.) The only words he spake.

(4.) He spake them with a voice great and terrible; and,

(5.) Wrote them with his own finger on tables of stone.

By all these ways did God confirm this law, and sufficiently manifest that it was liable neither to abrogation nor dissolution, but was to be answered and fulfilled to the utmost. And,

Obs. 4. Let no man ever think or hope to appear before God with confidence or peace, unless he have an answer in readiness unto all the words of this law, all that it requires of us. And they who suppose they have any other answer, as their own works, merits, suffrages, and supererogations of others, masses, indulgences, and the like, any thing but the substitution of the Surety of the covenant in our stead, with an interest by faith in his mediation, blood, and sacrifice, will be eternally deceived.

SECONDLY, The last thing in this verse is the event of this sight and hearing on the part of the people. There was a voice of words; whereon it is said, They that heard the voice entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more. The story hereof is recorded, Exo 20:19; Deu 5:23-25.

1. Those spoken of are those that then heard that voice, that is, the whole assembly or congregation; of all which, those that were above the age of twenty years, and so able to understand the matter and personally engage in the covenant, except two persons, died in the wilderness under the displeasure of God. So that,

Obs. 5. No outward privilege, such as this was, to hear the voice of God, is sufficient of itself to preserve men from such sins and rebellions as shall render them obnoxious unto divine displeasure. For notwithstanding all the things that they had seen, all those signs and great miracles, the LORD had not given them an heart to perceive, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear, Deu 29:2-4. In hearing they heard not, in seeing they perceived not; and did therefore alway err in their heart, not knowing the ways of God, Heb 3:10. Forunto a right improvement of such outward privileges it is moreover required that God should circumcise our hearts, to love the LORD our God with all our heart, and all our soul, Deu 30:6, by the administration of efficacious grace.

2. They entreated that the word should not be spoken unto them any more; or that the speech, namely, of God, should not be continued unto them immediately. The word here rendered by entreated, we express by refusing, verse 25. And in all other places it signifies to excuse ones self from doing any thing, Luk 14:18; to refuse, Act 25:11; to decline, avoid and turn from, 1Ti 4:7; 1Ti 5:11, 2Ti 2:23, Tit 3:10. Wherefore such an entreaty is intended as included a declension and aversation of mind from what they spake about. They deprecated the hearing of the word in that manner any more. And they did this, no doubt, by their officers and elders. For both themselves being terrified, and observing the dread of the whole congregation, they made request for themselves and the rest unto Moses. And because they did it with a good intention, out of a reverence of the majesty of God, without any design of declining obedience, it was accepted and approved of by Deu 5:28-29.

They entreated that the word might not be added to them. is both the speech and the thing spoken. And although they could not bear the latter either, as we shall see on the next verse, yet it is the former, the speech itself, or the immediate speaking of God himself unto them, which they did deprecate. So they express themselves, If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die, Deu 5:25. This voice, this word, this speech, proceeding immediately from God, out of the fire and darkness, was that which heightened their fear and dread to the utmost. And we may see,

Obs. 6. Then is the sinner utterly overwhelmed, when he hath a sense of the voice of God himself in the law. When he finds God himself speaking in and unto his conscience, he can no longer bear it.

Obs. 7. That the speaking of the law doth immediately discover the invincible necessity of a mediator between God and sinners The people quickly found that there was no dealing with God for them in their own persons, and therefore desired that there might be one to mediate between God and them. And, Obs. 8. If the giving of the law was so full of terror that the people could not bear it, but apprehended that they must die, if God continued to speak it to them; what will be the execution of its curse in a way of vengeance at the last day!

Heb 12:20-21. ( , , . , , , .)

. Vulg., non portabant; they did not bear. Non ferebant, Bez. Syr., , for they were not able to sustain, or bear. We, to endure.

. Vulg., quod dicebatur, that which was spoken. There is more in the word. Syr., quod praecipiebatur; that was commanded, enjoined. Edicebatur, which was spoken out, enacted. Bez., interdicebatur, that was forbidden or interdicted, referring it unto the following words. We, was commanded.

. These words are omitted both in the Vulgar and in the Syriac and Arabic. But they are in all the best Greek copies; and they are necessary, as being a part of the original interdict. Nor is it absolutely true that such beasts should be stoned; for they were to be stoned, or thrust through with a dart, Exo 19:12-13. These words, therefore, are necessary in this place. Sagitta configetur.

. Vulg., quod videbatur, that which was seen. Syr., , the vision. Bez., visum quod apparebat, the sight that appeared. The sense of the whole sentence seems somewhat defective, for want of a note of connection between the parts of it: And so terrible was the sight, Moses said, I exceedingly fear. We supply that; that Moses said. Beza joins Moses immediately unto and in the beginning, putting a distinction between it and , so: Et Moses, adeo horrendum erat visum, dixit; And Moses, so terrible was the sight, said: which is the true construction of the words.

, exterritus, expavefactus; I exceedingly fear, or I am[5] exceedingly afraid.

[5] VARIOUS READING. are omitted by Bengel, Griesbach, Scholz, Lachmann, and Tischendorf. The insertion of them is contrary to the authority of all the uncial manuscripts, by far the most of the cursive manuscripts, and all the versions. EXPOSITION. No modern critic agrees with Owen in supposing to be the law, and not the particular interdict immediately quoted. As to the exclamation attributed to Moses, in regard to which Owen appears somewhat at a loss, as it is not recorded in Old Testament history, Knapp, Tholuek, Ebrard, Conybeare and Howson, explain it by reference to the phrase of the Septuagint in Deu 9:19, . It was the remembrance, observe the two last-mentioned authors, of this terrible sight which caused Moses to say this; much more must he have been terrified by the reality. ED.

Heb 12:20-21. For they could not endure [bear] that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart. And so terrible [dreadful] was the sight [which appeared], [that] Moses said, I exceedingly fear and tremble.

The law about the beast is not distinct, as here proposed, but it is a part of the general prohibition: Whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death, Exo 19:12. This concerns the people only: but in the prescription of the manner of the death to be inflicted it is added, There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through: whether it be beast or man, it shall not live, verse 13. Which manner of its introduction we respect in our translation, If so much as a beast; which was not at first named, but added in the repetition of the law. The word signifies all sorts of cattle; which the apostle renders by , to include those also which were of a wild nature. No living creature was allowed to come to the mount.

For the opening of the words, we must inquire,

1. What it was that was commanded.

2. How they could not endure it.

3. What further evidences there were that it was not to be endured by them; which are added unto the assertion laid down in the beginning of the 20th verse.

First, That which was commanded: The edict; or as some, the interdict. For it may relate unto that which follows, that which was commanded, namely, that if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it should be stoned, or thrust through with a dart. Respect is had herein unto the whole charge given unto the people of not touching the mount or passing the bounds fixed unto them; wherein beasts also were included. And this, no doubt, was a great indication of severity, and might have occasioned danger unto the people, some or more of them. But this is not intended herein, nor hath this word respect unto what followeth, but unto what goeth before. For,

1. The note of connection, , for, intimates that a reason is given in these words of what was asserted before: They entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: for they could not endure that which was commanded.

2. The interdict of touching the mount was given three days before the fear and dread of the people, as is evident in the story: so as no respect could be had thereunto in what they said afterwards, when they were surprised with fear.

3. Though there was in it an intimation of the necessity of great reverence in their approach unto God, and of his severity in giving of the law, yet the people did not look on it as a matter of terror and dread, which they could not bear. For they came afterwards unto the bounds prescribed unto them, with confidence; nor did they begin to fear and tremble until the mount was all on fire, and they heard the voice of God out of the midst of it.

4. Even the words of Moses, repeated in the next verse, were before the people had declared their dread and terror.

So that both these things are added only as aggravating circumstances of the insupportableness of what was commanded.

That, therefore, which was commanded, was nothing but the law itself.

Secondly, Hereof it is said, They could not endure it, or, They could not bear it, or stand under it. And there were three things that concurred to convince them of their disability to bear the command:

1. The manner of its delivery; which they had a principal respect unto in their fear, and desire that it might be spoken unto them no more. This is plain in the story, and so they directly express themselves, Deu 5:23-26.

2. It was from the nature of the law itself, or the word that was spoken, with respect unto its end. For it was given as a rule of justification, and of acceptance with God: and hereon they might easily see how unable they were to beat it.

3. There was administered with it a spirit of bondage unto fear,

Rom 8:15, which aggravated the terror of it in their consciences.

These are the effects which a due apprehension of the nature, end, and use of the law, with the severity of God therein, will produce in the minds and consciences of sinners. Thus far the law brings us; and here it leaves us. Here are we shut up. There is no exception to be put in unto the law itself; it evidenceth itself to be holy, just, and good. There is no avoidance of its power, sentence, and sanction; it is given by God himself. The sinner could wish that he might never hear more of it. What is past with him against this law cannot be answered for; what is to come cannot be complied withal: wherefore, without relief in Christ, here the sinner must perish for ever. This, I say, is the last effect of the law on the consciences of sinners: It brings them to a determinate judgment that they cannot bear that which is commanded. Hereon they find themselves utterly lost; and so have no expectation but of fiery indignation to consume them. And accordingly they must eternally perish, if they betake not themselves unto the only relief and remedy.

Thirdly, Of this terror from the giving of the law, and the causes of it, the apostle gives a double illustration.

The first whereof is in the interdict given as unto the touching of the mount. For this was such as extended unto the very beasts: Si vel bestia, And if so much as a beast. For so was the divine constitution, Whether it be beast or man, it shall not live, Exo 19:13. I doubt not but that divine Providence removed from it such brute creatures as were not under the power of men, such as might be wild about those mountainous deserts, or the fire consumed them, to the least creeping thing; but the prohibition respects the cattle of the people, which were under their power and at their disposal. And besides being an illustration of the absolute inaccessibleness of God, in and by the law, it seems to intimate the uncleanness of all things which sinners possess, by their relation unto them. For unto the impure all things are impure and defiled. Therefore doth the prohibition extend itself unto the beasts also.

The punishment of the beast that did touch the mount, was, that it should die. And the manner of its death (and so of men guilty in the like kind) was, that it should be stoned, or thrust through with a dart? It is expressed in the prohibition, that no hand should touch that which had offended. It was to be slain at a distance with stones or darts. The heinousness of the offense, with the execrableness of the offender, is declared thereby. No hand was ever more to touch it; either to relieve it (which may be the sense of the word), or to slay it, lest it should be defiled thereby. And it showeth also at what distance we ought to keep ourselves from every thing that falls under the curse of the law.

Heb 12:21. The second evidence which he gives of the dreadful promulgation of the law, and consequently of the miserable estate of them that are under its power, is in what befell Moses on this occasion. And we may consider,

1. The person in whom he giveth the instance.

2. The cause of the consternation ascribed unto him.

3. How he expressed it.

1. The person is Moses. The effect of this terror extended itself unto the meanest of beasts, and unto the best of men. Moses was,

(1.)A person holy, and abounding in grace above all others of his time; the meekest man on the earth.

(2.) He was accustomed unto divine revelations, and had once before beheld a representation of the divine presence Exodus 3.

(3.) He was the internuncius, the messenger, the mediator between God and the people, at that time. Yet could none of these privileges exempt him from an amazing sense of the terror of the Lord in giving the law. And if with all these advantages he could not bear it, much less can any other man so do. The mediator himself of the old covenant was not able to sustain the dread and terror of the law: how desperate then are their hopes who would yet be saved by Moses!

2. The cause of his consternation was the sight, it was so terrible: Visum quod apparebat; that which appeared, and was represented unto him. And this takes in not only what was the object of the sight of his eyes, but that of his ears also, in voices, and thundering, and the sound of the trumpet. The whole of it was terrible, or dreadful. It was so dreadful, unto such an incomprehensible degree.

3. His expression of the consternation that befell him hereon is in these words, I exceedingly fear and tremble. He said so; we are assured of it by the Holy Ghost in this place. But the words themselves are not recorded in the story. They were undoubtedly spoken then and there, where, upon this dreadful representation of God, it is said that he spake; but not one word is added of what he spake: Exo 19:19, And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice; yet nothing is added, either of what Moses spake, or of what God answered. Then, no doubt, did he speak these words: for it was immediately upon his sight of the dreadful appearance; unto which season the apostle assigns them.

The expositors of the Roman church raise hence a great plea for unwritten traditions; than which nothing can be more weak and vain. For,

(1.) How do they know that the apostle had the knowledge hereof by tradition? Certain it is, that in the traditions that yet remain among the Jews there is no mention of any such thing. All other things he had by immediate inspiration, as Moses wrote the story of things past.

(2.) Had not these words been now recorded by the apostle, what had become of the tradition concerning them? would any man living have believed it? Let them give us a tradition of any thing spoken by Moses or the prophets, or by Christ himself, which is not recorded, with any probability of truth, and somewhat will be allowed to their traditions. Wherefore,

(3.) The occasional divine record of such passages, ascertaining their verity, without which they would have been utterly lost, is sufficient to discover the vanity of their pretended traditions.

Moses spake these words in his own person, and not, as some have judged, in the person of the people. He was really so affected as he expressed it. And it was the will of God that so he should be. He would have him also to be sensible of his terror in the giving of the law.

It is said that God answered him with a voice; but what he said unto him is not recorded. No doubt but God spake that which gave him relief, which delivered him out of his distress, and reduced him unto a frame of mind meet for the ministration committed unto him; which in his surprisal and consternation he was not. And therefore immediately afterwards, when the people fell into their great horror and distress, he was able to relieve and comfort them; no doubt with that kind of relief which he himself had received from God, Exo 20:20. It appears, then, that,

Obs. All persons concerned were brought unto an utter loss and distress, by the renovation and giving of the law; from whence no relief is to be obtained, but by Him alone who is the end of the law for righteousness unto every one that believeth.

Heb 12:22-24. , , , , , , , , , .

The Vulgar Latin and the Syriac seem to have read instead of ; hence they join , the word following, unto those foregoing, unto the assembly of many thousands of angels; but without[6]warrant from any copies of the original.

ft6 EXPOSITION. Some critics put a comma after myriads, which are considered as comprehending the bodies denoted in the two following clauses, thus: And to myriads, the general assembly of angels, and the church of the first-born who are written in heaven. Others, putting the same stop after myriads, place a colon or semicolon after the next clause, and thus elicit this sense To myriads, the general assembly of angels; and to the church, etc Turner. The only right construction is that of Wolf, Rambach, Griesbach, Knapp, Bohme, Kuinoel, Tholuck, Bengel, Lachmann, De Wette, Bleek, etc.; according to which is dependent on . It is then most natural to take the two members, , and , as epexegetical of And to entire hosts, to the hosts of angels, and to the church of the first-born. Ebrard. In regard to the dispute whether the blood of Abels sacrifice or Abels person be referred to in the last clause, Stuart, Tholuck, Turner, Ebrard, Gen 4:10. ED

Heb 12:22-24. But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, [namely,] the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company [myriads] of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written [enrolled] in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, speaking better things than [that of] Abel.

This is the second part of the comparison, completing the foundation of the exhortation intended by the apostle. In the former he gave an account of the state of the people and the church under the law, from the giving of it, and the nature of its commands. In this, he so declares the state whereinto they were called by the gospel, as to manifest it incomparably more excellent in itself, and beneficial unto them. And because this whole context, and every thing in it, is peculiar and singular, we must with the more diligence insist on the exposition of it.

1. We have here a blessed, yea, a glorious description of the catholic church, as the nature and communion of it are revealed under the gospel. And such a description it is as which, if it were attended unto and believed, would not only silence all the contentious wrangling that the world is filled withal about that name and thing, but east out also other prejudicate conceptions and opinions innumerable, which divide all Christians, fill them with mutual animosities, and ruin their peace. For if we have here the substance of all the privileges which we receive by the gospel; if we have an account of them, or who they are, who are partakers of those privileges, as also the only foundation of all that church-communion which is amongst them; the grounds of our perpetual strifes are quickly taken away. It is the access here ascribed unto believers, and that alone, which will secure their eternal salvation.

2. Whereas the catholic church is distributed into two parts, namely, that which is militant, and that which is triumphant, they are both comprehended in this description, with the respect of God and Christ unto them both. For the first expressions, as we shall see, of mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, do principally respect that part of the church which is militant; as those that follow, the most of them, do that which is triumphant. There is, in the religion of the Papists, another part of the church, neither on the earth nor in heaven, but under the earth, as they say, in purgatory. But herewith they have nothing to do who come unto Christ by the gospel. They come indeed unto the spirits of just men made perfect; but so are none of those, by their own confession, who are in purgatory. Wherefore believers have nothing to do with them.

3. The foundation of this catholic communion, or communion of the catholic church, comprising all that is holy and dedicated unto God in heaven and earth, is laid in the recapitulation of all things in and by Jesus Christ: Eph 1:10, All things are gathered into one head in him, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; which is the sole foundation of their mutual communion among themselves. Whereas, therefore, we have here an association, in the communion of men and angels, and the souls of them that are departed, in a middle state between them both, we ought to consider always their recapitulation in Christ as the cause thereof. And whereas not only were all things so gathered into one by him, but by him also God reconciled all things unto himself, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven, Col 1:20, God himself is here represented as the supreme sovereign head of this catholic church, the whole of it being reconciled unto him.

4. The method which the apostle seems to observe, in tibia description of the church catholic in both the parts of it, is first to express that part of it which is militant, then that which is triumphant, issuing the whole in the relation of God and Christ thereunto; as we shall see in the exposition.

5. That which we must respect, as our rule in the exposition of the whole, is, that the apostle intends a description of that state whereunto believers are called by the gospel For it is that alone which he opposeth to the state of the church under the old testament. And to suppose that it is the heavenly, future state which he intends, is utterly to destroy the force of his argument and exhortation; for they are built solely on the pre-eminence of the gospel-state above that under the law, and not of heaven itself, which none could question.

We must consider, then,

1. What believers are said to come unto; and,

2. How they do so come unto it, or wherein their coming unto it doth consist.

And FIRST we are said,

1. To come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. The two last are not distinct expressions of diverse things, but different names of the same thing, the city of the living God, namely, the new Jerusalem. Nor is it necessary that we should appropriate these two expressions of Mount Sion, and The city of the living God, unto distinct or different things in the gospel-state, but only consider them as different expressions of the same thing. The sum of the whole is, that by the gospel we are called unto a participation of all the glory which was ascribed or promised unto the church under these names, in opposition unto what the people received in and by the law at mount Sinai.

Sion was a mount in Jerusalem which had two heads, the one whereof was called Moriah, whereon the temple was built, whereby it became the seat of all the solemn worship of God; and on the other was the palace and habitation of the kings of the house of David; both of them typical of Christ, the one in his priestly, the other in his kingly office.

The apostle doth not consider it naturally or materially, but in opposition unto mount Sinai, where the law was given. So he describeth the same opposition between the same Sinai and the heavenly Jerusalem, unto the same end, Gal 4:25-26; where it is apparent, that by mount Sion and the heavenly Jerusalem, the same state of the church is intended.

And the opposition between these two mounts was eminent. For,

(1.) God came down for a season only on mount Sinai; but in Sion he is said to dwell, and to make it his habitation for ever.

(2.) He appeared in terror on mount Sinai, as we have seen; Sion was in Jerusalem, which is a vision of peace.

(3.) He gave the law on mount Sinai; the gospel went forth from Sion, Isa 2:2-3.

(4.) He utterly forsook Sinai, and left it under bondage; but Sion is free for ever, Galatians 4.

(5.) The people were burdened with the law at mount Sinai, and were led with it unto Sion, where they waited for deliverance from it, in the observation of those institutions of divine worship which were typical and significant thereof.

The Socinian expositor, who affects subtilty and curiosity, affirms, That by mount Sion, either heaven itself, or rather a spiritual mountain, whose roots are on the earth, and whose top reacheth unto heaven, from whence we may easily enter into heaven itself, is intended: wherein he understood nothing himself of what he wrote; for it is not sense, nor to be understood. And the reason he gives, namely, That Sion in the Scripture is more frequently taken for heaven than the church, is so far from truth, that he cannot give any one instance where it is so taken. But to know the true reason why the apostle calls the state of believers under the new testament by the name of Sion, we may consider some of the things that are spoken of Sion in the Scripture. And I shall instance in a few only, because they are multiplied throughout the whole Book of God; as,

(1.) It is the place of Gods habitation, where he dwells for ever, Psa 9:11; Psa 76:2; Joe 3:21, etc.

(2.) It is the seat of the throne, reign, and kingdom of Christ, Psa 2:6; Isa 24:23; Mic 4:7.

(3.) It is the object of divine promises innumerable, Psa 69:35, Isa 1:27; of Christ himself, Isa 59:20.

(4.) Thence did the gospel proceed, and the law of Christ come forth, Isa 40:9; Mic 4:2.

(5.) It was the object of Gods especial love, and the place of the birth of the elect, Psa 87:2; Psa 87:5.

(6.) The joy of the whole earth, Psa 48:2.

(7.) Salvation, and all blessings came forth out of Sion, Psa 14:7; Psa 110:2; Psa 128:5; with sundry other things alike glorious. Now these things were not spoken of nor accomplished towards that mount Sion which was in Jerusalem absolutely, but only as it was typical of believers under the gospel. So the meaning of the apostle is, that by the gospel believers do come unto that state wherein they have an interest in, and a right unto, all the blessed and glorious things that are spoken in the Scriptures concerning and unto Sion. All the privileges ascribed, all the promises made unto it, are theirs. Sion is the place of Gods especial gracious residence, of the throne of Christ in his reign, the subject of all graces, the object of all promises, as the Scripture abundantly testifies.

This is the first privilege of believers under the gospel. They come unto mount Sion; that is, they are interested in all the promises of God made unto Sion, recorded in the Scripture, in all the love and care of God expressed towards it, in all the spiritual glories assigned unto it. The things spoken of it were never accomplished in the earthly Sion, but only typically; spiritually, and in their reality, they belong unto believers under the new testament.

Some look on all those promises and privileges wherewith the Scripture is replenished, with respect unto Sion, to be now as things dead and useless. They esteem it a presumption for any to plead and claim an interest in them, or to expect the accomplishment of them in or towards themselves. But this is expressly to contradict the apostle in this place, who affirms that we are come unto mount Sion, then when the earthly mount Sion was utterly forsaken. All those promises, therefore, which were made of old to Sion, do belong unto the present church of believers. These, in every condition, they may plead with God. They have the grace, and shall have the comfort contained in them. There is the security and assurance of their safety, preservation, and eternal salvation. Thereon depends their final deliverance from all their oppressions.

Be their outward condition never so mean and destitute; be they afflicted, persecuted, and despised; yet all the glorious things that are spoken of Sion are theirs, and accomplished in them in the sight of God. But the excellent things whereof, under this notion of Sion, they are made partakers, are innumerable.

Let this be compared with the peoples coming unto mount Sinai, as we have before declared it, and the glory of it will be conspicuous. And believers are to be admonished,

(1.) To walk worthy of this privilege, as Psalms 15;

(2.) To be thankful for it;

(3.) To rejoice in it;

(4.) To make it an effectual motive unto obedience and perseverance, as it is here done by the apostle.

And,

Obs. 1. All pleas about church order, power, rights and privileges, are useless, where men are not interested in this Sion state.

2. They are said to come unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Both these are the same. So Jerusalem is called the city of God, Psa 46:4; Psa 48:1; Psa 48:8; Psa 88:3; but in every place with respect unto Sion.

(1.) They came to a city. They received the law in a wilderness, where they had neither rest nor refuge. But in a city there is order, defense, and safety; it is the name of a quiet habitation.

(2.) This was the city of God. The state of the church under the new testament is so. As it hath the safety, beauty, and order of a city, so it is the city of God; the only city which he takes peculiarly to be his own in this world. It is his,

[1.] On the account of property. He framed it, he built it, it is his own; no creature can lay claim to it, or any part of it. And those who usurp upon it, shall answer unto him for their usurpation.

[2.] On the account of inhabitation. It is Gods city; for he dwells in it, and in it alone, by his gracious presence.

[3.] It is under Gods rule, as its only sovereign.

[4.] Therein he disposeth all his children into a spiritual society. So Paul tells the Ephesians, that by grace they were delivered from being strangers and foreigners, and made fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, Eph 2:19.

[5.] It hath its charter of liberty with all immunities and privileges, from God alone. And with respect unto these things, the church is called the city of God. (3.) The apostle adds a property of God of great consideration in this matter. It is the city of the living God; that is,

[1.] Of the true and only God;

[2.] Of him who is omnipotent, able to keep and preserve his own city, as having all life, and consequently all power, in himself;

[3.] Of him who lives eternally, with whom we shall live when we shall be here no more.

(4.) This city of the living God is the heavenly Jerusalem. And the apostle herein prefers the privileges of the gospel, not only above what the people were made partakers of at Sinai in the wilderness, but also above all that they afterwards enjoyed in Jerusalem in the land of Canaan: for in the glory and privileges of that city the Hebrews greatly boasted. But the apostle casts that city, in the state wherein it then was, into the same condition with mount Sinai in Arabia; that is, under bondage, as indeed then it was, Gal 4:25 : and he opposeth thereunto that Jerusalem which is above; that is, this heavenly Jerusalem. And it is called heavenly,

[1.] Because, as unto all its concerns as a city, it is not of this world;

[2.] Because no small part of its inhabitants are already actually instated in heaven;

[3.] As unto its state on earth, it comes down from heaven, Rev 21:2-3, that is, hath its original from divine authority and institution;

[4.] Because the state, portion, and inheritance of all its inhabitants, lies in heaven;

[5.] Because the spiritual life of all that belong unto it, and the graces which they act therein, are heavenly;

[6.] Their , or city conversation, is in heaven, Php 3:20.

This is the second privilege of the gospel-state, wherein all the remaining promises of the Old Testament are transferred and made over to believers. Whatever is spoken of the city of God, or of Jerusalem, that is spiritual, that contains in it the love, or grace, or favor of God, it is all made theirs; faith can lay a claim unto it all. Believers are so come to this city, as to be inhabitants, free denizens, possessors of it; unto whom all the rights, privileges, and immunities of it do belong. And what is spoken of it in the Scripture is a ground of faith unto them, and a spring of consolation. For they may with confidence make application of what is so spoken unto themselves in every condition; and they do so accordingly. And we may yet a little further represent the glory of this privilege, in the ensuing observations:

(1.) A city is the only place of rest, peace, safety, and honor, among men in this world. Unto all these, in the spiritual sense, we are brought by the gospel. Whilst men are under the law, they are at Sinai, in a wilderness where is none of these things. The souls of sinners can find no place of rest or safety under the law. But we have all these things by the gospel: Rest in Christ, peace with God, order in the communion of faith, safety in divine protection, and honor in our relation unto God in Christ.

(2.) The greatest and most glorious city which is, or ever was in the world, is the city of this or that man, who hath power or dominion in it. So spake Nebuchadnezzar of his city, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty, Dan 4:30. We know what was the end of him and his city. The gospel-church is the city of the living God; and it is ten thousand times more glorious to be a citizen thereof, than of the greatest city in the world. To be a citizen of the city of God, is to be free, to be honorable, to be safe, to have a certain habitation, and a blessed inheritance.

(3.) God dwells in the church of believers. The great King inhabiteth his own city. Herein is the especial residence of his glory and majesty. He built it, framed it for himself, and says concerning it, Here will I dwell, and this shall be my habitation for ever. And it is no small privilege, to dwell with God in his own city. The name of this city is Jehovah-shammah, The LORD is there, Eze 48:35.

(4.) The privileges of this city of God are heavenly; it is the heavenly Jerusalem. Hence it is that the world sees them not, knows them not, values them not. They are above them, and their glory is imperceptible unto them.

(5.) All the powers of the world, in conjunction with those of hell, cannot dispossess believers of their interest and habitation in this heavenly city.

(6.) There is a spiritual order and beauty in the communion of the catholic church, such as becomes the city of the living God; and such as wherein the order framed by the constitutions of men hath no concernment.

And in many other things we might declare the glory of this privilege. And,

Obs. 2. It is our duty well to consider what sort of persons they ought to be who are meet to be denizens of this city of God. The greater number of those who pretend highly unto the church and its privileges, are most unfit for this society. They are citizens of the world.

3. In the next place the apostle affirms, that believers are come to an innumerable company of angels. For having declared that they are come to the city of God, he shows in the next place who are the inhabitants of that city besides themselves. And these he distributes into several sorts, as we shall see, whereof the first is angels. We are come to them as our fellow-citizens, to myriads of angels. is ten thousand; and when it is used in the plural number, it signifies an innumerable company,

as we here render it. Possibly he hath respect unto the angels that attended the presence of God in the giving of the law, whereof the psalmist says,

The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place, Psa 68:17;

or the account of them given by Daniel,

Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him, Dan 7:10, that is, an innumerable company.

This access unto angels is spiritual. The access of the people unto their ministry in Sinai was corporeal only, nor had they any communion with them thereby. But ours is spiritual, which needs no local access unto it. We come thereby unto them whilst we are on the earth and they in heaven. We do not so with our prayers; which is the doting superstition of the church of Rome, utterly destructive of the communion here asserted. For although there be a difference and distance between their persons and ours as to dignity and power, yet as unto this communion we are equal in it with them, as one of them directly declares; saying unto John,

Worship me not: I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus, Rev 19:10; Rev 22:9.

Nothing can be more groundless, than that fellow-servants should worship one another. But we have an access unto them all; not to this or that tutelar angel, but unto the whole innumerable company of them. And this we have,

(1.) By the recapitulation of them and us in Christ., Eph 1:10. They and we are brought into one mystical body, whereof Christ is head; one family, which is in heaven and earth, called after his name, Eph 3:14-15. We are brought together into one society: the nature of which effect of infinite wisdom I have elsewhere declared.

(2.) In that they and we are constantly engaged in the same worship of Jesus Christ. Hence they call themselves our fellow-servants. This God hath given in command unto them, as well as unto us. For he saith, Let all the angels of God worship him, Heb 1:6; which they do accordingly, Rev 5:11-12.

(3.) We have so on the account of the ministry committed unto them for the service of the church, Heb 1:14. See the exposition of that place.

(4.) In that the fear and dread of their ministry is now taken from us; which was so great under the old testament, that those unto whom they appeared thought they must die immediately. There is a perfect reconciliation between the church on the earth and the angels above; the distance and enmity that were between them and us by reason of sin are taken away, Col 1:20. There is a oneness in design and a communion in service between them and us: as we rejoice in their happiness and glory, so they seek ours continually; their ascription of praise and glory to God is mingled with the praises of the church, so as to compose an entire worship, Rev 5:8-12.

Wherefore by Jesus Christ we have a blessed access unto this innumerable company of angels. Those who, by reason of our fall from God, and the first entrance of sin, had no regard unto us, but to execute the vengeance of God against us, represented by the cherubim with the flaming sword, (for he maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire,) to keep man, when he had sinned, out of Eden, and from the tree of life, Gen 3:24; those whose ministry God made use of in giving of the law, to fill the people with dread and terror; they are now, in Christ, become one mystical body with the church, and our associates in design and service. And this may well be esteemed as an eminent privilege which we receive by the gospel. And if this be so, then,

Obs. 3. The church is the safest society in the world. A kingdom it is, a city, a family, a house, which the power of hell and the world can never prevail against. Nor are these boasting words, in whatever distressed condition it may be in this world, but the faithful sayings of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the head of this society, when he was entering into his sufferings, to manifest that he did it by his own will and choice, and was not necessitated unto it by the power of men, affirms, that on one request, his Father would send more than twelve legions of angels, Mat 26:53; more angels than there were soldiers in the whole Roman empire, whereof every one could destroy an army in an hour, as one did that of Sennacherib! And when all these belong unto the communion of the church, if the least evil be attempted against it, beyond or beside the will of God, they are all in readiness to prevent it, and revenge it. They continually watch against Satan and the world, to keep all the concerns of the church within the bounds and limits of the divine will and pleasure. They have a charge over all their fellow-servants in the blessed family, to take care of them in all their ways. Let us not fear the ruin of the church, whilst there is an innumerable company of angels belonging unto it.

Obs. 4. It is the most honorable society in the world; for all the angels in heaven belong unto it. This poor, despicable, persecuted church, consisting for the most part of such as are contemned in the world, yet is admitted into the society of all the holy angels in heaven, in the worship and service of Christ.

Obs. 5. And we may see hence the folly of that voluntary humility, in worshipping of angels, which the apostle condemns, and which is openly practiced in the church of Rome. And the apostle placeth the rise of this superstition in the church on a voluntary, uncommanded humility. For therein men debase themselves unto the religious worship of those who would be only their fellow- servants, in case they are real partakers of the benefits and privileges of the gospel.

Obs. 6. It is the highest madness for any one to pretend himself to be the head of the church, as the pope doth, unless he assume also unto himself to be the head of all the angels in heaven; for they all belong unto the same church with the saints here below. And therefore, where mention is made of the headship of Christ, they are expressly placed in the same subjection unto him, Eph 1:20-23.

4. Another instance of the glory of this state is, that therein believers come to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven.

Both the words here used, and , are borrowed the customs of those cities whose government was democratical; especially that of Athens, whose speech was the rule of the Greek language, , was the solemn assembly of all persons of all sorts belonging unto the city, where they were entertained with spectacles, sacrifices, festival solemnities, and laudatory orations. is a commendatory oration. Hence is the word used for any great general assembly, as we here translate it, with respect unto praise and joy. In these assemblies no business of the state was transacted. But was a meeting of the citizens, to determine of things and affairs which had had a previous deliberation in the senate. Hence it is applied to signify that which we call the church, or , the congregation. For that is an assembly for all the spiritual ends of the society, or all that belong unto it.

Herein there may be an allusion unto the assemblies of such cities. But I rather think the apostle hath respect unto the great assembly of all the males of the church of the old testament. This was a divine institution to be observed three times a-year, at the solemn feasts of the church, Exo 34:23; Deu 16:16. And the assembly of them was called the great congregation, Psa 22:25; Psa 35:18; Psa 40:9-10; being the greatest solemnities, and the most glorious in the whole church, a matter of triumph unto them all. Or it may be, regard is had unto the general assembly of the whole people at Sinai, in receiving of the law. But there is also a great difference between those assemblies and this. For unto those civil and political assemblies, as also that of the church, it was necessary that there should be a local meeting of all that belonged unto them; but the assembly and church here intended are spiritual, and so is their meeting or convention. There never was, nor ever shall be, a local meeting of them all, until the last day. At present, such as is the nature of their society, such is their convention; that is, spiritual. But yet all that belong unto the general assembly intended, which is the seat of praise and joy, are obliged, by virtue of especial institution, whilst they are in this world, to assemble in particular church societies, as I have elsewhere declared. But we shall understand more of the nature of this assembly and church, when we have considered who they are of whom it doth consist,

Of the first-born, which are written in heaven. Some late expositors, as Schlichtingius, Grotius, and his follower, confine this unto the apostles and evangelists, with some others of the first Christian assembly. And in the same judgment Aquinas, with some others of the Roman church, went before them. The Greek scholiasts apply the words unto the elect, or all true believers: whom we must follow; for it is evident that not the apostles only are here intended. For,

(1.) It may be inquired, whether the apostles themselves, upon their call by the gospel, did not come unto the assembly of the first-born? If they did, then are not they themselves alone here intended.

(2.) Had the apostles alone their names written in heaven, as these first- born had, they, and none but they, are so written in heaven. But this is untrue, as we shall see.

(3.) Are not all elect believers capable of this character? For,

[1.] Doth not God call all Israel, who were a type of the spiritual church, his first-born? Exo 4:22.

[2.] Are not all believers the firstfruits of the creatures? Jas 1:18; which, as unto dedication unto God, answereth the first-born among men. All redeemed ones are the first-fruits unto God, and to the Lamb,

Rev 14:4.

[3.] Are they not all of them heirs of God, and coheirs with Christ? which is to be the first-born, Rom 8:17; heirs of salvation, Heb 1:14.

[4.] Are they not all kings and priests unto God? which compriseth the whole right of the firstborn. Wherefore there is no reason to confine this expression unto the apostles; especially since most of them at that time were among the spirits of just men made perfect. Wherefore it is elect believers that are intended.

But it may be yet inquired, whether all, or some sort of them only, be designed. Some suppose that the saints departed under the old testament, being gathered unto God as his lot and portion, are so called. But the truth is, these must of necessity be comprised under the following expression, of the spirits of just men made perfect. The most extend it unto all elect believers from the beginning of the world unto the end; which is the catholic church. And the present church hath a communion and fellowship with them all, on the same account that it hath them with the angels. But it is, in my judgment, more suitable unto the mind of the apostle, and his dealing in particular with the Hebrews, that the whole church of elect believers then in the world, consisting of Jews and Gentiles, should be designed by him. The collection of the elect among the Jews and Gentiles into one body, one general assembly, one church, is that which he celebrates elsewhere as one of the greatest mysteries of divine wisdom, which was hid in God from the beginning of the world, and not until then revealed. See Eph 3:5-10. It was now made known, which was hid from those under the old testament, that there was to be a general assembly, or church of the first-born, taken out of the whole creation of mankind, without any respect or distinction of nations, Jews or Gentiles. So is this assembly described, Rev 5:9-10, Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; that is, one general assembly and church of the firstborn.

This was the great and glorious mystery which was hid in the will and wisdom of God from the beginning; namely, that he would collect into one body, one assembly, one church, all his elect, in all nations, Jews and Gentiles, uniting them among themselves by faith in Christ Jesus.

An accession unto this assembly, whose members were thus diffused throughout the world, is that which he proposeth as a great privilege unto these believing Hebrews. This he calls the making of twain into one new man, by reconciling both unto God in one body, Eph 2:15-16. And as he presseth this on the Gentile believers, as an inexpressible advantage unto them, namely, that they were admitted unto the participation of all those privileges which before were enclosed unto the Jews, as Eph 2:11-19, in which place there is a full description of this general assembly and church of the first-born, so also he acquaints these believing Jews with the spiritual glory and advantage which they obtained thereby.

And their coming unto this assembly is opposed unto their coming unto mount Sinai; for therein there was both , a general assembly; and , a church. It was a general assembly of all that people, men, women, and children; and it was a church, as it is called, Act 7:38, upon the account of the order which was in it, in the station of the elders, priests, males, servants, and strangers, which I have elsewhere described. This was a general assembly and church, but of that people only, and that gathered together unto the dreadful and terrible delivery of the law. In opposition hereunto,saith the apostle, you Hebrews, by faith in Jesus Christ, are come unto the general assembly and church of all the elect that are called throughout the world; you and they being made one body; yea, so strict is the union between you, one new man, both equally reconciled unto God and among yourselves.

Obs. 7. The revelation of the glorious mystery of this general assembly is one of the most excellent pre-eminencies of the gospel above the law. A mystery it was of divine wisdom, hid in God from the beginning, but now shining out in its beauty and glory. An interest, therefore, herein is well proposed by the apostle as an eminent privilege of believers. Until the calling of this assembly, neither the first promise nor any of the institutions of the old testament could be perfectly understood, as unto what the wisdom of God had couched in them.

This is that church whereunto all the promises do belong; the church built on the Rock, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail; the spouse, the body of Christ, the temple of God, his habitation for ever. This is the church which Christ loved, and gave himself for; which he washed in his own blood, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish, Rev 1:5, Eph 5:25-27. This is the church out of which none can be saved, and whereof no one member shall be lost.

As unto the words themselves, there is a double allusion in them:

(1.) Unto the rights of the first-born in general; and herein the apostle seems to have respect unto what he had observed before of Esau, who, being a profane person, sold his birthright. Those who are interested really in the gospel-church, all of them have, and do all of them retain, a right unto the whole inheritance. By their adoption they come to have a right unto all that God hath provided, that Christ hath purchased, unto the whole inheritance of grace and glory.

(2.) Unto the enrolment of the first-born in the wilderness, Num 3:40-42. This is called their names being written in heaven, Luk 10:20; in the book of life, Php 4:3, Rev 3:5; Rev 17:8; the book of life of the Lamb, Rev 13:8; the Lambs book of life, Rev 21:27. This book of life is no other but the roll of Gods elect, in the eternal, immutable designation of them unto grace and glory.

This, therefore, is the general assembly of the first-born, written or enrolled in heaven, namely, the elect of God, called, and by gratuitous adoption interested in all the privileges of the first-born; that is, made coheirs with Christ and heirs of God, or of the whole heavenly inheritance. But although this is comprehensive of them all in all generations, yet believers come in a peculiar manner unto them of whom the church of God doth consist in the days of their profession. And further to make out this glorious privilege, we may observe,

Obs. 8. That Jesus Christ alone is absolutely the first-born and heir of all. See the exposition on Heb 1:2, where this is handled at large. He is the first-born among the elect, the eldest brother in the family of God, whereunto are annexed dominion and power over the whole creation; whence he is called The first-born of every creature, Col 1:15.

Obs. 9. Under the old testament, the promises of Christ, and that he was to proceed from that people according to the flesh, gave the title of sonship unto the church of Israel. So God calls them his son, his first-born, Exo 4:22; because the holy seed was preserved in them. So these words of the prophet, Hos 11:1, When Israel was a child I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt, are applied by the evangelist unto the person of Christ, Mat 2:15. For although they were first spoken of the whole church of Israel, yet were they not so upon their own account, but of His alone who was to come forth of them.

Obs. 10. All the right and title of believers under the old [7] testament unto sonship, or the right of the first-born, arises merely from their interest in him, and participation of him, who is absolutely so. All things are theirs, because they are Christs, 1Co 3:22-23. Without this, whatever are our outward enjoyments and privileges, whatever place of dignity we may hold in the visible professing church, we are vagabonds, that have neither lot nor portion in things spiritual and eternal.

[7] He has spoken of the old testament in Obs. 9., and as he seems proving the general proposition in Obs. 8., can this be a misprint for new? ED.

Obs. 11. It is a glorious privilege to be brought into this blessed society, this general assembly of the first-born; and as such it is here proposed by the apostle. And we shall find it so, if we consider what company, society, or assembly, we belong unto without it; for this is no other but that of devils, and the wicked seed of the serpent.

Obs. 12. If we are come unto this assembly, it is our duty carefully to behave ourselves as becometh the members of this society.

Obs. 13. All contests about church-order, state, interest, power, with whom the church is, are vain, empty, fruitless, unprofitable, among those who cannot evidence that they belong unto this general assembly.

Obs. 14. Eternal election is the rule of the dispensation of effectual grace, to call and collect an assembly of first-born unto God.

5. The apostle proceeds, in the next place, to mind us of the supreme head of this holy society, the author and end of it; which is God himself: And to God, the judge of all The words, as they lie in the text, are, To the judge, the God of all; but none doubt but that, as unto the sense of them, the name God is the subject, and that of judge the predicate in the proposition, as we read, To God, the judge of all. It is not improbable, but that, in the enumeration of these glorious privileges, the apostle makes mention of the relation of God unto this society and communion, to beget in believers a due reverence of what they are called unto therein; and so he shuts up his improvement of this whole discourse, as we shall see verses 28, 29.

There are two things in the words:

(1.) That believers have a peculiar access unto God;

(2.) That they have it unto him as the judge of all, in a peculiar manner.

(1.) This access unto God by Jesus Christ is often mentioned in the Scripture as an eminent privilege. Without him they are afar off from God, placed at an infinite distance from him, by their own sin and the curse of the law; figured by the peoples removal and standing afar off at the giving of the law, Exo 20:18-19. Neither was there any way to make an approach unto him; signified by the severe interdict against the touching of the mount, or taking one step over its bounds to gaze, when the tokens of his presence were upon it, in the legislation. But all believers have an access unto God by Christ. And hereof there are two parts:

[1.] They have an access unto his grace and favor by their justification, Rom 5:1-2.

[2.] An access unto him, and the throne of his grace, with liberty and boldness in their divine worship. This none have but believers; and they have it no otherwise but by Jesus Christ, Eph 2:18; Heb 4:15-16; Heb 10:19-22. See the exposition on the places.

(2.) They have an access unto God as the judge of all. This may not seem a privilege; for it is the lot of all men to appear before his judgment-seat. But it is one thing to be brought before a judge to be tried and sentenced as a criminal; another, to have a favorable access unto him as our occasions do require. Such is the access here intended. Considering God as the supreme governor and judge of all, men desire not, they dare not make use of, they cannot obtain, an admission into his presence: but we have this favor through Christ.

This therefore, in general, is the privilege intended, namely, that we have liberty and freedom to draw nigh unto God, even as he is the judge of all; which no others have, nor can pretend unto. But unto this access there are previously required the pardon of our sins, the justification of our persons, and the sanctification of our natures; without which no man can behold God as a judge, but unto his confusion. Behold, then, how great is the privilege of that state which we are called unto by the gospel, namely, which gives us such a sense and assurance of our pardon, adoption, justification, and sanctification, as that we may with boldness come unto the Judge of all on his throne!

On this supposition, there is a double consideration of God as a judge, which makes it our eminent privilege to have an access unto him as such:

[1.] That it is he who will judge the cause of the church against the world, in that great contest that is between them. However here they may be cast in their cause, by such as pretend a right to judge them, they have admission unto his throne, who will execute judgment in their behalf. See Mic 7:9-10. And it is a glorious prospect which they take of God as a judge, in the execution of his righteous judgments on their enemies, Rev 15:3-4; Rev 16:5-7.

[2.] That it is he who will, as a righteous judge, give them their reward at the last day: 2Ti 4:8, There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: which are blessed privileges. And we may observe, for the further clearing of the mind of the Holy Ghost, as unto our own concernment,

Obs. 15. In Jesus Christ believers are delivered from all discouraging dread and terror, in the consideration of God as a judge; such, I mean, as befell the people at Sinai in the giving of the law. They now behold all his glory in the face of Jesus Christ; which makes it amiable and desirable unto them. See our discourse of the glory of Christ, and of God in him.[8]

[8] See vol. 1 of his miscellaneous works. ED.

Obs. 16. Such is the pre-eminence of the gospel-state above that of the law, that whereas they of old were severely forbidden to make any approach unto the outward signs of the presence of God, we have now an access with boldness unto his throne.

Obs. 17. As the greatest misery of unbelievers, is to be brought into the presence of this Judge, so it is one of the greatest privileges of believers that they may come unto him. Hence is that cry of hypocritical sinners, Isa 33:14.

Obs. 18. Believers have an access to God, as the judge of all, with all their causes and complaints. As such he will hear them, plead their cause, and judge for them. However they may be here oppressed, in or out of the courts of men, the Judge of all will at all times receive their appeals, and do them right. This liberty no man can deprive them of; it is purchased for them by Christ, and makes their oppressions unsafe to the greatest of the sons of men. Wherefore,

Obs. 19. However dangerous and dreadful the outward state of the church may be at any time in the world, it may secure itself of final success; because therein God is judge alone, unto whom they have free access.

Obs. 20. The prospect of an eternal reward from God, as the righteous judge, is the greatest supportment of faith in all present distresses.

In all these things we are instructed.

6. It followeth in the next place, that we are come to the spirits of just men made perfect. They seem to be placed in this order because of their immediate presence with God, the judge of all And there is included in this expression,

(1.) That there are spirits of men in a separate state and condition, capable of communion with God and the church. That by these spirits, the souls of men departed, that essential part of our nature which is subsistent in a state of separation from the body, are intended, none questioneth. It is granted by the Socinians, who yet deny unto them a state of glory, or any intelligent actings, until the resurrection. But we are said here to come unto them, in those actings of our minds wherein this evangelical communion doth consist; and this requires that there be the like actings in them, without which there can be no such communion.

(2.) That the spirits of just men departed are all of them made perfect. All that depart out of this world have been in it just or unjust, justified or not. But the spirits of all them who being here just, or justified, and departed out of the world, are made perfect. And as unto such, we come unto them. Estius, one of the most modest and judicious expositors of the Roman church, concludes hence that there is a purgatory, wherein are the souls of some not yet made perfect. But, as we observed before, this state of purgatory is here plainly cast out of the communion of the catholic church. It hath none with it; although it might so have, were there any such state. For Estius himself says, that our coming unto these spirits of just men made perfect is by love; whence, by the right of communion, we may desire the help of their prayers. So do they lessen the matter, when they come to speak of their idolatry, in their direct and immediate supplications unto them. But why may we not thus come unto the souls in purgatory, were there any such place or souls? For we are obliged to love them, as those who are of the same mystical body with us: and our prayer for them, which is thought necessary, is as great an act of communion as the supposed prayer of them in heaven for us. Such a state, therefore, is here excommunicated by the apostle, or cast out of the communion of the catholic church. And the expression of the apostle being indefinite, makes no distinction between the spirits of just men departed, as if some of them were made perfect, and some not, but is descriptive of them all; they are all made perfect.

(3.) The just men intended, were all those whose faith and the fruits of it he had declared, chap. 11, with all others of the same sort with them from the foundation of the world. And in following of their example, whilst they were on the earth, we are admitted into communion with them now they are in heaven. But as all these are included, so I doubt not but especial respect is had unto the times now past of the days of the gospel, and those who have departed in them; for as they were most eminent in this world, most of the apostles themselves being now at rest in glory, so an access unto them is very expressive of the privilege of the believing Hebrews who were yet alive.

(4.) These spirits of just men are said to be made perfect, to be consummated. And herein three things are included:

[1.] The end of the race wherein they had been engaged, the race of faith and obedience, with all the difficulties, duties, and temptations belonging thereunto. So the apostle began that discourse which he now draws to the close of, by comparing our Christian obedience and perseverance therein unto running in a race, verses 1, 2. Now they who have finished their course, who have so run as to obtain, are said to be consummated, or to sit down quietly in the enjoyment of the reward.

[2.] A perfect deliverance from all the sin, sorrow, trouble, labor, and temptations, which in this life they were exposed unto.

[3.] Enjoyment of the reward; for it is not consistent with the righteousness of God to defer it, after their whole course of obedience is accomplished. This consummation they have in the presence of God, in perfection, according to their capacity, before the resurrection; there being nothing wanting unto them but the reception of their bodies in a state of glory. Though they are made perfect, yet are they no more but spirits.

And we have here a clear prospect into this part of the invisible world; namely, the state of the souls of just men departed. For it is declared,

(1.) That they do subsist, acting their intelligent powers and faculties. For we cannot in any sense come to them that are not, or are as in a sleep of death, without the exercise of their essential powers and faculties. Yea, they live in the exercise of them, inconceivably above what they were capacitated for whilst they were in the body. And their bodies at the last day must be glorified, to make them meet instruments to exert the powers that are in them.

(2.) They are in the presence of God. There they are placed by the apostle. For, in our access unto God the judge of all, we come to the spirits of just men made perfect, who must be in his presence. And they are so in his presence, as to be in conjunction with the holy angels in the temple- worship of heaven.

(3.) They bear a part in the communion, of the church catholic. Not as the object of the worship of men, nor of their invocation, or as mediators of intercession for them: such suppositions and practices are injurious to them, as well as blasphemous towards Christ. But they live in the same love of God which animates the whole catholic church below. They join with it in the ascription of the same praises to God and the Lamb; and have a concernment in the church militant, as belonging unto that mystical body of Christ, wherein themselves are sharers.

(4.) They are consummated, or made perfect; freed from all sins, fears, dangers, temptations, clogs of the flesh, and obnoxiousness unto death. Their faith is heightened into vision, and all their graces elevated into glory. And,

Obs. 21. A prospect by faith into the state of the souls of believers departed, is both a comfort against the fear of death, and a supportment under all the troubles and distresses of this present life.

7. The apostle proceeds unto the immediate spring and center of all this catholic communion; and that is, Jesus the mediator of the new covenant. He calls him here by the name of Jesus; which is significant of his saving the church; which he doth as he is mediator of the new covenant. What is this new covenant or testament, and how and in what sense Jesus is the mediator of it, have been so fully declared in the exposition of Heb 9:15-17, etc., as also in other places, that I see no reason here again to take up that subject; nor do know of any addition needful thereunto. Thither, therefore, I refer the reader.

He is here mentioned in opposition unto Moses, who, as unto the general nature and notion of the word, was a mediator, or middle agent, between God and the people. But as unto the especial nature of the mediation of Jesus, he had no interest in it. He was not the surety of the covenant unto God on the part of the people: he did not confirm the covenant by his own death. He did not offer himself in sacrifice unto God, as Jesus did. But as an internuncius, a middle person, to declare the mind of God unto the people, he was a mediator appointed by God, and chosen by the people themselves, Exodus 20. Unto him, as such a mediator, the people came. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 1Co 10:2. In opposition hereunto, believers come to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.

And their coming unto him as such includes an interest in that new covenant, and all the benefits of it. Whatever, therefore, there is of mercy, grace, or glory, prepared in the new covenant, and the promises of it, we are made partakers of it all by our access unto Christ, the mediator of it. And whereas before he had evidenced from the Scripture how much more excellent this covenant is than the old one, or that made with the people at Sinai, there is force in it to persuade them unto steadfastness in the profession of the gospel; which is aimed at in all these arguings.

Obs. 22. This is the blessedness and safety of the catholic church, that it is taken into such a covenant, and hath an interest in such a mediator of it, as are able to save it unto the utmost.

Obs. 23. The true notion of faith for life and salvation, is a coming unto Jesus as the mediator of the new testament. For hereby we have an egress and deliverance from the covenant of works, and the curse wherewith it is accompanied.

Obs. 24. It is the wisdom of faith to make use of this mediator continually, in all wherein we have to do with God. To be negligent herein, is to reflect on the wisdom and grace of God in appointing him to be the mediator of the covenant; and on his love and power for the discharge of that office.

Obs. 25. But that which we are principally taught herein is, that the glory, the safety, the pre-eminence, of the state of believers under the gospel, consists in this, that they come therein to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant. This is the center of all spiritual privileges, the rise of all spiritual joys, and the full satisfaction of the souls of all that believe. He who cannot find rest, refreshment, and satisfaction herein, is a stranger unto the gospel.

8. Again, the most signal instance wherein the Lord Jesus exercised and executed his office of mediation on the earth, was the shedding of his blood for the confirmation of that covenant whereof he was the mediator. This blood, therefore, we are said in an especial manner to come unto. And he gives it a double description:

(1.) From what it is; it is the blood of sprinkling.

(2.) From what it doth; it speaketh better things than the blood of Abel. The Vulgar reads, the aspersion or sprinkling of blood, without cause, and by a mistake.

(1.) There is no doubt but that the blood of Christ is called the blood of sprinkling, in allusion unto the various sprinklings of blood by divine institution under the old testament. For there was no blood offered at any time, but part of it was sprinkled. But there were three signal instances of it:

[1.] The blood of the paschal lamb; a type of our redemption by Christ, Exo 12:21.

[2.] The blood of the sacrifices wherewith the covenant was confirmed at Horeb, Exo 24:6-8.

[3.] The sprinkling of the blood of the great anniversary sacrifice of expiation or atonement by the high priest, in the most holy place, Lev 16:14. All these were eminent types of the redemption, justification, and sanctification of the church, by the blood of Christ, as hath been before declared. But besides these, there was an institution of the sprinkling of the blood in all ordinary burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin. And I no way doubt, but that in this appellation of the blood of Christ respect is had unto them all, so far as they were typical, by justifying and cleansing; what they all signified was efficaciously wrought thereby. But whereas it is immediately annexed unto the mention of him as mediator of the new covenant, it doth in an especial manner respect the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifices wherewith the covenant at Horeb was confirmed. As that old covenant was ratified and confirmed by the mediator of it with the sprinkling of the blood of oxen that were sacrificed; so the new covenant was confirmed by the offering and sprinkling of the blood of the mediator of the new covenant himself, offered in sacrifice to God, as the apostle expounds this passage, chap. 10.

Wherefore the blood of Christ is called the blood of sprinkling, with respect unto the application of it unto believers, as unto all the ends and effects for which it was offered in sacrifice unto God. And to be sprinkled with the blood of Christ, is, not by the imitation of his sufferings to be led unto eternal life, which is the gloss of Grotius on the words; nor merely the belief of his death for the confirmation of the covenant, as Schlichtingius; (which are wide, if not wild interpretations of these words; without the least respect unto the signification of them, or to the nature and use of legal sacrifices, whence they are taken; or to the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ, which is expressed in them;) but it is the expiating, purging, cleansing efficacy of his blood, as applied unto us, that is included herein. See Heb 9:14, with the exposition.

(2.) He describes the blood of Christ by what it doth: It speaketh better things than that of Abel. Some copies read , which must refer unto the person of Abel in the first place, than Abel speaks. Some, , which are followed by all the ancient scholiasts; and then it must refer to , blood, the blood of Abel. [9]

[9] Of the uncials, A. C. D. K are in favor of , the uncial J gives . The latter is supported by several versions, the Syriac among the rest. ED.

[1.] The blood of sprinkling speaketh. It hath a voice; it pleads. And this must be either with God or man. But whereas it is the blood of a sacrifice, whose object was God, it speaks to God.

[2.] It speaks good things absolutely; comparatively better things than Abels. To speak here, is to call for, cry for, plead for. This blood speaks to God, by virtue of the everlasting compact between the Father and the Son, in his undertaking the work of mediation, for the communication of all the good things of the covenant, in mercy, grace, and glory, unto the church. It did so when it was shed; and it continues so to do in that presentation of it in heaven, and of his obedience therein, wherein his intercession doth consist.

[3.] Comparatively, it is said to speak better things than that of Abel. For it is granted here that Abel is the genitive case, to be regulated by , or blood. But there was a double blood of Abel:

1st. The blood of the sacrifice that he offered: for he offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof, Gen 4:4; which was an offering by blood.

2dly. There was his own blood, which was shed by Cain. All the ancients take the blood of Abel in this latter sense. Some of late have contended for the former, or the blood of the sacrifice which he offered.

The blood of Christ, they say, was better, and spake better things than did Abel in his bloody sacrifice. But (be it spoken without reflection on them) this conjecture is very groundless, and remote from the scope of the place. For,

1st. There is no comparison intended between the sacrifice of Christ and those before the law; which belonged not at all to the design of the apostle. For it was only Mosaical institutions that he considered, in the preference which he gives to the sacrifice of Christ and the gospel, as is evident from the whole epistle. Nor did the Hebrews adhere to any other. Yet the pretense hereof is pleaded in the justification of this conjecture.

2dly. The apostle hath a respect unto some Scripture record of a thing well known to these Hebrews; but there is not any one word therein of any speaking of Abel by the blood of his sacrifice.

3dly. It is expressly recorded, that Abels own blood, after it was shed, did speak, cry, and plead for vengeance, or the punishment of the murderer. So speaks God himself: The voice of thy brothers blood crieth unto me from the ground, Gen 4:10. And the only speaking of Abel is assigned by our apostle to be after his death, Heb 11:4, that is, by his blood; whereunto express regard is had in this place.

4thly. The blood of the sacrifice of Abel did speak the very same things which the blood of Christ speaks, though in a way dark, typical, and obscure. It had nothing in itself of the same efficacy with the blood of Christ, but it spake of the same things. For being a sacrifice by blood, to make atonement in a typical representation of the sacrifice of Christ, it spake and pleaded, in the faith of the offerer, for mercy and pardon. But the opposition here between the things spoken for by the blood of sprinkling, and those spoken for by the blood of Abel, doth manifest that they were of diverse kinds, yea, contrary to one another.

5thly. The ground of the comparison used by the apostle is plainly this: That whereas, as unto men, the blood of Christ was shed unjustly, and he was murdered by their wicked hands, even as Abel was by the hands of Cain, the consideration whereof might have cast many of the Jews who were consenting thereunto into Cains desperation, he shows that the blood of Christ never cried, as Abels did, for vengeance on them by whom it was shed, but pleaded their pardon as sinners, and obtained it for many of them: so speaking things quite of another nature than did that of Abel. This, therefore, is the plain, obvious, and only true sense of the place.

We may now take a little view of the whole context, and the mind of God therein. It is a summary declaration of the two states of the law and the gospel, with their difference, and the incomparable pre-eminence of the one above the other. And three things, among others in general, are represented unto us therein.

First, The miserable, woful condition of poor convinced sinners under the law, and obnoxious unto the curse thereof. For,

1. They are forced in their own consciences to subscribe unto the holiness and equity of the law, that the commandment is holy, and just, and good; so that whatever evil ensues thereon unto them, it is all from themselves, they are alone the cause of it. This gives strength and sharpness, and sometimes fury, to their reflections on themselves.

2. They are terrified with the evidences of divine severity against sin and sinners; which, as it was evidenced and proclaimed in the first giving of the law, so it still accompanies the administration of it.

3. They have hereon a full conviction that they are not able to abide its commands, nor to avoid its threatenings. They can neither obey nor flee. 4. Hereon in their minds they put in a declinatory, as to its present execution; they would have God speak no more unto them about this matter.

5. Upon the whole, they must perish eternally, they know they must, unless there be some other way of deliverance than what the law knoweth of. What is the distress of this state, they know alone who have been cast into it. Others, who now despise it, will also understand it when the time of relief shall be past.

Secondly, The blessed state of believers is also represented unto us herein, and that not only in their deliverance from the law, but also in the glorious privileges which they obtain by the gospel. But these having been particularly spoken unto, I shall not mention them again.

Thirdly, A representation of the glory, beauty, and order, of the invisible world, of the new creation, of the spiritual catholic church. There was originally an excellent glory, beauty, and order, in the visible world, in the heavens and the earth, with the host of them. There is a pretense unto these things amongst men, in their empire, dominion, power, and enjoyments. But what are the one or other to the beauty and glory of this new world, which is visible only to the eyes of faith! He is blind who sees not the difference between these things. This is the state and order of this heavenly kingdom, every thing that belongs unto it is in its proper place and station: God at the head, as the framer, erector, and sovereign disposer of it; Jesus, as the only means of all communications between God and the residue of the church; innumerable myriads of angels ministering unto God and men in this society; the spirits of just men at rest, and in the enjoyment of the reward of their obedience; all the faithful on the earth in a Sion-state of liberty in their worship, and righteousness in their persons. This is the city of the living God, wherein he dwelleth, the heavenly Jerusalem. Unto this society can no creature approach, or be admitted into it, who is not by faith united unto Christ, whatever pretences they may have to an interest in the visible church, framed as to its state and order by themselves unto their own advantage: without that qualification, they are strangers and foreigners unto this true church-state, wherein God is delighted and glorified. A view hereof is sufficient to discover the vain pretences unto beauty and glory that are amongst men. What are all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, but mortality, wasting itself in vanity and confusion, ending in endless misery. Herein is true, eternal, never-fading glory, etc.

SECONDLY, Our last inquiry on these words is, How we come unto all these things? as it is in the beginning affirmed that we do, that all believers are so come; so come as to be admitted into, to be made members of this heavenly society, and to bear a part in the communion of it. I answer,

1. The original of this communion, the framer of this society, is God himself, even the Father, in a peculiar manner. Therefore doth our admission into it arise from and depend upon some peculiar act of his. And this is election. That is his book wherein he enrols the names of all angels and men that shall be of this society, Eph 1:3-4.

2. The only means of an actual admission into this society is Jesus Christ, in his person and mediation. For although angels are not redeemed and justified by him, as we are, yet their station in this society is from him, Eph 1:10. We cannot have an immediate access unto God himself; the power of it is not committed to angels or men. The ridiculous keys of the pope will open and shut purgatory only, which is excluded out of the territory of this heavenly kingdom. Wherefore,

3. The means on our part whereby we come to this state and society, is faith in Christ alone. Hereby we come to him; and coming to him he makes us free citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem.

If this only true notion of the catholic church were received, as it ought to be, it would cast contempt on all those contests about the church, or churches, which at this day so perplex the world. He who is first instated, by faith on the person and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, in this heavenly society, will be guided by the light and privileges of it into such ways of divine worship in churches here below as shall cause him to improve and grow in his interest in that above. And he who is not admitted into this society, let him be in the bosom, or at the head of all the churches in the world, it will be of no advantage unto him.

Heb 12:25-27. , , , ; , , , . , , , , .

, videte, Vulg., Bez. So we, see Syr., , take heed: in which sense this verb is always used in the imperative mood, look to it, take heed, beware; and so it were better here translated; though see be of the same sense in common use.

. Vulg., ne recusetis, that ye refuse not. Bez., he aversemini, that ye turn not away from. Syr., , that ye despise not: which sense is expressed by , chap 10:28, He that despised Moseslaw, which is here included; for unavoidable penalties were peculiarly provided for despisers only.

. Vulg., loquentem, that speaketh. So the Syr., , who speaketh with you. Bez., divinitus loquentem, or oracula loquentem; who spake divine oracles; spake divinely, or with divine authority, which the word requires.

. There is a verb wanting. The Vulg., the Syr., and we, supply speaketh, him that speaketh from heaven: as I judge, not properly; is to be supplied, not ; he who is from heaven. The Lord from heaven, 1Co 15:47. He that camedown from heaven, the Son of man which is in heaven, Joh 3:13.

. Vulg., movit, moved. Syr., commovit. Bez., concussit. So we, whose voice then shook the earth.

. Vulg., repromittit; pollicetur, denuntiavit; promiseth, or rather, he hath promised, declared, pronounced. The word is used in the middle sense, though it be passive.

. Syr., one time; yet once.

, or as some copies read, , whence it is rendered movebo, concutiara; the subject-matter being future, the expressions are of the same importance. from] him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him who spake [divinely warning] on earth, how much more [shall not] we [do so,] if we turn away from him who [is] from heaven: whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven? And this [word,] Yet once more, signifieth the removing of the things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain.

Having given a summary account of the two states of the law and the gospel, with the incomparable excellency of the latter above the former, the apostle draws from thence a charge and exhortation unto these Hebrews, as unto perseverance in faith and obedience; as also to the diligent avoidance of all that profaneness, or other sinful miscarriages, which are inconsistent therewithal. And he doth not herein intend only those amongst them who had already actually professed the gospel; but all those unto whom it had been preached and who as yet had not received it, so as to make profession of it. For Christ is as well refused by them unto whom he is preached, who never comply with the word at all, as by those who after a profession of it do again fall away. Yea, that first sort of persons, namely, those who continue in their unbelief on the first tender of Christ in the preaching of the word, are the proper objects of evangelical threatenings, which are here proposed and pressed. But yet are not they alone intended; seeing in the close of the 25th verse he puts himself among the number and in the condition of them to whom he spake, How shall we escape? which can be intended only of them who had already made a profession of the gospel. In brief, he intendeth all sorts, in their several states and capacities, unto whom the gospel had been preached.

The words have many difficulties in them, which must be diligently inquired into, as they occur in the context. There are four things in them in general:

1. The prescription of a duty, by way of inference from the preceding discourse, Heb 12:25.

2. An enforcement of the duty and inference, from the consideration of the person with whom they had to do, Heb 12:25. greatness of that person, in what he had done, and would yet do, Heb 12:26.

4. An inference and collection from thence, with respect unto the law and the gospel, with what belonged unto them, Heb 12:27.

First, We have an injunction of a necessary duty, proposed in a way of caution or prohibition of the contrary evil: See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.

1. The caution is given in the word . It is originally a word of sense, to see with our eyes: and so it is constantly used in the New Testament, unless it be in the imperative mood, and therein it always signifies, to beware, to take heed, to be very careful about what is given in charge, Mat 24:4; Mar 13:5; Mar 13:33;1Co 8:9; 1Co 16:10; Gal 5:15; Eph 5:15; Php 3:2; Col 2:8. And both the weight of the duty and the danger of its neglect are included in it. And the apostle gives them this caution to shake of all sloth and negligence, from the greatness of their concernment in what was enjoined them.

2. The matter given in charge is, not to refuse or turn away from, or despise him that speaketh. Of the word and its signification we have spoken before, on verse 19. But in this prohibition of an evil, it is the injunction of a duty that is intended; and that is the hearing of him that speaketh; and that such a hearing as the Scripture intends universally, where it speaks of our duty to God; namely, so to hear as to believe, and yield obedience to what is heard. This is the constant use of that expression in the Scripture; wherefore the caution, not to refuse, is a charge so to hear him that speaks as to believe and obey. Whatever is less than this, is a refusal, a despising of him. It is not enough to give him the hearing, as we say, unless also we obey him. Hence the word is preached unto many; but it doth not profit them, because it is not mixed with faith.

3. We must thus not refuse , him that speaketh. That is, say some, for , him that hath spoken; for the speaking of Christ himself was now past. But Christ yet continued to speak in an extraordinary manner by some of the apostles, and by his Spirit, in the signs, wonders, and mighty works which yet accompanied the dispensation of the gospel. There is a general rule in the words, namely, that we are diligently to attend unto, and not to refuse any that speak unto us in the name and authority of Christ. And so it may be applied unto all the faithful preachers of the gospel, however they may be despised in this world. But it is here the person of Christ himself that is immediately intended.

And this command hath respect unto the double solemn charge given of God unto the church; the first on the closing of the law, and the other as the beginning and foundation of the gospel. The first, given to prepare the church for their duty in its proper season, is recorded, Deu 18:18-19, I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him; which words are applied to the Lord Christ, Act 3:22; Act 7:37. This the apostle now minds them of: Take heed that ye hear him; for if not, God will require it of you in your utter destruction.The other charge to this purpose was given immediately from heaven, as the foundation of the gospel, Mat 17:5, Behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him; which voice the apostle Peter tells us came from the excellent glory of the person of the Father, 2Pe 1:17-18.

This is the foundation of all gospel faith and obedience, and the formal reason of the condemnation of all unbelievers: God hath given command unto all men to hear, that is, believe and obey, his Son Jesus Christ. By virtue thereof he hath given command unto others to preach the gospel unto all individuals. They who believe them, believe in Christ; and they who believe in Christ, through him believe in God, 1Pe 1:21 : so that their faith is ultimately resolved into the authority of God himself. And so they who refuse them, who hear them not, do thereby refuse Christ himself; and by so doing reject the authority of God, who hath given this command to hear him, and hath taken on himself to require it when it is neglected: which is the condemnation of all unbelievers. This method, with respect unto faith and unbelief, is declared and established by our Savior, Luk 10:16, He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me. Hence,

Obs. 1. Unbelief under the preaching of the gospel is the great, and in some respects the only, damning sin; as being accompanied, yea, consisting in, the last and utmost contempt of the authority of God.

Secondly, The apostle gives an enforcement of this duty. And this is taken from the consideration of the Person with whom they had to do herein, and a comparison between the event of the neglect of this duty in them, and a neglect of the same kind of duty in them unto whom the law was given. The inference from the comparison is expressed in the conjunctive particles, for it. Consider with yourselves how it was with them on their disobedience. For if they escaped not,etc. For the opening of this verse, we must inquire,

1. Who it is that spake on earth.

2. How the people did refuse him.

3. How they did not escape thereon.

4. Who it is that is, or speaks, from heaven.

5. How he may be turned away from.

6. How they who do so turn from him shall not escape.

1. Who it is that spake on earth. Most expositors say it was Moses, and that the opposition is here made between him and Christ. But all things in the text, and the circumstances in matter of fact, lie against this exposition. For,

(1.) Respect is had unto the giving of the law, which is unquestionable; but herein Moses was not , he that spake divine oracles unto the people, but God himself.

(2.) The people thereon did not refuse Moses, but expressly chose him for a mediator between God and them, promising to hear him, Exodus 20., Deuteronomy 5.

(3.) , though it sometimes signifies the answers that are given authoritatively by princes, yet in the Scripture it is applied unto God alone, though he may use the ministry of angels therein. See Heb 11:7, with the exposition.

(4.) He who spake on the earth, his voice then shook the earth; which was not the voice of Moses. Some therefore say that it is an angel that is intended, who delivered all those oracles on mount Sinai in the name of God. This pretense I have at large elsewhere discarded; nor can it be reconciled unto the principles of religion. For if, notwithstanding all the dreadful preparation that was made for the descent of God on mount Sinai; and although it be expressly affirmed that he was there in the midst of the thousands of his angels, Psa 68:17; and that he came with ten thousands of his holy ones to give the fiery law, Deu 33:2; and that in giving the law he lays the whole weight of its authority on the person of the speaker, saying, I am the LORD thy God: if all this may be ascribed unto an angel, then there is one who is an angel by office and God by nature; or we are bound to take a created angel to be our God; nor can it be pretended that God ever spake himself unto mankind, seeing this was the most likely way of his so doing under the old testament.

Wherefore he that then spake on earth, who gave those divine oracles, was none other but the Son of God himself, or the divine nature acting itself in a peculiar manner in the person of the Son; and unto him all things do agree. What is purely divine was proper to his person, and what was of condescension belonged unto him in a way of office, as he was the angel of the covenant, in whom was the name of God.

But it will be said, There is an opposition between him that spake on earth, and him that is from heaven; now whereas that was Christ, the Son of God, this cannot be so.I answer, There is indeed no such opposition. For the opposition expressed is not between the persons speaking, but between earth and heaven, as the next verse sufficiently shown And that verse declares positively, that it was one and the same person whose voice then shook the earth, and under the gospel shaketh heaven also.

It is therefore God himself, or the Son of God, who gave those oracles on mount Sinai.

2. And it must be inquired how the people refused him. The word here used by the apostle is the same with that which, verse 19, we render by entreated to hear no more; that is, deprecated the hearing of the voice of God And that intended thereby was the request of the people, that God would not speak immediately unto them any more, because they could not bear the terror of it. This request of theirs God expressly approved of, They have well said all that they have spoken, Deu 5:28-29. Wherefore although the apostle did plainly demonstrate hereby the terror of the giving of the law, and the dread of the people, which was all he aimed at in that place, yet it doth not appear how they escaped not on that refusal, seeing God approved of what they said and did.

I answer,

(1.) That although the word be the same, yet different things are intended by it. Both that of Heb 12:19 and this here agree in the general nature of a refusal, and so may be expressed by the same word; but the especial nature of the acts intended is diverse, or the word being in itself of a middle signification, including neither good nor evil, may have, as it here hath, a various application.

(2.) In that former refusal, or entreaty not to hear the voice of God any more, there was this good which was approved of God, namely, that it expressed that frame of fear and dread which he designed to bring them unto by giving of the law. But though their words were so good, and so well suited unto their present condition, yet it discovered a want of that faith and boldness of children which were necessary to enable them to abide with God. With respect hereunto the apostle might justly date the beginning of their departure from God and refusal of obedience, which immediately ensued on this discovery that they liked not the presence and voice of God.

But the peoples actual refusal of obedience unto him that gave them the law began in that which fell out not long after; namely in their making the golden calf, while Moses was in the mount, Exodus 32 : from which they did not escape; for besides that three thousand of them on that occasion were slain by the sword, God made it a record concerning that sin, In the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them; and the LORD plagued the people, Exo 32:34-35. After this ensued sundry other rebellions of the people; in all which they refused him who spake on earth.

3. How did they not escape hereon, or what did they not escape? They did not evade, they could not escape or go free, but divine wrath and vengeance overtook them. This is so fully manifested by an induction of instances, 1Co 10:5-10, that it needs no further illustration. And we may see,

Obs. 2. That there is in all sins and disobedience a rejection of the authority of God in giving of the law.

Obs. 3. No sinner can escape divine vengeance, if he be tried and judged according to the law. See Psa 130:3.

4. Who is it, or how is he to be considered, whom we are now to hear, not to turn away from? Much more shall not we, if we turn away from him that is (or speaketh) from heaven. There are two words defective, and only implied in the original. The first we supply by escape, How shall we escape. And herein all agree; the repetition of the sense of that word before used is necessary unto the comparison, and hath in it the enforcement of the exhortation, which is taken from the penalty of disobedience. The second is in the last clause, , him from heaven. This some supply by , speaketh, as we do; some by , is, who is from heaven. And the defect of the verb substantive is so frequent, that it is naturally to be supplied when the sense will bear it, as it will do in this place, as we shall see immediately.

We may observe further, that the apostle useth another word to express the refusal of hearing him who is from heaven, namely, , than he did with respect unto them who refused him who spake on the earth; turning away, How much more we turning away; that is, if we do so: and it is more extensive than the other word, including that infidelity and disobedience which is purely negative, without any positive refusal or rejection of the word.

These things being premised, it is evident who it is that is here intended, and in what sense he is spoken of. And this is fully declared by himself, Joh 3:12-13, If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. Add hereunto verse 31, He that cometh from above is above all; he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth; he that cometh from heaven is above all. See Joh 6:33; Joh 6:38. These places treat of the same matter with that intended in the text, namely, the revelation of heavenly things, or the mysteries of the will of God by Jesus Christ. In each place it is affirmed, that to make this revelation he came from heaven; so that he was from heaven: but withal, whilst he did so, he was still in heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven. He was so from heaven, in his descent to declare the will of God, as that he was in his divine person still in heaven. Wherefore, as unto the promulgation of the gospel, he is said to be from heaven on many accounts:

(1.) Of his full comprehension of all heavenly mysteries; for he came from the bosom of the Father, and thence declared him, with the mystery that was hid in him from the foundation of the world, Joh 1:18; Mat 11:27.

(2.) Of his infinite condescension in his incarnation and susception of the office of mediator, to declare [he will of God; which in the Scripture is called most frequently his coming clown from heaven. Thereby he was the Lord from heaven.

(3.) Of his sovereign, heavenly authority in the discharge of his office. God was with him and in him; the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily; and he had all power in heaven and earth committed unto him.

(4.) Of his glorious ascension into heaven when he had accomplished his work in this world, represented by his ascent from mount Sinai, as the apostle declares, Eph 4:8-10.

(5.) Of his sending the Holy Ghost from heaven to confirm his doctrine, 1Pe 1:12.

(6.) Of his opening heaven, and all the treasures of it, bringing life and immortality to light by the gospel, in comparison whereof the things of the law are called earthly things.

5. Thus was the Lord Christ, the Son of God, from heaven in the declaration of the gospel. And we must inquire, in the next place, what it is to turn away from him. And sundry things are included in this expression.

(1.) That in the declaration of the gospel by Jesus Christ from heaven, there is a call, an invitation of sinners to draw nigh, to come unto him, to be made partakers of the good things contained therein. This way of the proposal of the gospel was foretold by the prophets, as Isa 4:1-3. So it was constantly insisted on by him, Mat 11:28, Joh 7:37-38. Come unto me, was the life and grace of the gospel. And what could be more, seeing they were the words of him who was from heaven, fully possessed of all the bosom counsels of the Father? And herein it differed sufficiently from the law in the giving of it. For that was so far from being proposed with an encouraging invitation to come to God thereby, as that it was only a terrible denunciation of duties and penalties, which they that heard could not endure, and removed as far as they could from it. With respect unto this invitation, unbelievers are said to turn away from him; which is the posture and action of them that refuse an invitation.

(2.) There is in it a dislike of the terms oft he gospel proposed unto them. The terms of the gospel are of two sorts:

[1.] Such as are proposed unto us;

[2.] Such as thereon are required of us Those proposed unto us include the whole mystery of the salvation of sinners by Jesus Christ, unto the praise and glory of God. Those of the latter sort are faith, repentance, and new obedience. The only motive unto those of the latter being the former, they cannot be taken into serious consideration until the first are duly pondered. Unless we see that which is good and excellent in the former terms, we cannot think it worth while to endeavor after the other. Herein, then, consists the beginning of the turning away from Christ, in the preaching of the gospel. Men like not the terms of it. They really account them foolish and weak, unbecoming the wisdom of God, and no way answering what they design in religion. This the apostle declares at large, 1Co 1:17-25. And there is no man who, upon the call of Christ, refuseth to believe and repent, but he doth it on this ground, that there is no such excellency in the terms of the gospel, no such necessity for a compliance with them, no such advantage to be obtained by them, as that it is either his wisdom or his duty to believe and repent that he may attain them. Herein do men turn away from him that is from heaven. They like not the terms of the gospel, whereon he invites them unto himself; and therein despise the wisdom, grace, and faithfulness of God unto the utmost. This is unbelief.

(3.) There is in this turning away, a rejection of the authority of Christ. For besides the matter which he declared and preached, his personal authority had its peculiar power and efficacy to require obedience. This the apostle had here an especial respect unto. It was he that was from heaven, being sealed unto this office thereby, God commanding all to hear him; and who spake in the name of him that sent him, even in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God: so as that all authority in heaven and earth was in him, and present with him. Wherefore a rejection and contempt of this sovereign, divine authority is contained in this turning away from him; that is, either in not receiving the gospel, or the relinquishment of it after it hath been professed.

And all these things have an influence into the How much more, with respect unto punishment, here insisted on by the apostle. For put these things together, namely, infinite condescension in the declaration of the gospel, by the way of a gracious, encouraging invitation; the glory of the terms proposed therein, being the highest effect of infinite wisdom and grace; with the divine authority of him by whom the invitation and proposal are made; and we need seek no further to justify the apostles How much more, in the aggravation of the sin of unbelief, as unto guilt and punishment, above any, above all sins whatever against the law. It is evident, on these considerations, that human nature cannot more highly despise and provoke God, than by this sin of unbelief. But,

(4.) An obstinacy in the refusal of him is also included herein. It is a turning away that is final and incurable.

This, therefore, is the sin which the apostle thus expresseth, declaring the equity of its exposing men to greater punishment, or of making them more obnoxious unto eternal vengeance, than the rejection of the law; namely, a refusal of the authority of Christ proposing the terms of the gospel, and inviting unto the acceptance of them; which is unbelief.

6. The last thing in the words is the inference and judgment that the apostle makes, on a supposition of this sin and evil in any; and this is, that they shall not escape. And this he proposeth in a comparison with the sin of them that refused the obedience required by the law, with the event thereof. But the meaning hereof is so fully declared in the exposition on Heb 10:28-29, as also on Heb 2:2-3, where the same thing is spoken unto, as that I shall not here again insist upon it. And we may hence learn,

Obs. 4. That it is the duty of the ministers of the gospel diligently and effectually to declare the nature of unbelief, with the heinousness of its guilt, above all other sins whatsoever. It is here laid in the balance with the rejection of the law, which contains in it the guilt of all other sins, and is declared to have a weight of guilt incomparably above it. How much more? none can justly conceive or express it. By most it is despised; they have no sense of it, nor can have, without a powerful conviction of the Holy Ghost, Joh 16:8-9. Sins against the light of nature, or express commands of the law, most men are sensible of; but as unto unbelief, and all the consequents of it, they regard it not. But it is not more the duty of the ministers of the gospel to declare the nature of faith, and to invite men unto Christ in the gospel, than it is to make known the nature of unbelief, and to evidence the woful aggravation of it, Mar 16:16.

Obs. 5. It is their duty so to do, not only with respect unto them who are open and avowed unbelievers, to convince them of the danger wherein they are, but also unto all professors whatever; and to maintain an especial sense of it upon their own minds and consciences. Thus the apostle placeth himself among them who ought always to weigh and consider this matter: Much more shall not we escape, if we turn away. There is a turning away after profession, as well as upon the first proposal of the gospel. The nature and danger thereof ought they diligently to press on their own consciences, and on them that hear them; for this is an ordinance of God for their good. By the declaration of its nature, they may be helped in the examination of themselves, whether they be in the faith or no; which they are obliged unto, 2Co 13:5. And by the evidence of its danger from its aggravations, they may be excited continually to watch against it.

Obs. 6. This is the issue whereunto things are brought between God and sinners, wherever the gospel is preached, namely, whether they will hear the Lord Christ, or turn away from him. On this one point alone depends their eternal safety or misery. If they hear him, God puts an end unto the whole claim of the law against them, on the account of all other sins: if they refuse so to do, they are left under the guilt of all their sins against the law, with the unspeakable aggravation of the contempt of Christ speaking to them from heaven for their relief.

Obs. 7. The grace, goodness, and mercy of God, will not be more illustrious and glorious unto all eternity, in the salvation of believers by Jesus Christ, than his justice, holiness, and severity will be in the condemnation of unbelievers. Some light may be given hereinto from the consideration of what is included in this turning away from Christ, as was before declared.

Thirdly, The two next verses, Heb 12:26-27, contain an illustration of the enforcement of the exhortation in the foregoing verse. And it is taken,

1. From the mighty power of the person from whom they would turn away by unbelief, instanced in what he had done of old: Whose voice then shook the earth.

2. From the work which by the same mighty power he would yet effect, as it was foretold by the prophet: But now hath he promised, saying, Yet once more, etc.

3. From the nature and end of that promised work, which he declares, Heb 12:27.

1. (1.) The thing spoken of, is the voice of the person intended: Whose voice; that is, the voice of him of whom he speaks, the voice of him who is from heaven; that is, of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the author of the gospel: for reference is had unto him who was last spoken of, nor is there any other in the context unto whom the relative , whose, should refer.

(2.) The voice of Christ absolutely, is his great power in exercise. So all the mighty effects of providence are ascribed unto the voice of God, Psa 29:3-9. In particular, the declaration and exerting of his power in giving of the law is here intended.

(3.) The time wherein he put forth this mighty power was, then, that is, at the time of the giving of the law, opposed unto what he would do now.

(4.) That which is ascribed unto it then is, that it shook the earth. The great commotion in the creation that was at mount Sinai, at the giving of the law, which he had before described, verses 18-21, is intended. In particular, the earth, or the mount, did quake greatly, or was greatly shaken, Exo 19:18. But that alone is not comprised in this expression; the whole commotion that was in all the particulars which we have considered is comprehended therein. And the shaking is said to be of the earth, because it was all on the earth and of earthly things; part of the earth, by a synecdoche.

And we have here an illustrious evidence given unto the divine nature of Christ. For it is uuavoidable, that he whose voice this was is no other but he that speaks from heaven in the promulgation of the gospel; which to deny, is not only far from truth, but all pretense of modesty. Apparently it was one and the same person who spake from heaven in the promulgation of the gospel, whose voice shook the earth in giving of the law, and who promised in the prophet to shake heaven also. Unless this be granted, there is no sense nor coherence in the apostles discourse. The Socinian expositor turns himself unto many inventions to evade the force of this testimony.

[1.] He says, that he who gave the law, and then shook the earth, was a created angel. This presumption we have elsewhere discarded. But no place is more effectual unto that purpose than this text itself is. For he whose voice then shook the earth is the same, as the apostle affirms, with him who in the prophet promiseth to shake the heavens also; which is God, and not any creature.

[2.] He says, There is a difference between God sending an angel from heaven to give the law, and his sending Christ to declare the gospel; so as that he may be said to do the one from heaven, the other on the earth. For Christ did always declare himself one diverse from God, and only the legate of God; but the angel that came from heaven bare the person and name of God, and spake as if he were God himself. But,

1st. This plainly casts the advantage of honor and glory on the side of giving the law, above that of the promulgation of the gospel. For he who bears the person and name of God, and speaks as if he were God, must needs be more honorable than he who could do no such thing, but professed himself one diverse from God; and so Schlichtingius hath fairly confuted the apostle, if you will believe him.

2dly. The Lord Christ did always profess himself, and bear himself as one distinct from the person of the Father; but that he did so as one diverse from God, as one that was not God, is most false. See Joh 8:58; Joh 10:30; Joh 10:33, etc. And in like manner, in his following discourse, he doth plainly confess that Christ was inferior in glory unto the angel that gave the law, and is only preferred above Moses; if he be spoken of at all. But this is to wrest and .pervert, and not to interpret the Scriptures.

2. The apostle adds another demonstration of the great power of Christ, in what he hath now promised to do: But now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. The words are taken from Hag 2:6-7 : but the apostle quotes only part of the words there recorded; which were sufficient unto his purpose. The whole passage in the prophet I have at large explained, opened, and vindicated from the exceptions of the Jews, in the 13th Exercitation prefixed unto the first volume of this Exposition: I shall therefore here only speak unto them so far as the argument of the apostle is concerned in them.

(1.) There are in the words the notes of an opposition unto what was spoken before, as unto time: But now. And this now is not to be referred unto the time of the promise, He hath now promised;but it denotes the time when that which was promised in the days of Haggai was to be accomplished: Then, or of old, he shook the earth; but now he will shake heaven also, according to the promise.

(2.) The prophet affirming that he would shake the heavens and the earth, the apostle, in an accommodation to his present purpose, expresseth it by, Not only the earth, namely, as of old, but the heavens also. Wherefore in this new shaking, a shaking of the earth also is comprised.

(3.) The principal inquiry is, what is the shaking of the heavens intended, and at what season it was to be done. And for the clearing hereof we must observe,

[1.] The same thing and time are intended by the prophet and the apostle. Unless this be granted, there can be no force in this testimony unto his purpose; as there is none in the application of any testimony to confirm one thing which is spoken of another.

[2.] These things are spoken in the prophet expressly with respect unto the first coming of Christ, and the promulgation of the gospel thereon. This is not questioned by any Christians; and I have evidenced the truth of it against the Jews, in the place before directed unto. Yea, this single testimony is sufficient to bear the weight of the whole cause and contest which we have with the Jews about the coming of the Messiah. This time, therefore, and what fell out therein, is intended by the apostle; or the testimony he useth is nothing to his purpose.

[3.] The apostle declares, verse 28, that believers do now actually receive what is the fruit and effect of the work here described, namely, a kingdom that cannot be moved: before which the removal of the things that were shaken must precede; which could only be in the coming of Christ, and promulgation of the gospel.

[4.] Whereas some would refer all these things unto the second coming of Christ, namely, unto judgment at the last day, when the whole fabric of heaven and earth shall be shaken and removed; besides that it is wholly alien unto the whole design of the words in the prophet, it no way belongs unto the argument of the apostle. For he compares not the giving of the law, and the coming of Christ to judgment at the last day; but the giving of the law, with the promulgation of the gospel by Christ himself. For his design is in all things to give the pre-eminence unto the gospel, whereunto the consideration of the coming of Christ unto judgment is no way subservient.

[5.] There is no reason why we should take this shaking not only of the earth, but of heaven, as it is in the apostle; or, of the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, as it is in the prophet; in a literal or natural sense. The prophet expounds it all in the next words, And I will shake all nations. And they are spiritual things whereof the apostle doth discourse, such as end in that unshaken kingdom which believers do receive in this world.

[6.] Whereas, therefore, it is evident that the apostle treats about the dealing of Christ in and with his church, both in giving of the law and the promulgation of the gospel, that which is signified in these expressions is the great alteration that he would make in the church-state, with the mighty works and commotions which it was to be accompanied withal. Such it was, as if heaven and earth and all things in them had been shaken, as the things were which in the prophetical style are signified by them.

[7.] Yea, take the words in any sense, and they are applicable unto the first coming of Christ, and the promulgation of the gospel. For take them literally, and in a natural sense, and the event was suited unto them. At his birth a new star appeared in the heavens, which filled the generality of men with amazement, and put those who were wise unto diligent inquiries about it. His birth was proclaimed by an angel from heaven, and celebrated by a multitude of the heavenly host. In his ministry the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended on him in the shape of a dove. And hereon, from thence also, God gave express testimony unto him, saying, This is my beloved Son. And these things may answer that mighty work in heaven which is here intimated. On the earth, wise men came from the east to inquire after him; Herod and all Jerusalem were shaken at the tidings of him. In the discharge of his work he wrought miracles in heaven and earth, sea and dry land, on the whole creation of God. Wherefore in the first coming of Christ, the words had their literal accomplishment in an eminent manner. Take the words metaphorically for great changes, commotions, and alterations in the world, and so also were they accomplished in him and his coming. No such alteration had been made in the world since the creation of it, as was then, and in what ensued thereon. All the heavens of the world were then shaken, and after a while removed; that is, all their gods, and all their worship, which had continued from time immemorial, which were the heavens of the people, were first shaken, then removed and utterly demolished. The earth also was moved, shaken, and changed. For all nations were stirred up, some to inquire after him, some to oppose him; whereon great concussions and commotions did ensue, until all the most noble parts of it were made subject unto him. So had the prophecy a full and just accomplishment.

[8.] But, as we observed before, it is the dealing of God with the church, and the alterations which he would make in the state thereof, concerning which the apostle treats. It is therefore the heavens of Mosaical worship, and the Judaical church-state, with the earth of their political state belonging thereunto, that are here intended. These were they that were shaken at the coming of Christ, and so shaken, as shortly after to be removed and taken away, for the introduction of the more heavenly worship of the gospel, and the immovable evangelical church-state. This was the greatest commotion and alteration that God ever made in the heavens and earth of the church, and which was to be made once only. This was far more great and glorious than the shaking of the earth at the giving of the law. Wherefore, not to exclude the senses before mentioned, which are consistent with this, and may be respected in the prophecy, as outward signs and indications of it, this is that which is principally intended in the words, and which is proper unto the argument in hand. And this alone is consistent with the ensuing interpretation which the apostle gives of the words, or the inference which he makes from them, as we shall see. And whereas he cites the testimony of the prophet, he abides in the prophetical style, wherein the names of heaven and earth are frequently applied unto the state of the church. And we may observe, that,

Obs. 8. The sovereign authority and mighty power of Christ are gloriously manifested, in that signal change and alteration which he made in the heavens and earth of the church, in its state and worship, by the promulgation of the gospel.

Obs. 9. God was pleased to give testimony unto the greatness and glory of this work, by the great commotions in heaven ant earth wherewith it was accompanied.

Obs. 10. It was a mighty work, to introduce the gospel among the nations of the earth, seeing their gods and heavens were to be shaken and removed thereby.

Fourthly, The apostle makes an inference, verse 27, from the signification of one word in the foregoing verse, unto the truth designed in general in the whole epistle, but not anywhere expressly spoken unto, unless it be in the end of the eighth chapter: And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things which are shaken, as of things which are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

This is the conclusion of the whole argumentative part of this epistle, that which was aimed at from the beginning. Having fully proved the excellency of the gospel, and state of the church therein, above that under the law, and confirmed it by an examination of all the concernments of the one and the other, as we have seen; he now declares from the Scripture, according to his usual way of dealing with those Hebrews, that all the ancient institutions of worship, and the whole church-state of the old covenant, were now to be removed and taken away; and that to make way for a better state, more glorious, and that which should never be obnoxious to change or alteration. In the words, he expresseth the passage in the prophetical testimony, whereon he grounds his inference, and gives us the interpretation of it, with what necessarily ensues thereon.

1. He saith, And this word, Yet once more; And this that is said;or, Whereas it is said, Once more, ; so the Greeks render , yet one, or once: which determines,

(1.) That such a work as that spoken of had been before;

(2.) That it should be again, more eminently than formerly;

(3.) That it should be but once for ever again.

And from the consideration of all these the apostle takes the signification of the word, or what is contained in it, which he declares.

2. This word,saith he, doth manifestly signify that which ensues.And it doth so on the accounts mentioned. For,

(1.) It plainly intimates that there was, or had been, a work of the same or an alike nature wrought before; for he says, that he will work once more. This was the mighty work of God in giving of the law, before described. This the apostle makes evident, by distributing the things spoken of into that order, Not the earth only, but the heavens. That which concerned the earth alone was past, in the giving of the law.

(2.) It signifies plainly that he would work again, and that a work of the same kind; or else he could not be said to do it once more. Now, the general nature of this work was, the erection of a new church-state, which God then wrought, and would now do so again. And therefore,

(3.) It signifies the removal, the translation out of its place, of that which was before. The word signifies a translation, but withal such a removal thereby out of its place as contained a total abolition. For,

[1.] The things intended were shaken; and being of Gods own appointment, as was the divine worship and state of the church under the old testament, they could not be shaken by God himself but in order to their removal.

[2.] The things that were to be effected by this new work were to be introduced in their place; and therefore of necessity they were to be removed. So the apostle placeth the sole necessity of their removal, from the establishment of the things that cannot be shaken. These therefore must be of the same general nature and use with them, namely, a new church-state, and new divine worship; that is, the gospel with its privileges.

3. The apostle intimates the general ground and equity of the removal of these shaken things, and the introduction of those that cannot be shaken; and that is, because they were things that were made. Because they were made, they might be removed. For,

(1.) They were made by the hands of men; so were the tabernacle, the ark, the cherubim, with all the means of divine service. And the apostle here expressly alludes unto the making of them by Bezaleel and Aholiab. And they might thereon be well removed, for the establishment of that tabernacle which God pitched, and not man.

(2.) They were so made, as that they were made only for a season, namely, until the time of reformation, Heb 9:10. This the apostle hath abundantly proved, from their nature, use, and end. As such, therefore, it was equal they should be removed, and not have an eternal station in the church.

4. In the room of these things removed, things that are not, that cannot be shaken, are to be established. These things in the next verse he calls a kingdom that cannot be moved, which believers do receive; that is, the things of the spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ; the gospel with all its privileges, worship, and excellency, in relation to Christ, his person, office, and grace; the things which the apostle hath proved to be signified by all the institutions of the law, and to be every way more excellent than they. These are so to be introduced and established, as to remain unto the consummation of all things.

We shall yet further observe, that although the removal of Mosaical worship and the old church-state be principally intended, which was effected at the coming of Christ, and the promulgation of the gospel from heaven by him, yet all other oppositions unto him and his kingdom are included therein; not only those that then were, but all that should ensue unto the end of the world. The things that cannot be moved, are to remain and be established against all opposition whatever. Wherefore, as the heavens and the earth of the idolatrous world were of old shaken and removed, so shall those also of the antichristian world, which at present in many places seem to prevail. All things must give way, whatever may be comprised in the names of heaven and earth here below, unto the gospel, and the kingdom of Christ therein. For if God made way for it by the removal of his own institutions, which he appointed for a season, what else shall hinder its establishment and progress unto the end?

Heb 12:28-29. , .

Heb 12:28-29. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God [is] a consuming fire.[10] The apostle in these verses sums up both the doctrinal and hortatory parts of the epistle. For what by all his arguments he hath evinced, concerning the preference and preeminence of the gospel-state of the church above that under the law, he presseth as a reason for that obedience and constancy in profession which he exhorts unto. And from hence unto the close of the epistle he brancheth his general exhortation into a prescription of particular duties of most importance unto his general end.

[10] EXPOSITION. , . . . We have seen no translation but De Wettes in which effect is given to the in this clause. De Wette translates it by auch, even our God is a consuming fire; that is,However rich in grace to us who serve him, he is not the less inflexible in justice to those who serve him not, or do not serve him aright. ED.

In the words there are,

1. A note of inference; wherefore.

2. A privilege of gospel believers asserted; we receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved.

3. A duty pressed on the consideration of it; which is, to serve God acceptably: described from,

(1.) The means of it, let us have grace; and,

(2.) The manner of its performance, with reverence and godly fear.

1. The note of inference, wherefore, may respect either the whole discourse which he hath now passed through, or that immediately preceding, concerning the shaking and removal of the Judaical church- state, width the introduction and establishment of the things of the kingdom of Christ. The force of the exhortation ariseth equally from either of then Seeing it is so, that the state of believers under the gospel is such as we have described, and the gospel itself whereunto they are called so excellent and glorious, it follows that this duty they are to apply themselves unto.So,

Obs. 1. Such is the nature and use of all divine or theological truths, that the teaching of them ought constantly to be applied and improved unto practice; for faith and obedience are the end of their revelation. To remain within the compass of mere speculation, is to overthrow both their nature and use. Hence all preaching consists virtually in doctrine and use, or instruction and application; though the methods of it may be various, and ought to be varied as occasion doth require. 2. The privilege asserted is, that we receive a kingdom that cannot be moved. And herein we may consider,

(1.) The nature of this privilege; it is a kingdom.

(2.) The property of it, in opposition unto other things; it cannot be moved.

(3.) The way of believersparticipation of it; we receive it.

(1.) As unto the nature of it, it is a kingdom, a heavenly, spiritual state, under the rule of Jesus Christ, whom God hath anointed, and set his king upon his holy hill of Zion, Psa 2:6-7. The state of the gospel, and the rule of Christ therein, were represented and promised from the beginning under the name and notion of a kingdom, being properly so. See Isa 9:7. The kingly office of Christ, and his kingdom, were the common faith of the church of the old testament and the new. Whoever believed the promise of the Messiah, believed that he should be a king, and should have an everlasting kingdom, however the church of the Jews had lost the true notion of it in the latter days. This kingdom in the Scripture is everywhere called the kingdom of God, to distinguish it from all other dominions and kingdoms of the world, the kingdom wherein Christ proceeds in the name and majesty of God for all the ends of his glory, and the salvation of the church. And this kingdom is usually distinguished into the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory; but improperly. For although the saints that are now in glory do belong unto this kingdom, by virtue of the communion that is between them and the church below in Christ as their common head, yet this kingdom of Christ shall cease when the state of glory shall fully take place. So the apostle expressly declares, 1Co 15:24-28. Wherefore the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, so often mentioned in the Scripture, is that which we call the kingdom of God only. It is true, the saints do and shall reign in heaven, whereon that state may be called the kingdom of glory; but the promised kingdom of the Messiah, is that rule which is to be continued unto the end of this world, and no longer. And at present those in heaven and these on earth do constitute but one kingdom, though they are in various conditions therein.

This kingdom, then, is that rule of Christ in and over the gospel-state of the church, which the apostle hath proved to be more excellent than that of the law. Hereunto belong all the light, liberty, righteousness, and peace, which by the gospel we are made partakers of, with all the privileges above the law insisted on by the apostle. Christ is the king, the gospel is his law, all believers are his subjects, the Holy Spirit is its administrator, and all the divine treasures of grace and mercy are its revenue. The reader may see a delineation of this kingdom in our exposition on Heb 1:2. This is the kingdom which is here intended, the present actual participation whereof is made the foundation of the exhortation ensuing, being undeniably cogent unto that end.

(2.) The especial property of this kingdom is, that it is , such as cannot be shaken, or moved. It is true of it universally, and only, it cannot be moved in any sense, by any ways or means; and this is the only kingdom that cannot be moved. To speak of the unshaken, unmovable kingdom, is all one as if we expressly mentioned the kingdom of Christ, seeing that only is so. All other kingdoms have been, or shall be, shaken and overturned; all boastings and expectations to the contrary are but vain. No dominion ever so dreamed of eternity as did the Roman empire; but it hath not only been shaken, but broken to pieces, and scattered like chaff before the wind. See Dan 2:44; Dan 7:14; Dan 7:27. No external opposition shall ever be able to shake or move this kingdom. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it, Mat 16:18. No internal decays shall ruin it. The spring of it is in Him who lives for ever, and who hath the keys of hell and death.

These things are true, the kingdom of Christ is thus immovable: but that which is here peculiarly intended is, that it is not obnoxious unto such a shaking and removal as the church-state was under the old testament; that is, God himself will never make any alteration in it, nor ever introduce another church-state or worship. God hath put the last hand, the hand of his only Son, unto all revelations and institutions. No addition shall be made unto what he hath done, nor alteration in it. No other way of calling, sanctifying, ruling, and saving of the church, shall ever be appointed or admitted; for it is here called an immovable kingdom in opposition unto the church-state of the Jews, which God himself first shook, and then took away, for it was ordained only for a season.

(3.) Believers receive this kingdom. As the apostle had before joined himself with them in the threatening, How shall we escape? so he doth here in the privilege, We receiving: You and I, even all that believe. And how they do so, we must inquire. [1.] Their interest in this kingdom is called their receiving it, because they have it by gift, grant, or donation from God their Father: Luk 12:32, Fear not, little flock, saith Christ, it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom; freely to grant unto you an interest in his heavenly kingdom.

[2.] They receive it in its doctrine, rule, and law, owning its truth, and submitting unto its authority. They obey from the heart the form of doctrine which is delivered to them, Rom 6:17; which constitutes them formally the subjects of his kingdom.

[3.] They receive it in the light, grace, mercy, and spiritual benefits of it. Such a kingdom it is as whose treasures and revenues consist in these things, namely, light, liberty, righteousness, peace, grace and mercy. For the kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, Rom 14:17. All these do they receive, in right, title, and possession, according to their various measures; and hereon are properly said to receive the kingdom itself.

[4.] They receive it in the privileges of it; which may be referred unto two heads: 1st. Dignity; 2dly. Safety; which are the two advantages of any kingdom added unto their wealth, which in this consists in the treasures before mentioned. As to the first, or dignity, this is such a kingdom as wherein, though with respect to Christ and his rule we are absolutely subjects, yet with respect unto others we are absolutely free: Ye are bought with a price; be not ye servants of men, 1Co 7:23; that is, in all things which belong to this kingdom. And not only so, but all the subjects of this kingdom are, with respect unto their acceptance with God, and power over their enemies, kings also: A kingly priesthood, 1Pe 2:9; Kings and priests unto God, Rev 1:6. And, secondly, for safety, they are all built on the Rock, against which the gates of hell cannot prevail. This dignity and safety are of eminent consideration, when we are said to receive a kingdom; for they are principal ornaments and advantages of such a state.

[5.] They receive it by an initiation into the sacred mysteries of it, the glory of its spiritual worship, and their access unto God thereby. Herein consists the glory of the administration of this kingdom, 2 Corinthians 3 : And all believers have a right unto all the mystical ordinances of divine worship in this kingdom, which all others are excluded from. [6.] They receive it in its outward rule and discipline. And in all these things they receive it as a pledge of a future reign in glory. Wherefore,

Obs. 2. The privileges which believers receive by the gospel are inconceivable. They are a kingdom, the kingdom of God or Christ, a spiritual, heavenly kingdom, replenished with inexhaustible treasures of spiritual blessings and advantages.

Obs. 3. Believers are not to be measured by their outward state and appearance in the world, but by the interest they have in that kingdom which it is their Fathers good pleasure to give them.

Obs. 4. It is assuredly their duty in all things to behave themselves as becomes those who receive such privileges and dignity from God himself.

Obs. 5. The obligation from hence unto the duty of serving God here exhorted unto, of so serving God as is here described, is evident and unavoidable. Those on whom it hath not an efficacy, have no real interest in this privilege, whatever they pretend.

Obs. 6. Spiritual things and mercies do constitute the most glorious kingdom that is in the world, even the kingdom of God.

Obs. 7. This is the only kingdom that shall never be moved, nor ever can be so, however hell and the world do rage against it.

3. The duty exhorted unto, on the consideration of this blessed state and privilege is, that we should serve God acceptably. There is a duty previously required unto this enjoined us, which is to have grace; and this is introduced only as an effect thereof: Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God. But whereas this is the end for which we should endeavor to have grace, I place it as the duty exhorted unto in the circumstances described.

The word doth most frequently, if not only, signify that service unto God which consists in his worship; namely, in prayer and the observance of some other institutions of divine service. See Luk 2:37; Act 7:7, Rom 1:9; Rom 1:25; Php 3:3; 2Ti 1:3; Heb 9:9; Heb 10:2; Heb 13:10; Rev 7:15. I will not deny but that it may comprise the whole of gospel obedience, which is , Rom 12:1, our reasonable service; but I judge that here peculiar respect is had unto the worship of God according to the gospel, which was brought in upon the removal of all those institutions of worship which were appointed under the old testament. Herein the apostle would have the believing Hebrews to be diligent; which they would not be in a due manner without an equal attendance unto all other duties of evangelical obedience.

Wherefore it is added, that we should thus serve God acceptably, as we have well rendered the word; that is, so as that we may be accepted, or find acceptance with him. As it respects the worship of God, it is sometimes applied unto the persons that perform it, sometimes unto the worship itself performed. With respect unto both, it signifies that which is well-pleasing unto God, that which is accepted with him, Rom 12:1-2; 2Co 5:9; Eph 5:10; Php 4:18; Col 3:20; Heb 11:5-6 : in all which places, and others, the verb or adjective is used; the verb only in this place, acceptably.

There is an intimation that there may be a performance of the duties of divine worship, when yet neither the persons that perform them nor the duties themselves are accepted with God. So was it with Cain and his sacrifice; so is it with all hypocrites always. The principal things required unto this acceptation are,

(1.) That the persons of the worshippers be accepted in the Beloved. God had respect unto Abel, then to his offering.

(2.) That the worship itself, in all the duties of it, and the whole manner of its performance, be of his own appointment and approbation. Hereon all Judaical observances are rejected, because now disapproved by him.

(3.) That the graces of faith, love, fear, reverence, and delight, be in actual exercise: for in and by them alone, in all our duties, we give glory unto God; which the apostle declares in the remaining words of these verses.

4. In order unto this serving of God, it is required of us, in a way of duty, that we have grace. Some copies have , which are followed by the Vulgar and some other translations, We have grace. But the most, and most ancient copies, have , Let us have, which suits the other words and design of the place; for it is not a privilege asserted, but a duty prescribed. here may be taken in a double sense:

(1.) For the free grace and favor of God in Christ, which we obtain by the gospel. And in this sense it is most frequently used in the Scripture.

(2.) For internal, sanctifying, aiding, assisting grace, as it is in other places innumerable. And the word may have a double signification also. For it is not a bare having or possession that is intended; for that is not the object of an exhortation in the way of a duty: but it signifies either to retain and hold fast, as our translators render it in the margin; or to obtain and improve; in which sense the word is often used.

And these double significations of the words are suited unto one another. Take , Let us have, in the first sense, to retain and hold fast, and it answers unto , or grace, in the first sense of the word, namely, the grace and favor of God, which we obtain by the gospel This we are exhorted unto, 1Co 15:1; Gal 5:1; Php 1:27; Php 4:1; 1Th 3:8. See Rom 5:2. Thus the duty intended should be perseverance in the faith of the gospel, whereby alone we are enabled to serve God acceptably. Take it in the latter sense, and it answers unto grace in the latter sense also; that is, for internal, spiritual aids of grace, enabling us unto this duty of serving God, without which we cannot so do. This is the proper sense of the place. The service of God in such a way and manner as is acceptable unto him is required of us, it is due upon the account of the unspeakable privileges which we receive by the gospel, before declared; but this of ourselves, without special divine aid and assistance, we are no way able to perform: for without Christ we can do nothing. We have no sufficiency of ourselves to think or do any thing as we ought: It is God who worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure. It is therefore in order unto the end of serving acceptably, required of us, that we have, that is, that we obtain and improve, this grace of God, or the aids of divine grace.

Now, whereas this grace may be considered either as unto its essence and the first communication of it unto us, or as unto its degrees and measures with respect unto its continual exercise, it may be here considered both ways. For without it in the first sense, as it is sanctifying, we cannot serve God acceptably at all; and in the latter, it is required to be exercised in every particular duty of divine worship. And this is especially intended, the former being supposed. You that have received grace essentially considered, unto your sanctification, endeavor much an increase of it in its degrees and measures, so that being in continual exercise, you may be enabled by it to serve God acceptably.And two things evince this sense:

(1.) That this grace is assigned as the instrumental efficient cause of the duty proposed: By which, by virtue whereof, in whose strength, by which you are enabled.Now, this is no other but internal, aiding, assisting grace, in its exercise.

(2.) The things prescribed to accompany this service of God on our part, namely, reverence and godly fear, are such graces themselves, or acts of that grace.

It is most true, that the holding fast the grace of the gospel, the doctrine of the love and favor of God in Christ Jesus, is an effectual means of enabling us to serve God acceptably. For thereby, or by the exercise of faith therein, we do derive spiritual strength from Christ, as the branches derive juice and nutriment from the vine, to enable us thereunto. And if we decay in the faith thereof, much more if we relinquish it, we can never serve God in a due manner. I would not therefore exclude that sense of the words, though I judge the latter to be more especially intended. And,

(1.) Without this grace we cannot serve God at all. He accounts not that as his worship or service which is performed by graceless persons.

(2.) Without this grace in actual exercise we cannot serve God acceptably; for it is the exercise of grace alone that is the life and soul of divine worship.

(3.) To have an increase in this grace as unto its degrees and measures, and to keep it in exercise in all duties of the service of God, is a duty required of believers by virtue of all the gospel privileges which they receive from God; for herein consists that revenue of glory which on their account he expecteth and requireth.

(4.) This is the great apostolical canon for the due performance of divine worship, namely, Let us have grace to do it; all others are needless and superfluous.

5. The manner of the performance of the duty exhorted unto is also prescribed. And this is, that it be done with reverence and godly fear. These words are not anywhere else used together with respect unto the service of God, nor apart. , which we translate reverence, is but once more used in the New Testament, where it signifies pudor or modestia, shame-facedness or modesty, 1Ti 2:9; but nowhere else. It is applied to denote a grace or virtue in the worship of God. is used only here, and Heb 5:7; where see the exposition. See also Heb 11:7. We render it, with godly fear.

For the verb is sometimes used for fear, without any respect to religion, Act 23:10; and the adjective, for religious or devout, without any especial respect to fear, Luk 2:25; Act 2:5; Act 8:2 : both are included in it.

The sense of the words in this place may be learned best from what they are opposed unto. For they are prescribed as contrary unto some such defects and faults in divine worship as from which we ought to be deterred by the consideration of the holiness and severity of God; as is manifest from the addition of it in the next words, For our God is a consuming fire. Now those vices from which we ought to be deterred by this consideration, are,

(1.) Want of a due sense of the majesty and glory of God, with whom we have to do. For whereas he had provided against this evil under the old testament, by the dread and terror which were ingenerated in the people by the giving of the law, by many severe interdictions of their approach unto pledges of his presence among them, and the prescription of outward ceremonies in all their accesses unto him; all these things being now removed, yet a deep, spiritual sense of his holiness and greatness ought to be retained in the mind of all that draw nigh unto him in his worship.

(2.) Want of a due sense of our own vileness, and our infinite distance from him in nature and condition; which is always required to be in us.

(3.) Carnal boldness, in a customary performance of sacred duties, under a neglect of endeavoring the exercise of all grace in them; which God abhors.

To prevent these and the like evils, these graces or duties are prescribed. Wherefore , or pudor spiritualis, is a holy abasement of soul in divine worship, in a sense of the majesty of God, and our own vileness, with our infinite distance from him. This, in extraordinary instances, is called blushing, being ashamed, and confusion of face, Ezr 9:6; Dan 9:7. So it is in extraordinary cases; but for the essence of it, it ought always to accompany us in the whole worship of God. And is, a religious awe on the soul in holy duties, from a consideration of the great danger there is of sinful miscarriages in the worship of God, and of his severity against such sins and offenses. Hereby the soul is moved and excited unto spiritual care and diligence, not to provoke so great, so holy and jealous a God, by a neglect of that exercise of grace which he requires in his service, which is due unto him on the account of his glorious excellencies.

And we may consider of how great importance this exhortation and duty are. For this charge of serving God from a principle of grace, in the manner described, is that which is given unto us in the consideration of the kingdom which we have received, and enforced with that of the terror of the Lord with respect unto all miscarriages therein; which is urged also in the last verse.

Heb 12:29. For our God [is] a consuming fire. This is the reason making the foregoing duty necessary. Therefore ought we to serve God with reverence and fear, because he is a consuming fire.The words are taken from Deu 4:24, where they are used by Moses to deter the people from idols or graven images in the worship of God; for this is a sin that God will by no means bear withal. And the same description of God is applied here by the apostle unto the want of grace with reverence and fear in that worship which he hath appointed. We may not please ourselves that the worship itself which we attend unto is by divine institution, not idolatrous, not superstitious, not of our own invention; for if we are graceless in our persons, devoid of reverence and godly fear in our duties, God wilt deal with us even as with them who worship him after their own heartsdevisings.

There is a metaphor in the expression. God is compared to, and so called a devouring fire, because of a likeness in effects as unto the case under consideration. For as a vehement fire will consume and devour whatever combustible matter is cast into it, so will God with a fiery terror consume and destroy such sinners as are guilty of the sin here prohibited. And as such, will such sinners, namely, hypocrites and false-worshippers, apprehend him to be, when they fall under convictions, Isa 33:14.

And he is called herein our God; as in Moses to the people, The LORD thy God. A covenant relation unto him is in both places intimated. Wherefore although we have a firm persuasion that he is our God in covenant, yet it is his will that we should have holy apprehensions of his greatness and terror towards sinners. See 2Co 5:10-11.

Two things are represented unto us in this expression, A consuming fire.

1. The nature of God, as declared in the first commandment. And,

2. His jealousy with respect unto his worship, as it is expressed in the second.

1. The holiness and purity of his nature, with his severity and vindictive justice, are represented hereby. And these, as all other his essential properties, are proposed unto us in the first commandment. From them it is that he will consume impenitent sinners, such as have no interest in the atonement, even as fire consumes that which is cast into it.

2. His jealousy with reference unto his worship is here also represented, as declared in the second commandment. So it is added in that place of Moses, The LORD thy God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. This title God first gave himself with respect unto his instituted worship, Exo 20:5. And this affection or property of jealousy is figuratively ascribed unto God, by an anthropopathy. In man, it is a vehement affection and inclination, arising from a fear or apprehension that any other should have an interest in or possess that which they judge ought to be peculiar unto themselves. And it hath place principally in the state of marriage, or that which is in order thereunto. It is therefore supposed that the covenant between God and the church hath the nature of a marriage covenant, wherein he calleth himself the husband thereof, and saith that he is married unto it, Isa 54:5; Jer 3:14. In this state, it is religious worship, both as unto the outward form of it in divine institution, and its inward form of faith and grace, which God requires, as wholly his own.

With reference, therefore, unto defects and miscarriages therein, he assumeth that affection unto him, and calleth himself a jealous God. And because this is a vehement, burning affection, God is said on the account of it to be a consuming fire. And we may observe, that,

Obs. 8. However God takes us near unto himself in covenant, whereby he is our God, yet he requires that we always retain due apprehensions of the holiness of his nature, the severity of his justice against sinners, and his ardent jealousy concerning his worship.

Obs. 9. The consideration of these things, and the dread of being by guilt obnoxious unto their terrible consuming effects, ought to influence our minds unto reverence and godly fear in all acts and parts of divine worship.

Obs. 10. We may learn how great our care and diligence about the serving of God ought to be, which are pressed on us by the Holy Ghost from the consideration of the greatness of our privileges on the one hand, namely, our receiving the kingdom; with the dreadful destruction from God on the other, in case of our neglect herein.

Obs. 11. The holiness and jealousy of God, which are a cause of insupportable terror unto convinced sinners, driving them from him, have towards believers only a gracious influence into that fear and reverence which causes them to cleave more firmly unto him.

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Fuente: An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews

Hearken to Gods Latest Word

Heb 12:18-29

Sinai rocked with earthquake and burned with fire. None might touch it without incurring the death penalty. How much better our Christian heritage! Not a lonely mountain, but a city and commonwealth of holy souls. Not bands of worshipers gathered from the land of Canaan, but hosts of angels, the spirits of just men; and our blessed Lord Himself. For the blood of animals, the blood of Jesus; for the Old Covenant, the New; for Abels death beside his altar, the Saviors death on the cross.

Notice the writer does not say that we shall, but that we are come, Heb 12:22. Already, in our holiest moments, we are part of that great throng to which so many of our beloved have gone. Around us the most stable structures are being tested and some are crumbling to the ground. As they fall they show that their service was transient. But as the scaffolding is taken down, the true building-the City of God-emerges.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Heaven on Earth

Heaven is our eternal inheritance, purchased and obtained for us by the blood of Christ (In whom we have obtained an inheritance!); but he has given the earnest of that inheritance by the Spirit of grace in the new birth (Eph 1:11; Eph 1:13-14). But we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, except we do so through the path of much affliction. There is no way home for Gods pilgrims, but the way of the cross.

Every heir of endless bliss, passing through this wilderness,

Finds his journey, to the end, vexed with trouble and with sin.

This is Gods all-wise decree. May He give us grace to see

Thus He weans us from the earths vanity and empty mirth.

Pains and sorrows, sin and woes, Satans roars and countless foes,

Every day our way oppose. Still, Gods grace sufficient proves!

He is strong, faithful, and true. He will guide us safely through!

All that now our souls distress, will increase our endless bliss!

Life in this world is not easy. It is not easy to live by faith while we still carry in our nature an evil heart of unbelief. It is not easy to persevere in the faith when the world, the flesh, and the devil oppose us. It is not easy to live for and seek the glory of God when so many earthly cares and inward corruptions vex and torment our souls.

Our Inheritance

Heaven is our eternal inheritance, purchased and obtained for us by the blood of Christ, in whom we have obtained an inheritance; and he has given the earnest of that inheritance by the Spirit of grace in the new birth (Eph 1:11; Eph 1:13-14). We who believe live in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began. We hope to go to heaven when we die. We hope to spend eternity with Christ in heaven. But sometimes that seems like a far distant hope, doesnt it? It seems to be so far removed from the here and now.

Like Israel in the wilderness, we often fail to see the glory, beauty, and fullness of the promised land for two reasons: enemies without and unbelief within. Until enemies are subdued and the unbelief is removed, we cannot enter into our rest. Heb 11:18-24 is a passage that ought to subdue those enemies and remove that unbelief, allowing us to know and enjoy heaven on earth.

Jewish Legend

The Jews have a legend. They say that during the days of famine in Canaan, Joseph ordered his officers to throw cartloads of wheat and chaff into the Nile River, so that all the people who lived below the Nile might see that there was great abundance in the land of Egypt. I place no stock in Jewish legends, but I do know this: Christ, our great Joseph, throws the bountiful grace of heaven into the river of life, so that his people on earth might taste it and, tasting it, desire more and seek those things which are above.

For

The opening word of Heb 12:18, For, is very significant. It connects what Paul is about to say with what he has just said. He says, Lift up those hands, strengthen those feeble knees, go on, go on my brother, for the prize is near, and it is sure! Read Heb 12:18-24 in that light.

For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

If we belong to God, if we are numbered among those who come to God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, here are nine heavenly blessings that belong to us now. We will never enter into the fullness of them until we have dropped this robe of flesh, but they are ours to enjoy right now as much as they shall be when we are seated before the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Complete freedom from the curse and terror of the law (Heb 12:18-21).

The enjoyment of free access to God (Heb 12:22).

The privilege of heavenly citizenship (Heb 12:22).

The companionship of the angels of God (Heb 12:22).

The spiritual wealth of adoption into the family of God (Heb 12:23).

The defense and protection of Gods holy throne (Heb 12:23).

The company and fellowship of glorified saints (Heb 12:23).

The personal care and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb 12:24).

Full, irrevocable salvation through Christs precious blood (Heb 12:24).

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

Exo 19:12-19, Exo 20:18, Exo 24:17, Deu 4:11, Deu 5:22-26, Rom 6:14, Rom 8:15, 2Ti 1:7

Reciprocal: Exo 19:16 – thunders Exo 19:24 – but let Lev 27:34 – in mount Num 4:15 – they shall Deu 4:10 – the day Deu 4:36 – General Deu 5:5 – General Deu 5:23 – General Deu 9:15 – the mount Deu 10:4 – out of the Jdg 5:5 – that Sinai 1Ki 8:12 – the thick 1Ki 19:11 – and a great 2Ch 6:1 – The Lord Neh 9:13 – spakest Job 3:5 – let a cloud Job 40:6 – out Psa 50:3 – a fire Psa 83:15 – General Psa 144:5 – touch Eze 10:5 – the voice Joe 2:2 – A day of darkness 2Co 3:9 – the ministration of condemnation Gal 4:25 – Sinai Rev 4:5 – proceeded Rev 8:5 – and there

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Heb 12:18. From here through several verses the apostle returns to the leading subject of the epistle, namely, the contrasts between the system under Moses and that under Christ. The mount that might be touched was Sinai because it was a literal one (Exo 19:12), and it was from this mount that the old law was given. The rest of the verse is descriptive of the conditions when the Israelites approached the area.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Heb 12:18-29. All these warnings become the more impressive from the fact that our economy is one of much greater privilege than the previous, and that it is the last revelation which God will give.

For ye have not drawn near to a mountain that is touched (a material, tangible mountain) and that burned with fire and blackness (of clouds) and darkness (as in the night) and tempest. At the giving of the Law the top of the mountain burned with fire; lower down were black, impenetrable clouds, and out of the darkness which they caused came the mutterings of the storm. Amid this terror was heard the sound of a trumpet, and an articulate voice giving the commandments which were delivered to Israel; which voice was so awful that those who heard implored to be excused, begged off from hearing (declined to hear) more. The same word is found in the parable, They began to make excuse.

For (a parenthetical explanation of their awe) they could not bear what was commanded, viz. And if even a beast (much more a man) touch the mountain . . .

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Our apostle’s design being to bring over the Hebrews fully from Judaism to Christianity, he enters here upon a description of both states, shewing the excellency of the one above the other. He describes first the legal state of the church under the Old Testament, and the manner of their forefathers entering into covenant with God at Mount Sinai. And then he sets forth the evangelical state, whereunto they were called, and into which they were entered.

In the verses now before us, he sets forth the dread and terror of the Mosaic dispensation, and the way and manner how their forefathers under the old Testament entered into their church-state; telling them, that they came to a mount that might be touched, that is, to Mount Sinai in the desert of Arabis, a barren and fruitless place, full of bushes and brambles, but without water or food; intimating, that such as are under the law, in a state of sin, bring forth no acceptable fruit unto God; and as there was no water in the desert, but that which the people lived upon was brought out of the rock, and that rock was Christ: it intimates, that from Christ alone were all their and our refreshments: The law affords none, but thunders from its fiery mouth, wrath and a curse.

Farther, this mount is said to be what might be touched; that is, a sensible, carnal thing, exposed to feeling; intimating how low and inferior the giving of the law was in comparison of the promulgation of the gospel, which was from heaven. The law was given from a mount that might be touched by man or beast, though if either touched it they must die, to intimate the bondage and fear the people were then in, who might not so much as touch the mountain where were the signs of God’s presence: But the gospel was promulgated from heaven, and the Son of God sent down on purpose from thence to plant and propagate it here in the world.

The second thing which the apostle tells them they were come unto, was to fire that burned. This fire that burned on the mount was a token of God’s presence, and a distinct means of filling the people with dread and fear. This fire represented the purity and holiness of God’s nature, his jealousy and severity against sin. Thus the law represents to us the holiness and severity of God, with his anger and displeasure against sin and sinners, but there leaves us consumed, without relief by Jesus Christ.

Unto fire the apostle adds blackness, and darkness, and tempest; which blackness and darkness might be caused by thick clouds and smoke that covered the mount. This darkness was a type of that utter darkness of hell, which the transgressors of that law deserved; and the tempest and terrible storms were emblems and signs of God’s fiery indignation and fearful vengeance on the wicked violaters of his holy law, and might also point out and signify the effects of the law then delivered, namely, to bring the soul into darkness, that it can see no light either for its direction or consolation; and it raises a tempest in the mind, of disquieting, perplexing thoughts, without relieving or encouraging a sinner to look out after any relief, until Christ in his gospel says, Behold me, Behold me.

It follows, ye are come to the sound of a trumpet: This was not a real trumpet, but the sound of a trumpet formed in the air by the ministry of angels waxing louder and louder, to signify the nearer approach of God; also as this trumpet did summon the people to appear before the Lord as a legislative trumpet, in like manner there shall be a judicial trumpet, to summon the world to appear before Christ at the great day.

After the sound of the trumpet followed the voice of words that is the voice of God in a terrible manner promulging the law out of the midst of the fire, in a language understood by that people. As the sound of the trumpet, so the voice of God was loud, majestic, terrible, and like thunder.

Quest. But why was there such vast solemnity used at the giving of the law?

Ans. To signify the majesty and authority of him who was the supreme lawgiver, even the Lord of heaven and earth; and that the greater the outward solemnity was, the greater the inward impression might be upon the minds of the people; and to signify, that if the promulgation of the law was so awful, the transgression of it would be fatal, and the transgressors’ punishment very dreadful.

Observe lastly, The event of this sight and hearing on the part of the people: Fear made them desire that they might hear this voice no more: And God’s design in all, was to cause them to long for, and look after, that great prophet, Christ Jesus, by whom God would speak unto them more comfortably, and by whom they might have access to the throne of grace more freely. They entreated that the word should not be spoken unto them any more, because it heightened their fear and dread to the utmost.

Learn from hence, That the sight and voice of God will be very dreadful to us: and there will be no appearance for us before him with confidence and peace, unless we have an answer in readiness with us to all the words of the law, even all that the law requires of us; and such as trust to their own works and merits to answer for them, or to any thing whatsoever, besides the blood and sacrifice, the mediation and satisfaction, of Jesus Christ, the surety of the new covenant, will find themselves eternally deceived.

The next evidence the apostle gives of the dreadful promulgation of the law, and consequently of the miserable state of them that are under its power, appears in this, that the people could not endure that which was commanded; that is, the severity of that command, that if a beast touched the mountain, it should be stoned or thrust through with a dart. All this was to shew the absolute inaccessibleness of God, in and by the law, and at what distance we ought ot keep ourselves from everything that falls under the curse of the law.

It is added last of all, That Moses himself did exceedingly fear and quake.

From whence observe, How all persons concerned were brought to an utter loss and distress at the promulgation and giving of the law, from whence no relief is to be obtained, but by him alone who is the end of the law for righteousness unto all them that believe.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Better Access to God than Was at Sinai

So, a careful watch should be kept to avoid the kind of attitude that would cause one to give up his birthright. This is especially true since we labor under a new covenant. Esau lived during the Patriarchal Age, when God spoke to the fathers and directed the family. In theMosaic Age, God spoke on the mountain, but the people were not allowed to approach Him. The awe inspiring events on Mount Sinai actually caused the people to beg that they should not hear any more ( Exo 19:16 ; Exo 19:19 ; Exo 20:1-7 ; Exo 20:19 ). The people were very much afraid at that time and the writer revealed the reason for their fear by quoting Exo 19:12-13 . Even Moses was afraid, as the writer reveals through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit ( Heb 12:18-21 ).

Christians do not come to a mountain in fear, but to the throne of God, which is heaven. Believers also were described as coming to a general assembly, which Milligan says is one of angels around the throne of God. It is representative of the joyous multitude that will assemble around God’s throne and celebrate His praises ( Rev 5:11 ; Rev 7:11-12 ). The assembly, or church, of the firstborn is a reference to the faithful saints who will, as the firstborn does, receive their birthright at the coming of Christ. That they will receive these rights is indicated by Luk 10:20 and Rev 21:27 . All of the redeemed will also be before the throne of God and they shall receive a just reward ( Heb 12:22-23 ).

Just as Moses was with the people at Mount Sinai, so will Christ be at the throne of God as mediator for His brethren. In being close to Christ, we are also close to his blood. Abel’s blood, being shed by Cain, called for vengeance. Christ’s blood, which was shed voluntarily, calls for mercy. So, the writer exhorted the Hebrews to heed the voice of God who now speaks through Jesus, His Son ( Heb 1:1 ). The people who did not listen to God under the old covenant, when he spoke through Moses, did not escape. So, we should especially not expect to get away with rejecting the voice of God under this new covenant ( Heb 12:24-25 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

Heb 12:18-19. For, &c. As if he had said, Take heed of apostatizing from Christianity to Judaism again, because of the great privileges you enjoy by the gospel above what your fathers enjoyed by the law: which privileges contain a strong reason why you should attend to these exhortations and cautions; ye Who are proselyted to Christianity; are not come unto the mount that might Or could; be touched That is, of an earthly, material, or tangible nature; but which the people were prohibited to approach, and much more to touch. And that burned with fire Unto the midst of heaven, (Deu 4:11,) to show that God is a consuming fire to the impenitent; and to blackness and darkness An emblem of the obscurity of the Mosaic dispensation; and to tempest Josephus tells us, (Antiq., lib. 3. c. 5,) that at the giving of the law strong winds came down, and manifested the presence of God. Perhaps, says Macknight, this prefigured what happened when the new law, the gospel, was given. For, previous to the descent of the Holy Ghost, there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty rushing wind: and the sound of a trumpet Formed, without doubt, by the ministry of angels, and which at length waxed exceeding loud, (Exo 19:18-19,) preparatory to the voice of words That is, the ten commandments, written afterward on the two tables of stone. For (all other noises, as of thunder, the trumpet, &c., ceasing) God caused a loud voice, speaking those ten commandments articulately in their own language, to be heard by the whole congregation, men, women, and children, in the station wherein they were placed at the foot of the mount; and this voice was so great and terrible that the people were not able to bear it: for although they were terrified with the dreadful appearances on the mount, yet was it this speaking of God that utterly overwhelmed them. See Deu 5:22. Which they that heard Namely, the whole assembly or congregation, strongly impressed with the holiness and power of their Lawgiver and Judge, and being exceedingly terrified; entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more Or that the word or speaking of God to them should not be continued. The verb , here rendered entreated, is twice translated to refuse, Heb 12:25. The meaning is, they deprecated the hearing of the word in that manner any more, which they did doubtless by their officers and elders, who both themselves being terrified, and observing the dread of the whole congregation, made request for themselves and the rest to Moses; and because they did it with a good intention, out of reverence for the majesty of God, without any design of declining obedience, it was accepted.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

ARGUMENT 18

THE THREE EVANGELICAL MOUNTAINS

SINAI, CALVARY, AND ZION.

This paragraph, including Heb 12:18-29, is the grand Apollonian climax exhibitory of the threefold gospel, i,e., conviction, regeneration, and sanctification.

18-21. These four verses describe the memorable scene when God Almighty descended on Mount Sinai in densely black clouds, roaring tornadoes, terrific lightnings, appalling thunder-bolts, stentorian thunderclaps and paroxysmal earthquakes, striking paralyzing affright and horrible trepidation into all the people, so they trembled, quaked, screamed and fled from the scene, beseeching Moses to stand between them and the awful God of Sinai. This indescribable scene emblematizes the gospel of conviction, when the fire-baptized preacher, fearless of men and devils, takes Mount Sinai for his pulpit, trusting God to supply the lightning, thunder, tempest and earthquake, while he uncaps hell and shakes the people over the seething, burning, unfathomable billows, with a strong hand and a fearless heart. This explains the historic fact that the apostles raised a row, provoked persecution, and received bleeding backs and broken beads wherever they went. The Sinai Gospel, indispensable to conviction, is the great deficiency of the present age. In popular pulpits it is considered discourteous to speak of hell and damnation, and intolerable to preach on it. A cultured clergyman, in a city pulpit, found it necessary in the process of his discourse to say hell. He said it so softly that a lot of money-loving merchants present thought he said sell some Universalists in his audience thought he said, alls well, while an old saint in the amen corner actually certified that the man said hell. While the Sinai Gospel is dead and forgotten in the popular churches, so the members actually go to perdition at race-horse speed without any serious trouble in the way of conscientious compunction, it is a lamentable fact that it is fearfully deficient in the holiness movement. Consequently, the people are professing in platoons, while possession is like the pot of gold at the rainbows end. Internal superficiality is the greatest enemy of the holiness work. Sanctification is impossible without regeneration, and regeneration without conviction, while the Sinai Gospel is Gods artillery for conviction. I am an old revivalist. In the vigor of my manhood I delighted to go into the very hotbed of Satans kingdom, take Sinai for my pulpit, trust God for thunder, lightning and earthquakes, stand like a messenger from heaven and preach the terrors of the violated law, the blackness of sin, the horrors of hell and the doom of the damned for days and weeks and see conviction settle down on all the people like a nightmare from the regions of woe, hope take her flight and despair on raven wing hover around the doomed people till they would fall on all sides, crying for mercy. Then I would open the altar and at least half of the whole congregation would pile into it. I have frequently seen meetings like it is said of heaven, Congregations neer break up and Sabbaths have no end, the slain of the Lord, unable to stand on their feet, lying prostrate till the next meeting, so there was really no adjournment. Scenes of this kind were accompanied by sky-blue conversions and sun-burst sanctifications. We have great need of an overhauling and a reformation in the holiness movement, and a return to first principles, less we retrogress so far as to run into formalistic manipulation and routine profession, like the dead churches, taking mentalities for spiritualities. I find people in my travels professing sanctification who satisfy me upon spiritual diagnosis that they are not only unsanctified but ignorant of regeneration, the trouble consisting in the fact that they have never had a spiritual conviction. Consequently all their professions have been intellectual, formalistic and perfunctory, their own immortal spirit all the time dead in the sepulcher of sin. The soul abides in an interior citadel, surrounded by the mind, which must be interpenetrated in order to reach the immortal spirit, the man himself. While human words can reach the man, convince the judgment, influence the will and stir the emotions, all of which is right, proper and necessary in the plan of salvation, Gods lightning flashing from Sinais melting summit is necessary to interpenetrate materiality, mentality and reach the immortal spirit on its throne in the center of the soul. While the awful thunders of Sinai must wake up the sleeping sinner, the smashing, convulsing earthquakes of Gods convicting Spirit alone can shake him from his sandy foundations. God help us all to study and preach the Sinai Gospel, till we see the wicked fall like dead men, as I have so often seen, especially in my early evangelistic ministry. While the Sinai Gospel, when faithfully preached, brings conviction, it is equally true that the Calvary Gospel, when faithfully preached, invariably brings conversions. Our Savior warned us not to cast our pearls before swine. O, how we have need to heed this warning. Preaching Gods pardoning love to impenitent sinners is casting your pearls before the swine and calculated not only to harden them in their wicked courses, till they will go on from bad to worse, congratulating themselves, God loves me too well to send me to hell.

The Gospel of Sinai is for impenitent sinners, and should be preached to them till conviction strikes them. The Gospel of Calvary is for all penitent sinners, and should be faithfully preached to them till they are gloriously converted. As a rule, the popular churches are mainly filled up with proud impenitent sinners. What a mistake to preach sanctification to such people! Of course, they trample the jewels of holiness under their carnal feet, and get mad enough to tear one to pieces because he did not give them corn to eat. Such people need the Gospel of Sinai to convict them, so they may see their lost estate and fly for refuge. It is frequently quite different when we preach to the drunkards, harlots, thieves and murderers in the slums. In their case, frequently ruined health, terrible physical suffering, abject poverty, dissipated fortunes and alienated friends have reacted on them with the crushing weight of an avalanche, broken their hearts and blighted all their hopes; meanwhile the Holy Ghost, through these sad and awful calamities, has reached their hearts with a true and genuine conviction. Therefore they are already penitent and ready with gushing gratitude to hear you tell of Jesus, the sinners Friend, and the sinners Savior dying on the cross to take away their sins, keep them out of hell and lift them up to heaven. In the normal economy of Gospel grace, the sinner is convicted by the thunder and lightnings of Sinai, flies to Cavalry, falls beneath the reeking cross, looks up at the dying Savior, hears Him say, It is finished. He now soliloquizes, What is finished? My salvation? Then what have I to do? Nothing, but take it. I do, by the grace of God, and eternity will be too short for me to serve, praise, honor and adore Thee as I ought, because Thou hast come all the way from heaven down to save this my lost soul.

22. The New Covenant of entire sanctification was inaugurated on Mount Zion, when Jesus poured down on His disciples the Pentecostal fire. This glorious experience identifies us with the heavenly Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ and the mother of Gods children, bringing us into angelic sympathy and fellowship

23. bringing us into the Church of the firstborn, of which Jesus is the Head, and the truly sanctified people His body, the spirits of justified people having been made perfect, i.e., converted people who have afterwards been sanctified

24. and to Jesus, the Mediator of the covenant, and to the blood that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel. Whereas Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant, sanctified by the blood of animals, Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant sanctified by His own blood. We are all now living in the Mount Zion dispensation, which was inaugurated at Pentecost, to prepare the world for the millennium. It is a deplorable pity for us to go back and live under the dispensation of Moses, following human guides, depending on church rites and legal obedience which have no power to take away sins.

25. Disobedience under the Mosaic dispensation was punished with physical death, adumbrating the sad fate of the soul rejecting the blood of the New Covenant, the baptisms of Pentecost, the glories and victories of full salvation.

26. The memorable scene of Sinai also typified the summary vengeance of the violated law in the cremation of the earth with its aerial environments, in order to the complete, final and total extirpation not only of sin, but of its effects from the created universe.

27. But this yet once exhibits the removal of things shakable as having been created, in order that things unshakable may remain. When Satan invaded Eden and captured Adam and Eve, the king and queen of this world, he threw the black banner of this conquest around the globe, polluting all from center to circumference, warp and woof, intrinsical and extrinsical. Therefore this whole world with its contents passed under condemnation and was excommunicated from the celestial empire. When the Son of God espoused the lost cause, satisfying the violated law by paying the penalty, the Holy Ghost was sent into this world to execute the stupendous work of the new creation, anticipatory of earths re- annexation to the heavenly universe. Regeneration is the creation of the new life in to human spirit, while sanctification is the elimination of the old creation. Thus the new creation of the soul is consummated in sanctification; that of the body in the resurrection, and that of the mind in glorification. But this is not enough; the whole earth and firmament are contaminated with sin and must pass through the purgatorial fires like the Pentecostal flames, which sanctify the soul. Contemporaneously with the final judgment, this earth with its environments will be subjected to a thorough cremation, consuming not only all sin, but exterminating all the effects of sin from the terrestrial sphere. Then it will be the glorious prerogative of the Holy Ghost, the Executor of the new creation, to renew this earth and environments in the purity, glory, majesty, splendor and immortal beauty peculiar to the unfallen heavenly worlds.

28. Therefore, receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us have grace through which we may worship God acceptably, with reverence and Godly fear. Under the wonderful provisions of the New Covenant, providing an uttermost salvation for all of Gods children, there is no reason why we should not worship Him acceptably, like the angels in heaven. The fallen creation, having passed under condemnation. can never render Him any acceptable service, but when the Holy Ghost has wrought in us the new creation and eliminated out of us the old, there is no reason why we should not have constant victory in our souls and perpetual and delectable communion with God.

29. For truly our God is a consuming fire. The connection here involves the conclusion that our God consumes all inbred sin and hereditary depravity out of the hearts of His people, who fully consecrate and solidly trust Him for the execution of that great work. It also follows, the logical sequence, that God out of Christ is a consuming fire to the wicked. When the New Covenant was inaugurated on Mount Zion, amid the Pentecostal baptisms, tongues of fire did sit on the heads of the apostles. These tongues were cloven in twain, significant of the Gospel economy. Hence we see that our Gospel is all fire, consisting of two messages, i.e., hell fire, to warn and convict the wicked to flee the wrath to come; and heavenly fire, to sanctify the righteous for the glorified presence of God. This is the condemnation of the popular pulpit. It has no fire. It neither preaches hell fire, to alarm the wicked, nor heavenly fire, to sanctify the Christian. It has a North Pole atmosphere, surrounded by icebergs and glaciers. The gospel that does not burn is Satans counterfeit, to hoax the people and lead them to hell. All cold religion is a diabolical delusion. Satan freezes the people in this world and burns them in the world to me. Gods religion is full of fire in this world, but has no fire in the world to come. There is no mention of fire in heaven, because there is nothing there that ought to be destroyed.

1. Let brotherly love abide. O, how pertinent this Apostolical exhortation, and how beautiful and amiable the grace of brotherly love! The sable Ethiopian, the almond-eyed Chinaman, the superstitions Esquimau and the Rocky Mountain Comanche, are all my brethren. Entire sanctification is the only grace competent to obey this commandment. It knocks down all sectarian fences and demolishes all race lines.

2. The departure of the angelic grace of Christian hospitality oat of the churches of the present day is the swift harbinger of the awful apostasy now sadly verifying many alarming latter day prophecies. The Old Testament saints were pre-eminent for their hospitality, while the Jerusalem Church actually sold their estates that they might extend hospitality to their brethren providentially detained in the metropolis by the Pentecostal revival. The Arabic children of Abraham relate a notable incident in the life of the patriarch, i.e., one tempestuous night an old man called at his tent soliciting entertainment, which was courteously granted. After supper, when Abraham proceeds with family prayer, his guest peremptorily refuses to worship the God of Israel, being a rigid, conscientious idolater. In vain the father of the faithful preaches, exhorts, prays and importunes; the old idolater is inflexible as rock. Finally, Abraham presents to him the alternative, Worship my God or leave my tent. The old man, choosing the latter, is escorted to the door and turned out in the howling storm. Scarcely has Abraham closed the door when God speaks to him: Abraham, I have borne with that old sinner a hundred years; can not you stand him one night? Abraham jumps out, exclaiming aloud, Come back, come back! The old man returns astonished, and says, What sort of a man are you, to drive me off and call me back? O, says Abraham, the God of Israel did chide me because I would not bear with you one night when He has home with you a hundred years. Then says the old man, If that is the kind of God you have tell me more about Him. Abraham labors with his earnest penitent, who is rousingly converted before day.

3. This verse commands us to show kindness to the prisoners, the afflicted and all in distress, which all who walk in the footprints of Jesus are certain faithfully to perform.

4. Apollos here highly commends the divine institution of matrimony, the providential preventive of the awful destroyer of soul and body, i.e., adultery. The eye of God is upon all its subjects in their dismal, brutal and diabolical nocturnal debaucheries. His judgments are swift on their track.

5. Let your conduct be free from the love of money, being contented with present things; for Himself hath said, I will never, never forsake thee, nor never, never do I leave thee. Nothing but entire sanctification can take the love of money out of the human heart and make us perfectly content and satisfied with a cup of water and a crust of bread, and shout in starvation, enjoying a fast for the glory of God.

6. Well has the poet said, Man wants but little here nor wants that little long. The King of England, riding along in his gilded vehicle, seeing a ragged boy digging up the briars in the fence corner, halting a moment, said, Boy, what do you get for your work? The astonished lad said, I just get my victuals and clothes. The King responded, Go ahead, boy, for I am the King of England, and that is all I get.

7. Our God is a God of order and organization. The Church in the Bible is described in military phraseology, as a rule. Military law is most exact, rigid and inviolable, punishing the cowardly and disobedient with death. Our religious meetings are the Lords battlefields. Though a human leader may err, for the sake of order and uniformity, we had better obey, trusting God to overrule all mistakes for His glory.

8. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day and forever.

9. Be not carried away with divers and strange teachings: for it is good that the heart be established with grace and not with meats. The whole Bible is but the biography of Christ, the Old Testament that of Christ concealed, and the New that of Christ revealed. Hence all truth is as old as the Bible, and everything new is false. We are here solemnly warned against the fatal mistake of taking materialities instead of spiritualities, i.e., meats instead of grace. If the church edifice should burn down and the pastor turn over to the devil, how many church members would have any religion left. If the Conference should drop a church out of the work, as a rule they would nearly all backslide in a year. This illustrates the materialism of their religion, and their radical deficiency in grace. Sadly they are following human leaders instead of Christ. How frequently an evangelist has a great revival, but carries away the religion with him when he goes, because the people were converted to him instead of to God. If he would do like Paul, leave out all the eloquence, and give them the thunder and lightning of Sinai, instead of worshipping him they would give him a thrashing. In that case, there would be some hope of their conversion to God.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Heb 12:18-29. The theme of the epistle has been the contrast of the old and the new covenants, and this contrast is now summed up in a splendid closing passage. The first covenant was established on a mount that might be touchedan earthly, material mountain [E. C. Selwyn, in JThS, xii. 134, suggests pephepsalmen, calcined.A. J. G.]which was encircled with terrible manifestations of fire and darkness and storm. The voice in which the Law was proclaimed struck terror into the people, and even Moses was so filled with awe at the nearness of the unapproachable God that he trembled (Heb 12:18-21). But in receiving the new covenant we have the vision before us of the heavenly Zion. the holy city above, of which Jerusalem with its Temple is nothing but the symbol. Drawing near to this holy city we are brought into fellowship with its inhabitants, who are myriad hosts of angels, and the whole company of the saints of former ages whose names were in the book of life. We enter into fellowship with God the universal Judge, and with His chosen servants, now released from their earthly bondage and fitted for their true life in His presence. More than all, in receiving the new covenant we are brought into fellowship with Jesus, who confirmed the covenant with His blood, which does not call to God for vengeance, like that of Abel, but for love and mercy.

Heb 12:22. Zion: the hill on which the Temple stood gave its name to the holy city. Christian thought took over, at least in a figurative sense, the Jewish belief that the earthly Jerusalem had its ideal counterpart in heaven (cf. Gal 4:26, Rev 21:2).

Heb 12:28. the first-born: this may possibly mean the angels, regarded as the elder brothers of men. But the following words, who are written in heaven, seem rather to point to those heroes of the past who are commemorated in ch. 11. They cannot be finally admitted into Gods fellowship without us (Heb 11:40), but their names are written already in the roll of the citizens of heaven.

Heb 12:25-29. The grandeur of the new covenant, as compared with the old, entails far higher obligations on those who belong to it. In the ancient time God spoke to men from the earthly mountain; now He speaks from His true dwelling-place in heaven (Heb 12:25). A day has been foretold (Hag 2:6) when He will shake the whole universe as He shook the earth on the day of Sinai; and the words of the prophecy, yet once more, imply that this will be the final shaking. For the last time, on this day of Christs appearance which is now at hand, God will shake and test His world, so that all perishable things will fall to pieces, and only what is true and eternal will remain (Heb 12:26 f.). We are the heirs of that eternal order which will survive the shaking, and this thought should inspire us with a solemn sense of responsibility. Let us seek Gods help, so that we may serve Him as He desires; for He is the absolutely Holy One, withering as with fire all who are disobedient to His will.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 18

That might be touched. It would seem that this must contain an allusion to the prohibition recorded in Hebrews 12:18; Exodus 19:12,13, where bounds were directed to be placed about Mount Sinai, which the people were forbidden to transcend;–a prohibition which added much to the effect produced by the other circumstances here alluded to, in investing the scene which accompanied the giving of the law on Sinai with its extraordinary terrors.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

12:18 {12} For ye are not come unto the mount that might be {h} touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,

(12) Now he applies the same exhortation to the prophetic and kingly office of Christ compared with Moses, after this sort. If the majesty of the law was so great, how great do you think the glory of Christ and the gospel is? This comparison he declares also particularly.

(h) Which might be touched with hands, which was of a gross and earthly matter.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

2. The superiority of the New Covenant 12:18-24

The writer proceeded to reiterate the superiority of the New Covenant by comparing it with the Old Covenant, using the figure of two mountains: Sinai and Zion.

"As vv.^14-17 recall the first warning of 6^4-8, so he [the writer] now proceeds to reiterate the second warning of 10^26-31, reminding his readers that they stand in a critical position, in which any indifferences or disobedience to God will prove fatal." [Note: Moffatt, pp. 213-14.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

These verses describe the giving of the Old Covenant at Mt. Sinai (cf. Heb 2:2-4; Exo 19:9-23; Deu 4:11; Deu 9:8-19). [Note: See J. M. Casey, "Eschatology in Hebrews 12:14-29: An Exegetical Study" (Ph.D. dissertation, Catholic University of Leuven, 1977), p. 318.] The writer made Sinai and Zion metaphors to show the difference in quality between relationship to God under the Old and New Covenants (cf. Gal 4:24-26). [Note: See D. G. Peterson, "The Prophecy of the New Covenant in the Argument of Hebrews," Reformed Theological Review 38 (1979):79-80.] The emphasis in this comparison is on the holiness of God and the fearful consequences of incurring His displeasure (cf. Jdg 13:20; 1Ki 8:12; 1Ki 18:38; Nah 1:3; Mat 24:30-31; 1Co 15:52; 1Th 4:16). God was far from the Israelites, and even Moses felt terror.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

CHAPTER XV.

MOUNT ZION.

“For ye are not come unto a mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them: for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned; and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake: but ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not, when they refused him that warned them on earth, much more shall not we escape, who turn away from Him that warneth from heaven: whose voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain. Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”– Heb 12:18-29 (R.V.).

Mutual oversight is the lesson of the foregoing verses. The author urges his readers to look carefully that no member of the Church withdraws from the grace of God, that no prison of bitterness troubles and defiles the Church as a whole, that sensuality and worldliness are put away. In the paragraph that comes next he still has the idea of Church fellowship in his mind. But his advice to his readers to exercise supervision over one another yields to the still more urgent warning to watch themselves, and especially to shun the most dangerous even of these evils, which is worldliness of spirit. Esau was rejected; see that ye yourselves refuse not Him that speaketh.

That the passage is thus closely connected with what immediately precedes may be admitted. But it must be also connected with the entire argument of the Epistle. It is the final exhortation directly based on the general idea that the new covenant excels the former one. As such it may be compared with the earlier exhortation, given before the allegory of Melchizedek introduced the notion that the old covenant had passed away, and with the warning in the tenth chapter which precedes the glorious record of faith’s heroes from Abel to Jesus. As early as the second chapter he warns the Hebrew Christians not to drift away and neglect a salvation revealed in One Who is greater than the angels, through whom the Law had been given. In the later exhortations he adds the notion of the blood of the covenant, and insists, not merely on the greatness, but also on the finality, of the revelation. But in the concluding passage, which now opens before us, he makes the daring announcement that all the blessings of the new covenant have already been fulfilled, and that in perfect completeness and grandeur. We have come unto Mount Zion; we have received a kingdom which cannot be shaken. The passage must, therefore, be considered as the practical result of the whole Epistle.

Our author began with the fact of a revelation of God in a Son. But a thoughtful reader will not fail to have observed that this great subject seldom comes to the front in the course of the argument. Reading the Epistle, we seem for a time to forget the thought of a revelation given in the Son. Our minds are mastered by the author’s powerful reasoning. We think of nothing but the surpassing excellence of the new covenant and its Mediator. The greatness of Jesus as High-priest makes us oblivious of His greatness as the Revealer of God. But this is only the glamour cast over us by a master mind. After all, to know God is the highest glory and perfection of man. Apart from a revelation of God in His Son, all other truths are negative; and their value to us depends on their connection with this self-manifestation of the Father. Religion, theology, priesthood, covenant, atonement, salvation, and the Incarnation itself, do not attain a worthy and final purpose except as means of revealing God. It would be a serious misapprehension to suppose that our author had forgotten this fundamental conception. His aim has been to show that the economy of the new covenant is the perfect revelation. God has spoken, not through, but in, the Son. The Divine personality, the human nature, the eternal priesthood, the infinite sacrifice, of the Son are the final revelation of God.

In the sublime contrast between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion the two thoughts are brought together. We have had frequent occasion to point out that the central fact of the new covenant is direct communion with God. Access to God is now open to all men in Christ. We are invited to draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace.[361] Jesus has entered as a Forerunner for us within the veil.[362] We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.[363] Yea, we have already actually entered. We are come unto Mount Zion. Death has been annihilated. We are now where Christ is. The writer of our Epistle has advanced beyond the perplexity that, in his hour of loneliness, troubled St. Paul, who was in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.[364] We are come to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant. That great city the heavenly Jerusalem has descended out of heaven from God.[365] The angels pass to and fro as ministering spirits. The names of the first-born are registered in heaven, as possessing already the privilege of citizenship. We must not say that the spirits of the righteous have departed from us; let us rather say that we, by being made righteous, have come to them. We stand now before the tribunal of God, the Judge of all. Jesus has fulfilled His promise to come and receive us unto Himself, that where He is, there we may be also.[366]

All these things are contained in access unto God. The Apostle explains their meaning and unfolds their glory by contrasting them with the revelation of God on Sinai. We might perhaps have expected him to institute a comparison between them and the incidents of the day of atonement, inasmuch as he has described Christ’s ascension to the right hand of God as the entering of the High-priest into the true holiest place. But the day of atonement was not a revelation of God. The propitiation required antecedently to a revelation was indeed offered. But, as the propitiation was unreal, the full revelation, to which it was intended to lead, was never given. Nothing is said in the books of Moses concerning the people’s state of mind during the time when the high-priest stood in God’s presence. The transaction was so purely ceremonial that the people do not seem to have taken any part in it, beyond gathering perhaps around the tabernacle to witness the ingress and egress of the high-priest. Moreover, no words were spoken either by the high-priest before God, or by God to the high-priest or to the people. No prayer was uttered, no revelation vouchsafed. For these reasons the Apostle goes back to the revelation on Sinai, which indeed instituted the rites of the covenant. With the revelation that preceded the sacrifices of the Law he compares the revelation that is founded upon the sacrifice of Christ. This is the fundamental difference between Sinai and Zion. The revelation on Sinai precedes the sacrifices of the tabernacle; the revelation on Zion follows the sacrifice of the Cross. Under the old covenant the revelation demanded sacrifices; under the new covenant the sacrifice demands a revelation.

From this essential difference in the nature of the revelations a twofold contrast is apparent in the phenomena of Sinai and Zion. Sinai revealed the terrible side of God’s character, Zion the peaceful tenderness of His love. The revelation on Sinai was earthly; that on Zion is spiritual.

There can be no question that the Apostle intends to contrast the terrible appearances on Sinai with the calm serenity of Zion. The very rhythm of his language expresses it. But the key to his description of the one and the other is to be found in the distinction already mentioned. On Sinai the unappeased wrath of God is revealed. Sacrifices are instituted, which, however, when established, evoke no response from the offended majesty of Heaven. Of the holiest place of the old covenant the best thing we can say is that the lightning and thunders of Sinai slumbered therein. The author’s beautiful description of the sunny steep of Zion is framed, on the other hand, in accordance with his frequent and emphatic declaration that Christ has entered the true holiest place, having obtained for us eternal redemption. All that the Apostle says concerning Sinai and Zion gathers around the two conceptions of sin and forgiveness.

The Lord spake on Sinai out of the midst of the palpable, enkindled fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice. All the people heard the voice. They saw “that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.” They begin to hope. But immediately they bethink them that, if they hear the voice of the Lord any more, they will die. Thus does a guilty conscience contradict itself! Again, the people are invited to come up into the mount when the trumpet shall sound long. Yet, when the voice of the trumpet sounds long and waxes louder and louder, they are charged not to come up unto the Lord, lest He break forth upon them. All this appearance of inconsistency is intended to symbolize that the people’s desire to come to God struggled in vain against their sense of guilt, and that God’s purpose of revealing Himself to them was contending in vain with the hindrances that arose from their sins. The whole assembly heard the voice of the Lord proclaiming the Ten Commandments. Conscience-smitten, they could not endure to hear more. They gat them into their tents, and Moses alone stood on the mountain with God, to receive at His mouth all the statutes and judgments which they should do and observe in the land which He would give them to possess. The Apostle singles out for remark the command that, if a beast touched the mountain, it should be stoned to death. The people, he says, could not endure this command. Why not this? It connected the terrors of Sinai with man’s guilt. According to the Old Testament idea of Divine retribution, the beasts of the earth fall under the curse due to man. When God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the days of Noah, He said, “I will destroy both man and beast.”[367] When, again, He blessed Noah after the waters were dried up, He said, “I, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with every living creature that is with you.”[368] Similarly, the command to put to death any beast that might haply touch the mountain revealed to the people that God was dealing with them as sinners. Moses himself, the mediator of the covenant, who aspired to behold the glory of God, feared exceedingly. But his fear came upon him when he looked and beheld that the people had sinned against the Lord their God[369] and made them a molten calf. His fear was not the prostration of nervous terror. Remembering, when he had descended, the awful sights and sounds witnessed on the mountain, he was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure of God against the people, who had done wickedly in the sight of the Lord. Almost every word the Apostle has here written bears closely upon the moral relation between a guilty people and the angry God.

If we turn to the other picture, we at once perceive that the thoughts radiate from the holiest place as from a centre. The passage is, in fact, an expansion of what is said in the ninth chapter, that Christ has entered in once for all into the holiest place, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle. The holiest has widened its boundaries. The veil has been removed, so that the entire sanctuary now forms part of the holy of holies. It is true that the Apostle begins, in the passage under consideration, not with the holiest place, but with Mount Zion. He does so because the immediate contrast is between the two mountains, and he has already stated that Christ entered through a larger tabernacle. The holiest place includes, therefore, the whole mountain of Zion, on which the tabernacle was erected; yea, all Jerusalem is within the precincts. If we extend the range of our survey, we behold the earth sanctified by the presence of the first-born sons of God, who are the Church, and of His myriads, the other sons of God, who also have, not indeed the birthright, but a blessing, even the joyful multitude of the heavenly host.[370] The Apostle describes the angels as keeping festal holiday, for joy to witness the coming of the first-born sons. They are the friends of the Bridegroom, who stand and hear Him, and rejoice greatly because of the Bridegroom’s voice. If, again, we attempt to soar above this world of trials, we find ourselves at once before the judgment-seat of God. But even here a change has taken place. For we are come to a Judge Who is God of all,[371] and not merely to a God Who is Judge of all. Thus the promise of the new covenant has been fulfilled, “I will be to them a God.”[372] If in imagination we pass the tribunal and consider the condition of men in the world of spirits, we recognise there the spirits of the righteous dead, and are given to understand that they have already attained the perfection[373] which they could not have received before the Christian Church had exercised a greater faith than some had found possible to themselves on earth.[374] If we ascend still higher, we are in the presence of Jesus Himself. But He is on the right hand of the Majesty on high, not simply as Son of God, but as Mediator of the new covenant. His blood is sprinkled on the mercy-seat, and speaks to God, but not for vengeance on those who shed it on the Cross, some of whom possibly were now among the readers of the Apostle’s piercing words. What an immeasurable distance between the first man of faith, mentioned in the eleventh chapter, and Jesus, with Whom his list closes! The very first blood of man shed to the earth cried from the ground to God for vengeance. The blood of Jesus sprinkled in heaven speaks a better thing. What the better thing is, we are not told. Men may give it a name; but it is addressed to God, and God alone knows its infinite meaning.

From all this we infer that the comparison here made between Sinai and Zion is intended to depict the difference (seen, as it were, in another Bunyan’s dream) between a revelation given before Christ offered Himself as a propitiation for sin and the revelation which God gives us of Himself after the sacrifice of Christ has been presented in the true holiest place.

The Apostle’s account of Mount Zion is followed by a most incisive warning, introduced with a sudden solemnity, as if the thunder of Sinai itself were heard remote. The passage is beset with difficulties, some of which it would be inconsistent with the design of the present volume to discuss. One question has scarcely been touched upon by the expositors. But it enters into the very pith of the subject. The exhortation which the author addresses to his readers does not at first appear to be based on a correct application of the narrative. For the Israelites at the foot of Sinai are not said to have refused Him that spake to them on the mount. No doubt God, not Moses, is meant; for it was the voice of God that shook the earth. The people were terrified. They were afraid that the fire would consume them. But they had understood also that their God was the living God, and therefore not to be approached by man. They wished Moses to intervene, not because they rejected God, but because they acknowledged the awful greatness of His living personality. Far from rejecting Him, they said to Moses, “Speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it and do it.”[375] God Himself commended their words: “They have well said all that they have spoken.” Can we suppose, therefore, that the Apostle in the present passage represents them as actually rebelling, and “refusing Him that spake”? The word here translated “refuse”[376] does not express the notion of rejecting with contempt. It means “to deprecate,” to shrink in fear from a person. Again, the word “escape,” in its reference to the children of Israel at Sinai, cannot signify “to avoid being punished,” which is its meaning in the second chapter of this Epistle.[377] The meaning is that they could not flee from His presence, though Moses mediated between Him and the people. They could not escape Him. His word “found[378] them” when they cowered in their tents as truly as if they had climbed with Moses the heights of Sinai. For the word of God was then also a living word, and there was no creature that was not manifest in His sight. Yet it was right in the people to deprecate, and desire Moses to speak to them rather than God. This was the befitting spirit under the old covenant. It expresses very precisely the difference between the bondage of that covenant and the liberty of the new. In Christ only is the veil taken away. Where the Spirit of the Lord Jesus is, there is liberty. But, for this reason, what was praiseworthy in the people who were kept at a distance from the bounds placed around Sinai is unworthy and censurable in those who have come to Mount Zion. See, therefore, that ye do not ask Him that speaketh to withdraw into the thick darkness and terrible silence. For us to deprecate is tantamount to rejection of God. We are actually turning away from Him. But to ignore and shun His presence is now impossible to us. The revelation is from heaven. He Who brought it descended Himself from above. Because He is from heaven, the Son of God is a life-giving Spirit. He surrounds us, like the ambient air. The sin of the world is not the only “besetting” element of our life. The ever-present, besetting God woos our spirit. He speaks. That His words are kind and forgiving we know. For He speaks to us from heaven, because the blood sprinkled in heaven speaks better before God than the blood of Abel spoke from the ground. The revelation of God to us in His Son preceded, it is true, the entrance of the Son into the holiest place; but it has acquired a new meaning and a new force in virtue of the Son’s appearing before God for us. This new force of the revelation is represented by the mission and activity of the Spirit.

The author’s thoughts glide almost imperceptibly into another channel. We can refuse Him that speaketh, and turn away from Him in unbelief. But let us beware. It is the final revelation. His voice on Sinai shook the earth. The meaning is not that it terrified the people. The writer has passed from that thought. He now speaks of the effect of God’s voice on the material world, the power of revelation over created nature. This is a truth that frequently meets us in Scripture. Revelation is accompanied by miracle. When the Ten Commandments were spoken by the lips of God to the people, “the whole mount quaked greatly.”[379] But the prophet Haggai predicts the glory of the second house in words which recall to our author the trembling of Mount Sinai: “For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desirable things of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.”[380] It is very characteristic of the writer of this Epistle to fasten on a few salient points in the prophet’s words. He seems to think that Haggai had the scenes that occurred on Sinai in his mind. Two expressions connect the narrative in Exodus with the prophecy. When God spoke on Sinai, His voice shook the earth. Haggai declares that God will, at some future time, shake the heaven. Again, the prophet has used the words “yet once more.” Therefore, when the greater glory of the second house will have come to pass, the last shaking of earth and of heaven will take place. The inference is that the word “yet once more” signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken. The whole fabric of nature will perish in its present material form, and the Apostle connects this universal catastrophe with the revelation of God in His Son.

Many very excellent expositors think that our author refers, not to the final dissolution of nature, but to the abrogation of the Jewish economy. It is true that the Epistle has declared the old covenant a thing of the past. But there are two considerations that lead us to adopt the other view of this passage. In the first place, this Epistle does not describe the abrogation of the old covenant as a violent catastrophe, but rather as the passing away of what had grown old and decayed. In the second place, the coming of the Lord is elsewhere, in writings of that age, spoken of as accompanied by a great convulsion of nature. The two notions go together in the thoughts of the time. “The day of the Lord will come as a thief, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”[381]

We connect the words “as things that have been made” with the next clause: “that those things which are not shaken may remain.” It is not because they have been made that the earth and the heaven are removed; and their place will not be occupied by uncreated things only, but also by things made. The meaning is that nature will be dissolved when it has answered its purpose, and not till then. Earth and heaven have been made, not for their own sakes, but in order that out of them a new world may be created, which will never be removed or shaken. This new world is the kingdom of which the King-Priest is eternal Monarch.[382] As we partake in His priesthood, we share also in His kingship. We enter into the holiest place and stand before the mercy-seat, but our absolution is announced and confirmed to us by the Divine summons to sit down with Christ in His throne, as He has sat down with His Father in His throne.[383]

Let us therefore accept the kingdom. But beware of your peculiar danger, which is self-righteous pride, worldliness, and the evil heart of unbelief. Rather let us seek and get that grace from God which will make our royal state a humble service of worshipping priests.[384] The grace which the Apostle exhorts his reader to possess is much more than thankfulness. It includes all that Christianity bestows to counteract and vanquish the special dangers of self-righteousness. Such priestly service will be well-pleasing to God. Offer it with pious resignation to His sovereign will, with awe in the presence of His holiness. For, whilst our God proclaims forgiveness from the mercy-seat as the worshippers stand before it, He is also a consuming fire. Upon the mercy-seat itself rests the Shechinah.

FOOTNOTES:

[361] Heb 4:16.

[362] Heb 6:20.

[363] Heb 10:19.

[364] Php 1:23.

[365] Rev 21:10.

[366] Joh 14:3.

[367] Gen 6:7.

[368] Gen 9:9-10.

[369] Deu 9:16; Deu 9:19.

[370] Reading kai myriasin, angeln pangyrei, kai ekklsia prtotokn (Heb 12:22-23). This disconnected use of myrias is amply justified by Deu 33:2, Dan 7:10, and Jud 1:14. Besides, pangyris is precisely the word to describe the assemblage of angels and distinguish them from the Church.

[371] krit the pantn.

[372] Heb 8:10.

[373] teteleimenn.

[374] Heb 11:40.

[375] Deu 5:27-28.

[376] paraitsamenoi (Heb 12:25).

[377] Heb 2:3.

[378] “The Bible finds me,” said Coleridge.

[379] Exo 19:18. In his citation of this passage our author forsakes the Septuagint, which has “And all the people were greatly amazed.”

[380] Hag 2:6-7.

[381] 2Pe 3:10.

[382] Heb 12:28.

[383] Rev 3:21.

[384] latreumen (Heb 12:28).

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary