Apostolic Judaism: The Heavens & The Earth
Notes
Transcript
Recap
Recap
I would like to continue with the theme of understanding our tradition - Apostolic Judaism. Apostolic Judaism is the faith and practice of Yeshua as taught and recorded by his chosen apostles.
In my previous message we asked ourselves the question - ‘where should we begin?’. And to answer that question we spoke about the foundations of Apostolic Judaism. We noted that we have two foundations in Apostolic Judaism.
One foundation is the Torah, upon which the prophets and Apostolic writings are built up
Another foundation is our Messiah Yeshua, upon which a person stands in the day of judgement.
The scriptural foundation of Torah pointed us to the salvific foundation of Yeshua.
One foundation is the Torah, upon which the prophets and Apostolic writings are built up into our Scriptural heritage as a complete and useful work. We refer to this as the Bible and we consider it to be the written revelation of God, generated by the Holy Spirit, and we base our entire life on what it says.
The second foundation is our Messiah Yeshua, the most blessed foundation, who is the precious cornerstone and only on him can a person stand in that great and awesome day of judgement. The scriptural foundation of Torah pointed us to the salvific foundation of Yeshua. The one of whom Simon Peter says: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life! (Jn 6:68). Yeshua confirms this when he says ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but through me’. With Yeshua as the foundation of his ekklesia, the messianic community, Peter tells us ‘ you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house—a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Messiah Yeshua.’ 1 Peter 2:5 (TLV). This is who we are, this is our identity.
Today I want to continue in our understanding of Apostolic Judaism as we seek to recover the faith distorted and fainted by years of history, misunderstanding and prejudice. To do that, we are going to look at a key component of the Apostolic worldview. The heavens and the earth.
Worldview
Worldview
Understanding the worldview of Yeshua and the Apostles will help us to understand how we should see the world too.
Underlying assumptions —> better understand the meaning —> hope rightly fixed —> walk is rightly aligned.
Once we understand the underlying assumptions of our holy apostles, we can better understand the meaning of their words, and with better understanding we can have our hope rightly fixed, and with our hope rightly fixed, we can ensure our walk is rightly aligned.
So, what is a worldview? As the name would suggest, a worldview is essentially the way a person interprets the reality around them. A person interprets their world through a set of assumptions. One of the major assumptions we take for granted relates to the biblical view of the heavens and the earth. Yeshua and his Apostles built their view of the heavens and the earth from the Scriptures they had - the Tanach - as well as from the Jewish beliefs that existed at that time.
The heavens and the earth are closely connected to the sovereignty of God.
When we read about the heavens and the earth in the Tanach we can’t escape the close connection with the sovereignty of God. So really, as we go through this message it is a message about the sovereignty of God which is closely tied to the heavens and the earth.
Have you ever marvelled at Creation? Whether it be camping and looking up at the stars, flying in a plane or standing on a mountain and looking across the vast landscape. For me, I distinctly recall a time when I was about 13-15 yrs old, sitting on the bow of my father’s boat as we headed to Florida from the Bahamas. We hit a patch of shallow banks, about 10-12 feet of water, crystal clear and stunningly beautiful, and stretching as far as the eye can see. The handiwork of God was simply amazing. The authors of Scripture often reflect upon God in a similar way.
When we talk of the awesomeness of God we are left indeed in awe, we are so amazed at His greatness that the amazement quickly turns into fear. Why fear? Because you recognize that a being with such great power can decide of His own will and at any time to turn against you. It leaves you feeling vulnerable. If you’ve ever seen videos of divers swimming next to whales and hear their testimonies when they surface they describe a similar sense at just the sheer awesomeness of being in proximity to such a large creature. This is why we should pray “God show me the awesomeness of your presence” because when we fully understand this we tremble and our posture immediately becomes an obedient one.
Totality of The Heavens & The Earth
Totality of The Heavens & The Earth
The heavens and the earth portray the greatness of God. The Bible speaks about everything that exists as "The heavens and the earth”. This is the totality of existence. For you it would be ‘the universe’, for them it was ‘the heavens and the earth’. That was their universe. Within the heavens and the earth all living beings and activity occurs - God, angels, demons, humans, animals, plants, etc. All life exists within the heavens and the earth.
In Genesis we read that the ruach hovered over the surface of the waters (pnei ha-mayim) and it says that on day two God created “an expanse in the midst of the waters”.
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water! Let it be for separating water from water.”
(Ge 1:6). Gen 1.6
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water! Let it be for separating water from water.”
The word for expanse in hebrew is raqia and it is the raqia that separates between the cosmic waters above and the waters below. But if you notice carefully in vs 8, God names the raqia itself - do you know what He called it? He called it the heavens (shamayim). What we are to understand is that there is water encapsulating the heavens, and that the expanse that separated the waters is actually the heavens.
This process is called ‘stretching out the heavens’.
Psalm 104:2–3 (TLV)
wrapping Yourself in light as a robe, stretching out heaven like a curtain, laying beams for His upper rooms in waters, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind,
Isaiah 45:12 (TLV)
I made the earth and created man on it. My hands stretched out the heavens and I commanded all their host.
Here we can sense the greatness of God jumping out of the text. He stretched out the heavens and made it vast and awesome. And if the heavens are so awesome, how much more is the one who made it? When Moses wrote these words he did so to a generation coming out of Egypt. Why would he need to do that? Because he needed to properly explain to these Hebrews exactly who their God was - their God was higher than all the other gods and was truly sovereign. He was the creator of everything.
And so this verse in Genesis tells us that the expanse, aka heavens, are holding back the cosmic waters.
Psalm 148:4 (TLV)
4Praise Him, highest heavens, and waters above the heavens.
Praise Him, highest heavens, and waters above the heavens.
Here is what that might look like:
You’ll see that the picture shows that in actual fact the firmament is called heaven. This is accurate according to the text of Genesis 1.8.
Plurality of The Heavens and The Earth
Plurality of The Heavens and The Earth
I’m not a linguist, and there are different etymological theories, but it is interesting that in Hebrew, the word for heaven is - shamayim. Perhaps a compound word, based on the words ‘there’ and ‘waters’ (Sha and Mayim). The word for heaven, shamayim, itself speaks to waters.
It is also plural. In the Greek LXX and Apostolic writings, heavens can be singular or plural. Your translation may say heaven in places, or it may say heavens and often you need to check the underlying word to determine if it’s singular or plural.
Why would the plurality of this word heavens be important? The heavens are often seen as plural in the Judaisms of the first century - in fact this was the common thinking. The apostolic understanding is that there are levels to heaven not just a singular heaven.
I must go on boasting—though it does no good, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Messiah (whether in the body I don’t know, or whether out of the body I don’t know—God knows)—fourteen years ago, he was caught up to the third heaven. I know such a man (whether in the body or outside of the body I don’t know—God knows)— he was caught up into Paradise and heard words too sacred to tell, which a human is not permitted to utter. 2 Cor 12.1-4 TLV.
I must go on boasting—though it does no good, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Messiah (whether in the body I don’t know, or whether out of the body I don’t know—God knows)—fourteen years ago, he was caught up to the third heaven. I know such a man (whether in the body or outside of the body I don’t know—God knows)— he was caught up into Paradise and heard words too sacred to tell, which a human is not permitted to utter.
We read these words and think, “what on earth is Paul talking about?” (Pun intended!). The point is that this thinking is a worldview that we don’t have - it is something we need to recover to fully appreciate the Apsotolic Judaism we find ourselves in.
Psalm 148:4 (TLV)
4Praise Him, highest heavens, and waters above the heavens.
Praise Him, highest heavens, and waters above the heavens.
Deuteronomy 10:14 (TLV)
14Behold, to Adonai your God belong the heavens and the highest of heavens, the earth and all that is in it.
Behold, to Adonai your God belong the heavens and the highest of heavens, the earth and all that is in it.
So how does this relate to the awesomeness and Sovereignty of God? The Scriptures tell us there are levels in the heavens and at the highest level is where Adonai our God dwells! He sits enthroned above all other beings in the highest heavens. There is no one and nothing higher than Him. Adonai dwells in the heaven of heavens. He looks down from His throne ruling over His creation.
Psalm 68:34 (TLV)
34to Him who rides upon the ancient heavens of heavens. Look, He utters His voice, a mighty voice!
Ascribe strength to God— His majesty is over Israel and His strength is in the skies.
When Yeshua models the end time prayer that his disciples were to pray, notice the word heavens in the Greek.
Matthew 6:9–10 (NASB95)
9“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven (plural), Hallowed be Your name. 10‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven (singular).
“Therefore, pray in this way: ‘Our Father in heaven, sanctified be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
In other words, Yeshua’s end time prayer is a request that looks for the will of the Father who is in the heavenly levels to be done on earth as it is in the highest heaven that God occupies. We need to understand that in the worldview of early judaisms not all levels of heaven are obedient to God, but the highest level that God occupies is fully obedient. This may sound strange to us until we recall what the apostles actually said and connect the dots.
Ephesians 4:10 (TLV)
10The One who came down is the same One who went up far above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.
The One who came down is the same One who went up far above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.
Ephesians 6:12 (TLV)
12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the worldly forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the worldly forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Just as we have assumptions that we carry about the world around us, so did they within the first century Judaisms that existed. They assumed there were levels in heaven and that each level was distinct in what took place there.
In addition to what we read in Corinthians, there are other non canonical Jewish writings that were written before the Apostolic Scriptures that have a similar conception and help us to understand the worldview of the first century Judaisms. Some of these books describe 3, 5, 7 or 10 levels of heaven.
The non canonical book of second Enoch is one example of that. This book is not actually a writing from Enoch that we know, but it was common during early second temple period Judaism to create writings and then assign or attribute them to earlier men of renown. This was a way of giving the writing credibility. We don’t treat it as Scripture, but we treat it as helpful to give us a sense of the worldview of the ancient Judaisms that existed before the rabbinic period. So, this book of Enoch describes 10 levels of heaven and Enoch is carried through each level of the heavens.
In the first heaven are the clouds, snow, ice, dew, stars and the angels that govern them.
In the second heaven is darkness where some naughty angels are in prison waiting for judgement.
In the third heaven there is the paradise of God prepared for the righteous, the tree of life, and the angels that guard it. There is also another section which is dark, and has fire prepared for those that are unrighteous.
In the fourth heaven are the sun and moon and some of the stars, and the paths and calculations that they orbit along, with different types of divine beings.
In the fifth heaven are other divine beings that looked like giant humans and some of them were the ones that went down in Gen 6 to the daughters of men.
In the sixth heaven there are beautiful angels who are a type of archangel and they oversee other angels below and also make sure everything in heaven and earth is working in order as it should.
In the seventh heaven is light and the fiery armies of the great archangels with their forces and dominion and from here Enoch can see the 8th, 9th, and ultimately the 10th heaven where the Sovereign Lord Himself sits enthroned. This level is where you get really afraid and tremble. The likes of Gabriel, a chief angel are here.
Let’s absorb this last point for a second. With this worldview in our minds, now we can fully appreciate the immense significance of when Gabriel appears to Zechariah to announce the birth of John the immerser in Luke 1.19 and again to Mary to announce Yeshua’s birth in Luke 1.26. This was no lower angel or messenger! Gabriel has access to the very throne of God! You should now read those verses in Luke and understand the worldview that Gabriel was commissioned and sent by Adonai Himself the One who sits lofty above all levels of heaven. Adonai sent a strong and a chief angel to dispatch this most important and glorious announcement of - Besorah Tovah - Good News of the coming king and kingdom.
He says to Zechariah:
Luke 1:19 (TLV)
19And speaking to him, the angel declared, “I am Gabriel, the one standing in God’s presence. I was commissioned to tell you and proclaim to you this good news.
And speaking to him, the angel declared, “I am Gabriel, the one standing in God’s presence. I was commissioned to tell you and proclaim to you this good news.
And he says to Mary:
Luke 1:31–33 (TLV)
31Behold, you will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you shall call His name Yeshua. 32He will be great and will be called Ben-Elyon. Adonai Elohim will give Him the throne of David, His father. 33He shall reign over the house of Jacob for all eternity, and His kingdom will be without end.”
Behold, you will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you shall call His name Yeshua. He will be great and will be called Ben-Elyon. Adonai Elohim will give Him the throne of David, His father. He shall reign over the house of Jacob for all eternity, and His kingdom will be without end.”
So what does all of this tell us? In the beginning our God created the heavens and the earth, He stretched out those heavens like a tent, and He alone occupies the highest heavens. The heavens of heavens. And from His dwelling He looks down upon earth and the affairs of mankind. This is the apostolic understanding of God’s position and sovereignty in His creation. He is an awesome God and it is this worldview that is meant to stir us into action in our lives on earth.
Material Or Immaterial?
Material Or Immaterial?
Let’s pause for a moment here.
A stretched out heavens where God sits enthroned at the top
He dwells with and within His creation. In one sense He is far, but in another sense He is near.
Heavens are described as a physical, material place.
Spiritual doesn’t mean non physical.
We should be getting a sense of the significance of the heavens and the earth and just how high and lofty our God is. This worldview of the stretched out heavens where God sits enthroned at the top permeates the Apostolic Jewish understanding. He is high, separate, lofty, and unapproachable. And yet, we should also understand that He is ‘here’. He is connected to us. He doesn’t dwell “outside”, but within the heavens at the top, looking down on earth. He dwells at the top - but He dwells with and within His creation. In one sense He is far, but in another sense He is near. Once you understand this worldview it changes everything. When you read about the glory of God in the tabernacle, you should now be thinking of the God of the highest heavens coming down only to be found amongst His people Israel. Wow, what a thought!
We should also notice something else. The heavens are not described as methane gas or ether or vicks vapour rub. They are described as a physical, material place. With Physical things, physical people, physical beings - in the heavens you can taste, touch, smell.. Sure, these are all spiritual, but spiritual doesn’t mean it is not physical. We should understand spirit as a different substance, and not think of spirit as ‘non substance’. This makes sense logically! When the ruach blows, we see things move. How can that be if it is not a physical thing that moves it? It is physical and that is why leaves move! It is a type of physical that we can’t see, but it is still physical and material.
You should recall my previous message when I spoke about Platonic thought. We must resist thinking of the heavens and the earth in a Greek philosophical lens. In the previous message about Plato’s influence upon the Historical Church, and even upon us today, we spoke about this. Plato’s ideas infected the hellenistic and early church, and still affects us to this day. For Plato, heaven is where the immaterial realm is and earth is the material realm, but the Scriptural worldview does not see it that way.
Have you heard the saying ‘don't be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good?’ This makes sense if you have a platonic view of heaven, but in the biblical worldview, one should be so heavenly minded that they are full of earthly good.
Function & Governance
Function & Governance
This brings up another point. Our God rules through and by His creation, not around it. The Scriptures don’t divide the heavens and earth by calling one the realm of physical things and the other the realm of non physical things. No - how do they divide it? No, the Scriptures divide the heavens and the earth by function and governance. The heavens is where God governs, earth is where mankind governs.
But we learn the worldview of the second temple period is more complex. We see a world where there are multiple levels of heaven and there is wickedness that takes place in certain levels that God does not occupy, just as there is wickedness on earth even though God is sovereign over all creation.
In the heavens there is legal jurisdiction, there are armies, there is authority and rulership.
Ephesians 3:10 (TLV)
10The purpose is that through Messiah’s community the multi-faceted wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places,
The purpose is that through Messiah’s community the multi-faceted wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places,
Colossians 1:16 (TLV)
16For by Him all things were created— in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, whether thrones or angelic powers or rulers or authorities. All was created through Him and for Him.
For by Him all things were created— in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, whether thrones or angelic powers or rulers or authorities. All was created through Him and for Him.
There is also movement between the heavens, where persons and beings go up and down. This movement even touches earth. The heavens and earth are vertical, with beings and activity moving fluidly up and down.
Genesis 28:12 (TLV)
12He dreamed: All of a sudden, there was a stairway set up on the earth and its top reaching to the heavens—and behold, angels of God going up and down on it!
He dreamed: All of a sudden, there was a stairway set up on the earth and its top reaching to the heavens—and behold, angels of God going up and down on it!
Daniel 4:10 (TLV)
10“I was watching the visions in my mind while on my bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven.
“These are the visions in my head while I was on my bed: I looked, and behold, there was a tree in the midst of the earth. Its height was enormous.
Matthew 3:16–17 (TLV)
16After being immersed, Yeshua rose up out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Ruach Elohim descending like a dove and coming upon Him. 17And behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased!”
After being immersed, Yeshua rose up out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Ruach Elohim descending like a dove and coming upon Him. And behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased!”
Acts 2:34 (NASB95)
34“For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand,
For David did not ascend into the heavens; yet he himself says, ‘Adonai said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand,
The use and movement of angelic beings is actually how the Almighty governs the heavens and the earth. Angels are described as going to and fro on the earth doing God’s bidding.
With this fuller understanding of the heavens and the earth here is a passage that becomes clearer:
1 Kings 22:19–22 (TLV)
19Micaiah then continued, “Therefore hear the word of Adonai. I saw Adonai sitting on His throne, with all the hosts of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left. 20Then Adonai said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ One suggested this and another that, 21until a certain spirit came forward and stood before Adonai and said, ‘I will entice him.’ So Adonai asked him, ‘How?’ 22And he said: ‘I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said: ‘You shall entice him and shall prevail also—go and do so.’
Micaiah then continued, “Therefore hear the word of Adonai. I saw Adonai sitting on His throne, with all the hosts of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left. Then Adonai said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ One suggested this and another that, until a certain spirit came forward and stood before Adonai and said, ‘I will entice him.’ So Adonai asked him, ‘How?’ And he said: ‘I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said: ‘You shall entice him and shall prevail also—go and do so.’
The Sovereign Lord rules as king from an actual throne, in an actual temple, and the heavenly angels stand while He holds his divine council court and makes decrees. Notice that God doesn’t rule alone, He rules and governs through His creation. The spirits in heaven do his bidding. God makes the decree - but He elicits participation from these created beings. It is a participatory sovereignty.
Genesis 1:26 (TLV)
26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness! Let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the flying creatures of the sky, over the livestock, over the whole earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the land.”
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness! Let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the flying creatures of the sky, over the livestock, over the whole earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the land.”
The “Let Us” that God refers to is His divine council of divine beings that rule and carry out His sovereign decrees. We are made in that image of rulership. We are to rule on earth as He rules in heaven and reflect that governing structure and purpose. We were also to reflect His character. We are His representatives on earth and this is what it means to be human. The Paradise of His presence was ours to maintain. This is the image of God, and mankind either tarnishes that image or polishes it, by the way we govern, either through injustice or justice.
The Heavenly Temple
The Heavenly Temple
This discussion so far should provide a smooth transition to understand that God is holy, high, lifted up, and dwells in a temple in the heavens.
The Torah teaches us that Moses was instructed to build the mishkan (tabernacle) according to the pattern that he saw in heaven.
Exodus 25:8–9 (TLV)
8“Have them make a Sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them. 9You are to make it all precisely according to everything that I show you—the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all the furnishings within—just so you must make it.
“Have them make a Sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them. You are to make it all precisely according to everything that I show you—the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all the furnishings within—just so you must make it.
And Isaiah tells us what he sees:
Isaiah 6:1 (TLV)
1In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw Adonai sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the Temple.
In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw Adonai sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the Temple.
The author of Hebrews also speaks about the reality of a heavenly temple:
Hebrews 9:11–12 (TLV)
11But when Messiah appeared as Kohen Gadol of the good things that have now come, passing through the greater and more perfect Tent not made with hands (that is to say not of this creation), 12He entered into the Holies once for all—not by the blood of goats and calves but by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
But when Messiah appeared as Kohen Gadol of the good things that have now come, passing through the greater and more perfect Tent not made with hands (that is to say not of this creation), He entered into the Holies once for all—not by the blood of goats and calves but by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
Hebrews 9:23–24 (TLV)
23Therefore it was necessary for the replicas of these heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices—but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Messiah did not enter into Holies made with hands—counterparts of the true things—but into heaven itself, now to appear in God’s presence on our behalf.
Therefore it was necessary for the replicas of these heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices—but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Messiah did not enter into Holies made with hands—counterparts of the true things—but into heaven itself, now to appear in God’s presence on our behalf.
As we near the end of the days of awe and approach Yom Kippur, we now have a better sense of the magnitude of the atonement. To cleanse our inner man, Yeshua had to enter the heavenly temple and bring an offering worthy of the awesome presence of God. The earthly temple and system are great, they serve the purpose of cleansing the flesh, but they are not enough to cleanse the heart before a holy heavenly God. They were always meant to reflect what happens in the highest heaven. Yeshua went up to the highest heavens to the very throne room of God to claim and purchase us in front of the Sovereign judge. What should your life look like when you fully understand this? This was the apostolic conviction and this conviction changed the world as we know it.
When I started this message I said that I wanted to continue in our understanding of Apostolic Judaism and recover the faith that has been distorted by misunderstanding and prejudice. Reconstructing a right understanding of the heavens and the earth are crucial to that endeavour. Why? Because creation informs the fear of God. We read about His creation and we are meant to be in awe.
Hebrews 12:18–29 (TLV)
18For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched, and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and storm, 19and to the blast of a shofar and a voice whose words made those who heard it beg that not another word be spoken to them. 20For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21So terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am quaking with fear.”
22But you have come to Mount Zion—to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, a joyous gathering, 23and to the assembly of the firstborn who are written in a scroll in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous ones made perfect, 24and to Yeshua, the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than the blood of Abel.
25See to it that you do not refuse the One who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the One who was warning them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject the One who warns us from heaven. 26His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.” 27Now this phrase, “Yet once more,” shows the removal of those things that are shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude—through this we may offer worship in a manner pleasing to God, with reverence and awe. 29For our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:18–29 (TLV)
For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched, and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and storm, and to the blast of a shofar and a voice whose words made those who heard it beg that not another word be spoken to them. For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” So terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am quaking with fear.”
But you have come to Mount Zion—to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, a joyous gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are written in a scroll in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous ones made perfect, and to Yeshua, the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than the blood of Abel.
See to it that you do not refuse the One who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the One who was warning them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject the One who warns us from heaven. His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.” Now this phrase, “Yet once more,” shows the removal of those things that are shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude—through this we may offer worship in a manner pleasing to God, with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire.