Hebrews 12:18-24

Somewhere Better than Sinai

Play Song- Marching to Zion. Stop at 00:41

Isaac Watts penned the words of that song and many other that we sing today.

In that particular Hymn, as you heard, He wrote,

“We are marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion, We’re marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God.”

You may listen to that song and wonder: Where or what in the world is Zion? What’s so beautiful about Zion?

Hopefully, after we leave here today you will have a better understanding to those two questions.

First I want to remind you. Last week we discussed the need for us as the church to be involved in the race together:

We are to Strengthen those who are weak among us.

We are to Pursue peace and holiness.

And we are to forsake worldliness and idolatry together.

The point last week was that part of running the race set before us is that we need to be apart of a community of faith that holds us accountable and encourages our run.

This week.... we come to a very interesting text.

In this passage, the author of Hebrews is going to contrast two mountains that we find in Scripture.

Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion.

And like the author of Hebrews has done over and over again, he will do the same again.

He will point us back to the Old Testament to show us that we have something better in Christ in the New Testament.

In This passage he is going to argue that Mt. Zion is better than Mt. Sinai.

Look what he say here in verses 18-19

Hebrews 12:18–19 NASB95

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and 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.

In verses 18-19, The author of Hebrews paints a picture of Mt. Sinai that even though he doesn’t say the words “Mt. Sinai,” as soon as he said these words that he says in verses 18-19, every one within this Hebrew audience would have immediately recognized what he was talk about.

He is talking about Mt. Sinai. For us to understand, its best that we go back and read about what he is referring to.

Turn with me in your Bible to Exodus 19

Moses has went up the mountain where the Lord spoke to Him.

Here you should see Moses was God’s chosen instrument here.

Moses spoke to the Lord on behalf of the people, Moses spoke to the people on behalf of the Lord.

He was an intermediary. He worked as a go between, between God’s people and God.

In this particular passage, God is establishing his covenant with the nation of Israel.

Look in verses 5-6

Exodus 19:5–6 NASB95

‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

So essentially God tells Moses, to tell the people this:

Obey Me, and you will be my people. (2x)

But the people have to agree to this. Its a covenant they are making between each other.

They must agree to the terms. And they do, at least in their words.

Look at verses 7 and 8

Exodus 19:7–8 NASB95

So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.

So the progression so far is that Moses goes up, God has stated the stipulation of the covenant. Moses goes down the Mountain and delivers God’s message. The people agree, so Moses goes back up and delivers their message to God.

So this sets in place this meeting between God and His people at Mt. Sinai.

But before the people can meet with God on Mt. Sinai, the people would have to prepare for this meeting. And God is going to lay out specific instructions for them so that they could safely meet and hear from God on Mt. Sinai.

Look at what it says in verse 9 and following.

Exodus 19:9–15 NASB95

The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. The Lord also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. “You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. ‘No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments. He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

To summarize all of that, I’ll just say this. Mt. Sinai was not a place they were going to come to with a non-chalant attitude.

The Holy Creator of all things was about to manifest His presence on this mountain.

The people had to be clean.

They even set up barriers around the mountain so that none of the people would be able to touch the mountain.

Because If someone or something were to touch the mountain, man or beast, they would be put to death.

They were to refrain from sexual activity. They were to consecrate themselves for the next two day, and they were to be ready for the Lord to manifest His presence.

Now can you imagine? I am sure for those next two days, the people were on pins and needles, doing all they could to prepare themselves for the presence of the Lord.

Imagine the build up of this. The stress and concern. For two days, they worked to get ready.

On the third day, in the morning it was time to meet with God.

Look at verse 16-17

Exodus 19:16–17 NASB95

So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

The people having heard the trumpet sound trembled. The moment they had been preparing had finally come. They were about to see the presence of God.

They had a front row seat to a manifestation of God on a mountain.

Look at verse 18-25 it is going to tell us what they saw.

Exodus 19:18–25 NASB95

Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. “Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, or else the Lord will break out against them.” Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain and consecrate it.’ ” Then the Lord said to him, “Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, or He will break forth upon them.” So Moses went down to the people and told them.

And whenever I read that- My thought is this- What a terrifying moment this must have been.

The Holy God and Creator of all the earth comes down upon this mountain.

The people tremble in fear. They are warned stay away from the mountain lest you die. This is not a suggestion. Their life depended upon their obedience to God in this. With that in mind =-

Go back with me to Hebrews 12

And lets now look at what he says in light of what we have read in Exodus 19-

Hebrews 12:18–21 NASB95

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and 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. For they could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.” And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.”

A few things you should see and know from what we read in Ex 19 and then in verses 18-21 about Mt Sinai-

1. Mt. Sinai was temporary.

Hebrews 12:18 NASB95

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,

The implication is that Mt. Sinai was a mountain that could be touched.

Mt. Sinai is a literal physical mountain.

You could go to it and touch it. You could see it. You could walk on it. You can draw pictures of it.

It was a physical mountain.

But Sinai, because it is a literal place and an actual mountain, like the rest of creation is subject to destruction. One day Sinai will burn and be destroyed by fire, which tells us that Sinai a physical place was not the end goal.

Sinai was temporary. Now that will make sense in the end.

2. At Mt. Sinai, Fear was the dominant theme

Hebrews 12:18–21 NASB95

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and 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. For they could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.” And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.”

The people that day at Sinai including Moses were fearful and rightly so.

God was displaying his glory, and it scared them.

Loud thunder. Blazing fire. Utter darkness, gloom. And God’s voice thundered. And The words he spoke were unbearable.

This was a display of God’s glory like they had never seen before and they’ve see some amazing things up unto this point. They had seen all the plagues of Egypt, they’ve walked on dry ground after the Red Sea split for them. They’ve seen some powerful things.

But this on mt. Sinai . This was different.

At this point God’s holy wrath is not being directed at their enemy Pharaoh.

Now they are warned that God will break out against them in wrath if they even dare to touch the mountain during this time.

On Mt. Sinai, God was about to Give His Law-And he made his presence known to them in a way that it was unmistakably Him.

Fear was the right response and it was the dominant theme.

3. At Sinai, We see the greatness of the separation that exist between sinners and a Holy God and we see it through the Law of God.

No doubt, Their fear was right because they understood who it was they were dealing with. And we should too. you should know.

God is inherently Holy.

Man is inherently sinful.

In fact, in Exodus 20 is the record of God giving us the Law and the Ten Commandments.

And the Ten commandments reveals God’s holy requirement.

And we are told that the purpose of the Ten Commandments is not to give us a checklist and see if we can do a good job of keeping the Law of God.

The purpose of The Ten Commandments is to show us very clearly.

God is inherently Holy.

Man is inherently sinful.

The Ten Commandments shows us that we can’t possibly live up to God’s holy standard by trying to legalistically keep the Law.

Mt. Sinai as a whole reveals that.

The fact that the people couldn’t come near God’s presence on the mountain reveals that.

Why couldn’t they go up? If God was coming to meet with them, why were they commanded to stay back?

God designated two people- Moses and Aaron.

Anyone else, anything else, they would die.

Even Moses was full of fear and trembling and he had the hall pass. He had the freedom to go and meet with God on the mountain.

But even though he was free to go on the mountain, he was not flippant. He went fearful and trembling because he was approaching God.

Now, This is not the point of this passage but it is worth noting. Freedom to meet and worship God shouldn’t mean we forget who we are meeting with. Moses was free to go up the mountain but he was not flippant. You and I are free to worship God but we do not come to Him flippantly. We don’t just offer him what we think is good. We come and worship Him with fear and trembling because we know who God is.

Moses went trembling because he knew who he was and he knew who God was.

Hebrews 12:21 tells us-

Hebrews 12:21 NASB95

And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.”

Mt Sinai reveals the greatness of the separation that exist between sinners and a Holy God.

4. At Sinai, the mediator on the mountain(Moses) was just as in need as the people at its foot.

We just said- Moses was fearful, because he knew his own sinfulness.

He knew the God he was dealing with.

Now Moses had an incredible job- but Moses knew he was unworthy.

Moses went fearful and trembling.

He knew the sinfulness of his own heart and the sinfulness of the people that he was dealing with.

Moses went up the mountain full of fear and trembling because I believe he didn’t know that he would make it back.

4 things about Sinai.

1. Sinai was temporary.

2. At Mt. Sinai, Fear was the dominant theme

3. At Sinai, We see the greatness of the separation that exist between sinners and a Holy God.

4. At Sinai, the mediator on the mountain(Moses) was just as in need as the people at its foot.

When we look at Sinai, and consider that- does any of that sound like good news?

No I believe when we look at Sinai, we are left wanting a better mountain.

That is exactly was the author of Hebrews is arguing here in verses 22-24 . We have a better mountain.

We have not come to Mt. Sinai- We have come to Mt. Zion

Look at verse 22-23a

Hebrews 12:22–23 NASB95

But you have come 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 enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

I want you to see- Zion is the opposite of Mt Sinai.

Zion is better than Sinai in every way.

Let’s look at these one by one-

1. Sinai was temporary. Mt Zion is eternal.

Listen to verse 22-23 again- He says there we have come to:

The city of the living God.

The heavenly Jerusalem

To myriads of Angels

To the Church

To God.

In other words, Mt. Zion is not a temporary physical mountain here on this earth. It is the dwelling place of God with his people. It cannot be destroyed. Our future is secure. Our residence is with God. He has made us his people. We are the city of God. The heavenly Jerusalem, which is infinitely better than the earthly one.

Mt. Sinai is temporary- Mt Zion is eternal.

2. At Mt. Sinai, Fear was the dominant theme. At Mt. Zion We see hope and confidence is our dominant theme as we enter God’s presence.

Listen to the hope and confidence that drip from his words here-

Hebrews 12:22–23 NASB95

But you have come 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 enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

We are enrolled in Heaven. There’s some confidence.

Where the people around Sinai feared to touch the mountain God occupied, it says here we have come to God the Judge of All.

There is HOPE AND CONFIDENCE at Zion.

3. At Sinai, We saw the greatness of the separation that exist between sinners and a Holy God revealed by His Law. At Mt. Zion we see we have been made perfect and acceptable to a Holy God by the Gospel of Grace.

Hebrews 12:23 NASB95

to 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,

He says there “We are the righteous. We have been made perfect”

Here we see that the amazing gulf that existed between man and God somehow has been done away with. At Sinai, there were imperfect people fearfully trembling for their lives as they witnessed God’s glory.

At Zion, those on that mountain have been made perfect so that we can safely dwell not at the bottom of the mountain but on the mountain with God.

At Zion, We have been made acceptable.

Lastly,

4. At Sinai, the mediator on the mountain(Moses) was just as in need as the people at its foot. At Mt. Zion, Jesus’s meets our need as he intercedes for us through His own blood.

Hebrews 12:24 NASB95

and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

There’s an interesting phrase there about the blood of Abel.

The first murder in the Bible. Cain killed his brother. And God said to Him.

Genesis 4:10 NASB95

He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.

And what do you supposed it said?

The blood of Abel called out from the ground- Cain is a sinner!! Cain is a murderer! Cain deserves to die and face wrath.

Essentially, it is the same cry we hear at Mt Sinai-

The people are sinners. The people are idolaters. The people will die if they dare come near me on this mountian.

But verse 24 tells us something amazing.

Jesus blood cries out a better word than that.

Jesus’s blood cries out from Calvary.

It is finished. The payment has been made. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

My sin was great. His mercy and grace is greater

he has made me perfect by the blood of his cross. What our works can’t possibly do, Christ has done for us.

So then, We can surrender our shame, our sin, and all our fear.

Church Zion is the mountain we come to. Not a mountain of fear. Don’t attempt to go back to Mt. Sinai and try to approach God by your ability to keep his law.

Come to Jesus. He is your only hope to be reconciled to God, but in him there is no fear, only hope and confidence.

We are marching to Zion. That is the goal.

I believe John saw this mountain in Revelation 21

Revelation 21:9-11

Revelation 21:9–11 NASB95

9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.

Revelation 21:22-27

Revelation 21:22–27 NASB95

22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; 26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; 27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Christian, that is the finish line.

Keep running.

Unbeliever. On your own, you are hopeless. Find hope and salvation in Jesus.