The Two Mountians

Not just simply to listen, but take this text that was written to Jewish people and take the time to digest that so we can draw from it the truth of the Word in a way we understand.

Our passage today is the concluding thought of the entirety of the book.

The last chapter is a series of encouragements and challenges to the listeners.

So what we cover today will be the climax of the point of this book.

However as we read through it, it will seem like a really strange passage. That is why we are going to tackle it!

When I read this through with my sermon prep team, we all kinda sat there quiet trying to figure out what it said and why.

So it may be a bit challenging, but I think I have wrapped my head around it enough to break it down for you.

Key Passage/Prayer

Hebrews 12:18–29 NIV

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be 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 be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

Pray

Teaching

We are going to break this passage down in two big chunks. First, I want to talk about the two mountains.

Then we will tackle the rest of the passage once we have learned the context of the metaphor.

I love metaphors. Jesus used them often. He could have talked about how receptive people are to listening to the Bible, but He spoke that truth in a story.

He said the that the Word of God is like the seed, and people’s hearts are like the soil.

Then he gave four examples of soil and how receptive it is to receiving the Word.

My head clicks when I hear that. I don’t know if you are like that, but that is the way my mind works.

In order to understand this metaphor, I want to put us in the right frame of mind.

At the end of this metaphor, the author makes mention of Abel.

Abel is not a very popular character in the Bible

Give context of Abel

The author of Hebrews includes Abel in the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11). Also, he mentions him here.

Hebrews 12:24 NIV

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

One of these mountains speaks a word about the sprinkled blood of Jesus

The other mountain speaks a word about the blood of Abel.

What word does the blood of Abel speak? That is a good question. In order to understand this, I want to journey back to the story of Abel in Genesis.

Genesis 4:9–10 NIV

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.

Abel’s blood cried out to God.

It was the cry for justice.

It was a real-time example that there is a consequence to sin. Not just for the person who sinned, but for those who are in the path of the sinner.

An innocent person had been killed.

We see the justice of God in that moment, because immediately, we see that Cain is cursed by God.

But on a larger scale, we see that in the Old Testament, we see a God whose justice is on display.

We often think there are two God’s in the Bible. There is the OT God and the NT God.

The OT God was violent and judgmental

The NT God is loving, grace giving and kind.

It really revolves around this issue of justice.

We took some time a few weeks ago to talk about the justice of God.

It boils down to how sin separates us from a holy God. We have become unholy.

There is a natural consequence to separation from God. Death

God is life. Separation from God is death. It is the consequence and the punishment for sin.

A just God doesn’t simply allow sin to slide. It isn’t because He doesn’t have grace. It is because His nature is absolute holiness.

He won’t arbitrarily turn off his holiness for our convenience.

The author of Hebrews draws from this perspective of justice.

The primary separation of the old and new covenants had to do with a just God and how He dealt with sin.

So back to the metaphor:

The author of Hebrews talks about two mountains and equates them to the Old Covenant and the New Covenant with God.

These are concepts that the author has gone to great lengths to communicate.

The first mountain-Mount Sinai

Hebrews 12:18–21 NIV

The author of Hebrews compares the old and new covenants by depicting two mountains.

The first mountain is representative of the Old Covenant.

The author of Hebrews points to a very specific point of the history of Israel.

He points to the moment where they are at Mount Sinai in the book of Exodus and they are about to receive the law of God.

Remember, the law is God’s written standard of holiness. This is the definition of God’s holiness and the part the Israelites had to agree to in order to approach God.

Here is the moment in Exodus.

The Hebrews in the Roman church immediately knew about this story when it was written.

Exodus 19:16–19 NIV

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.

Exodus 20:18–19 NIV

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

This was the mountain of justice. There was no payment for sin except for the sacrificial system.

The sacrificial system would only pay for the sin committed in the past. It was temporary.

The people experienced the justice of God in a real and tangible way.

The other mountain that represents the New Covenant has a different tone.

The Second Mountain

Hebrews 12:22–24 NIV

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Do you sense the difference between the two mountains? One mountain man is responsible before a just and holy God for his sin.

The other mountain, sin is paid for and things are different. Better.

Let’s break this down:

Hebrews 12:22 NIV

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,

This is talking about a different mountain.

This mountain is called Zion

It is the city of the living God.

It is also called the heavenly Jerusalem.

This is what the author of Hebrews was talking about one chapter earlier when mentioning all of the people who lived by faith

This idea was the result of those who have faith. Not simply a sincerity.

Rather a true faith that looks forward to the hope we have of being in the presence of God.

A faith that has a foundation built on the work of Jesus as priest and sacrifice

A faith that submits to Him as Lord and lives our lives in obedience, like all of the people in those stories.

Here is what it says about those people who lived by faith:

Hebrews 11:13–16 NIV

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

They did not receive the things promised to them.

What was promised to them. The presence of God. That is the hope and promise of us all when we live with Him being the object of our faith.

Even thought they died, their story is not complete. Their story ends in the city God has prepared for them.

As we get back into Hebrews 12, that city is called the new Jerusalem, or Mount Zion. It is the city of the living God.

It is where God dwells among His people like He intended from creation.

Hebrews 12:23 NIV

to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

It is called the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven

This is a strange sentence because there can only be one firstborn.

But we know who the firstborn is. That is Jesus

His church is those whose names are written in heaven.

His church is not those who attend a certain building on a Sunday

His church is not those who participate in activities.

His church is not even defined by people who read their Bibles and spend time praying.

His church is defined by those who have faith and righteousness that comes from God.

Their names are written in heaven.

There is something important about being a part of the church of the firstborn.

There is an inheritance for the firstborn.

Look at the list of verses that talk about being an heir or having an inheritance:

INHERITANCE SLIDE

Hebrews 12:23 NIV

to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

You have come to God, the Judge of all

This might sound like a problem. Here we have this old covenant judgmental God showing up again.

But this isn’t the case. Look at the tone of Mt. Zion. It is joyful.

God is the judge, but His judgment has rendered us perfect

The spirits of the righteous made perfect

These are the thousands that have come to Mt Zion.

Perfect- Again, we see this in this passage.

Perfect means complete.

We have been made righteous through Jesus Christ.

That mean we are pure and holy.

But now we are made perfect (complete).

This is because we are now in the presence of God.

Hebrews 12:24 NIV

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

All of this because Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant.

His blood says “The price is paid”.

It doesn’t cry out for justice like Abel. It says, “Justice has been served…in me.”

Teaching

Now we might think, “We have a choice of Mt. Sinai or Mt. Zion. I think I know how this sermon ends”

But the point of this book is not to present an alternative to traditional Jewish practice.

The point of this book is to show that Jesus fulfills all of the OT practices in perfection and there is no longer an old covenant because Jesus is here.

Hebrews 8:13 NIV

By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

The first covenant is obsolete.

There is no more tabernacle

There is no more priesthood

There is no more sacrificial system.

There is no longer any means through the old covenant to enter the presence of God.

The old covenant is gone. We have Jesus.

It isn’t an issue of a new option. It is Jesus and only Jesus.

This brings us to the next part of our passage today. The author continues his metaphor by talking about the Mt. Sinai group

After the Israelites saw Mt. Sinai, they were amazed at the power of God and they were in awe. It inspired them to live holy and righteous lives before the almighty God, right?

Wrong.

In Hebrews 4, it talks about this circumstance by pointing back to Psalm 95.

Psalm 95:7–11 (NIV)

Today, if only you would hear his voice,

“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,

where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.

For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’

So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

God gave them His law. God gave them Himself.

They refused Him

At some points, they refused Him by worshiping idols

Other times they refused Him through disobedience or bad attitudes.

But overall, they refused Him.

As a result, they did not enter the promised land.

This was the consequence of their refusal to listen and obey.

They lacked faith!

Back to Hebrews 12.

This passage presents the fifth and final warning in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 12:25 NIV

See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?

Do not refuse him who speaks.

This can be interpreted in a few ways.

Is the author talking about Jesus? Himself? Someone else?

It doesn’t really matter. Whether it be Jesus, or someone presenting the words of Jesus, we are accountable to Jesus for His words.

The warning is, “Do not refuse him”.

Then he points back to the Israelites in the wilderness. They did not escape when they refused God.

They were punished by not entering the promised land.

There was a consequence to rejecting God.

I want to ask you, are the consequences we deal with greater or less than the consequences the Israelites dealt with?

They are greater. We are not talking about a temporary kingdom and promised land.

We are talking about eternity and the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus.

He is the supreme authority in this entire book.

If the Israelites were not spared, we cannot think that it will be easier on us. It will not.

Hebrews 12:26 NIV

At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”

The author then takes a look into the future.

Again, he compares the story of the Israelites at Mt. Sinai to an event that is to come.

He says, “At Mt. Sinai, God’s voice shook the earth.” The people were in fear at the sound.

But God has promised:

Once more, I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.”

There will be a shaking. This event will be at the hand of God.

Hebrews 12:27 NIV

The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

All created things will be shaken away.

We can go into all sorts of details about when, how, why these things will happen.

I don’t know. I’m not here to tell my opinion of what God will do and what order.

But I do know that this temporary world that has been broken by sin will be done away with.

Everything that is created will be gone.

Everything that is eternal will remain.

I want to talk on this for a minute. There are two points I want to make:

The ramifications of the temporary

Think about everything we spend so much time on in our lives

Our jobs, our church building, our homes, our cars, our dreams, our vacations, all of it will be gone.

The only thing that will remain is your relationship with God.

Did you follow Jesus and establish a relationship with God? Or did you reject Him?

OT justice isn’t gone. Not all are saved. Justice has been reserved for judgment day when God will determine if a person has rejected Jesus, or has been made righteous by Jesus.

Just because Mt. Sinai is obsolete doesn’t mean that everyone automatically gets Mt. Zion.

If you reject Mt. Zion, then the justice for your sin is upon you.

Hebrews 12:28–29 NIV

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

Here is the conclusion. Here is our part to play.

Today’s message is a reminder of the destination of the righteous and the destruction of the unrighteous.

These are very real outcomes to this world.

This world is temporary, but we are still called to live in a certain way here.

What is worship?

Worship service by a worship leader singing worship songs…is not worship.

Romans 12:1 NIV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

A living sacrifice

Living while putting yourself to death.

This is Jesus’ call to discipleship.

Put your own life away and follow me with your heart, mind, soul and strength.

Conclusion

I know today had some dark points.

But if we live by faith, we the promise of Mt. Zion.

I want you to see the feeling of Mt. Zion.

Imagine you are at a ball game.

Jalen Suggs video

The game is won. The buzzer has sounded. The score is complete.

If you and I were at the game, we wouldn’t sit down and say, “What an interesting fact. Gonzaga won. I think I will go home and meditate on this for a while.”

No! We would jump up and down in celebration because our team won.

How much more should we experience joy from the promise that we have received that we will inherit Mt. Zion because we have faith in Jesus Christ!