Hebrews 12:20a
"(For they could not endure that which was commanded,…)"
God is absolute, He is Holy, He is Righteous. He is Christ and Christ IS the "I AM". And Israel feared and quaked in His presence. Even Moses, the great man that he was, just feared being in the presence of the Almighty God. Now completing verse 20:
Hebrews 12:20b
"(…And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:…)"
Now what is that? That’s severe. That’s driving the fear of God into these people. They were not just fooling around with some pagan idol here. Just as We are to be dealing with the Almighty, living God. The God of great power, and might, and holiness. The world, today has lost a lot of this, which of course, it is as it should be. Because it lies under the grip of the evil one, like it or not, it does. We’re not dealing with a God of wrath and anger today. We’re dealing with a God of Grace. And Grace is Christ just as all Truth is also Christ, they are inseparable because they reflect God's character which was and is seen in Christ. But Christ is also much more than these things, if we limit Him to just a few then we have limited Him to all. He wants to function within us and if we only limit Him to the historical Jesus we limit His functionality within, we deny Him His due. Just as John stated in chapter one of his gospel. But nevertheless, this is what the Hebrews came up against when they came around Mt. Sinai and were waiting for the Law to be given. Now verse 21.
Hebrews 12:21
"(…And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)" Even Moses (let alone the poor everyday Israelite) said, "I exceedingly fear and quake." Why? Because of Who God is! "The Almighty", The Most High God who lives on and is self-generative, self-existent one. Alright, now we come to seven better things. Now this is where we are. Here again, it’s in a group of seven. Isn’t it amazing how Scripture does that over and over and over. Now verse 22, what’s the first word? "But!" Now, I think I’m known for saying the "flip-side." Whereas Israel was dealing with this frightening experience with God, the flip-side brings us where we are in the spiritual. The every thing that as a nation Israel did not grab hold of, which was a block of stumbling for them just as it is with those who want to tie everything down to a logical formulation of the here and now factor. To become spiritually alive brings us to a crisis which reaches far beyond the here and now of placement and time placement of Prophecy. Because most Prophecy is dealing with an enigma in the interim which is not subject to mere human understanding of But Now, Not Yet. And it is this that causes many to stumble over God and causes them to formulate an idolatrous religion or belief system of their own creation. All of which Jesus, Paul and the disciples not to mention the Old Testament Prophets have warned against.
Hebrews 12:22-24
"But ye are come unto Mt. 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 we feel is the Body of Christ, fellow believers as it is restated in Revelation by John who is relaying what he was either shown or had heard) which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just (or righteous men of old and also future as spirits) men made perfect. (and I’m going to read it on to the end of these seven) And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better (see there it is again) things than that of Abel."
Now let’s go back and count them. Come back and look at verse 22 and the first tangible thing that we come to that is completely opposite from the visible manifestations at Mt. Sinai - we step now into the spiritual realm, because after all, everything for us in this New Age of Grace is all spiritually connection. Not earthly. Not material. Not physical. But "if" God chooses it can be so. Alright, so we have "come to the city of the living God." The city, that’s the first one. "And to innumerable company of(what?) angels." We’re actually going into the angelic realm. Alright, "to the general assembly of the first born." Of course, that’s you and I as believers, born from the dead of separation from God into fellowship with God. We are the first born because of our relationship in Christ, "who are written in heaven and to God the (what?) Judge of all, and to the spirits just (or righteous) men made perfect." Verse 24: The sixth one I think now is the "Mediator of the new covenant" and then the seventh, "the blood of sprinkling."
Now I’m just pointing this out - not that you have to remember the seven of seven, but just to show you how intricately the Holy Spirit puts Scripture together. It’s not haphazard. It is beautiful in its construction. Alright let’s go back up and pick the verses apart now. Come with me to verse 22. As Grace Age believers now (members of the Body of Christ, Blood bought), we have accessibility to the city of the Living God and the very presence of God Himself.
I’m going to have to bring you back in order to clarify it from one of Paul’s other epistles. That would be back to Colossians chapter 1, and let’s just drop in at verses 12 and 13. Now here is our heavenly connection. Everything under the old covenant, everything pertaining to God and Israel, is earthly and now is but lawlessness. They were an earthly people with earthly promises, an earthly temple and an earthly or material and external priesthood. Everything concerning God and the Hebrews is earthly. For us, everything is heavenly, spiritual, born again or re-birthed into the ontological essence of Christ. We’re connected to the Head, Who is in heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven. Our rewards are piling up in heaven. We’re just strangers, sojourners, foreigners in this earth. We’re not citizens of this planet at all. Remember that these verses are taken from within a clause and for this reason the whole clause should be studied.
Colossians 1:12-13
"Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:"
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