Hebrews 12 Read, Study, & Breakdown
PART TWO – (vv. 18-29)
The Glorious Company
18 For you have not come [g]to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and [h]darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned [i]or shot with an arrow.” 21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the [j]general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Hear the Heavenly Voice
25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I [k]shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we [l]may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.
NOTES HEBREWS 12 – (Summary – vv. 1-29, vv. 18-21, vv. 22-24, v. 25, vv. 26-28)
12:1-29: This entire passage – (beginning with Hebrews 10:19) is a progressive discourse imploring us to seek God’s Kingdom first … Under the new covenant, we can ascend to this heavenly place in worship and in prayer … As Christians worshipping in the Divine liturgy, we can than experience these heavenly dimensions more fundamentally … We ascend to that place where we are surrounded by a GREAT … CLOUD OF WITNESSES – (v. 1) This is not a physical place (v. 18) but a spiritual place, MOUNT ZION, AND THE CITY OF THE LIVING GOD, THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM – (v. 22) inhabited by God, the angels, and THE SPIRITS OF JUST MEN MADE PERFECT – (v. 23) … Here, communion of the saints is established in the NT …
In Hebrews 9:11-12 we saw Christ come to the greater and more perfect tabernacle, obtaining eternal redemption for us … In, Hebrews 12:22 this tabernacle is that same spiritual place, showing that we enter the holy place with Christ by virtue of our union with Him – (Hebrews 10:19-20) … This is done fundamentally in corporate worship – (Hebrews 10:25), by FAITH – (Hebrews 11:1-3), and in order to show gratitude to God – (Hebrews 12:28-29) … The content of this worship includes remembering the departed righteous – (Hebrews 11:40; see also Psalm 111 (112):1-6; and Proverbs 10:8) …
12:18-21: THE MOUNTAINS – (v. 18) of the new covenant, Mt. Zion, is the fulfillment of the mountain of the old covenant, Mt. Sinai … Sinai is remembered as the place where God first called Israel to meet Him – (Exodus 19:9-23; 20:18-21; Deuteronomy 4:11-12, 5:22-26) … It was a place of fear, a place not to be approached and touched, out in the desert where Israel could not live permanently … Israel met God, and God spoke, but Israel could not fully enter God’s holiness …
12:22-24: We are encouraged to approach and touch the heavenly mountain, for we already participate in the Kingdom and dwell there … It is more like MOUNT ZION AND JERUSALEM (v. 22) than like Sinai – (popular Jewish images at that time), for Jerusalem was a habitable place and Zion a place of God’s holy presence … This Kingdom is not an earthly but HEAVENLY, INHABITED BY ANGELS (v. 22) as well as men … There is an unending ASSEMBLY (v. 23), the divinely instituted gathering of God’s people of all ages, in which they know themselves as CHURCH … There everyone is FIRSTBORN (v. 23) and has inherited all … THE BLOOD (v. 24) cries not for vengeance and further death- as did Abel’s – (see – Hebrews 11:4; and Genesis 4:10) – but for mercy, forgiveness, atonement, and unending life … This is the blood of Christ given to us in the Eucharist … Heaven is not a place of the separation of the soul from the body, There the soul and body together are transformed into a BETTER (v. 24) reality … FOR THE SPIRITS OF JUST MEN ARE MADE PERFECT – (v. 23; see Hebrews 11:40) in unity with their bodies: glorified, divinely energized, without the limitations we now experience … This passage is quoted in hymns for both the Trisagion and funeral services of the Orthodox Church … THE BLOOD OF SPRINKLING – (v. 24) is that of Christ, which effects the new covenant- real blood, effective for the physical people …
12:25-28: He who speaks from heaven is Christ at the right hand of the Father … What can be shaken v. 27 is referring to that which is created: temporal, impermanent, imperfect except for the final consummation of the kingdom v. 28, that will be unshakable … There, life is a Eucharistic liturgy… Grace v.28 is gratefulness that leads to serving God and worshiping Him in an acceptable way, with proper reverence and godly fear …
PSALM 137 (138) STUDY AND BREAKDOWN …