Hebrews 12:18 - Forerunner Commentary

Hebrews 12:18

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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain The Epistle to the Hebrews 12:18:

Hebrews 12:18-19
Excerpted from: The Fear of God

We would think that the future certainty of our having to face God one-on-one would be enough to really put the fear of God into us. But does it? Let us look again at the book of Hebrews and its context. We are reading the same letter written to the same people about whom we just read in chapter 10.

God, in person, came down on Mount Sinai. And I know we are familiar with, When Israel Out of Egypt Went, the psalm that is in our hymnal. The lyrics describe how the hills skipped to and fro. That must have been an awesome and terrifying earthquake which announced the presence of God! The top of the mountain was on fire with, perhaps, lava issuing forth like a volcano! An awesome sight, indeed. Anyone having gone through any magnitude of earthquake can begin to understand just a little bit of the fear that these people experienced as God came down on the mount. They had a face-to-face, as it were, confrontation with God, even though He was hidden by dark swirling and churning clouds. It says that no man can look on the face of God and live.

Can we not see that he is making a contrast here? He is showing that, in one way, our position is actually worse off than theirs was - simply because we have been given so much and the responsibility upon us is so great.

Are you afraid of the Lake of Fire? Are you afraid of the consequences of sin? The consuming fire is the consequence of sin! We can see that whenever God chooses to reveal Himself in ways that can be appreciated by the senses (by eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and the sense of touch) the occasion is so majestic and so awesome and so dreadful that people cannot endure it! And might I remind you that this did not seem to do Israel any good, either. The older generation of ancient Israel, all those who had experienced that about which we just read here, all perished in the wilderness. Symbolically they did not make it into the Kingdom of God - even though they experienced, through the senses, God actually being in their presence.

We are beginning to see that godly fear has a spiritual element to it. It has nothing to do with anything that a person can perceive with the eyes, ears, nose, or any of the other senses. And I think we can see, too, that there is an element of terror involved in this fear.

We began in Hebrews 10 and 12 where Paul explained the things that took place at Mount Sinai. Now here we are, in Exodus 20, right at the Mount. Notice the context, which we will pick up right after God gave the Ten Commandments, the law that defines what is evil and what is good.

Hebrews 12:18-19
Excerpted from: Let the Saints be Joyful in Glory!

Here is where we find the parallel between the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, all that followed, and our coming to the resurrection and being part of coming to Mount Zion, the city of the living God. This is about the glorious company.

Of course referring back to the ancient Israelites when God was on the mountain giving the Ten Commandments. So they heard God speak, but none of us has heard that, and we have a greater experience than that. We have the Spirit of God dwelling in us. We are the firstfruits of God's Spirit, so we do not have to hear that booming in order to get our attention that those ancient Israelites needed to hear.

Articles
'Behold, He is Coming with Clouds'
Rivet Your Eyes on the Destination
Symbolism and Duality
The Goodness and Severity of God (Part Two)
The Prophet
Why Hebrews Was Written (Part Seven)
Why Hebrews Was Written (Part Seven)

Bible Studies
Biblical Symbolism (Part Two)  (2)

Essays
What Do You Fear? (Part Two)

Sermons
Passover and Hope
God's Spiritual Harvest
Shock and Awe - and Speed
The Seventh Trumpet
City of Peace
How Much Leaven Can God Take?
The Priesthood of God (Part 2)
Hebrews 12 and 13: Advice for the End Time
Jerusalem and the Plan of Redemption
New Covenant Priesthood (Part 1)
The Summertime Soldier and Sunshine Patriotism

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