(Mount Sinai or Mount Zion)
As we look at the distinction between law and grace we must keep in mind why the author of Hebrews is writing this letter. The church to whom he was writing was a mainly Jewish population experiencing persecution from family and friends for what they saw as an abandonment of Judaism. There was a temptation in this congregation to turn back to Judaism and be silent about their faith in Christ. But the author has been pointing out all along that to go back into Judaism in order to avoid the stumbling block of Christ was in actuality to fall away. If they truly believed Jesus was the Messiah then they could not in all seriousness abandon the assembling of themselves together in order to stem the persecution against them. For someone to avoid persecution for a little temporary safety was truly a rejection of Christ and a trampling upon what He had done for them and showed evidence that those who would do this had an evil heart of unbelief.
Let me ask you, “Who would go back to an abacus when you could use a calculator? Who would go back to searching files by hand when you can sort them in a computer? Who would follow any obsolete program when you can use that which is up to date?” How much more serious is this when someone would give up the way, the life, and the truth for a system that cannot save.
In this passage the author reminds them once again about where they had come from and the privileged place into which they could enter by faith in Christ. The Old Covenant had become obsolete because God had ushered in a New Covenant. He urges his readers to not go back to that place from where they had come because it held no good for them. The key idea of this passage is everyone who has found salvation in Christ is no longer under the condemnation of the law (Mt. Sinai) but has free access to the grace of God (Mt. Zion).
1. The Characteristics of Sinai
The author brings us to the climax in this chapter by announcing the distinctions between the Law and Grace. He does it metaphorically by representing the Law and all it stands for by connecting it with Mount Sinai, the very place Moses received the Ten Commandments and the Old Covenant. We can discern from verses 18-21 three characteristics of this mountain called Sinai.
A. It is a place of fear
The first characteristic of Sinai is it is a place of fear. Now though I use the term “place” I don’t intend to convey it is an actual physical location. The author is not using Mount Sinai in Arabia as the physical locus for this “place.” The author uses the event of Israel’s receiving of the law at Mount Sinai as his point of discussion. And though the author uses this event for his discussion, he is describing the metaphorical location of everyone, who is still living under the law. In other words, if you are still seeking to obtain God’s acceptance by your own effort and actions you are living in this realm. If you think that you need to obtain His favor by your continued good deeds then you are here living under the Law. This place is a place of fear. The passage notes, “So terrible was the sight, that (even) Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.” The word translated “full of fear” in this passage is a compound word. The author uses it to heighten the fact of Moses’ fright. It wasn’t simple fright; it was terror. Moses knew what it was like to stand before great and powerful men. He knew what it was like to experience their wrath. Moses stood before Pharaoh and feared but when Moses stood before God he was terrified and trembled. Those listening could not bear the words of God any longer. The author says, “they begged that no further word be spoken to them.”
Why is this a place of fear? Those who seek to be made right with God by keeping the law, by doing good deeds, have obligated themselves to keep the whole law. They will not be acquitted before God unless they are perfect. The apostle Paul, in Galatians 5:3 says that if someone wants to seek God’s favor by obeying the law, “he is under obligation to keep the whole law.” If you do not or cannot keep the whole Law then you are under God’s condemnation and wrath. This is what makes Mt. Sinai a place of fear. James said in chapter 2, verse 10 of his letter, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.”
So what remains for those who are before Mount Sinai in their attempts to cull favor with God through good works? Since their works are not found perfect before God and they have no solution for their sin, they end up standing before a holy and just God who condemns sin and rejects inadequate self-attempts at righteousness. And this brings us to the next point the author discusses.
B. It is a place of judgment
Mount Sinai is a place of judgment. In verse 20, the author says, “They could not bear the command, ‘If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.’” There is judgment associated with approaching a holy and righteous God without being holy. God’s presence had come down upon Mount Sinai. The people were commanded to keep anything not consecrated to God away from the mountain. The mountain was set apart because God’s presence came to the mountain. Anyone or anything (even an animal) approaching the mountain without God’s permission was to be slain.
Mount Sinai is a place of judgment. If you try to approach God in your own way and effort you will be judged. Many will stand before the judgment thinking that they will ok. Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 7:22-23. He noted there, “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”
There will be many who, having trusted in the fact that they prophesied, or performed miracles, etc. who will be astonished that their own works in the name of Jesus will be refused. And why is this? Jesus never knew them. They were doing things for God but had never been made right with Him. They never approached Him in His way. They sought to establish their own righteousness instead of receiving righteousness from God.
Those who then come to Mount Sinai in this sense can only find condemnation. Those who come make great boasts. In fact, when the people received the Law from Moses, having forgotten how dreadful the voice of God and the sight of the mountain had been when they stood before it they exclaimed to Moses, “All that the Lord has said, we will do.” This was their mistake. They could not do everything the Lord had said and so they found themselves under judgment. This brings us to the third characteristic of Mount Sinai.
C. It is a place of separation
The third characteristic is it is a place of separation. The fact that there is a fear produced because mankind is inadequate to please God of their own accord, because all are sinners and fall short of God’s glorious standard and leads to judgment makes Mount Sinai a place of separation from God. No one who seeks to do good works to receive eternal life will ever see it. They will be separated from God for all eternity. They will not even, as Jesus said, “SEE the kingdom of God.”
This makes the mountain, in a sense, touchable (yes), yet unapproachable. The mountain is there in all its burning glory. It causes one to tremble; it is right before one’s very eyes. Yet it could not be approached. It was off limits because the Holy One of Israel was there. And the judgment of the law brought separation. Many people have the wrong idea about the Ten Commandments. They think it is a guide to tell them how they should behave if they are to please God. This is how the Israelites viewed it. They declared that they would do all the Lord had said. Yet this is not the purpose. The Scripture portrays the Law as a barrier between God and man. It is a wall of separation. In Colossians 2, the apostle Paul describes the Law as the certificate of debt that was hostile to us and against us. It stood in the way between God and us. In Ephesians 2 he says the Law is the “barrier of the dividing wall.” A barrier between God and mankind exists as long as the Law is in force; as long as a person seeks to be justified by his own attempts before God he is separated from God.
This is the truth of Mount Sinai. Those who linger here will not find eternal life no matter how hard they struggle, no matter how many good deeds they do, no matter how much they attend church or give to the church or volunteer to help others. It is no good. The place of Sinai is not a place of reconciliation with God; it is a place of separation from God. The purpose of Mount Sinai is to close every mouth and make everyone accountable before God. It should cause a person to seek another way to be made right with Him. And this brings us to Mount Zion.
2. The Characteristics of Zion
In verses 22-24 the author brings us to an altogether different mountain. Here is Mount Zion. Again, we have not approached a physical place. He is speaking of our entry into a partnership with God and those in heaven. We are longing for the final reality of this. But even so now we have entered with a sure outcome. Verse 22 says, “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” We have not entered heaven yet but we have become true partakers of all that heaven holds for us. The author places the verb “to come” into the perfect tense that means we have actually arrived and are surely partakers with God and His people. We would call this being in heaven positionally. God is so sure of our position in heaven that He speaks of us already being there and partaking of its blessings.
Everyone who has come to God in the way He has prescribed has partnership in heaven. So, let’s look at the characteristics of Mount Zion.
A. There is rejoicing
First, there is rejoicing. In verses 22-23, the author says that in coming to the heavenly Jerusalem, there is “myriads of angels, and a general assembly.” The word, “general assembly” could best be rendered “joyful assembly” or “festive assembly.” The whole phrase is best rendered, “You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly.”
What are the angels doing in heaven? They are involved in a great celebration of praise to God. Revelation 5 describes this. The apostle John said, “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing…To Him to who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” The angels, engaged in worship, find themselves awed by the Great God and Savior. They worship in awesome joy.
This is what we have been called to do. We have been called to worship God in joy. Because we have been reconciled to God we have access into His throne room. The command from the author of Hebrews is to “come boldly to the throne of grace.” We can do this. I hope that your daily worship is joyful. I hope you can come boldly to the throne of grace when you worship Him each morning or evening or throughout your day (Example – Marion Clark). For if you are a partaker of Mount Zion you have all the reason in the world to rejoice.
Now, think about this. When you enter heaven, when you actually go there, if you are a partaker of Mount Zion, you will have no impediment to worship. There will be nothing to hold you back from enjoying the Lord. You will not have a sin nature. You will not have normal earthly distractions. Your mind will not wander to the problems of the day. You will not be tempted while you worship. Everything will be perfect. And we will see God face to face. We will then truly be able to come into His presence. And we will be there because of His great work in us for salvation. There will be no boasting about our achievements. Worship in heaven will be about His grace that has brought us to live with Him forever.
So let me ask you, are you daily rejoicing in the Lord because of His grace toward you? If you aren’t, then you are still at Mount Sinai; you don’t understand how great God’s grace toward you is. Or you may be at Mount Zion but you have let the smog of this world cloud your view of that mountain. You are letting the daily grind and the cares of this world to hinder your praise of Him.
B. There is redemption
The second characteristic of Mount Zion that we find is there is redemption. The author tells us in verse 23 that we have come to the church (or the assembly) of the firstborn. Again the author pictures for us something that is in (or rather “on” Mount Zion). Here is the gathering of those who are redeemed, the assembly of the firstborn. I say that there is redemption here in Mount Zion because those of whom the author is speaking have been purchased by God. Why do I say this? The term firstborn describes those in the nation of Israel who belonged to God. The firstborn had been delivered during the night of the Passover. God spared the firstborn and made them His very own possession. The Lord said in Exodus, “You shall devote to the LORD the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the LORD.”
Since God delivered them it was a continual sign in the nation that the firstborn belonged to the Lord. He bought them and redeemed them through the price of blood. Now the author of Hebrews says that here too belong those who have been purchased by God. Mount Zion is a placed for the redeemed. Only those who have been redeemed have access to Mount Zion. This ought to bring great encouragement to everyone who has real trust in the promises of God. When you have been redeemed you cannot belong to another. Here is the assembly of the firstborn. All those who have been redeemed are here.
C. There is registration
The next characteristic is that there is registration. The author notes, “You have come to the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.” This speaks of the security of eternal life we have received in Christ. The word was used of those registered in a census. What does it mean? When we receive eternal life our names have been written in heaven. The tense of the verb “written” expresses the permanence of the record. Psalm 87:5, mentions, “In Zion it shall said, ‘This one and that one were born in her’; and the Most High will establish her. The LORD will count when He registers the peoples, ‘this one was born there.’” Those who are registered in the courts of heaven are secure because the Lord Himself has established their citizenship. Everyone is born as a child of the devil; they are born under Satan’s domain and in his citizenry. This applies to everyone. If you don’t first recognize this then you cannot understand your need to be born again into God’s family. Every believer has been registered into the citizenship of heaven. This is where our security lies. Our security In Christ lies in the fact that we have been purchased by God and written into His book. It should cause us, when we are thinking correctly, to find great rest in God’s work of salvation in bringing us to Himself. He has secured our salvation and it is in this we can rest. So when persecution and trial come because of your stand for Christ take comfort in the fact that your name is written in heaven.
In Luke chapter 10, Jesus sent out 70 disciples ahead of Him to proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God. When they returned they said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.” Jesus replied, “do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” Usually when we experience disappointment or discouragement we focus on the difficulty. Instead we should focus on the eternal reality that your name is written in heaven. What keeps you from focusing on this truth? Why are you letting that cloud your view of the mountain? As a believer in Christ your name is written in heaven.
D. There is reward
Before we move to the next characteristic I want to tell you to add this characteristic as c(2) to your outline because I added it after the outlines were written. The characteristic of Mount Zion we find next is there is reward. Verse 23 tells us, “You have come…to God, the Judge of All.” Mount Zion is not a place in which the judgment of our sin will take place. All judgment for our sin was accomplished on Mount Calvary. This is why the Scripture is able to say “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The Judge of all is now bringing out rewards to those who are His. Those who have been redeemed and recorded will have reward according to their deeds. This is another reason we should revel in Mount Zion. We will receive reward in our work for the Master. The rewards are for those who diligently serve the King and patiently await His return. Let us be of those whose service to Christ is empowered by the Spirit of God. Only this kind of service is rewarded. Why? Because ultimately all the praise for the rewards go to God Himself. He is the One who has empowered us for the deeds and He is the One ultimately to Whom the glory goes.
Mount Zion is a place of reward. This should cause us to set our hearts to serve the King. When life grows harsh and our strength fails we ought to look to Mount Zion and see God, the Judge of all waiting to be able to say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” We should think about those words until the time we see Him face to face. On Mount Zion there is reward.
E. There is righteousness
Next we see that on Mount Zion there is righteousness. The author finishes verse 23 by saying, “You have come…to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.”
There is no one who will be on Mount Zion that is not righteous. Unless a person has complete perfect righteousness they cannot find Mount Zion. What this says is that heaven will be a perfect place. It will not be filled with the garbage of the world. There will not be any sin found there. The word translated, “made perfect” is a passive verb. They have been made perfect. The righteousness that we have is imputed righteousness. This is righteousness given or granted by God.
Every believer has already been made perfect in God’s sight. He has placed perfect righteousness upon our account and we are right in His sight. I think the perfect righteousness God grants to His saints, His children, does its work in our hearts by causing us to long for that time when we will be perfect not just in status, in position, but when we will be perfect in every way. Sin in our lives should grieve us. When I do wrong (I know that’s hard for you to imagine) my heart is grieved over my sin. My heart longs for that day when my status as a righteous person will be united with practice. This is the day when we reach Mount Zion.
But listen, since we can approach Mount Zion, now, since we have access to God’s throne now, we are able to plead for God to work out His righteousness in us NOW. We have the ability to pray and ask God to make us like Him. We can implore Him to produce the fruit of the Spirit in us, love, joy peace, patience, goodness gentleness, kindness, faithfulness and self-control. As we who have Christ’s Spirit dwelling in us we do not need to live in defeat and succumb to our sin. We can live in victory. We do not need to live with excuses for why we can’t do what God tells us to do. We can do what God tells us to do through His Word. The Law does not give us the power to do what is right. It is because we have come to Mount Zion that we can live in righteousness. Stop making excuses for your sin.
F. There is the reason (Why is Zion so different from Sinai?)
Lastly we see there is the reason. Verse 24 answers the question, “Why is Zion so different from Sinai?” The author says, “You have come to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” Jesus is the reason we can approach Mount Zion. Jesus is the reason we can have fellowship with God. Jesus and His righteousness is the reason why there is no fear, no judgment and no separation at Mount Zion. Mount Zion is a place of fellowship with God, the judge, not of fear in approaching Him.
It was Jesus’ satisfaction of God’s wrath that He took upon the cross that ushered in New Covenant blessings of which we partake. Jesus is the mediator of this New Covenant that has given us access to God.
The blood of Jesus is much better than the blood of Abel because Abel’s martyrdom just spoke of his righteousness, but Jesus’ blood makes people righteous.
There is no need to fear, there is no need to be terrified of judgment. There is no need to worry about separation. If you have been saved by the blood of Christ, the blood that speaks better than Abel, you have arrived at Mount Zion. Don’t let the clouds of the trouble and difficulty of this life block the view of this mountain. For here you can see where you belong. It ought to bring joy to your heart even in the midst of great trial.
The author wants us to remember what Mount Sinai was like so that we will not want to go back. He has presented a picture of its austere and foreboding face. If you have thought about going back into your previous dead religion because there seems to be less turmoil there, less difficulty, less persecution, remember what awaits you at Mount Sinai. There is only fear, judgment and separation.
If your heart has been leaning toward going back to Mount Sinai instead of living in the grace of Zion then you need to repent. You need to turn your face back to Mount Zion and come to all that is available to you in Christ. If you have had more than you can bear it is because you have not placed your troubles squarely upon the shoulders of the One who died for you and lives to give you victory. Stop living in the dark shadow of Mount Sinai when you can live in the light of Mount Zion. You have come to Mount Zion and you should live in it. Live in it for in it there is real life. And there is rejoicing (you need to revel in your personal worship), redemption (you have been bought by God – you are His possession), registration (you have security – rest in it), reward (God is waiting to reward you – will you do His work?) righteousness (live like the righteous person you are and not in the sinful lifestyle of the unredeemed), and there is the reason for going, Jesus and His blood (Let us come and bow before Him on Mount Zion).