Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:28-29).
With these words, the author of Hebrews concludes a section of the book of Hebrews which began in chapter 10 verse 19, wherein he exhorts his readers to hold fast and not fall away from the faith. To the untrained reader, it could appear that Hebrews is an epistle riddled with contradictions. We have found at times, even in the very same chapter, the strongest of warnings against apostasy (falling away from the faith) juxtaposed with passages presenting full assurance (eternal security) to the believer. Once again, for the last time in the epistle, we find the same thing. In our text we are warned that if we fail to heed God’s word we will not escape the great end-time shaking; yet we are also promised that the kingdom we have received is unshakeable and will remain.
Few deny the seriousness and severity of this text. There is a sharp change in tone from the preceding description of a joyful assembly at Mount Zion (12:22-25). The contrast of the two different revelatory events – Mount Zion’s joy and affability over against Mount Sinai’s terror and wrath (12:18-21) – is understood because of the contrast between the old and new covenants. Mount Sinai, where the law was given, was terrifying because God’s holiness separated Him from His people. Mount Zion, however, is the city of God where God’s people gather in His presence joyfully, without fear, because we have come to Jesus, the greater Mediator of a greater covenant. It is exactly because the believer has come to Mount Zion that he or she can persevere in the faith and finish the race.
What could be more difficult to understand is how, even from our unshakeable Mount Zion, we still must live with reverence, awe, and the fear of God. How are we to understand our assembly at Mount Zion as something that is both at once, festal and fearful? True, God’s nature has not changed – He is as holy as He was on Mount Sinai. He remains a consuming fire; however, has not that fire been quenched in the Gospel? How are we as believers to approach God both confidently and fearfully? Is this a contradiction of ideas? As we will see on Sunday, understanding Hebrews 12:25-29 will help us to understand other apparent contradictions in the book.