Mount Zion And The Heavenly Jerusalem

by Ian E. Penn, Nottingham | Category: Themes From Hebrews | Oct 1980

The letter to the Hebrews informed the recipients about the superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on their behalf. This superiority is distinguished by comparing and contrasting the benefits of Old and New Covenants. Interspersed however are repeated warnings that the recipients were in as much danger of forfeiting major benefits as were their Old Covenant counterparts. It is therefore no surprise that this key passage (Heb. 12:18,19) contains, as well as this comparison and contrast, a fierce warning concerning the danger of not holding fast. The passage deals with the very heart of God's rule by presenting two separate lists in which truths about the heavenly Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem are brought together. The first list (vv. 18,19) gives in a negative manner seven things each connected by the word 'and' whereas the second list (vv.22-24) gives in a positive manner eight things similarly connected.

"Ye are not come"

Although there is doubt about who wrote the letter there is no doubt about to whom it was written. It was written to people who occupied under the New Covenant the same position in relation to God as Israel had occupied under the Old Covenant. These were believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, redeemed by God as were Israel of old, baptized as were Israel of old (1 Cor. 10:2) and united under a divine constitution in one or perhaps more churches of God, in a unity like that of Israel under the Old Covenant constitution at Mt. Sinai. This New Covenant position was and is additional to salvation and it was from such a position that they were in danger of falling away.

The use of the present tense shows that these things which characterized the initial experience of Israel continued to characterize their experience throughout the dispensation of the law. Similarly the opposites of these (emphasized by the repeated use of the word 'not') characterize the continuing experience of the people of the present dispensation. Thus the main objective of the first list is not merely to draw attention to things as they were in the past but to highlight the better things now prevailing.

(i)"not... a mount that might be touched"

Sinai was and is a real mountain. Israel came to a place and a system of

divine service which they and their descendants could see, touch, taste, smell, as well as hear. But the place and system of divine service for the New Covenant people of God is not known by the senses but by faith. The importance of faith is a well-known theme of Hebrews and its importance in divine service is such that the New Covenant counterpart to the Law of Moses is called 'The Faith' (Jude 3).

(ii)"not ... burned with fire"

The fire that burned at Mt. Sinai characterized the presence of God. It had burned in the bush (Exod. 3:3-4). It burned on the altar and was intended to burn there throughout the entire dispensation (Lev. 9:24,6:13). It consumed men in judgement (Lev.10:2, Num.16:35-40). It signified the wrath of God upon sinner or substitute such that the Old Covenant is as much characterized by fire as by things that might be touched. The disciples were still living in such an era when the Lord rebuked them for requesting the destruction of the Samaritan village (Luke 9:54-55). He was the harbinger of the opposite; ushering in an era characterized by the grace of God. These New Covenant days are characterized by grace and not by summary judgement upon sinners (Rom. 2:4-9), or upon saints (1 Cor 3:13-15) although, of course, judgement may occur in the lives of the latter.

(iii) "not ... unto blackness"

Comparison of the occurrences of the words 'blackness and darkness' with their Old Testament counterparts indicate that the unique New Testament word 'blackness' is the counterpart of the Old Testament phrase thick darkness' (Deut.4: 11; Matt.4: 16). This blackness characterized the immediate presence of God (e.g. 2 Sam. 22:10) and necessitated the elaborate arrangements concerning approach to God in the house of God in the past (1 Kin. 8:12-13). Even such a man as Moses was graciously permitted to see only God's back parts and this had lingering, if temporary, effect (Exod. 33:17-23; 34:29-35). In contrast to this, however, in the days of the New Covenant the believer may reflect "as a mirror the glory of the Lord" and be "transformed into the same image from glory to glory" (2 Cor. 3:18).

(iv) "not ... darkness"

Enlightened though the Israelites were by the giving of the Law at Sinai and by their absorption of it in the centuries that followed, they were still in relative darkness compared with the revelation that has come in Christ

(Heb 1:1-2). Those to whom the New Covenant comes may know things that prophets and angels have desired to know (1 Pet. 1:10-12). They need have no fear of death as had Old Covenant saints (Heb.2:15) and they are partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light (Col. 1:12).

(v)"not ... tempest"

The mobilization of natural phenomena to fulfil the purposes of God in His kingdom under the Old Covenant is well shown in e.g. the parting of the Red Sea (Exod. 14:21-30) or in the matter of the quails (Num. 11:31), and in Elijah's day (1 Kin. 18:45). Such is not characteristic of the New Covenant. Instead there is the gentle movement of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of sinners to bring them to Christ (John 3:8) or in the hearts of saints to guide them into all the truth (John 16:13; 2 Tim. 2:24-26).

(vi) "not... the sound of a trumpet"

The trumpeting at Sinai ushered in an era characterized by trumpet blowing (Num. 10:8). Trumpets were blown on special occasions such as when going to war, or at set feasts, as well as to mark set times such as the beginning of months (Num. 10:10) or in the jubilee or at new moons (Psalm 81:3).Under the New Covenant no such thing occurs. The next blowing of trumpets will mark the end of this dispensation and the glad return of the Lord Jesus to the air for His Church (1 Thess. 4:16). Here is the preciousness of the silence for it means that nothing is scheduled in the divine calendar until that glad moment. It is to be expected any minute.

(vii) "not ... the voice of words"

The voice that spoke at Sinai spoke again and again in the days of the Old Covenant. It spoke in the days of the Lord at His baptism and again at the mount of transfiguration, so impressing the apostles that Peter declared that it was the self-same voice (2 Pet. 1:17-18). In the days of the New Covenant that voice is silent, for those former days have been closed by the speaking of God in His Son (Heb. 1:1-2).This is done through the pages of the Scriptures where we have the word of prophecy made more sure (2 Pet. 1:19-21). We have today a complete revelation and, in the faith once for all delivered to the saints, all that is required by the New Covenant people by way of commandment. It is all that is required until, following the sound of the trumpet, a voice of words will again be heard marking the close of the dispensation when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to the air (1 Thess. 4:16).

"Ye are come"

Thus the first list emphasizes the New Covenant superiority by negating Old Covenant, earthly characteristics. The second list, however, deals positively with the heavenly things of the New Covenant and so contains much that is difficult to understand. Nevertheless help may be gleaned by the way in which these heavenly things have cast their shadow on earth. The list of eight things may be divided into two, such that the first five items list those that are, as far as is known, unchanged but the last three items denote change that has been brought about by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary.

(i)Things old yet ever new.

The Mount Zion to which the Hebrew recipients of the epistle and their successors came and have come, and that corresponds to the earthly Zion, is located in heaven itself. It is the place from which Satan was cast (Ezek. 28:14-16) but where the Lord was "laid" in resurrection (1 Pet. 2:6) and from which He will come to deliver Israel (Rev. 14:1). Meantime it is to that place and Person that believers today must come, as did the Hebrews to whom the epistle was written, to be built up a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:6). How this happens in practice may be seen from the example of the Corinthians, many of whom "hearing believed, and were baptized" (Acts. 18:8). Paul laid a foundation there (1 Cor. 3:10). He did on earth what had been done in heaven(1 Pet. 2:6; 1 Cor. 3:11). The baptized believers were then 'laid towards' the foundation stone to become God's building in that city. Such 'laying towards' is a literal rendering of the word prostithemi (added, e.g. Acts 2:42). This is how believers come to Mount Zion if they wish to be numbered with the people of God. It is this position of service and obedience from which they may be in danger of falling away.

The comparison with the Old Testament 'coming to the Mount' with its attendant privileges and responsibilities shows that the second of the eight items, "the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" particularly denotes the character of that city as in the case of the earthly Jerusalem with a centre of divine rule and testimony. From here have gone, go, and will go, the instructions and commands that bring men to salvation and saints to worship. Again the comparison with the earthly shadow helps to identify the third and fourth items of the second list. Just as a people in a past day were assembled around the divine centre on earth so to the heavenly Mount and City have been, are and will be, gathered myriads of angels. Like the people of old, too, they are arranged in order in general assembly. Further, just as the tribe of Levi were called out from amongst their fellows to replace the first-born sons (Num. 3:11-13) so there is a similar group of angelic beings,

the church of the first-born ones enrolled in heaven.

Again in keeping with the heavenly place being the centre of divine rule and judgement, it is the character of God as Judge that is presented as fifth item in the list. This too emphasizes the eternal nature of the place, for the office of judge given to the Lord Jesus is, though universal, to be exercised over a fixed period by delegation (Acts. 17:31;l Cor. 15:24-8).

(ii)Things new and ever new

The three remaining items of the second list are distinct and differ from the previous five in that they represent change in the order of things in the heavenly Zion. For example, although no clear Old Covenant shadow of the "spirits of just men made perfect" may be found, Old Testament saints could obviously not be included in this group until their death. Indeed, we suggest that their inclusion in the list of verse 23 was the result of the Lord Jesus, in resurrection, leading captivity captive (Eph. 4:8). Similarly the Lord Jesus is presented, as foreshadowed by Moses who mediated the Old Covenant, as Mediator of the New Covenant. But He had not taken the office till after Calvary. Similarly again the "blood of sprinkling", is clearly foreshadowed by the blood by which the Old Covenant was ratified (Exod. 24:1-8) and, demanding similar pledged obedience, had no application prior to Calvary. It is thus a matter provoking great humility and praise from men that the nature of the heavenly centre of divine rule has changed so as to enable men in this dispensation to be brought nigh.

Receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken

This passage, crucial to the message of Hebrews, closes with a strong warning to believers of the consequences of their falling away from the position of obedience and service bequeathed by the New Covenant Comparison is again made with Old Covenant days, but the issue for believers is more serious in that their loss through disobedience will also be eternal although they are eternally secure as far as the soul is concerned. The contrast between the eternal things associated with the New and the temporal things associated with the Old Covenant is not only emphasized by the insecurity of the earth shown by the Lord's shaking of it at Sinai, but is also shown by reference to a day most apposite to our own time. In the days when a feeble remnant returned to build the house of God and function as the kingdom of God at the earthly Zion, the Lord encouraged them. In a day of flagging interest He showed to them that their association with the place of the name in this life held the promised blessing of association with it during the millennial reign. This reign follows the shaking of the earth associated with the return of the Lord to earth and the judgement of the nations (Hag. 2:6-9). The Lord will shake the earth once more (Heb. 12:26-29) but, though similar, this is not a reference to the shaking prophesied by Haggai. The shaking of Hebrews 12:27 will be at the dissolution of the world as we know it. Consequently this scripture, at the climax of the book of Hebrews is especially precious to those few in churches of God who have returned to Mount Zion to receive again the aye-abiding kingdom. For it testifies that their present obedience will have its counterpart of reward in eternity; in a time beyond the days when our God will have consumed the earth and its associated temporal things in fire. "He that overcometh shall inherit these things; I will be his God, and he shall be My son" (Rev. 21:7).

Ian E. Penn, Nottingham | Oct 1980
Themes From Hebrews