Hebrews 12:25-29 – The challenge to be devoted

There is a tendency to be lopsided in one’s view of God. There is no denial that to be balanced, believers must see God in His entirety. At Mount Sinai God was portrayed as the all-consuming fire. But at Mount Zion, He was the all-consuming love. These two aspects of God are like the twin peaks of a mountain. One cannot afford to play down one aspect over the other. Knowing Him as a consuming fire keeps the holy fear of the Lord in believers. And knowing Him as the consuming love keeps one delighting in Him. In these closing verses, the author turned from exposition to exhortation. This twin-peak revelation shows us what God is like. In the light of this revelation, the issue is how ought the believers to respond to Him? This was the concern of the author as this chapter closes.

Here, the author was calling for an appropriate response to God. God had spoken once at Mount Sinai on earth but in these verses the author was saying that He was warning them from Heaven. The contrast here is between the places God spoke from rather than the person. The warning had to do with the failure of God’s people to stay true to His Son.

In verses 26-27, the author first referred to the event at Mount Sinai when God shook the earth as He spoke in the giving of the Law. Then quoting from Haggai 2:6, the author talked about another shaking, this time it would be greater than what took place at Sinai. When that takes place everything will go into disintegration. The phrase “Yet once more” indicates it was something future. Here, the author was referring to an eschatological shaking. When that happens only what is eternal and of the Kingdom of God will remain. All else will go into disintegration and eradicated. 

On closer examination, we know that the author was essentially calling for two things. Firstly, he was calling for obedience to God and His Word. Why? For the Word of God is effectual and final. Hence, believers must obey the Word and not refuse it. Secondly, he was calling for responsible worship. In verses 28-29, the author said that believers are those who belong to the eternal Kingdom of God. In the light of this, even as we have embraced Jesus Christ as Lord, we must offer to Him acceptable worship with reverence and awe. For God is not only an all-consuming fire, because in Christ, He is also the all-consuming love.