Context No. 3398 of 4322 · Hebrews

Hebrews 12:22-29: in context

22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes of angels, 23to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel. 25See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we not escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven, 26whose voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.” 27This phrase, “Yet once more” signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain. 28Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let’s have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, 29for our God is a consuming fire.

The writer lifts our eyes to where, in Christ, we have already come: not to a mountain of terror like Sinai, but to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless angels, to God the Judge of all, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, whose sprinkled blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Abel's blood cried out for justice; Jesus' blood speaks mercy and pardon.

And there is both a promise and a warning. God will shake the heavens and the earth once more, so that only what cannot be shaken will remain. Everything temporary and made will be removed; his unshakable kingdom alone will stand. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be grateful and worship God with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. When everything else is shaken away, the kingdom of God remains, and it is ours; that is why we can worship with gratitude even as the world trembles.

Am I building my life on the unshakable kingdom of God rather than on things that will be shaken away, and do I worship him with reverence and gratitude?

Sources

Hebrews 12:28: "Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can't be shaken, let's have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe."
Hebrews 12:24: "To Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel."
Hebrews 12:22: "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem."