It was the best of
times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of
foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it
was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope,
it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing
before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the
other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some
of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for
evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only” This is the famous opening
lines from the classic novel A Tale of
Two Cities by Charles Dickens. And quite frankly it is one of my favorite
books of all time, which I’m sure many of my friends and family are tired of
hearing about. The book contrasts the successful times in London with the
uprising happening just across the pond in Paris. This opening line seems to capture the
contrast so perfectly, it was the best of times it was the worst of times. Our passage from Hebrews today also works
upon a contrast and comparison, but this is not a tale of two cities, this is a
tale of two mountains; Mount Horeb and Mount Zion. One big difference should be
pointed out here; the comparison of Mount Horeb and Mount Zion is not a best of
times, worst of times scenario, it is instead a good times, better times
situation.
With that being said, let’s jump right into our text for
today and see how this comparison takes place. The author of Hebrews begins by
talking about the Israelites and how they had experienced the presence of
God. As we have noticed throughout our
study of Hebrews, the author likes to use Biblical examples in poetic ways in
order to make his point, and once again the author does that here. He says, “You have not come to something that can be
touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound
of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word
be spoken to them.” The early readers of Hebrews who were well versed in
Biblical stories, would have automatically equated these types of descriptions
with stories of encounters with God. There is a fire in the burning bush with
Moses as well as fire on the side of the mountain with Elijah as well as a
tempest for him as well. Darkness and
gloom categorize many of the prophet’s call stories from Ezekiel to Isaiah.
More importantly, most of these descriptions also retell the Israelites
encounter with God at Mount Horeb. That is why the passage continues by saying, “(For they could not endure the order that was given,
"If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to
death." Indeed, so terrifying was
the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear.")
Now the importance of the
Israelites encounter of God at Mount Horeb is often missed by Christians
today. We tend to view it as a great
story, with awesome events; portrayed by Charlton Heston. This encounter for God for the Israelites is
more than just a great story, this encounter is crucial to their faith. Prior to Moses God has made a covenant to
Abraham of land and descendants. Many of these descendants ended up as slaves
in Egypt and so God tells Moses that he will be faithful to his covenant and
tells him, “You will be my people and I will be your God.” After escaping Egypt and wandering in the
wilderness, many began to wonder how does this covenant work? How are we to be God’s people, and how God
our God? And so we come to this critical
juncture in the story, where Moses goes up the mountain and receives the law
from God. Once again, we often misunderstand the importance of the law for the
Israelites. This law was the answer to their question. These laws where the way
in which they were to be in covenant with God. These laws showed the Israelites
God’s desire for them, and it helped them to live faithfully to will of
God. It was in this experience, this
encounter with God that many began to understand and live out the covenant that
God made with his people.
And so the author of
Hebrews comes back to this crucial event to make an important point. He points
out that in this most pivotal of events, God seemed to be something and someone
who was far off and distant, something that could not be touched. He points out all of the frightful ways in
which God was revealed: fire, darkness, gloom, tempest, trumpets. He points out
that if an animal touched the Mountain they would die. He points out that Moses
himself even trembled with fear as he approached the mountain. The author of Hebrews points out here that
the typical experience of God was that God was unapproachable, that God was
untouchable.
The author shifts quickly
from this description of God at Mount Horeb and talks about God in a new way
saying, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in
festal gathering, and to the assembly of
the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to
the spirits of the righteous made perfect. The author now talks about the Mountain of
Zion, the city of God. A mountain in
which we are able to gather with the angels in a feast. This is no longer like
the separation, the distance, the gloom like we experienced at Mount Horeb;
this is a feast, in the presence of God!
So how did this happen?
How did we get from an unapproachable mountain full of fear and trembling, and
arrive at a mountain of joy and festivities?
The answer is Jesus, of course. “and to Jesus,
the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better
word than the blood of Abel.”
Once again a comparison and contrast is being made here, between the
blood that Jesus offered and the blood that Abel offered. Now when we here
blood and Abel, our first instinct is probably to think about the death of Abel
and the spilling of his blood at the hands of Cain; but this is not what
Hebrews is talking about here. Instead Hebrews is most likely referring to the
offering that the two brothers brought before the Lord. Cain brought fruit, but
Abel brought fat portions from the firstborn of his flock, which caused the
Lord to look upon Abel with favor. Therefore the blood talked about here in
Hebrews is the blood of a sacrificed animal.
Once again it is important to understand the importance of this
sacrifice. Ever since this event, the
sacrifice had become a central aspect of worship, especially worship in the
Temple once it was constructed. It was
expected that a sacrifice would be brought before the Lord in the Temple. When
it was brought forth it would be taken by the priest behind the curtain and
offered to God. Only priests and Levites
were allowed behind the curtain, because it was seen as the holy place in which
God dwelt. Once again Hebrews is using
this imagery to show the distance that seemed to exist between God and the
Israelites.
However the sacrifice of
animals is compared and contrasted here with Jesus. Whereas the blood of Abel
was actually the blood of an animal sacrificed to God, The blood of Jesus was
in fact his own blood; it was his own sacrifice. This sacrifice was not hidden behind the
curtain, but instead Jesus was raised up on Calvary for all to see. Jesus broke the seeming distance between us
and God. Jesus after all is God incarnate; Jesus after all is Emmanuel, God
with us. Jesus is the great priest that
intercedes for us. We no longer need to bring sacrifices to the Temple, because
Jesus ‘sacrifice covers us all. Jesus metaphorically brings God out of the
Temple, brings God off of the mountain, and makes God obtainable and present.
And with his ascension we are given the Holy Spirit to be with us and to lead
us. This is how we are able to look towards the mountain of Zion with hope,
because of the sacrifice and presence of Christ, of God with us.
And so the author of
Hebrews goes on to talk about what is shaken and what is not, saying, “At that
time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the
heaven." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of
what is shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may
remain. The author is reminding us that at Mount Horeb, when God spoke,
the earth trembled; the people trembled for fear. The author however is also
using the term shakable to talk about those things are finite. And so he talks
about how once again all will be shaken so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
In other words the finite will be separated from the infinite, the
everlasting. It kind of reminds me of a
device I got to use in my college biology course called the centrifuge. The
centrifuge helps you to talk a mixed compound and separate the mixture into a
more basic form. How does it work? Well through shaking, or spinning to be more
accurate. You pour the compound into little tubes, put the tubes into the
centrifuge and turn it on. The centrifuge starts to spin and the lighter part
of the compound falls to the outside; kind like on some of the carnival rides,
while the heaver substance is then separated and falls into the middle where it
can be collected. This shaking that we
talk about in Hebrews is a lot like the centrifuge, where that which is finite,
meaning that which is not everlasting, is pulled away, extracted, so that all
that remains in infinite, is everlasting. But why is this important? Why does
it matter that the infinite is separated from the finite? Is this a message of doom and gloom intended
to scare us into believing? No. In fact
it is quite the opposite, this is a message of hope. This is a message that we are able to sit in
the company of God. Just follow the
whole passage and you can see that this is what they are building up to. That at one time on Mount Horeb God seemed so
distant and so fearful, but that at Mount Zion we are in God’s company with
joy. That in the beginning an offering of sacrifice in the Temple was the way
to interact with God, that the Law given to Moses and the Israelites were the
way to be in covenant with God, but that now there is a new covenant through
the blood of Christ, Through God who became flesh and died and rose again for
our sins. It is a message of hope that
in a world that can often confuse and hinder us from truly seeing God, there
will be a time where that will be no longer a hindrance and that all that is
eternal remains. It truly is a message of hope, for that beautiful Kingdom of
God.
And so the question
remains how do we act now. What do we
now that we have hope in this kingdom?
What do we do now that we have Jesus Christ who is our great priest? How
should we act? Well, Hebrews gives us the answer and it may not be what you are
expecting. For while this whole time Hebrews has been contrasting the
difference between Mount Horeb and Mount Zion, it has never said that they were
wrong in how they acted towards God. Hebrews tells us that, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be
shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with
reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire.” We should respond in reverence. We
shall remember that the God that is so close to us is still God Almighty. That
we should gather in praise for what God has done for us. That we should gather
with hope for what is in store, but that we should always remember that God is
God. And so we worship God not to get something out of it for ourselves, but we
bring ourselves as a living sacrifice before God. We go forth from worship and serve, and
gather again to praise God’s glorious name. When we do this, when we listen to
the Tale of two mountains and take it to heart, then maybe we won’t be saying
it was the best of times it was the worst of times, instead we may lift up
praise like in the end of Dickens’classic book saying, “
“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a
far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”
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