Our God is a Consuming Fire

Jerry Mongello continues in Hebrews 12:18-25 (Part 4_

Brief review; Chapter 12 is a series of warnings and exaltations. 

In part 1 Pastor Martin went through verses 1 thru 3 reminding us of what great cloud of faithful witnesses we have as examples on how to conduct ourselves, how to endure the race, to be careful not to be caught up in sin, or weight down by the ways/cares of the world enabling us to stand for the word of God. Reminding us to keep looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

In part 2 we are exhorted not to forget we are sons and daughters of the Lord nor despise the discipline/chastening of the Lord. The Lord loves those chastens or disciplines as sons and daughters. Spoke about bearing fruit of repentance and there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus Romans 8:1 and 1 John 1:8-9. Likewise we should forgive!!!

In part 3 we are called to strengthen ourselves spiritually, depending on the strength of the Lord, strengthening ourselves through the word of God. Instructing us that since we have all the evidence from these great cloud witnesses of God’s faithfulness, we can strengthen ourselves to be spiritually and be strong and courageous in our faith to stand in the word of God.

Part 4 the author in Hebrews contrasts the Mosaic Covenant with the New Covenant by contrasting the two mountains: Mount Sinai God comes down to the top of the mountain to give Israel the law vs the new covenant the covenant of grace given from Mount Zion, from the cross.

[Hebrews 12:18-21 NKJV] 18 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard [it] begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” 21 And so terrifying was the sight [that] Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”) 

First let’s look at Mount Sinai

[Deuteronomy 5:22-30 NKJV] 22 “These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 “So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. 24 “And you said: ‘Surely the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he [still] lives. 25 ‘Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our God anymore, then we shall die. 26 ‘For who [is there] of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we [have], and lived? 27 ‘You go near and hear all that the LORD our God may say, and tell us all that the LORD our God says to you, and we will hear and do [it].’ 28 “Then the LORD heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right [in] all that they have spoken. 29 ‘Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever! 30 ‘Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” 

[Hebrews 12:20 NKJV 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: ” These verses puzzled me, because they weren’t afraid of the fire, trumpet, and the voice. They feared not being able to comply with the commands. 

[Exodus 20:18-21 NKJV] 18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw [it], they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” 20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God [was].

[Hebrews 12:22 NKJV] 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 

[Hebrews 1:14 NKJV] 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

The New Covenant comes from Mount Zion from the cross.

[Jeremiah 31:31-34 NKJV] 31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah– 32 “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day [that] I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 “But this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

[Matthew 26:26-30 NKJV] 26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke [it], and gave [it] to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave [it] to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” 30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

[Hebrews 12:23 NKJV] 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn [who are] registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 

[Psalm 96:13 NKJV] 13 For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.

Registered in heaven

[Revelation 20:11-15 NKJV] 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is [the Book] of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

[Revelation 3:1-6 NKJV] 1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 3 “Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. 4 “You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ‘

[Hebrews 12:24 NKJV] 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than [that of] Abel.  

[Galatians 3:19-20 NKJV] 19 What purpose then [does] the law [serve]? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; [and it was] appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator does not [mediate] for one [only], but God is one.

[1 Timothy 2:3-5 NKJV] 3 For this [is] good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For [there is] one God and one Mediator between God and men, [the] Man Christ Jesus,

[Deuteronomy 18:15, 17, 19-22 NKJV] 15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, … 17 “And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. … 19 ‘And it shall be [that] whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require [it] of him. 20 ‘But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 “And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’– 22 “when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that [is] the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

[Hebrews 12:25 – 29 NKJV] 25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more [shall we not escape] if we turn away from Him who [speaks] from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God [is] a consuming fire.

Shaken Kingdom

[Joel 3:9-17 NKJV] 9 Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, Let all the men of war draw near, Let them come up. 10 Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, ‘I [am] strong.’ ” 11 Assemble and come, all you nations, And gather together all around. Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD. 12 “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the winepress is full, The vats overflow–For their wickedness [is] great.” 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD [is] near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and moon will grow dark, And the stars will diminish their brightness. 16 The LORD also will roar from Zion, And utter His voice from Jerusalem; The heavens and earth will shake; But the LORD will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the children of Israel. 17 “So you shall know that I [am] the LORD your God, Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, And no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”

[Revelation 16:17-21 NKJV] 17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. 19 Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 20 Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, [each hailstone] about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.

God is consuming fire.

[2 Peter 3:9-13 NKJV] 9 The Lord is not slack concerning [His] promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken.

[Revelation 21:1-8 NKJV] 1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them [and be] their God. 4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”