MOUNT SINAI OR MOUNT ZION?

Friday 25 April

For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 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. (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.” And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”) But you HAVE come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 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, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. Hebrews 12:18-24 (NKJV)

What was the significance of these two mountains? Sinai was where Moses received the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone. Moses was the mediator of this covenant despite God wanting a kingdom of priests. Israel however, rejected Christ and so Moses went up to receive them from angels.

How do we know that it wasn’t God? Because Jesus said ‘no one has seen God at any time’. This corrective statement changed what the Old Testament saints previously thought about encountering God. We see this same assumption made by Moses when he said ‘Jacob wrestled with God’. These were not manifestations of God but rather angelic visitations. So angels were involved in carrying out the law as they were subservient to Moses.

Another point to consider is there was no unveiling of Satan or demons to the Jewish mind. (This came later in the gospels). In fact, they had no idea of the existence of the Devil. Because of this, evil spirits and good spirits were all classified simply as angels in the Old Testament. This explains why certain spirits carried out acts that are inconsistent with the nature of God.

Think about when Elijah recruited evil spirits to consume by fire the 100 soldiers that came to take him to king Ahaziah. His rage attracted the wrong help. Previously, the fire of God fell and consumed the sacrifice on Mount Carmel. This was by the assistance of God’s angels. This is why we must interpret Biblical facts correctly.

So what about Mount Zion? Now we are not talking about the geographical location of Zion in Israel here. How can we confirm this? We are told that we have come to Mount Zion, yet many Christians have not even been to the nation of Israel to see it. Either the Bible is wrong or it’s referring to somewhere else entirely.

That somewhere else is Christ. Let’s quickly break it down from verse 22-24. Notice the tenses are written as it has already happened, because it has.

We are in Christ or Zion now. Next it says ‘and to the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem.’ The word city there is ‘polis’ and is best described as ‘inhabitants’ rather than physical structures. In case you were wondering, the terms New Jerusalem and Heavenly Jerusalem are interchangeable. Therefore it’s not describing some city that will come down out of heaven one day.

The book of Revelation is actually set in the past in the light of Christ. We’ll leave that for another time.

It’s telling us that the city (polis) is the people of God both in heaven and on earth. Lastly it describes a spiritual Jerusalem not a physical one as we touched on earlier. We have also come to an innumerable company of angels. That’s fairly self explanatory.To the general assembly and church of the firstborn. This describes whose gathering and church it is. Jesus is shown in the New Testament as ‘the firstborn over all creation and the firstborn from the dead.

Also to God the Judge of all. To the spirits of just men made perfect. This refers to all those who have been perfected in Christ. That’s you and me in His righteousness. Now watch this. To Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant.Remember we saw Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant. He is also the testator of the New Testament written in his blood, not on tablets of stone but on the tablets of our hearts. This is why it speaks of better things (mercy and grace) than the blood of Abel (vengeance) Herein lies the vast difference between law and grace.

John 1:17 says ‘for the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.’ In other words, grace kai (that is) truth, (reality) came by Jesus Christ.

Sinai produced death bondage and destruction.

Zion produced life, freedom and salvation.

As children of God we have no business with Mount Sinai. We live in Mount Zion and need to learn to function from where we are. Christianity is all about carrying in your spirit this consciousness. The environment of Christ where we live and walk in the Spirit. Are you camping at Sinai or Zion? Religion or Christ. Moses or Jesus?

APPLICATION

Read and study Hebrews 12:18-24 to gain an understanding that you are not of Mount Sinai and grasp the revelation of the spiritual environment and community that you are now a part of, in Christ.