Today’s reading is Hebrews 12.
After their “baptism” in the Red Sea, Israel came to Mt. Sinai. They were told not to touch it. They saw blazing fire and also darkness, gloom, and a tempest. They heard the trumpets blow and the voice of God utter the 10 Commandments. They begged to never hear the voice of God again. Even Moses trembled in fear.
However, when these Hebrews had come to Jesus, they had come to a different mountain. They had come to Mount Zion. More than that, they had come to the city of the living God. But wait, he isn’t talking about a geo-political land mass in the Middle East. He says they had come to the “heavenly Jerusalem.” Remember what “heavenly” signifies in Hebrews. The priests under the Law served a copy and shadow of “heavenly things” (8:5). But Jesus is actually at the “right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven” (8:1). The copies of the heavenly things were purified with animal sacrifices, but the true “heavenly things” themselves were purified by Jesus’s sacrifice, a better sacrifice (9:23). Grasp what we need to see here. The geographical area we call Jerusalem and geological land feature we call Mt. Zion are also copies of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the city of the living God. They are not the real thing; they point to and foreshadow the real thing. As geographical Mt. Zion surpasses geographical Mt. Sinai and as the temple surpasses the tabernacle, the heavenly Jerusalem and Mt. Zion surpass both of the copies preceding them. We have come to the heavenly Jerusalem.
Further, can we not see this is the heavenly city God has prepared for which Abraham was looking. It is the city whose builder and designer is God. It is the better, heavenly country (11:16). And in this city we have come to the assembly or church of the firstborn who are in enrolled in heaven.
I understand, of course, in eternity and in the resurrection, this city will have a more marvelous form and ultimate realization. This is one of those “already but not yet” kind of things. We who are enrolled in heaven are in the heavenly city even now, but of course we look forward to its eternal fulfillment. But we are there. The promises were never truly about the land in the Middle East. They were always about the heavenly reality God was forming. And we are now in it. We have come to it.
Why would we go back to the copies? Why would we go back to earthly Jerusalem, earthly Mt. Zion? We have come to the very presence of God, brought their by the mediation of Jesus the Son which makes the presence of God not a frightening place from which to run and hide, but a magnificent presence to seek and to draw near.
Praise the Lord!
Have you come to Christ’s church? Have you come to the heavenly Mt. Zion and Jerusalem? Can we help you? If so, let us know in the comments below.
Tomorrow’s reading is Hebrews 12.
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Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family
- What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
- How can we be in the heavenly city but also looking forward to God’s heavenly city at the same time?
- What do you think would cause some people during this time in which we are in the heavenly city, but not quite experiencing it as the heavenly city to abandon it and pursue what is earthly?
- What advice would you give to us to help us stay true to Jesus the mediator of this new covenant and king of this heavenly Jerusalem, His church?
- What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?
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