Hebrews 12:25-29: Consuming Fire
2024-02-03
Hebrews 12:25
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: (Hebrews 12:25)
Because Jesus’ blood speaks grace to us, better than what Abel’s speaks, we cannot refuse such an amnesty. What is it to “refuse” the One that speaks? See the discussion here.
Who is this that spoke on earth? The logical choice is the Lord who spoke from Sinai because that is who was spoken of in the previous section. The Lord spoke to the people on earth from Sinai in such a frightening fashion that caused both Moses and the people to fear and shake. If those people, who refused the Lord in those days by making the golden calf, could not escape, then it is worse for us who refuse “him that speaketh from heaven.” The Lord has gone into heaven and is there. He is our mediator and advocate there. His blood was sprinkled on a heavenly altar. We can never refuse this advocate in heaven that speaks for us better than Abel and even the Lord at Sinai.
What is this escaping? The sinners of the Old Testament could not escape God’s judgment. “And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men” (Exodus 32:28). Moreover, all those except Caleb and Joshua fell in the wilderness in their generation. Elsewhere the word “escape” is referring to fleeing from judgment and destruction:
Joseph and his family fled to Egypt to save the baby Jesus. “And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him” (Matthew 2:13).
Here is what John said concerning the Pharisees and the Sadducees: “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7).
When preaching the gospel, the disciples could flee from persecution, because there will always be another village to preach to: “But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come” (Matthew 10:23).
The scribes and Pharisees will not be able to flee from hell: “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Matthew 23:33).
The believers in Judea must flee from the abomination of desolation, which will cause the death of many: “Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains” (Matthew 24:16).
When the Lord was arrested, His disciples fled to avoid the same fate as the Lord: “And they all forsook him, and fled” (Mark 14:50).
There are many such examples. One is fleeing or escaping some sort of judgment, danger, or destruction. So “if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven,” we will not be able to flee from the judgment that the Lord has.
For the original audience, the Hebrews did not hear the voice of the Lord Jesus. Their city was destroyed and faced a much broader diaspora than before. The principle still stands with us.
Hebrews 12:26
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. (Hebrews 12:26)
We spoke before how the voice of the Lord shook Mount Sinai and how the people feared. But His voice will shake heaven in the future also. How much terror will be on that Day? The apostle refers to Haggai 2:6. Let us consider Haggai 2:1-10.
After the people obeyed the prophets to finish building the temple, this is Haggai’s response. The temple was not like the previous temple of Solomon. Blueprints left behind by the prophet Ezekiel were not considered. Nonetheless, the Lord encouraged them that He would not leave them.
Then, the Lord switches to the future. He will shake earth, heaven, sea, and dry land. In other words, He will shake everything. After the fifth seal, we see this: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken” (Matthew 24:29). He will shake the nations as a part of His wrath after His people are removed from the earth. “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath” (Revelation 16:17-19).
There is a positive part to this: “and the desire of all nations shall come” (Haggai 2:7). I believe this must be Jesus Christ. He reconciles all nations to Himself through faith in His name. His kingdom comes after this violent shaking of the nations. “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4-6).
Hebrews 12:27
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. (Hebrews 12:27)
Here, we see that the whole creation shall be shaken. The events of the Day of the Lord in the final seven years before the kingdom do not completely usher in the eternal state. The new heavens and earth come in after the millennial reign of Christ, where a final end shall come to this present world, which we discussed previously. “Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously” (Psalm 96:10). “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” (Isaiah 65:17). “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain” (Isaiah 66:22). “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:10-13). “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:1-2).
Everything not in the eternal state will be destroyed and not remain. What remains is God, His Word, His people, and His kingdom.
Hebrews 12:28
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: (Hebrews 12:28)
This New Jerusalem that we have received will never pass away like the old Jerusalem. This city was built by the Lord, and it is the eternal state where God and humankind will have eternal fellowship.
The kingdom cannot be moved because the King makes it immoveable. “The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved” (Psalm 93:1). “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved” (Psalm 16:8). “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early” (Psalm 46:4-5). “They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever” (Psalm 125:1).
“...let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably...”
Hebrews 12:29
For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:29)
We need to balance the fellowship of God with us now that we are saved with the God of holiness that He is.
What does it mean for God to be a consuming fire? See the discussion here.
From this discussion we see that God is jealous and that He judges His enemies. We also see that He can restrict this consuming. “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed” (Exodus 3:1-2). The LORD then laid out His plan to deliver His people from Egypt and its destruction.
We can see that He can also consume entire sacrifices from heaven. “And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people. And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces. And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD” (Leviticus 9:23-24; 10:1-2). Not only was the sacrifice consumed, but the sons of Aaron were also slain by their strange fire they offered. The same fire that accepted the one sacrifice rejected the unlawful incense.
Even the extremely drenched sacrifice of Elijah was consumed completely by the LORD: “Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench” (1 Kings 18:38).
The Lord sent a fire plague on a few occasions to his people. “And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched. And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them” (Numbers 11:1-3). The fire was an answer to their complaining, but a mediator, Moses, intervened to stop the fire. Our mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, also stopped the fire of judgment against us.
The 250 that rebelled with Korah were also destroyed by fire. “And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense” (Numbers 16:35). This was willful rebellion that had no remedy. Likewise were the two sets of fifty and their captains sent by Ahaziah king of Israel destroyed by fire from God. “And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty” (2 Kings 1:10).
Likewise, fire from God will destroy His enemies in the end. “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb” (Revelation 14:10).
Just as in the case of the bush, God can withhold His consuming, and when there is a mediator, He will stop His plagues of fire. Jesus Christ stands between us and God’s consuming fire.