For you have not come to the mountain that may not be touched and that burned with fire, and to the 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……(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, (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, (24) to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of the sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
The author of the letter to the Hebrews is unknown. The thrust of Hebrews is the warning of rejecting Jesus. Because of persecution Christian Jews were in danger of apostasy – they were in peril of rejecting God who continues to speak through His Son Jesus Christ. The grace of God has brought and is bringing believers to better things than those which characterized Judaism. If you don’t know what you have you disregard it or give it away; give away eternal blessings for instant gratification. Don’t do it.
In our verses today the author is using the imagery of contrasting and comparing living on two mountains; Mt. Sinai – Jewish life under the law – with Mt. Zion, representing the joy of new life under the new covenant. The road to Mt. Zion goes through Mt Sinai and here, Mt. Zion is synonymous for the heavenly Jerusalem which is the city of the living God. Mt. Sinai represents the the unapproachable God of the Old Testament. It is a symbol of all that has gone wrong and still goes wrong when we are severed from God. The other mountain is Mt. Zion – “the heavenly Jerusalem”. It is a place (a real place) but one we haven’t seen yet. It is a city filled with”all the firstborn” by virtue of their being in Christ who IS the firstborn, resurrected from the dead having finally and fully dealt with the sin of His people; Who has created open and free access to Himself for all time. It follows that when God’s blessings are rejected there is greater responsibility and culpability.
The Jewish story can be summed up as a long journey from Egypt to Jerusalem which symbolizes two opposite spiritual states. Our verses remind us the Old Covenant is obsolete – that on Mt. Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem – we are trusting in Christ who paid for our sins. This point is driven home in the musical, Fiddler on the Roof which ends with the cry “Next year, Jerusalem”. The world is not our home. We were made for better things. Next year, Jerusalem.