January 7th

You Have Come to Mount Zion

Hebrews 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Hebrews 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Hebrews 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Mount Sinai and Mount Zion

In this passage of Scripture, the writer of the Book of Hebrews compares the New Testament Church to Mount Zion, and contrasts it with the Old Testament, referring to the mount that burned with fire, which was Mount Sinai, which is also referred to as Mount Horeb.

Jewish people familiar with the writings of Moses and with the Psalms would understand the comparison. Mount Sinai was the mountain that Moses went up into to meet with God and receive the Ten Commandments, and Mount Zion was the mountain in Jerusalem where King David set up his tent of worship, out of which came most of the Psalms.

A Different Place Than Before

The writer of Hebrews is telling them that they have come to a different place than they were before. In the Old Covenant was the Law of Moses, which no man other than Jesus was ever able to keep. Under the New Covenant in Christ, the free gift of righteousness in given through faith in the blood of Jesus, through the forgiveness of sins, which could never be attained to under the Law.

A Heavenly Place

But, in addition to that, we can see as we read, this place he calls Mount Zion is not an earthly place, but a heavenly one. It is the public gathering, or general assembly, of the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. Every one who is born from above lives there, whether in this life or the next.

It is the city of the living God. If you recall, the Bible says that Abraham could have returned to the country he had come out of, but he was searching for a city whose builder and maker was God. That city is the New Testament Church, a city of living stones built together into a holy habitation of God through the Spirit. It is the heavenly Jerusalem, and it is filled with and surrounded by an innumerable company of angels. God, the judge of all, lives there, in this heavenly place called Mount Zion, along with the spirits of all the righteous men and women who have gone on before us. It sounds like heaven, doesn't it? The truth is that the New Testament Church of Jesus Christ is heaven on earth. It is God dwelling among men.

The Blood of Sprinkling

Jesus, the mediator of the Covenant, lives there, in that heavenly city, and the blood that redeems us, the blood He shed for us, is there. That blood speaks better things than the blood of Abel. God told Cain that his brother’s blood was crying unto Him from the ground. His blood was crying out for justice and vengeance for the wrong that Cain had committed. And Cain was cursed from the earth to be a wanderer and a vagabond. But when Jesus shed His blood at Calvary, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The blood of Jesus speaks forgiveness for those who put their faith in that blood.

2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.