Covenant Reformed News – February 2011 • Volume XIII, Issue 10
This article provides an exegetical analysis of Hebrews 12:18-21, comparing Mount Sinai (representing Old Testament law and worship without Christ) with Mount Sion (representing the gospel and Christ's mediation). Through detailed examination of seven characteristics of Mount Sinai—including its physical nature, the fire symbolizing God's consuming judgment, and the darkness representing terror and hindrance to beholding God's glory—the author demonstrates how the passage warns against apostasy and departure from the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Mount Sinai (2) Hebrews 12:18-21 constitutes a warning against apostasy, especially departing from the gospel of Jesus Christ for Jewish legalism. The first of the seven things mentioned about Mount Sinai (here representing Old Testament law and worship, without Christ’s cross and mediation) in Hebrews 12:18-19 is that it is touchable, physical and material: “the mount that might be touched” (18). By contrast, the other mount, Mount Sion, is not touchable, physical or material (22). In keeping...