Fear and Trembling

And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.” (Hebrews 12:21, NKJV).

Whatever else the manifestation of God's Presence on Mount Sinai was, Moses, the sole audience on the mountain itself, summarized his experience in the six words quoted above.

Fear and trembling is the appropriate response.

Yes, God is love. Yes, He is merciful and gracious, and in Christ, forgiving, but the Law and Mount Sinai were all about God's righteousness and judgment. That blazing holiness and raw omnipotence can only engender awe and terror when witnessed by a mere mortal man.

And it is that holiness and omnipotence that will be foremost in that future Day of Judgment coming upon the entire Christ-rejecting world. Men will cry out for the rocks and mountains to fall on them rather than to be subjected to the fierce glory and wrath of the Lamb of God.

So-called modern thinkers, liberated from the "archaic superstitions" of the past via "higher" education, consider such ideas about future judgment to be quaint and just a little bit childish. They take comfort in their condescension and imagined superiority. But that insouciance is an illusion that will be shredded come the reality of that Day. Their vaunted philosophies will offer no refuge or escape.

It should be no surprise that this represents one of the most effective strategies against faith and godliness, and involves lemming-like dismissiveness; a scoffing disregard for what most of the world has believed for most of history.

And the most ironic component of this tactic is that even the most dismissive among its practitioners are haunted by the awareness of an oncoming existential storm. 

They know that a cataclysm is imminent. They know the human race and this planet are headed for doom and disaster, and that knowledge displays itself in hysteria over all the imagined causes: anthropomorphic global warming; religious zealotry; bigotry; overpopulation; a nuclear holocaust; new strains of resistant diseases; and on and on.

Strangely, there appears to be no acknowledgment of the uncanny accord between their "modern" terror, and the ancient ones that have been an inherent part of human thinking since humans began thinking.

What these stubborn and stiff-necked individuals willfully refuse to come to grips with is that the Creator God of the Universe placed this conviction of coming judgement in our very DNA so that the prospect of future upheaval is undeniable.

Make no mistake. However terrifying the anticipated man-made causes of global destruction may be, these are nothing in comparison to the terror of a wrathful omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient Being determined to execute judgement on His rebellious creatures.

That fear and trembling that pervades human society about the future is a goad, an incentive, an unendurable impetus to bring us to Christ.

Resistance is futile, for no matter what is tried in a frenetic attempt to deny the fear - habitual busyness, activism, frantic pursuits of distraction and denial, drug or alcohol induced stupors, rabid hedonism or hatred, greed-soaked acquisitiveness - nothing works for long. And the dread returns with an intensive backlash.

These verses in Hebrews are setting up yet another comparison between Christ and all that came before. For even Moses, a hero of the faith and giver of Divine Law, could not approach his God without fear and trembling.

He was confronted with undeniable evidence of God from the moment he was sent as Deliverer for the Children of Israel. From the burning bush, to the manifold provisions in the wilderness, he knew of God's power and ubiquitous Presence. He knew of his holiness and purity, and he responded as only a sane man would: fear and trembling.

We will see in the next few verses that we who have accepted Christ operate under a much different paradigm, an infinitely better hope, a vastly different future prospect, but before we gloat or feel special, remember this: it is all God.

We have done nothing to deserve other than that same fearsome judgment except the one and only thing that makes a difference. We have believed in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as Lord and Savior.

And even that belief is a gift of faith from the Giver of All Good Gifts.

Enduring the Presence of God

(For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”) (Hebrews 12:20-21, NKJV).

The Children of Israel begged that the Word spoken from Mount Sinai cease. This was not only the word of the Law, but the warning above - that this place where Yaweh made His Presence known so powerfully was holy and sanctified. So much so that to come near was a death sentence for either man or beast.

Moses, the Lawgiver himself, confessed to a soul-deep terror at the sight of the Presence. It literally shook him to his very core.

How does this reconcile with the earlier exhortation in Hebrews to "come boldly to the throne of grace"? To take advantage of our more perfect access?

The answer is part of the overarching theme of this book in its continuing comparison of what we now have IN Christ, and how superior it is to whatever came before.

Because of Christ, whose death took away our sin, we have been cleansed and sanctified. We are, in Him, holy. We will see shortly that, through Him, we have not come to that mountain that could be touched, but we have obtained entry to an infinitely better place.

Unlike the Children of Israel, who could only approach God's Presence at a distance, and only at a specific time and place, we who believe in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, are granted free and open access, always and forever. We need no appointment nor human intercessor nor representative. We come as beloved sons and daughters of the King.

There is no comparison.

The world mistakenly believes that Christians think themselves superior. That is not the case, though undoubtedly many who claim to be Christians come across as feeling superior, and perhaps believe it to be true.

No, it is not the follower who is something, but the One he or she follows who has rightful claim to that superiority. It is the Shepard, not the flock.

Hebrews clarifies the restrictions and prohibitions of the divine/human relationship of the past by contrasting it in graphic terms with that available in the present through the Son of God.

Our position with God IS superior, but again, not because of anything about us, but because of what Christ has done on our behalf. And that superior position comes only through humble acceptance of our helpless and hopeless state, mired in sin and sentenced to death.

The world HATES that we have received pardon, partly because the world hates that pardon is necessary, but mostly because the world HATES Christ, just as He declared it would.

I have found that the hatred is often the most intense from those who consider themselves decent and loving people, who have a view of themselves as having lived in such a way that they are by no means worthy of condemnation.

These people are often the ones who can endure the Presence of God the least. It is an offense to their own carefully nurtured self-image. 

As it has ever been, it is the self-righteous to whom divine forgiveness is a threat rather than a blessing. Their fragile pride, so essential to being able to cope with daily life, cannot tolerate the thought that they are less than they must think themselves.

That is why a broken and contrite heart is needed. That is why those who are forgiven much, love much. That is why a comprehensive picture of the holiness of God and the unholiness of sinful man is essential.

For without recognition and confession of sin, without the repentance that comes from understanding that we are sinners who need saving, without comprehending the infinite cost of that salvation freely paid on our behalf by Christ, without that fear and trembling at our core when confronted with a holy and righteous all-powerful Being, we will never come to the end of ourselves.

Without that, the gossamer foundation of our mortal existence can never tolerate a single moment, let alone endure for all eternity the Presence of God. 

For as we shall also see, our God is a consuming fire.

The Presence of God

For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 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. (Hebrews 12:18-19, NKJV).

When God reveals Himself the very foundation of the universe trembles. When He steps into time and space, His Presence and power and authority are unmistakable and undeniable. So much so that there will come a day when: “As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” (Romans 14:11, NKJV).

Precursors of that day are recorded in the ancient books of Scripture, with God choosing to reveal His glory to humanity to mark significant developments in redemptive history, as in the event alluded to in the verse above, the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. 

His august Presence blackened the mountain with fire, and His Words rumbled through the cosmos in unapproachable power, with roiling blackness and darkness and tempest .

For their own protection the Children of Israel were strictly prohibited from approaching too closely or casually - they were to understand the sheer majesty of the raw creative Power whose words spoke existence into being.

And the sound of that voice crescendoing over even the clarion trumpet call of the heavenly honor guard accompanying Him proved intolerable for the mere humans for whose benefit the Divine Appearance was manifest.

They begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore, for it overwhelmed them and gave them a glimpse of the true nature of the One they followed, and in whose hands they had put their very lives and souls.

While we may see that reaction as less than courageous, in the very least it was an acknowledgement of who God is - the sovereign Lord of Lords and King of Kings - and it is far more appropriate than the casual, almost nonchalant attitude some today hold toward our Maker and Redeemer, it they admit to His existence at all.

He is, most emphatically, not the genial, grandfatherly figure portrayed in popular culture, nor "the man upstairs", nor is He accessible by any means other than through faith in His Son, Jesus. To believe or think otherwise is blasphemy of the most arrogant form, transforming He who lives in unapproachable light - whose glory fills the heavens - into a mere figment of limited human imagination.

This majesty, sovereignty, authority, glory and power clothed Himself in human form and came to us as Christ Jesus, born of a virgin, under the Law. His flesh was a veil that protected us from the obliterating impact of His true Presence, and was also the means by which He revealed Himself more comprehensibly to the human mind. It was also the form needed to BE that sacrifice that would take away the sin of the world.

But make no mistake, Christ is all the fullness of the godhead bodily. In His resurrected and glorified form, His glory still fills the heavens, and His voice is as devastatingly overwhelming as that from Mount Sinai.

The difference, though, between now and then is yet another aspect of the superiority of Christ to all that can be conceived of in the past, present, or future - in every aspect. Rather than prohibition we have complete access - we can boldly come to a place far more significant than the Mount of the Law. We have, in fact, unencumbered access to the very Throne of Grace itself.

This is not to imply that the power and majesty that blackened that mountain and caused all of Creation to tremble is in any way lessened or mitigated. If anything, through God's selfless act of redemption through His Son, that revelation of ultimate power is clarified by the revelation of ultimate love.

The words spoken from Heaven now are no less than the words spoken to ancient Israel then. If anything their message is more significant, since they are augmented by the supreme act of sacrifice on the Cross.

For those who have sincere faith in Christ, there is no need to beg that His word not be spoken anymore, for its burning provisions of judgment under the Law have been satisfied by the Son of God Himself. 

The Word to His followers now conveys forgiveness and salvation and eternal life in the Savior - judgment has been satisfied.

That Presence of unimaginable majesty is unchanged, but that consuming fire, rather than a source of terror, is the only true source of warmth and light and life to those who call upon the Name of the Lord.

When Man Rules

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears. (Hebrews 12:14-17, NKJV).

In a mere 50 years we have come so far and fallen so low in regard to Western sexual mores that what was once considered shameful is now the accepted norm. This is precisely what has happened throughout human history when human authority and judgment supplants the divine.

Take God out of the picture and all you have left is man. Nothing could be more dismal and hopeless. Nothing could be more antithetical to all that is good, except perhaps Hell itself.

This is the issue of sovereignty; the question of who has authority and who can rightly demand or enforce submission. If it is the eternal transcendent God - omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent - then the absolute standards He establishes are reflections of His character. Since He is good and just and merciful, so too are His laws.

But what of the ruthlessness recounted in the Old Testament? What about an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? 

The answer is simple. Divine judgment based on an all-knowing God can determine rightly what constitutes fitting punishment. Human judgment, steeped in sin, self-will, woefully limited knowledge, and cultivated in the hotbed of intense emotion, can not. 

When God commanded that whole city-states be exterminated by the Children of Israel, men, women and children, it was not only fitting retribution but a necessary lesson for His Chosen People. 

Left to flourish, those ancient people groups would have further contaminated the culture and era in which God had ordained that Abraham and his descendants would live, making them unfit to receive His revelation, and thus depriving the world of its most important asset: knowledge of God.

Using Israel as His instrument of judgment was a graphic and dramatic illustration for them of what it meant to fall under God's righteous wrath.

These horrendous events are often used as an argument against the goodness and love of God, but this is a specious argument for two very good reasons.

The first is founded on the assumption of human innocence, and prefaced by the arrogant, whining, and self-serving question of "How could a God of love do X or Y or Z?" 

To exterminate evil is not only good and loving, but a moral necessity. To promulgate an environment for good to flourish is also loving. Both those things were accomplished by the Old Testament judgments. Had these been initiated by man, that would not have been the case, but commanded by God it would have to be the case, since God is just.

Unless of course, and this leads to the second specious argument, mankind is, and knows "better" than God.

The assumed innocence and goodness of mankind is belied by history. Godless human authority, from Nimrod to Ghengis Khan to Hitler to Pol Pot to Kim Jung Ill, has not only resulted in miscarriages of justice, but in genocide. In reality, the limiting principle of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" is a soothing lullaby  in comparison. 

The idea that humans know better and would rule better if only we put aside all those things that make us quintessentially human in our fallenness is simply delusional. We are incapable of justice or mercy or love for more than a moment in and of ourselves. Without God, we are minions of the devil by default.

Every single instance of a society ruled by men without God has quickly devolved into an unmitigated disaster. Just look at the atrocities of the French and Communist Revolutions, both founded on rabid atheism. Look at the slow death and decay of whole cultures that sought only human rule.

Logically, if those nations founded ostensibly in faith toward God, like the United States, are rampantly imperfect and fall far short of expectations, how could any that emphatically rejects Him hope to be any better?

The answer is that it can't.

When man is the sole source of authority, moral values become relative. What is "good" and "proper" for some are profoundly evil for others. This is where we find ourselves today.

Vile evil is propagandized as tolerance and choice. Insistence on absolutes is deemed the only true evil, unless of course the "absolutes" originate from those paternalistically deemed as "backward" or "primitive", then these are viewed as quaint sensibilities that must be respected by the more enlightened.

The equation is damningly inevitable. When man rules chaos results.

Only when those in authority acknowledge and rely upon a Supreme Being, can there be any hope of justice or mercy in human society. To believe otherwise is sheer fantasy and a denial of the raw facts of history.

Aside from the devil himself, a human being without God is profoundly evil, and that evil manifests itself primarily in the buying and selling of justice or benefit or privilege or position or power.

When the pricelessness of righteousness is assigned a crass material value, every other virtue is rendered worthless.

Look at Esau, who for one morsel of food, sold his God-given birthright. In effect, he cast aside divine goodness and authority for a meal; to satisfy the momentary lusts of his belly. When he realized the self-defeating stupidity of his transaction, he repented, not of his motives or heart, but of the deal he had struck - momentary gratification at the expense of lasting blessing.

And that is the deal we all face in this life.

When we discard God from our thoughts, words and actions, man takes His place. We exchange delusional momentary benefit, "the passing pleasures of sin", for eternal blessing. Eventually, every evil becomes justifiable under the auspices of tolerance and enlightenment, or business, or survival of the fittest. Fairly soon, even the attempt at justification falls by the wayside.

The end is suffering, injustice, exploitation, chaos and death.

Look around.

Bitter Roots

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears. (Hebrews 12:14-17, NKJV).

This is a truthful saying worthy of contemplation and repetition: you reap what you sow.

Sometimes the outcome is slow to break ground, at other times it comes with sudden and surprising intensity, but in the end, whatever the result, it emerges into the light for all to see; either goodness or defilement.

Ultimately, nothing will be hidden. The Word of God guarantees that all will be made known about every word and deed of man, woman and child. No escape. No shelter. No cover-ups.

Bitterness in the human heart, no matter how well disguised day-to-day, will manifest itself one way or another. And the more that bitter root is nurtured and coddled, fed and watered, focused upon and cared for, the deeper that root will penetrate until only radical and transformative spiritual surgery can excise it (always painful).

Or the resulting corruption and defilement will take permanent residence, becoming eternally fatal.

The fecund soil of bitterness is pride; stinking, decay-promoting, selfish, and self-focusing pride.

The only effective balm is sweetly reasonable humility - the certain knowledge that you deserve nothing but judgment and continue to exist (indeed, exist at all) only by the loving grace of an almighty God who desires, above all else, that you seek forgiveness in His Son.

Bitterness is a foot-stamping, breath-holding temper tantrum directed at the cold, cruel world, and is an indictment not of the Universe, or your circumstances, but of you yourself.

Believe me. I know. From tedious personal experience.

Bitterness cannot ever be contained. It will ALWAYS leak out, like pus from an infected sore.

If, when it begins to take root, you do not remind yourself of who you are in reality (and not in your own delusional self-image), it WILL grow. Like a weed. Or fungus that thrives in the dampened darkness.

When that happens, and the effects externalize, others in your life are particularly vulnerable to the contagion. Bitterness is as communicable as pride in that regard.

Again, the only workable defense is inoculation with humility before the outbreak occurs.

The equation is simple and devastating, like the cascading implosion of fissionable material. Thwarted pride leads to bitterness which leads to defilement of self and others.

How much Christian witness has been rendered moot by backbiting and conceit? How many Christian relationships have decayed and rotted because of offenses, real and imaginary, that just cannot be put aside?

How many opportunities to serve God are willfully bypassed simply because of bitterly wounded pride?

In the family of God especially, these things should not be.

Bitterness will come, like all temptation, but it can be conquered through Christ within you, the hope of glory.

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." (Matthew 6:14, NKJV).