MYLES CHRISTIAN
Each month I talk with hundreds of Adventists, and one of the constants that I hear from many of them is how much fear and anxiety they have. I, too, had this fear as an Adventist.
Why is a movement that claims to be spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ producing the opposite of what the gospel promises? After all, the good news of the Gospel is about the peace and reconciliation we can have with our Creator through the person and work of Jesus Christ—a peace that surpasses all understanding—a peace, joy, and assurance that takes root in one’s soul casting fear and anxiety out. So why, if the Adventist Church claims to be heralding the gospel, are so many of her captives not experiencing this peace and assurance?
In Letter 187 from 1903, Ellen White wrote the following:
“The law of God, with its binding claims and its solemn injunctions, should be clearly and distinctly set forth, just as it is given in the decalogue. We should make efforts to call together large congregations to hear the words of the gospel minister. And those who preach the Word of the Lord should speak the truth. They should bring their hearers, as it were, to the foot of Sinai, to listen to the words spoken by God amidst scenes of awful grandeur. These words are as changeless and eternal as the throne of Jehovah” (Letter 187, 1903).
Notice that when giving advice to the Adventist minister, the Prophetic Authority’s advice is to bring their hearers back to the foot of Sinai to listen to the words spoken by God, amidst scenes of awful grandeur. And this precisely describes what their churches are filled with—people with their eyes fixed backward on Sinai.
Fire, Smoke, and Terror
If you recall, Sinai was a terrifying place. Ellen White even recognized this by referring to the “scenes of awful grandeur”. In fact, this scene is documented for us in Exodus 19 where God presented Himself at Sinai and the Israelites were fearful and afraid. No one could approach the mountain and touch it—including animals—lest they die. Sinai was a place of fear and trembling, representative of the great chasm existing between God and man. In their fear, the Israelites requested that Moses be the mediator between them and Almighty God, but even Moses was fearful and afraid (Deuteronomy 9:19). So why on earth would anyone, let alone a “prophet of God”, want to point people back to the foot of Sinai?
Sinai was a place of fear and trembling, representative of the great chasm existing between God and man.
In Hebrews 12, this terrifying scene is mentioned again, but for a different reason—to make a contrast to a different mountain. If we recall, the overarching theme of the book of Hebrews is that Jesus is better. He’s a better mediator, priest, king, sacrifice, Sabbath, and so on. Hebrews 12:18-24 specifically deals with Sinai where it says:
“For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”
In contrast to Mount Sinai, we are told New Covenant believers can have confidence to approach a better mountain without fear—the Heavenly Mount Zion. In contrast to looking back at Sinai, he points upward toward Mount Zion—the better mountain. While there are many nuggets of gold in this short pericope, you’ll notice his reference to the sprinkling of Christ’s blood. This has particular significance to the bridging of the gap between man and God. In fact, the author already told us two chapters prior that it’s the blood of Christ that is what opened the way for us into the presence of God, affording us the ability to enter with boldness and confidence, not fear. Furthermore, in 9:8 we were told that while the work of the priests was still going on, the way for us to approach God Himself was closed off. Unlike the blood of bulls and goats, however, Jesus’s blood is superior. It’s through His blood that the way has been opened for us to this better Mountain.
It’s through His blood that the way has been opened for us to this better Mountain.
While Sinai was a place of fear and trembling—a chasm between God and man where even Moses the mediator was afraid—Christ, the perfect and better Mediator, by the means of His own blood, gives us access to a better Mountain that we can approach, not with fear, but with confidence (Hebrews 4:16) knowing that in Jesus Christ we are secure, welcomed, and enrolled with the “firstborn” in our heavenly dwelling. We have been “seated in the Heavenlies” (Ephesians 2:6) and have a mediator who forever lives to make perfect intercession for us. He does not stop after a period of probation has closed. This eternal Mediator in the heavenly Jerusalem is far greater than Moses and the Sinai mountain. Hallelujah!
From my heart to yours, if you are an Adventist, turn your eyes from that backwards view of Sinai and look forward to Zion. We’re on that Better Mountain waiting for you when you’re ready to join us. †
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I’ve never noticed this contrast between Sinai and Zion. Thanks for the article, Myles, and your ministry.