Hebrews 12:18-24 — Sing to God! (Wait...Him?!)

READ THIS: Hebrews 12:18-24

18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

In the Old Testament, specifically in Exodus 19 and Deuteronomy 9, God comes down to talk to Moses, and the way he does it is pretty scary. I mean, just look at the recap of it in the verses above (18-21). That's what the Israelites needed to experience in that time and place, but that is not what the author is trying to get the Hebrews to feel at this moment, even though if you look at yesterday's devo, the verses ended on a down note. 

It is true that God is a big God and He can be intimidating, but He is also the one who gives us joy. The same God described in the first paragraph of verses is the same God who is being celebrated and described in the second paragraph. He makes us perfect through Jesus, and it causes us to sing!!! God doesn't want us to live in fear and a constant depressive state over our sin....He wants us to live free in Him! 

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. Look at verse 24. How does the death of Abel and the death of Jesus show the difference in how we should respond to God? (Why did Abel die? Why did Jesus die? How are those two reasons different? What do their deaths make us feel like on the inside?)
 
2. How do you view God most of the time? Does the description of God in the first paragraph or second paragraph feel more similar to how you experience God?

TRY THIS:

Look below at the song of the week! That is your challenge! (It is based on verse 22 above!)

SONG OF THE WEEK:
 
Imagine singing to God in a crowd of people who all love Him and each other!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Luke 8:19-21 — Jesus's Fam!

R EAD THIS:  Luke 8:19-21 19 Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Ummmm, hold up, is Jesus dissing on His family here? I mean, I know He is God's Son and all, but at first glance, this passage makes it seem like He is kind of hating on His family! However, if we really look into this passage, it's actually a lot more about us than it is about the family of Jesus.  In case you forgot, the last few passages have features Jesus telling and explaining different parables to a large crowd as well as His disciples. Clearly, the crowd has gotten so large that Mary and Jesus's brothers (yes... Jesus had brothers!) couldn't even reach Him. When someone told Jesus "hey dude, your fam is here an
Read more

WELCOME BACK! Hebrews Introduction

WELCOME BACK TO DEEPLY ROOTED!!! Greetings fellow Bible readers and Jesus journey-ers! We're stoked to get back in the swing of things with y'all. For any new readers, this section would usually be where our handful of Bible verses will be. The section below would break down what in the world the verses mean. Then, there are some debrief questions for you to dive deeper and an application point. A new addition this year is the Song of the Week! We'll share a song that ties into the theme of the next few verses...if you gaze ahead and have song suggestions, comment below or text! HEBREWS INTRODUCTION: As with any book of the Bible, different Biblical scholars say different things about this letter, but we'll tell you the most probable take. So here it is: Hebrews is a letter written to a group of Jews who were being persecuted for deciding to follow Jesus. It is a letter to encourage them and to show that Jesus truly is the best person to follow despite how hard it was g
Read more

Galatians 2:1-5 — Marathon Training

R EAD THIS:  Galatians 2:1-5 1 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.   WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Yesterday, we learned about how Paul went to Jerusalem and shared the incredible things Jesus did, but today, we are hearing about Paul's second time visiting Jerusalem... 14 years later. Paul talks about a bunch of things that happened durin
Read more