Read Hebrews 12:23. If this is a celebration, why is God described as a judge? How can a judge be part of or a reason for a celebration? Read also Daniel 7:9-10, Daniel 7:13-22.

The celebration described in Hebrews 12:22-24 alludes to a future judgment. God, the judge, presides, and books are used, and the result of this future judgment from the books is that God’s people receive the kingdom (Hebrews 12:28).

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This scene evokes the great pre-Advent judgment described in Daniel chapter 7, which portrays a judgment scene where God, the “Ancient of Days” (Daniel 7:9), sits on a throne made of fire and is surrounded with “ten thousand times ten thousand” (Daniel 7:10) angels. Books are opened (Daniel 7:10), and the judgment is decided in favor of “the saints of the most High,” who then “possessed the kingdom.” (Daniel 7:22).

Similarly, Hebrews 12:22-29 describes a judgment scene at Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, where God, “the Judge of all,” is surrounded with “thousands upon thousands” of angels (NIV). The scene is also a fiery one (Hebrews 12:29). It includes books because the saints are “enrolled” in them (Hebrews 12:23, ESV), which implies a favorable judgment for the saints.

Jesus is at the center of the scene (Hebrews 12:24). He was described as the Son of Man in Hebrews 2, who was “crowned with glory and honor” after having tasted “death” in our behalf (Hebrews 2:9, ESV). According to Hebrews 2:10, the “son of man” (see Hebrews 2:6, ESV) suffered in order that He could bring “many sons to glory” (ESV); that is, in order that believers would be able to be “crowned with glory and honor” as well. The “Son” has now brought believers into Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, through the benefits of the new covenant (Hebrews 12:22-24), where they are promised to receive a kingdom (Hebrews 12:28).

This judgment is, then, really good news for believers because it is a judgment that rules in their favor. It vindicates them. It is a judgment that defeats their adversary, the dragon, who is behind the terrible beasts that have persecuted believers in the past (Daniel chapter 7) and will do so in the future (Revelation chapter 13).

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Read Hebrews 12:22-24. What does Paul describe here?

Hebrews affirms that we have come to Mount Zion and participate in a great celebration. “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” (Hebrews 12:22, ESV).

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We have come through faith in the person of our representative, Jesus. In this celebration we find an innumerable host of angels, God Himself, and Jesus, who is the center of the celebration. We come as part of the “assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven” (Hebrews 12:23, ESV). Our names are enrolled in the books of heaven, where God’s professed people are listed (Exodus 32:32, Psalm 56:8, Daniel 12:1, Malachi 3:16, Luke 10:20, Revelation 13:8, Revelation 17:8).

We are the “firstborn” because we share the inheritance of the Firstborn par excellence, Jesus (Hebrews 1:6). Thus, we have come not as guests but as citizens (compare with Philippians 3:20). We are also described as “the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (Hebrews 12:23, ESV). This expression is a figure of speech in which a dimension of our human nature stands for the whole. It is analogous to the expression “the Father of spirits” in Hebrews 12:9, which refers to God as the Father of us all, human beings who are spiritual in nature.

The festal gathering celebrates the inauguration of Jesus’ kingly rule, priestly ministry, and the inauguration of the new covenant. In Hebrews, Mount Zion is the place where all these events take place. Three of the psalms in Hebrews 1:5-14 describe the enthronement of the Son and have Mount Zion as the place where it occurred (Psalm 2:6, ; Psalm 110:1, ; Psalm 102:21-27).

Mount Zion is also the place where the Son was appointed “priest forever” (Hebrews 5:6), a quotation of Psalm 110:4. According to Psalm 110, the appointment of the Son as High Priest occurs at Mount Zion, as well (Psalm 110:2). Finally, Hebrews argues that the inauguration of Jesus’ priesthood also marks the inauguration of the new covenant (Hebrews 7:11-22). Thus, Mount Zion is also the place where the new covenant was ratified. Hebrews 12:22-24 describes, then, the festal gathering that occurred in heaven when Jesus ascended.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Hebrews 12:18–29; Exodus 32:32; Daniel 7:9-10, , Daniel 7:13-22; Haggai 2:6–9, Haggai 2:20-22; Psalm 15:5; Psalm 16:8; Hebrews 13:15-16.

Memory Text: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28, NKJV).

Hebrews 12:18-29, the passage for this week, is the climax of the letter, and it sums up its main concern by repeating the idea with which it started: God has spoken to us in the person of His Son, and we need to pay careful attention (Hebrews 1:1-2; Hebrews 12:25) to Him. The description of Jesus in Hebrews 12:22-24 epitomizes the letter’s assertions about Him: Jesus is the Mediator of the new covenant, and His blood provides salvation for believers. His priestly and royal ministry in our behalf is a cause for celebration for the heavenly hosts. And finally, Hebrews 12:25-29 contains the last and climactic exhortation: God’s judgment is coming. It will bring destruction to His enemies, but vindication and a kingdom to His people (Hebrews 12:28-29).

The ending reaffirms the importance of Jesus’ achievements at the cross and directs believers to the consummation of Jesus’ victory at the Second Coming. Paul used imagery from Daniel chapter 7 to remind the readers that Jesus has received a kingdom from God, the Judge (Daniel 7:9-14), and is going to share His kingdom with believers, “the saints of the Most High,” who will possess it forever and ever (Daniel 7:18).

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 19.

Sunday–>

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Support for the mission activities of the Seventh-day Adventist church has always been part of the Sabbath School program. This video is Mission Spotlight for this week.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4CgPOFejC4&w=560&h=315]

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Worshiping Like Jesus

By Andrew McChesney

Three years ago, the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering helped establish a community center to reach people in Cambodia. But the community center, an “urban center of influence,” reached its first person before it even opened.

Image © Pacific Press

Koy Sopaon heard that construction work had started on the Essential Life Center and that the wages were fair, so he asked project manager Gary Rogers for a job. Gary, a U.S. missionary who works for Adventist Mission, had no immediate openings at the site in Battambang, Cambodia’s second-largest city, but he took Sopaon’s phone number.

Sopaon returned a few months later and Gary, learning he had welding and bricklaying experience, told him he could start work the next day.

“Why wait until tomorrow?” Sopaon said. “I can start now.”

Sopaon, a leader in his own Christian church, was surprised to learn that Gary began each workday with a 30-minute worship. He had never held a job with worship, and he liked it.

As the group studied, he realized that things he was learning from the Bible were different from what his church taught. One morning, the worship focused on the seventh-day Sabbath. Sopaon read in Luke chapter 23 about Jesus dying on the preparation day, the sixth day of the week, and being buried before the sun set for Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. He saw that the disciples stopped their work for the Sabbath and that Jesus rested in the tomb. It wasn’t until the first day that they brought spices to anoint His body. Surprised, Sopaon told himself, “Then the seventh day truly is the Sabbath!”

Seeing Sopaon’s belief, Gary asked, “Do you want to be like Jesus?”

Sopaon didn’t hesitate. “Yes, I do,” he said.

“If that is your desire, join us as we open the Sabbath together next Friday evening,” Gary said, inviting him to an Adventist gathering.

Sopaon came on Friday and returned the next day for Sabbath worship. He was amazed at how people greeted one another, saying, “Happy Sabbath! Happy Sabbath!” It made him feel that God could make him holy.

As Sopaon learned more about God, he began to return tithe. On Sabbath afternoons, he joined church members in helping the needy. He was baptized 18 months after starting to work on the construction site for the Essential Life Center.

Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering that helped open the Essential Life Center, an “urban center of influence” in Battambang, Cambodia.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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