YOUR IMPOSSIBLE MOUNTAIN IS GOING TO MOVE!

I started unpacking Hebrews 12:8-18 on August 22, or a little over three weeks ago. After eight blog posts we now come to the final one. To be honest, I’ve forgotten why I selected verses 8-18. I guess three weeks is a long time! I do know verse 18 through the end of the chapter refers to some things which have to be studied to be understood. I am not going to go that deep in today’s post, but I do want us to look at verse 18 and then an overview of the conclusion of the chapter. Verse 18: “You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai when God gave them his laws.”

 

On multiple occasions Jesus referred to the kind of faith which speaks to mountains (Matthew 17:20, 21:21; Mark 11:23). To the Jewish crowd listening to Jesus, moving a physical mountain was considered the impossible. They’d heard all the stories of the exodus from Egypt, the forty years in the desert, much of it spent wandering in the shadow of Mount Sinai. Unless you’re talking a volcano, like Mount Saint Helens about 200 miles south of Bellingham, mountains don’t move. Mountains, especially the highest ones like Mount Sinai, stand as an imposing, maybe even intimidating presence, which demand attention. Up to this point, chapter 12 has dealt with the themes of PAIN, PRESSURE, and PUNISHMENT. If you’re in the middle of experiencing the Father’s discipline and he’s allowing these kinds of things, it feels like you’re facing an impossible mountain. Trust me, I know the feeling. I’ve been there, and I can think of a few ways where I’m there right now. It can get very dark in the shadow of a mountain. 

I want you to see what the writer of Hebrews, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has declared in V18: “You have not come to a physical mountain…” (NLT) Whatever the discipline of the Father has looked like in your life, whatever pain, pressure and punishment you’ve been enduring, you’re NOT facing an impossible mountain. Regardless of how you’re feeling right now, no matter how imposing and intimidating the “mountain” looks, it’s going to move. You’re going to speak to it, and it will move! 

Looking at V22 and beyond…go ahead and read this section several times for yourself, through the end of the chapter. Instead of Mount Sinai, you are destined for Mount Zion, the highest hill in the holy city, Jerusalem. This is symbolic language for describing the ultimate destiny of God’s children. If you’re reading in the New Living Translation pay close attention to the phrase, “you have come” (used five times in VS22-24), as the writer of Hebrews describes how the Father is positioning you to move beyond what you thought was impossible. Here’s what this is saying, I have to make sure you don’t miss this: No matter what kind of pain, pressure and punishment God has allowed in your life, you haven’t come to an impossible mountain, your own Mount Sinai. You may be facing imposing and intimidating circumstances in your life right now, but what you’re facing IS NOT impossible. No matter what you feel, no matter how the devil is lying to you…your impossible mountain is going to move. 

V25 tells us how to respond when life feels "impossible": “See to it that you obey God, the one who is speaking to you.” (NLT) Things on earth will be “shaken” (V27), but the Father’s children will stand strong. “I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and my honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. 8 O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.” (Psalm 62:6-8 NLT and Ephesians 6:13)

Instead of walking in the shadow of your mountain in defeat and discouragement, it’s time to start speaking to your circumstances with faith-filled prayers and declarations. The Father has given you his promises, power, presence, he’s surrounded you with the people of God and even “thousands of angels” (Heb. 12:22). Do you know what all this means? Your impossible mountain is going to move!

 

Chapter 12 ends powerfully: “Since we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be destroyed, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.” (NLT)