Refuse Not Him that Speaks Hebrews 12:25

“Jesus”, according to the writer of Hebrews, is “the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel”, and in chapter twelve and verse twenty-five of Hebrews, the writer shared how his readers should “refuse not him that speaks” where we read:

See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven:

The verse begins, “See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth,...”. The writer began with the words, “See that you refuse not” which means “the readers were to discern, discover, perceive and pay attention that they not avert by entreaty or deprecation” “him” which refers to “God” “that speaks” which means “that utters, proclaims, declares and affirms”. “For” or “even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and therefore” “if they escaped not” which means “whether they flee away, seek safety by flight or vanish” “who refused” or “who averted by entreaty or deprecation” “ him that spoke” or “Moses who uttered, proclaimed, declared and affirmed” “on earth” which means “the arable ground, country, land enclosed within fixed boundaries, territory or region”. The writer referred to Moses who spoke on earth as a comparison to God who speaks in heaven, and his reference is to exhort them not to “avert by deprecation” God's voice.

The verse continues, “...much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven:”. The writer added the words, “much more” or “to a larger, by far, more willingly, readily and sooner” “shall not we escape” which means “the Hebrew writer and his reader will not flee away, seek safety by flight or vanish” “if we turn away” or “if the Hebrew writer and his readers desert or remove themselves” “from him” which refers to “separate and departed from the One” “that speaks” or “utters, proclaims, declares and affirms” “from heaven” which refers to “the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings”. The warning was to remember how people did not “escape” Moses' warnings, how much less shall the readers “escape” God's words if they “turn away” from Him.

When we meditate upon these words in Hebrews, we understand the importance of realizing how awesome are the words of God. If Moses' words had profound effects upon the people to whom he shared, how much more shall God's words have their results upon those who confronted with them? Jesus Christ came to be the “mediator” between God and man, and without Him, no one could “escape” God's words. The importance of having Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord is that we have a “go between” to intercede on our behalf, and without Him, how “much more shall not we escape”?

Next time the writer refers to God “whose voice then shook the earth”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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