Hebrews 12:28

Context

The author of Hebrews is unknown. The letter is commonly understood to have been written to Christians, especially Jewish believers, who were in danger of abandoning their faith amid persecution and discouragement.

Hebrews 12:18-24 contrasts two scenes. One is the terrifying spectacle at Mount Sinai, where the law was given; the other is "mount Sion" and "the heavenly Jerusalem," to which believers have come. Verses 25-27 then warn readers not to refuse him who speaks from heaven. This passage quotes Haggai 2:6, declaring that when God shakes heaven and earth "yet once more," the things that are made will be shaken and removed, and only the things that cannot be shaken will remain. Verse 28 draws the conclusion of this warning: "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." Verse 29 then gives its basis: "For our God is a consuming fire" (Deuteronomy 4:24).

Interpretation

• Eschatological reading: Many commentators understand the "shaking" as the judgment of the last days and the transformation of the created order, and they identify the kingdom that believers receive as the kingdom of God, which remains after that shaking. Because the Greek word rendered "receiving" is a present participle, some explain that believers have already begun to receive the kingdom, though it has not yet been consummated. Some scholars connect the shaking with the destruction of the Jerusalem temple and the end of the old sacrificial system.
• Liturgical reading: The Greek verb translated "serve" is a term used for sacrifice and worship. The verse is therefore read as describing the attitude with which New Testament believers should offer their worship. Many interpreters see it as leading into the "sacrifice of praise" and the sacrifices of doing good in chapter 13.
• Reading as a response of gratitude: The Greek phrase rendered "let us have grace" can also be translated "let us be thankful." The Reformed tradition has described obedience as the gratitude of those who have been saved. The Heidelberg Catechism, structured in three parts—misery, deliverance, and gratitude—is one example, and this verse is often read along these lines.

Debates and Issues

• Translation: The Korean Revised Version and the Revised New Korean Version render the phrase "let us receive grace," while other translations such as the New Korean Standard Version render it in the sense of "let us be thankful." Interpreters are also divided over whether "fear" should be understood as reverential awe (fear joined with respect) rather than terror, or whether, in light of the "consuming fire" of verse 29, it also includes genuine fear.
• Manuscripts: Some manuscripts are reported to read the indicative "we have" in place of the hortatory "let us have." Most translations follow the hortatory reading.
• Nature of the warning: When the warning of verse 25 is read together with the other warning passages in Hebrews, views diverge over whether true believers can fall away. Calvinism tends to read "a kingdom which cannot be moved" as support for the doctrine that the saints are preserved to the end. Arminianism tends to emphasize the believer's responsibility to heed the warning.

Related Passages

• Haggai 2:6-7
• Hebrews 12:18-24
• Hebrews 13:15-16
• Hebrews 10:26-31
• 2 Peter 3:10-13