to a trumpet blast or to a voice that made its hearers beg that no further word be spoken.
For they could not endure that which was commanded,.... In the law; not that they disliked and despised the law, as unregenerate men do; but they could not endure it, or bear it, as a yoke, it being a yoke of bondage; nor as a covenant of works, it requiring perfect obedience, but giving no strength to perform; and as it showed them their sins...
The Jewish church was gross and earthly, dark and terrible, meant to strike dread; the gospel state is spiritual, clear, and mild. Mount Sinai demanded external obedience through fear; Mount Zion appeals to hope and the heart. Yet apostasy from the gospel is no less dreadful in its consequences than apostasy from Moses.
AI summary
Commenting on Hebrews 12:18-29
Verse 19. And the voice of a trumpet. . The sound of the trumpet amidst the tempest was fitted to increase the terror of the scene. And the voice of words. Spoken by God, . It is easy to conceive what must have been the awe produced by a voice uttered from the midst of the tempest so distinct as to be heard by the...