for our God is a consuming fire.
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
29. For our God, etc. As he had before kindly set before us the grace of God, so he now makes known his severity; and he seems to have borrowed this sentence from the fourth chapter of Deuteronomy. Thus we see that God omits nothing by which he may draw us to himself; he begins indeed with love and kindness, so that we may follow...
Verse 29. For our God is a consuming fire. This is a further reason why we should serve God with profound reverence and unwavering fidelity. The quotation is made from : "For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." The object of the apostle here seems to be, to show that there was the same reason for fearing the displeasure...