Hebrews 12:26

"See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we not escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven,"

Key Reflection

Hebrews 12:26 encourages believers to heed the divine warning by drawing a parallel between those who rejected earthly warnings and those who might ignore heavenly ones. The verse suggests that just as people failed to escape the consequences of ignoring earthly warnings, we should be even more cautious in rejecting the warnings from heaven. This passage underscores the gravity of disobedience, highlighting how severe the penalties can be when one disregards divine revelation.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Verse 26. Whose voice then shook the earth. When he spake at Mount Sinai. The meaning is, that the mountain and the region around quaked, Ex 19:18. The "voice" here referred to is that of God speaking from the holy mount. But now hath he promised, saying. The words here quoted are taken from Hag 2:6, where they refer to the changes which would take place under the Messiah. The meaning is, that there would be great revolutions in his coming, as if the universe were shaken to its centre. The apostle evidently applies this passage, as it is done in Haggai, to the first advent of the Redeemer. I shake not the earth only. This is not quoted literally from the Hebrew, but the sense is retained.

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