Reverence for God

The writer of Hebrews says, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28–29). The Greek word used for “reverence” is eulabeia. It means “reverent awe in the presence of God” and is used to describe the holy fear of God. The writer of Hebrews emphasizes that this reverence should define our worship of God, even as new covenant believers.

The author uses this word one other time, in Hebrews 5:7. It is a startling appearance of the word because he uses it to describe the actions of the Lord Jesus Christ: “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence”—because of His eulabeia. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He was with God the Father from all eternity. He and the Father are one: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

Yet the writer of Hebrews says that throughout His ministry, Jesus approached the Father with “reverence.” His reverence for God defined His interactions with the Father. He was heard because of His holy awe for God. This gives us great insight into how the Lord Jesus lived His life. He lived coram Deo—with a huge vision of God. He never lost that vision of God. It never slipped from view, and no obstacle ever eclipsed it. No Pharisee or Sadducee ever impeded it. The devil himself could not diminish it. The vision of God consumed Jesus.

If this is how the Lord Jesus approached the Father, we too must approach God with this type of reverence and awe (Heb. 12:28). “Awe” means that we tremble at the awesomeness of God. We use the word* awesome* all the time, but it really should be reserved for what is most awesome—namely, God—because “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). When was the last time you heard God described as a “consuming fire” in a sermon or in a discipleship meeting? We are so used to focusing on the immanent God who comforts us that we tend to forget His transcendence and holiness. He is outside space and time. He is holy, omnipotent, eternal, righteous, and all-powerful. He is a “consuming fire.”

Perhaps the writer of Hebrews was thinking about the manifestation of God to Moses on the great mountain of God, Mount Sinai. According to Exodus 24:12–13:

The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God.

The rest of the children of Israel were not allowed to go up on the mountain. They had pylons around the entire mountain that were basically “Do Not Enter” signs. The elders were allowed to come up to a certain point, but even they were not allowed to go up the mountain. If anyone transgressed these boundary markers, he would be struck dead by God.

The text says: “Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory [the* kabod*] of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai” (Ex. 24:15–16). Literally, the heavy presence of God dwelt on the mountain. This glory was so transcendent and so holy that it is hard to even picture what it must have looked like. “And the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud” (Ex. 24:16). Then the text says, “Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire” (Ex. 24:17).

The manifestation of God was a consuming fire—scorching the top of the mountain. Remarkably, Moses went into that cloud of fire for forty days and forty nights. That picture of God is what the writer of Hebrews is wanting us to think about—this awesome encounter with a holy God. For this reason, we approach God through our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. But we still approach Him with reverence and awe.