See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven:
Read Chapter 12
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Refuse not then to hearken to him; for if the Jews escaped not God's severe judgments, for being deaf to his admonitions, given by an Angel to Moses on Mount Sinai, and by him to the people, much less shall we escape, if we turn away our minds, and harden our hearts against the instructions of our Redeemer, who came from heaven to speak to us, and teach us the way to our eternal salvation. (Witham)
From the first therefore they were themselves the cause of God's being manifested through the Flesh. Let Moses speak with us, and Let not God speak with us. Exodus 20:9 They who make comparisons elevate the one side the more, that they may show the other to be far greater. In this respect also our [privileges] are more gentle and more admirable. For they are great in a twofold respect: because while they are glorious and greater, they are more accessible. This he says also in the Epistle to the Corinthians: with unveiled countenance 2 Corinthians 3:18, and, not as Moses put a veil over his face. 2 Corinthians 3:13 They, he means, were not counted worthy of what we [are]. For of what were they thought worthy? They saw darkness, blackness; they heard a voice. But thou also hast heard a voice, not through darkness, but through flesh. You have not been disturbed, neither troubled, but you have stood and held discourse with the Mediator.
And in another way, by the darkness he shows the i...
See that you refuse not Him that speaks; that is, that you reject [Him] not. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spoke on earth. Whom does he mean? Moses, I suppose. But what he says is this: if they, having refused Him when He gave laws on earth, did not escape, how shall we refuse Him, when He gives laws from Heaven? He declares here not that He is another; far from it. He does not set forth One and Another, but He appears terrible, when uttering His Voice from Heaven. It is He Himself then, both the one and the other: but the One is terrible. For he expresses not a difference of Persons but of the gift. Whence does this appear? For if they escaped not, he says, who refused Him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaks from heaven. What then? Is this one different from the other? How then does he say, whose voice then shook the earth? For it was the voice of Him who then gave the Law, which shook the earth. But now has He promis...
