Human beings are taught to extract lessons on morals, ethics, and proper behavior from both real and fictional situations from a very young age. Cultures all across the world have traditions and stories that try to convey, to their youngest and oldest constituents alike, principles and practices they believe will yield the best outcomes in the lives of individuals and in society at large. The story of the Lord’s dealings with Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai afforded the Hebrews one of the best such stories:
18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
For millennia, believers of the Old Testament have been able to study the account of the children of Israel in Exodus 19. Moses was tasked to prepare them for an ascent of Mount Sinai to enter the Lord’s presence. To ensure the people were not destroyed, bounds were set, and the people were told not to touch the mount. Moses was also commanded to sanctify the people for three days. When the Lord’s presence descended upon the mountain, the attending fire, darkness, and tempest, posed a great threat—enough to cause Moses to fear. Because things of the spirit are eternal in nature and govern things that are physical, a spiritual sanctification was necessary before a physical ascension could take place. The account has always been intended to teach people what should happen in the Spirit in order to enjoy heavenly associations.
22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
The wording here is reminiscent of several passages of scripture, most notably D&C 76 and its description of things that are celestial. Those heavenly associations sound very nice and, to most, probably conjure up thoughts of bliss and eternal felicity. But the inevitable conclusion one must draw from the comparison made here to the events at Mount Sinai is as unmistakable as it is undeniable—“coming unto” those things that are celestial is exacting and stringent, demanding and even onerous, to the point of death.
25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Again, the predominance of things of the spirit over things of the physical world is key here. The superiority and eternal nature of things of the spirit make consequences for disobedience to commandments given by the spirit much greater than those of disobedience to commandments not given by the spirit. This principle must be understood and applied by those who would “receiv[e] a kingdom which cannot be moved.”
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.