<p>12:23 <em>To the general assembly and church of the firstborns, who are enrolled in heaven; and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect</em>- Just as :1 says we are surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses of former believers who died in faith, so we are associated with the heavenly church. There is no conscious survival of death, no immortal soul that goes to heaven after death. But through the Spirit, God is at work maturing or perfecting the spirits, the personalities, of His people; and on death, they continue to live on in His memory, as it were. Their names are in the book of life, &quot;enrolled in heaven&quot;, and they have already been judged by God &quot;the judge of all&quot; His people, as being acceptable. If we abide in Christ, we can be confident of salvation should the Lord return now or we die. We are therefore associated with the community of God's true Israel, those who shall live eternally. We are all saved because of being effectively &quot;in Christ&quot;, the firstborn (see on :16 concerning the birthright or right of being the firstborn). Only the firstborn was saved at the Passover. We are the church of firstborns, a paradox as it stands written. For there can be only one firstborn. A whole community can&rsquo;t be &ldquo;firstborns&rdquo;. But we are, through being in Christ. We are the new priesthood; and the priests gave their lives to God in recognition of the fact that He had saved the lives of the firstborn at the Passover and Red Sea deliverance (Num. 3:12). Our deliverance from the world at baptism was our Red Sea. We have been saved. Those firstborns represent us, the ecclesia of firstborns (Heb. 12:23 Gk.). We are now being led towards that glorious Kingdom, when by rights we ought to be lying dead in that dark Egyptian night. The wonder of it all demands that like the Levites, we give our lives <em>back </em>to God, in service towards His children.</p><p>We are come <em>now </em>&ldquo;to God the judge of all&rdquo; (Heb. 12:23); God is <em>now </em>enthroned as judge (Ps. 93:2; Mt. 5:34 &ldquo;the heaven <em>is </em>God&rsquo;s throne&rdquo;). We are now inescapably in God&rsquo;s presence (Ps. 139:2); and &lsquo;God&rsquo;s presence&rsquo; is a phrase used about the final judgment in 2 Thess. 1:9; Jude 24; Rev. 14:10. Hence &ldquo;God is now the judge: he putteth down one and setteth up another&rdquo; (Ps. 75:7) &ndash; all of which He will also due at the last day (Lk. 14:10). So &ldquo;The day of the Lord is coming, but it is even now&rdquo; (Mic. 7:4 Heb.). God isn&rsquo;t passive to human behaviour- right now &ldquo;To every matter there is a time and a judgment (LXX <em>krisis</em>)&rdquo; (Ecc. 8:6 RVmg.). He perceives our actions right now as critically important. And this should highlight to us the crucial importance of life and right living today.</p><p>Israel&rsquo;s exodus from Egypt on Passover night was a type of our exodus from the world at the second coming (Lk. 12:35,36 = Ex. 12:11). The firstborns represent us, the ecclesia of firstborns (Heb. 12:23 Gk.). Perhaps 90% of the firstborns failed to be delivered because they murmured (see on 1 Cor. 10:10), they allowed themselves to be distracted from the fundamental basis of their redemption: the blood of the lamb. What percentage will it be for the new Israel?</p><p>It's also possible that the &quot;spirits&quot; are the guardian Angels of the righteous (see on Dan. 5:23). We are associated with the hosts of Angels (:22). These Angels enrolled the names of the responsible at the beginning of the world, but they are capable of removal from the book. It is as if God informed the Angels of all those they would be dealing with during human history, and they subsequently have kept a record of the works of each of them as they guide them through life.&nbsp;</p>