Saturday, February 9, 2008

Hebrews 3

Jesus Is Greater Than Moses: Jesus is the Son, Moses is the Servant.


Moses was faithful, Jesus was faithful, the Jews in the wilderness
were not faithful, we are to be faithful.


These Jewish believers were being told to get their eyes off Moses
and to get them on Christ instead.


   "In this passage, the author of Hebrews argues to his
Jewish Christian friends in this congregation that they must not be tempted
to go back to Moses, because they have already embraced someone who is superior,
even to Moses. Now we may not be tempted ourselves to go back to Moses; but
we are often tempted to go somewhere else, other than Christ, our ultimate hope
for our ultimate comfort in which we put our ultimate trust. So these words
are directly relevant to us, and I think you will see three or four things that
are very important for all of us as we wrestle with that particular issue in
our lives. As we, as believers, walk the walk of faith in this world and are
from time to time pulled away from Christ, the first thing we learn in this
passage is that we must remember who we are, by God’s grace." - Duncan,
J. Ligon, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi.
"Hebrews Vol. 1 Archive Index" [Online] Available
www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/hebrews/Vol%201.htm/


Chapter 1, describes the nature and person of Messiah, that He is God in flesh
(Hebrews 1:1,3,6,8,10).

Chapter 2, built on the first chapter, establishes the glory of Messiah’s
covenant, the sanctified are brothers of Christ, who will be in “Glory”.
(Hebrews 2:10).

Chapter 3, built on the 2nd chapter, makes the case of the need to turn completely
to Christ and not struggle between the Old and New Covenants.


   As we read this chapter it is IMPERATIVE that we bear in
mind TO WHOM this letter is written or we'll get confused. We are not early
Hebrew Christians torn between Judaism and Christianity; though, we might be
torn between what passes today for Christianity and true Christianity - a faith
in the living God as revealed to us in Jesus Christ.


(1) And so, *dear brothers and sisters who
belong to God and are partners with those **called to heaven, ***think
carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s ****messenger
and *****High Priest.


*dear brothers and sisters: Greek - holy brethren


**called to heaven: Greek - heavenly calling. King
James version: partakers of a heavenly calling. Israel in the Old Testament,
on the other hand, had an earthly calling - to the land!

Ephesians 1:3: All praise to God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

Ephesians 2:6: For he raised us from the
dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms
because we are united with Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:20: But we are citizens of heaven,
where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return
as our Savior.


   It is a heavenly calling because it comes from heaven --
from God. And it is a heavenly calling because it invites us and leads us to
heaven -- to God.


***think carefully: The author is saying "STOP! PAY ATTENTION!
THINK ABOUT THIS DEEPLY! DON'T SLIDE OVER THIS!" If we are to be faithful,
we are to keep our focus on Jesus. Consider this Jesus!
Ponder him. It is the same word Jesus used in Matthew 6:28
when he said, "Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow..."


   The author exhorts those of us to consider Jesus. We need
to live our whole life focusing on Him. He is all we need.
Paul said it well when he said this: So you also are complete through
your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
(Colossians 2:10).


****messenger: Greek - apostle. Acts 3:22-26
(Peter speaking): Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise
up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen
carefully to everything he tells you.’ Then Moses said, ‘Anyone
who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from God’s
people.’ “Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke
about what is happening today. You are the children of those prophets,
and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God
said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the families on earth will
be blessed.’ When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first
to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from your
sinful ways.”


*****High Priest: Occurs 17 times in Hebrews. Not mentioned
after Acts. The word "priest" not used by Paul in any other of his
epistles - because the priest relates to the Jews, not the Gentiles. We must
be very careful as we study this treatise to whom it is written - the Hebrews!
Ephesians presents Christ not as the high priest but as the Head of the Body!
An apostle represents God to man; a priest represents man to God -
Jesus was both! Moses was God's messenger (apostle), but not High Priest - that
required another person, Aaron. Nor, were either king. Jesus is all three to
Israel - apostle (messenger, prophet), priest and king.


Hebrews 2:17: Therefore, it was necessary for him to be
made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be
our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could
offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.


Hebrews 7:17, 24-27: And the psalmist pointed this out
when he prophesied, “You are a priest forever in the order of
Melchizedek.” But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood
lasts forever. Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those
who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their
behalf. He is the kind of high priest we need because he is
holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and
has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. Unlike those other high
priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their
own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once
for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s
sins.


   "A lot of times our Catholic friends think that Protestants
don’t like priests. Well, that’s actually not the case. It’s
just that we have one. Jesus is our High Priest; we don’t accept
substitutes. We love the priesthood of Christ; but it is a soul-sufficient
priesthood. We don’t need any extra priesthood added on top of it. So
in this passage you see Christ as priest, representing men before God. The High
Priest is the prime representative of the people of God to God. He is the one
who offers the sacrifice of atonement. And the author of Hebrews is saying,
“I want you to stop for a minute. I want you to consider who Jesus
is, He is both God’s representative to man and He is man’s
representative to God.”" - Duncan, J. Ligon, Senior Minister, First
Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi. "Hebrews Vol. 1 Archive
Index" [Online] Available www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/hebrews/Vol%201.htm/


(2) For he was *faithful to
God, who appointed him, just as **Moses served *faithfully
when he was entrusted with God’s entire house.


*faithful: The main point is that Jesus was FAITHFUL just
as Moses was FAITHFUL and then the readers are directed in verse 14 to also
be FAITHFUL!


**Moses is mentioned 11 times in Hebrews and about
700 times in the Bible. No name could mean so much to a Hebrew as that of Moses.
Paul had to overcome this reasonable prejudice and show them One Who was greater
than Moses!


(3) But Jesus deserves far more glory
than Moses, just as a person who builds a *house deserves more praise
than the house itself.


*house: The house referred to here is Israel, Moses was a
faithful servant to the house of Israel, but Jesus was the creator of Israel.
The writer wants his audience of Jewish believers to grasp the meaning of the
“New” covenant. How the Old is superseded by the New, how the builder
is greater then the house.


   Moses received much glory from God. This is seen in his shining
face after spending time with God (Exodus 34:29-35), in his justification before
Miriam and Aaron (Numbers 12:6-8), and before the sons of Korah (Numbers 16).
But Jesus received far more glory from the Father, at His baptism (Matthew 3:16-17),
at His transfiguration (Mark 9:7), and at His resurrection (Acts 2:26-27 and
Acts 2:31-33).


(4) For every house has a builder, but the
one who built everything is God.


Colossians 1:16: for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things
we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen
world. Everything was created through him and for him.


(5) Moses was certainly faithful in
God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the
truths God would reveal later.


Numbers 12:6-8: And the Lord said to them, “Now listen
to what I say: “If there were prophets among you, I, the Lord, would reveal
myself in visions. I would speak to them in dreams. But not with my servant
Moses. Of all my house, he is the one I trust. I speak to him face to
face, clearly, and not in riddles! He sees the Lord as he is. So why
were you not afraid to criticize my servant Moses?”


John 5:45-46: “Yet it isn’t I who will accuse
you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in
whom you put your hopes. If you really believed Moses, you
would believe me, because he wrote about me.


   The ancient Rabbis considered Moses to be the greatest man
ever, greater than the angels. Paul, of course, does not criticize Moses; he
exalts Jesus Christ.


(6) *But Christ, as the Son, is in
charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, **if
we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.


*But: The Greek is more like On the other
hand - comparing Christ to Moses.


**if: Does this indicate conditional salvation or the possibility
of loss of salvation? Faithfulness is a sign that we have indeed been saved
and not simply self-deluded into believing that we're saved and can't lose our
salvation, no matter what. Now this "if" is a serious thing. We are
his household -- we are God's people, we are God's possession and inheritance,
that is we are saved -- if . This "if" is so serious and so important
that the rest of chapter three is a support and explanation of it. In fact much
of the rest of this book is meant to make this "if" plain. Too often
salvation by grace is used as an excuse to sin. Romans 6:1-4:
Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more
of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we
continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with
Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried
with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious
power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.


   Some interpret this to mean, if we don’t fall from
the faith, we shall be saved. This would mean that no one is saved until they
die, (The end). What is meant, is that perseverance demonstrates true faith.


Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who calls
out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only
those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On
judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name
and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’
But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s
laws.’ This is not the case with the believer, sanctified with the
Holy Spirit, deposited in the believer as God’s guarantee of redemption:
Ephesians 1:14: The Spirit is God’s guarantee
that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased
us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.


   Moses was a part of the house he ruled but Christ
was the builder of the house. The difference between a servant and
a son is that the son, by inheritance, owns the house, and is Lord over the
house, and provides for those in the house out of his wealth. But the servants
don't own anything in the house, and the servants follow the word of the owner.
Jesus, as a son, is superior to Moses in these three ways: he owns the
house of God; he rules the house of God and he provides for the house of God.
By comparison Moses is just a servant in the house. He doesn't own
it; he doesn't rule it; and he doesn't provide for it from his wealth. So consider
Jesus in relation to Moses.



Piper, John, Pastor, Bethlehem Baptist Church. "Do Not Harden
Your Heart in the Day of Trial" [Online] Available www.soundofgrace.com/piper96/08-11-96.htm
August 11, 1996:


A Condition for Being, not Becoming


Notice first that this condition -- "'if' we hold fast to hope" --
is a condition for being something now. Verse 6 does not say: you will become
God's house if you hold fast to your hope. It says, "We are God's house"
if we hold fast to confidence and hope. It's like saying, "You are a Southerner
if you pronounce Ronald Reagan's wife's name 'Naintsy' instead of 'Nancy."
Talking like this does not make you a Southerner; it shows that you are one.


So I think Hebrews 3:6 teaches that "if we hold fast our confidence and
the boast of our hope firm to the end, we show that we are God's house."
This is what defines the household of God: God's people hope in God. God's people
are confident in God. They hold fast to God as their boast. That's the human
trait and evidence of belonging God's household. If you want to be assured
that you are of God's household test to see if you hope in God and have confidence
in God and look to God for the security and happiness of your future and the
satisfaction of your heart.


Here is another support for this: in verse 1 the readers are called "partakers
of a heavenly calling." It says, "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers
of a heavenly calling . . ." So the writer is assuming that his
readers are already partakers of God's heavenly call. They are heaven-bound.
They are not just hearers of the call; they are partakers of -- sharers in --
the call. So when he puts a big "if" on this in verse 6 -- if you
hold fast to your confidence in God -- he means: you are partakers of the call,
you are the household of God, and the evidence of this is your persevering
confidence and hope in God to the end.


Now jump ahead to verse 14 to confirm that this is the way the writer is thinking.
In verse 14 we have an "if" statement very much like the one in verse
6: "We have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of
our assurance firm until the end." Being "partakers of Christ"
in verse 14 is virtually the same as being "partakers of the heavenly calling"
in verse 1. And both are the same as "being God's house" in verse
6.


But notice the wording carefully here in verse 14, because it is a strong confirmation
that we are on the right track. It says, "We have become partakers of Christ,
if we hold our assurance to the end." The condition is future: "If
we hold fast assurance to the end." But the effect of the condition relates
to the past: "We have become partakers of Christ." So it's clear that
the point here is not: hold fast to your assurance in order to become in the
future a partaker of Christ. The point is: hold fast to your assurance
in order to show (prove, evidence, demonstrate) that you are a partaker of Christ.


Salvation Can't be Lost


Now this is utterly crucial because it shows that this writer does not believe
that you can truly partake of Christ, share in his heavenly calling and be a
part of his house and then lose that salvation. This is tremendously important
because, Lord willing, we are going to see other parts of this book that could
easily be taken to mean that we can lose our salvation.


But ask yourself this question: If verse 14 says, "We have become partakers
of Christ (in the past), if we (in the future) hold fast our assurance,"
then what conclusion should we draw if we do not hold fast our assurance (in
the past)? I believe the answer is: Then we have not become partakers of Christ.
It would be wrong to say, "If we do not hold fast our assurance, then even
though we were once partakers of Christ, nevertheless now we lose our part in
Christ." That is the opposite of what this verse says. It says, We have
become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast our assurance to the end; and if
we do not hold fast to our assurance to the end, then we have not become a partaker
of Christ. Not holding fast to our assurance does not make us lose our
salvation; it shows that we were not truly saved.


Maintaining Assurance


Everything in chapter three (and I would argue that everything in this book)
is written to encourage and empower you to be earnest and vigilant and
focused in the fight to maintain strong assurance in Christ. Let me
show you this so that you get a feel for how important this is to the writer
to the Hebrews. Over and over again the writer urges us to persevere in our
hope and not to throw away our confidence, because this is the living evidence
that we truly have become partakers of Christ. For example:


Hebrews 2:1 -- For this reason we must pay much
closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.


Hebrews 3:6 -- We are his house, if we
hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.


Hebrews 3:14 -- For we have become partakers of Christ,
if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end .
. .


Hebrews 6:11-12 -- And we desire that each one of you
show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the
end, that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who
through faith and patience inherit the promises.


Hebrews 10:23 -- Let us hold fast the
confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised
is faithful . .


Hebrews 10:35 -- Therefore, do not throw away
your confidence, which has a great reward.


Hebrews 12:1 -- Therefore, since we have so great a cloud
of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance,
and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us.


The Strength to Persevere is God's


And as we come to the end of the book he delights to bless us and remind us
that the strength to persevere to the end is not our own, but God's. This is
the point of Hebrews 13:21:


[Now the God of peace] . . . equip you in every good thing to do His will,
working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to
whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.


The surety of believers lies not in the absence of conditions in the promises
of power.


But the way we experience the power of God through Christ to work this persevering
grace in us is through the warnings and promises of the word of God. That's
why the book was written. God doesn't work in us the endurance apart from the
word. He works by the word. Our great salvation and our great Savior
(which is what this book is about) are the inspiration the Spirit uses to hold
us fast. So we must consider Jesus (3:1) and not neglect our great salvation
(2:3). That's what this book is written to help us do.


What then would be the conclusion if we do not hold fast to our assurance?
The answer is not that you stop being a partaker of Christ, but that you had
never become a partaker of Christ. Read it carefully: "We have become partakers
of Christ if we hold fast to our assurance." And so "If we do not
hold fast to our confession then we have not become partakers of Christ."


On the basis of this text I said last week that this book teaches eternal security.
That is, it teaches that if you have truly become a partaker of Christ,
you will always be one. He will work in you to preserve your faith
and hope. Another way to say it is that if you are a child of God you
cannot cease to be a child of God. But we all know that there are many
people who make a start in the Christian life and then fall away and forsake
the Lord. That kind of person is very much on this writer's mind. He knows that
happens and he deals with it in this text and how to keep it from happening.
But when it happens his explanation is not that the person really was a partaker
of Christ, but that he never had become a true partaker of Christ. If we hold
fast to our assurance we have become a partaker of Christ; if we do not, then
we have not become a partaker of Christ.


In other words persevering in faith and hope, holding fast to your
confidence in God is not a way to keep from losing your standing in Christ;
it is a way of showing that you have a standing in Christ. That standing can
never be lost, because you have it by the free grace of God, and because
Christ has promised with a covenant and an oath (Hebrews 6:17-19) to keep those
who are his (Hebrews 13:5; 20-21). In other words, my security and assurance
is not a decision or a prayer that I remember doing in the past; my
security and assurance is the faithfulness and power of God to keep me hoping
in him in the future. My security is that "he who began a good work in
me will complete it to the day of Christ" (Philippians 1:6).


How Can We Be Assured of Our Eternal Security?


So the second question is: What shall we do? How shall we know and enjoy and
be assured of our eternal security? Verses 12 and 13 give two answers: one more
general and the other more specific.


First the general answer in verse 12: "Take care, brethren,
lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling
away from the living God." The general answer is, "Take care!"
or "Take heed!" or "Look!" In other words, don't be careless
or nonchalant or inattentive about the condition of your heart. Look at it.
As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, test yourselves to see if you
are in the faith. Or like Peter says in 2 Peter 1:10, "Be
diligent to confirm your election and your calling." Don't
coast or drift and take your perseverance in faith for granted. All kinds of
alternative passions are making war on your soul every day to steal your faith
and replace Christ with other treasures. Take care! Be on the look out! Be earnest!
Be watchful over your heart. As Proverbs 4:23 says, "Watch over your
heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." That's
the answer of verse 12. Take heed!


Someone may ask, "Well, if I am a true partaker of Christ, as I believe
I am, why do I have to take heed and be so vigilant, when you have said that
I am eternally secure and can't lose my standing in Christ?" I think the
question assumes something that the New Testament says is not true. It assumes
that God's way for his chosen ones to get to heaven is without vigilance and
watchfulness and self-assessment and diligent use of means. But in fact Jesus
says, in Luke 13:24. "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many,
I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." And Peter says,
"Be sober, be watchful, your adversary the devil prowls around like
a roaring lion seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). The truth
is not that true Christians don't have to be vigilant and watchful over their
hearts; but that you can know you are a true Christian if you are vigilant
and watchful over your heart.


It's the cavalier Christians who need to be worried about their standing.
It's those who were baptized and walked an aisle or prayed a prayer and took
communion and came to church, but do not love Jesus or count him their dearest
treasure or bank their hope on him and look forward to seeing him and can say,
"To live is Christ and to die is gain." These are the self-assured
ones who need to feel insecure (see Deuteronomy 29:19). They are people, often
in the church, who treat their salvation like a vaccination. They got the vaccination
years ago and assume all is well without giving any thought to the dangers of
unbelief around them. They say, "I got inoculated against hell when I was
eight days old -- or six years old." And so getting to heaven is not a
matter of vigilance over their heart to keep it from becoming hard and unbelieving.
It's simply a matter of making sure that the inoculation happened. These are
the ones that are in tremendous danger.


That's the first answer to how we stay assured of our eternal security: Take
heed to your heart. Guard against unbelief. That is, be vigilant to maintain
your confidence and hope in Christ against all competing treasures.


The second answer is more specific in verse 13: "But encourage (or exhort)
one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today,"
lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The second answer
is that eternal security is a community project. What shall we do at Bethlehem
to avoid an "evil heart of unbelief" and not be hardened by the deceitfulness
of the sins that tempt us every day to treasure them more than we treasure Jesus?


The Strength to Persevere is God's And as we come to the end
of the book he delights to bless us and remind us that the strength to persevere
to the end is not our own, but God's. This is the point of Hebrews 13:21. [Now
the God of peace] . . . equip you in every good thing to do His will, working
in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be
the glory forever and ever. Amen. The surety of believers lies not in the absence
of conditions in the promises of power. But the way we experience the power
of God through Christ to work this persevering grace in us is through the warnings
and promises of the word of God. That's why the book was written. God doesn't
work in us the endurance apart from the word. He works by the word. Our great
salvation and our great Savior (which is what this book is about) are the inspiration
the Spirit uses to hold us fast. So we must consider Jesus (3:1) and not neglect
our great salvation (2:3). That's what this book is written to help us do. But
it didn't last. And that is why this example is so important to the writer of
Hebrews. He wants the professing Christians to last, to persevere. Because that's
the only way they will prove they are truly God's house and truly share in Christ's
salvation. So he says look at Israel and don't be like them. Pick it up at verse
8: Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me [or perhaps better, "as
in the embitterment"], as in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 where
your fathers tried me by testing me, and saw my works for forty years. 10 Therefore
I was angry with this generation, and said, "They always go astray in their
heart; and they did not know my ways;" 11 as I swore in my wrath, "They
shall not enter my rest." In other words they had seen God's gracious works;
they had seen signs and wonders and miracles of mercy, they had tasted the heavenly
gift, but instead of being softened to trust God in the day of trial when things
were difficult, they became hard and unbelieving and did not trust God's goodness,
but murmured. The result was that God was angry and cut them off from the promised
land. Now the point is that this is what will happen to us, if -- the big "if"
of verse 6 and 14 --If we harden our hearts in the day of trial and murmur against
him and throw away our confidence and hope in God. The story of Israel is an
example for the professing church. Do not treat the grace of God with contempt
-- presuming to receive it as an escape from the Egypt of misery, but not being
satisfied with it as guidance and provision in the wilderness of this life.
O how many professing Christians want the mercy of forgiveness so that they
won't go to hell, but have hard hearts toward the Lord when it comes to daily
fellowship with him!


Piper, John, Pastor, Bethlehem Baptist Church. "Do Not Harden
Your Heart in the Day of Trial" [Online] Available www.soundofgrace.com/piper96/08-11-96.htm
August 11, 1996



   How can we be sure that we're really of His house? Hebrews
3:6 gives the answer: "If we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing
of the hope firm unto the end." Some people have misunderstood that verse--they
have thought it is saying we must keep ourselves saved, that we could lose our
salvation. But since we couldn't save ourselves to begin with, how could
we keep ourselves saved? What this verse is saying is that perseverance
is proof of salvation. Those who are truly part of the house of God
will not depart from the faith. Whoever leaves proves he never belonged in the
first place (1 John 2:19). That truth is repeatedly emphasized in Hebrews because
the Jews the writer was addressing were in danger of falling away. And those
who fall away give evidence that they never did receive Christ. True saints
persevere.


John 8:31: Jesus said to the people who believed in him,
“You are truly my disciples if you remain
faithful to my teachings. The word translated "truly" (Greek,
al[ma]ethos) means "genuine" or "real."


(7) That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today
when you hear his voice,


(8) don’t harden your hearts
as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness.


   Using the example of the wilderness wonderings, Paul applies
the example to Jews who have heard the Gospel, but refuse to commit
to Christ. Israel after being delivered from Egyptian slavery by the
plagues on Egypt, was led through the Red Sea, by “the Cloud” (Exodus
14). The “Cloud” contained the “Presence” of the Lord.
The armies of Egypt pursued Israel, through the Red Sea and drowned as the Sea
collapsed on them after the last Israelite crossed. Israel witnessed these events
and God’s deliverance. God also provided and spoke to Israel; the bitter
waters of the wilderness were made sweet (Exodus 15), providing water to a thirsty
nation, bread (Manna) came down from Heaven (Exodus 16), and water came from
the Rock (Exodus 17). The Lord appeared in glory on Mt. Sinai, and spoke to
the nation that they would fear Him (Exodus 19-20). Moses at the request of
the people, because of their fear, of the Lord, went to meet with the Lord.
While Moses was on Mt. Sinai, Israel rebelled and made a “Golden Calf”
to lead them back to Egypt. Moses in a rage returns and smashes the 10 commandments,
the Lord was about to destroy Israel, but Moses then intercedes and God spares
the nation, and renews the covenant (Exodus 34). Finally, after the numerous
miracles and deliverances, Israel refuses to enter the Promised Land. Ten of
the twelve spies who entered gave negative report and the people refused to
take the land promised by God, because they did not believe God could deliver
the land to them. Only Joshua and Caleb urged Israel to take the land. God punished
Israel for their unbelief, those 20 years and older, except for Joshua and Caleb,
would wander the wilderness of Sinai for 40 years until the generation died
off. Their children would enter the land, along with Joshua and Caleb and Joshua
would replace Moses as leader of Israel (Numbers 13-14).


Exodus 16:1-3: Then the whole community of Israel set
out from Elim and journeyed into the wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Mount
Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month, one month
after leaving the land of Egypt. There, too, the whole community of
Israel complained about Moses and Aaron. “If only the Lord had
killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we
sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you
have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.”


Exodus 17:2-7: So once more the people complained
against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded.
“Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me?
And why are you testing the Lord?” But tormented by thirst, they continued
to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying
to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst? ”Then Moses cried
out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to
stone me!” The Lord said to Moses, “Walk out in front of the people.
Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and
call some of the elders of Israel to join you. I will stand before you on the
rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then
the people will be able to drink.” So Moses struck the rock as he was
told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on Moses named the place
Massah (which means “test”) and Meribah (which means “arguing”)
because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying,
“Is the Lord here with us or not?”


Numbers 14:10-12,20-25,29-37: But the whole community
began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of
the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle. And the Lord said
to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they
never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?
I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into
a nation greater and mightier than they are!” ... Then the Lord said,
“I will pardon them as you have requested. But as surely as I live, and
as surely as the earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, not one
of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious
presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness,
but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. They
will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None
of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it. But my
servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has
remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants
will possess their full share of that land. Now turn around, and don’t
go on toward the land where the Amalekites and Canaanites live. Tomorrow
you must set out for the wilderness in the direction of the
Red Sea. ... You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because
you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old
or older and was included in the registration will die. You will not
enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will
be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. “‘You
said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them
safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. But as for
you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. And your children
will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years.
In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies
dead in the wilderness. Because your men explored the land for forty days, you
must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering
the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have
me for an enemy.’ I, the Lord, have spoken! I will certainly do these
things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will
be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!” The ten
men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion
against the Lord with their bad report— were struck dead with a plague
before the Lord. Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb
remained alive.


1 Corinthians 10:10-13: And don’t grumble as
some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things
happened to them as examples for us. They were written down
to warn us who live at the end of the age. If you think you
are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are
no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow
the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will
show you a way out so that you can endure.


Philippians 2:14: Do everything without complaining and
arguing


(9) There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years.


(10) So I was angry with them, and I said,
‘Their hearts always *turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’


*hearts always turn away from me: Greek they are wandering
in the heart.


(11) So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”


Psalm 95:7-11: for he is our God. We are the people he
watches over, the flock under his care. If only you would listen to his voice
today! The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel
did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness. For there your ancestors
tested and tried my patience, even though they saw everything I did. For forty
years I was angry with them, and I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts
turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ So in my anger
I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”

Psalm 95 was central to synagogue worship and engraved into the memory of every
Jew.


(12) Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters.
Make sure that your own hearts are not *evil and **unbelieving, *** turning
you away from the ****living God.


   Don’t be like the generation that perished in the wilderness!


*evil: The Greek word here is a strong one denoting not passive
but positive and active evil.


**unbelieving: “Unbelief is not inability to understand,
but unwillingness to trust. One can truly believe God, yet
be occasionally troubled by doubts. Unbelief isn’t weakness of
faith; it sets itself in opposition to faith.


***turning you away: The Greek word is the
one from which we get the word apostasy.


****living God: The phrase ‘living God’ is popular
with the writer (9:14; 10:31; 12:22) and emphasizes the character of God. Among
other things, it draws attention to His awareness of, and living presence among,
men, and His active interest and concern. It reveals Him as One Who is there
to act, and is indeed acting on behalf of His own, but also, in warning, as
One ready if necessary also to bring judgment on men. It shows Him as One intimately
concerned with world affairs, in contrast with dead idols. To fall away from
Him is not to reject an absent landlord, but to spurn a present Friend and Guide.


(13) You must warn each other every day, while
it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by
sin and hardened against God.


   It is a reminder that while time exists we must ever be on
our guard. There can never be a let up in the battle against sin. And we therefore
need to ‘encourage and strengthen’ one another


(14) For if we are
*faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first
believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.


*faithful: The main point is that since Jesus was FAITHFUL
just as Moses was FAITHFUL as told in verse 2, then the readers are to also
be FAITHFUL! True faithfulness manifests itself most clearly in an endurance
all the way to the end of the path that God has laid out for us - our
faith is strengthened and proven when we go through our trials.


(15) Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”


(16) And who was it who rebelled against God,
even though they heard his voice? Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt?


   The majority can be wrong! It was not a small minority who
provoked God, but the vast majority - nearly all of them.


(17) And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness?


(18) And to whom was God speaking when he took
an oath that they would never enter his *rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed
him?


*rest: 11 times in Hebrews chapters 3 and 4, Hebrews speaks
of entering rest. That rest will be deeply detailed in the next chapter. But
here, the key to entering rest is revealed: belief.


(19) So we see that because of their
unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.


   Paul is now urging his readers to urgently (today)
examine themselves if they are truly in the faith. Why? Because,
the great trial of their faith is coming very soon - the Roman persecution.
Unbelief is to take up a position exactly the opposite of that of Jesus and
Moses who were faithful (verse 2). So, we should test ourselves to see whether
our hearts are remaining true to Jesus Christ, or whether some interest, or
pleasure, or temptation, or emphasis, is causing a barrier between Him and us.


2 Corinthians 13:5 : Examine yourselves to
see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves.
Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you (in you); if not, you
have failed the test of genuine faith.

 Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone who calls out to
me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who
actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.


   Note the sequence. They provoked (verse
16), they sinned (verse 17), they were disobedient (verse 18), they were guilty
of unbelief (verse 19). Their hearts became harder and harder. And thus they
could not enter into God’s rest. To enter God’s rest was to be settled
in the land and delivered from surrounding enemies.


   So the lessons up to this point are on (1) the danger of
being entrapped by sin and allowing it to develop within, (2) the danger of
assuming that the majority is always right, (3) the danger of disobedience and
unbelief and (4) the danger of turning away from God’s appointed deliverer;
all of which in Israel’s case had resulted in God’s judgment. All
these will cause us to fail to enter into His rest, a rest obtained by becoming
partakers in Christ.


   When the apostle Paul related some of the same experiences
of Israel in the wilderness, he wrote These things happened to them as examples
for us. They were written down to warn us who live
at the end of the age. (1 Corinthians 10:11). As a result of the many counterfeit
professions and the false Christianity the potential of falling short of promised
rest is just as much a reality as it proved to be for the Israelites in the
wilderness.


   Persistent sin in the face of God's mercy is a sign
of unbelief. Yes, the people were embittered because of God's testing
them (verse 8); yes, they sinned (verse 17); but beneath all that was
the root problem: they didn't believe God, that is, they didn't trust
his goodness -- to lead and protect and provide and satisfy. Even though they
saw the waters of the Red Sea divide and they walked over on dry ground, the
moment they got thirsty, they did not trust him to take care of them. They cried
out against him and said that life in Egypt was better.


   That is what this book is written to prevent.
Many professing Christians make a start with God. They hear that their sins
can be forgiven and that they can go to heaven. And they say: what have I got
to lose, I'll believe. But then, sooner or later, the test comes - a lost job,
retirement, a sick or dying child, a failed marriage, failed health, a ruined
career, a dying loved parent, money problems - the list goes on and on.


   Our goal as we approach the end of our lives
should be to say with Paul in 2 Timothy 4:7: I
have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.




Bibliography/Works Cited:


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