Hebrews Chapter 3 Part 2
A Rest for the People of God
So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) Heb 3:11
into my rest... The earthly rest which God promised to give was life in the land of Canaan which Israel would receive as their inheritance (Deut. 12:9-10; Joshua 2:44; 1 Kings 8:56). Because of rebellion against God, an entire generation of the children of Israel was prohibited from entering that rest in the Promised Land (Deut. 28:65; Lam. 1:3).
The application of this picture is to an individual’s spiritual rest in the Lord, which has precedent in the Old Testament (Psm. 116:7; Isa. 28:12). At salvation, every believer enters the true rest, the realm of spiritual promise, never again, laboring to achieve through personal effort a righteousness that pleases God.
The Lord wanted both kinds of rest for that generation who was delivered from Egypt.
Not only for the people then, but for the Christians now, there is a Sabbath of rest. Many call this Sabbath of rest for the Christian, the millennium reign of Christ. Notice in this next verse, there is a Sabbath for believers.
Hebrews 4:3 “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”
Revelation 20:6 “Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”
I believe this 1000-year rest for the Christian will occur at the end of 6000 years of labor on the earth. In fact, I believe we are very near that time now. It has been just about 6000 years since Adam and Eve. God set everything up on this earth for 6 days of work and one day of rest.
It really does not matter whether that day is 24 hours long or 1000 years long. God does not measure time the same way we do. With Him 1000 years can be a day.
2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
To drive home his call to fidelity and to warn of the consequences of unbelieving infidelity, the author referred to the classic failure of Israel at Kadesh Barnea which led to their 40-year detour in the wilderness. Far from being an ideal period of Israel’s history, as some sectarians seem to have held, it was an era marked by tragic loss and defeat.
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. Heb 3:12
Take heed, brethren... Here Paul again warns brethren—Christians—by the examples of Israel’s failures in the wilderness. They were brought out of Egypt with the fullest assurance of blessing, prosperity, and eternal rest. By their sin and unbelief they came short of the promised blessings, fell in the wilderness, and were cut off from God. Paul states plainly that Christians—born-again or saved men—can also return to an evil heart of unbelief, depart from the living God, be hardened by deceitfulness of sin, be cut off by God, and be finally lost (Heb. 3:12-14). This admonition is addressed to those having the same potential characteristics as the generation which perished in the wilderness without ever seeing the Land of Promise. They were unbelieving Jewish brethren who were in the company of the “holy brethren” (verse 1). They were admonished to believe and be saved before it was too late.
lest there be... Seven stages of apostasy:
1. Refusal to hear God (Heb. 3:7)
2. Hardness of heart through refusal to hear and obey God (Heb. 3:8, 3:13, 3:15)
3. Unbelief a consequence of hardening the heart against God (Heb. 3:12)
4. Departure from the living God (Heb. 3:12)
5. Open rebellion against God to provoke and tempt Him (Heb. 3:8-9, 3:16)
6. Habitual sinning, careless living, and flagrant violation of God’s laws (Heb. 3:10, 3:17)
7. Apostasy—all faith in God and His redemptive work thrown overboard—beyond all hope of repentance because of no more faith (Heb. 3:11, 3:18-19)
an evil heart... All men are born with such a heart (Jer. 17:9). In the case of these Hebrews, that evil manifested itself in disbelief of the gospel which moved them in the opposite way from God.
Mark 7:21-23 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders.” “Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:” “All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
We are born in sin, and all our life long, the lust of the flesh tries to draw us away from God. When we become a Christian, we become a new creature in Christ. The desire of our heart should be to please God. We may sin sometime or other and quickly repent, but it must not be the desire of our heart to sin. We must not have a sinful way of life.
See to it, brothers introduces the author’s application of his text to his Christian readership. Neither here nor anywhere else in his letter did the writer betray the slightest suspicion that his audience might contain people who were not real Christians. Instead, they were regarded as “brothers” (as here) or as “holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling” (Heb. 3:1). The widespread view that he was concerned about mere professors of the faith as over against genuine believers is not found in the text.
Each Christian brother, therefore, should be most careful to guard against a sinful, unbelieving heart which God’s flock in the wilderness displayed, the kind of heart that turns away from the living God.
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Heb 3:13
exhort one another... This is further proof that Christians are referred to. Sinners are not advised to exhort one another daily, neither can they revert to sin and depart from the living God, for they are already estranged from God.
Both individual accountability and corporate responsibility are intended in this admonition. As long as the distressing days were upon them and they were tempted to return to the ineffective Levitical system, they were to encourage one another to identify completely with Jesus Christ. Same for us.
You be hardened... Repeated rejection of the gospel concerning Jesus results in a progressive hardening of the heart and will ultimately result in outright antagonism to the gospel (6:4-6; 10:26-29; Acts 19:9).
deceitfulness of sin... Sin lies and deceives, using every trickery and stratagem possible (Rom. 7:11; 2 Thess. 2:10; Jas. 1:14-16). The Hebrews deceived themselves with the reasoning that their rejection of Jesus Christ was being faithful to the older system.
Their willingness to hang on to the Levitical system was really a rejection of the living Word (4:12), of the “living God” (verse 12), who through Christ had opened up a “new and living way” (10:20). Choosing the path of unbelief always leads only to death (verse 17; 10:26-29; 2:14-15; Jude 5).
2 Tim. 4:2 “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”
John 9:4 “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”
We are warned over and over in the Bible to make use of today, because we have no idea whether there will even be a tomorrow or not. Do not put off salvation, this might be your last opportunity. When Jesus returns, we are to be working trying to get one more into the kingdom.
Accordingly they were to encourage one another daily… so that none would be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (Heb. 3:13). This exhortation is still completely pertinent to any local congregation at the present time, where the hardening tendencies of sin can often be counteracted by truly concerned fellow Christians. The expression as long as it is called Today alludes to the “Today” in Psm. 95:7 and means something like “while you still have opportunity.”
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; Heb 3:14
For we are... After warning Christians that they can fall into sin and apostasy and be cut off from God by sin, as Israel was, the apostle lays down the condition they must meet to be finally saved. It is to hold the original "confidence stedfast unto the end." See, Heb. 3:6.
The exhortation is similar to (verse 6), as it repeats the theme of perseverance.
One’s conversion to Christ, which occurred in days’ past (“we are made partakers of Christ”), is proved to have been genuine by perseverance in the days to come (“if we hold … our confidence stedfast unto the end”). This means that continuance in the faith is to test of the reality of one’s faith in Christ.
Jesus’ salvation is offered to everyone, but only those who take it, have it. Notice from this verse above, that we are not only to receive it, but to hold fast to it. This is what I call walking in the salvation the Lord has given us. It really is a daily struggle. Even Paul, said that at times his flesh got in the way.
Romans 7:19-20 “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” “Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”
This does not mean that Paul was a sinful man; it just means that once in a while his flesh (for a moment), would overcome his spirit. Paul lived as good as anyone could. He said, at the end that he had run the good race and had a crown of glory awaiting him. Paul had no desire in his heart to sin.
If we are a Christian, that should be the way we live, too. We should, all the time, desire to live a pleasing life to God.
Gal. 3:27 “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
Christ is in us and we are in Him, if we are Christians. We are grafted into the Tree of Life which is Jesus Christ our Lord.
The statement, we have come to share in Christ might be more literally rendered, “we are partners with the Christ.” The word “the” found in the original probably gives to “Christ” the sense of “the Messiah.” In the word “partners” the reader meets again the Greek metochoi, used in Heb. 1:9 and Heb. 3:1 of the “companions” of the messianic King. Once again, the writer reverted to the supreme privilege of being among the “many sons” whom God is bringing to the glory of shared dominion over the created order which Christ is destined to rule. But again too, like the privilege of serving in the priestly house (Heb. 3:6), this role is contingent on continuing fidelity: if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first. In this connection, Rev. 2:26-27 comes readily to mind: “To him who overcomes and does My will to the end, I will give authority over the nations — he will rule them with an iron scepter.”
While
it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts,
as in the provocation. Heb 3:15
To day if...The 12th Old Testament prophecy in Hebrews (Heb. 3:15; Psm. 95:7-8, fulfilled). Next, Heb. 4:7. This is the third time today is used to emphasize it is the present when God’s voice is heard (Heb. 3:7, 3:13, 3:15). Make the best of time while you have it; listen to God.
Gal. 3:11 “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, [it is] evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”
Provocation in this particular passage means irritation. Do not get irritated with God. Many times, when someone very close to you dies, you first get irritated at the one who died, and then wind up getting irritated with God about the death. For the natural man, this is a normal thing to do.
This is not a good thing for a Christian to do. God loves us and has our best interest at heart. He did not take your loved one to get even with you. Don’t turn against God when you need Him the most. He is our Comfort. If there is ever a time to be irritated with anyone, we should be irritated with our own short comings.
The renewed quotation of part of the writer’s text in Psm. 95:1-11 connects with the caution just uttered in Heb. 3:6. The readers must hold their confidence firmly to the end and not, like the Israelites of old, harden their hearts as… in the rebellion.
For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. Heb 3:16
We should learn a lesson from these Israelites. Every time a little hardship arose they blamed God. They angered God many times during the forty years they travelled through the wilderness.
The trip could have easily been made in less than 6 months, but they sinned over and over and God caused them to wander until all of those who had doubted that they could take the land had died off.
God forgave them over and over, just like He does us, but there was a day of reckoning and there will be one for us too. Someday, God will say that is enough. God is a forgiving God, but He is also a God of Judgment.
1 Corinthians 10:1-11 “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;” “And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;” “And did all eat the same spiritual meat;” “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” “But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.” “Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.” “Neither be ye idolaters, as [were] some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” “Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.” “Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.” “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.” “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”
Having alluded again to the passage he wished to expound, the author then began doing so. The questions in Heb. 3:16 seem more naturally read as statements: “For some, when they had heard, did provoke; howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.” The writer is aware of the notable exceptions of Joshua and Caleb, who did not take part in the general failure.
But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? Heb 3:17
But with whom... Questions 8-10. Next, Heb. 7:11.
We see a strong warning in this that we are forewarned. These examples of how they failed should help us not make these same mistakes. Look now at the hope in Jesus.
1 Cor. 10:12-13 ” Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it].”
God will help us, if we will let Him. Stay in the will of the Lord and you cannot fail.
The writer is aware of the notable exceptions of Joshua and Caleb, who did not take part in the general failure as we have noted above. But then he asked, With whom was God angry for 40 years? The answer is that He was angry with those in the wilderness congregation who sinned and who died in that wilderness, we need to not fall into this category.
And
to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to
them that believed not? Heb 3:18
sware he that... God Still Swears That
1. The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die (Eze. 18:4).
2. Whosoever sinneth against Me, him will I blot out of My book (Exo. 32:32-33; Rev. 3:5; 22:19).
3. When a righteous man sins he will die for his iniquity (Eze. 18:26; 33:18).
4. The wages of sin is death Rom. 6:23; 8:12-13; Gal. 5:21; 6:7-8).
5. If you live after the flesh you will die (Rom. 8:12-13).
6. The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God (1Cor. 6:9-11).
7. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy (1Cor. 3:17; 6:9-11; Rom. 8:12-13; Rev. 21:8).
8. They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21).
9. They that commit such things are worthy of death (Rom. 1:21-32).
10. If we deny Him he also will deny us (2Thess. 2:12).
11. Every man will be judged according to his deeds (Rom. 2:6).
12. He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption (Gal. 6:7-8).
These scriptures and many others like them apply to everybody. God is under oath to enforce these laws regardless of who is guilty, a sinner or professing Christian.
The ticket into heaven, is faith in Jesus Christ.
Heb. 11:6 “But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
Their disobedience in refusing to enter the Promised Land caused God to swear that they would never enter His rest. This meant of course that the sinful generation in the desert was permanently excluded from taking possession of their inheritance in Canaan. Naturally it had nothing to do with the question of their going to hell, so it would be wrong to allege that the entire Exodus generation was unregenerate. But exclusion from Canaan was a consequence of their lack of faith in the power of God to bring them into it in victory over their enemies, a failure that in principle might be repeated by the readers of Hebrews if they forgot Messiah’s ultimate triumph over His enemies and theirs (cf. Heb. 1:13-14).
So
we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Heb 3:19
Mark 16:16 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
This is just about as clear as it could be made, those who do not have faith in Jesus Christ will wind up in hell. To be saved, we must believe in our heart and confess with our mouth. One more time I will give my favorite Scripture on this.
Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Live for God. Live your faith in Jesus Christ every day. Be a separated people for Christ.
The writer wished his readers to take it to heart that unbelief, lack of confidence in God, was the reason God’s people did not enter the land.
