Hebrews 3:12-19
12: Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.
13: But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
14: For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,
15: while it is said, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.”
16: For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?
15: while it is said, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.”
16: For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?
17: And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
18: And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19: So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.
Paul urged the brethren to make sure no one among them had an evil, unbelieving heart—a heart which would cause them to fall away from the living God. Instead, he said to encourage one another while they still had the time—while it was still “today.” While still in the age of His grace, we are to see that no one is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Sin is deceitful and it hardens the heart. Notice he said that we are partakers of Christ if we hold fast the assurance of our faith firm until the end. Faith is the assurance that the hope of our salvation will be fully realized at the Lord’s return. We must not allow our hearts to be hardened by sin. We must be on guard against deception. We must hang on to the full assurance of our faith in Jesus Christ and not waver concerning whether or not He really did what was needed for our salvation. In order for us to partake of the promise, we must believe.
Paul again quoted Psalm 95:7 which says, today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Him. He asked and answered three questions. Who provoked Him when they came out of Egypt? All of them—all the Israelites. Who was He angry with for 40 years? Those who sinned. Who did He swear would not enter His rest? The disobedient.
All the Israelites sinned, were disobedient, and died in the wilderness not entering into the Promised Land as a result of their unbelief. Of course, we know Joshua and Caleb were the exception because they were the only two of the ten spies who believed they could conquer the giants in the land (Numbers 14:6-10, 28-30). Their faith brought them into the rest—the land of promise, and ours will too if we hold fast to it.
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Paul urged the brethren to make sure no one among them had an evil, unbelieving heart—a heart which would cause them to fall away from the living God. Instead, he said to encourage one another while they still had the time—while it was still “today.” While still in the age of His grace, we are to see that no one is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Sin is deceitful and it hardens the heart. Notice he said that we are partakers of Christ if we hold fast the assurance of our faith firm until the end. Faith is the assurance that the hope of our salvation will be fully realized at the Lord’s return. We must not allow our hearts to be hardened by sin. We must be on guard against deception. We must hang on to the full assurance of our faith in Jesus Christ and not waver concerning whether or not He really did what was needed for our salvation. In order for us to partake of the promise, we must believe.
Paul again quoted Psalm 95:7 which says, today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Him. He asked and answered three questions. Who provoked Him when they came out of Egypt? All of them—all the Israelites. Who was He angry with for 40 years? Those who sinned. Who did He swear would not enter His rest? The disobedient.
All the Israelites sinned, were disobedient, and died in the wilderness not entering into the Promised Land as a result of their unbelief. Of course, we know Joshua and Caleb were the exception because they were the only two of the ten spies who believed they could conquer the giants in the land (Numbers 14:6-10, 28-30). Their faith brought them into the rest—the land of promise, and ours will too if we hold fast to it.
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