Make time for God’s rest - part 2!

As noted in my last blog, the writer of Hebrews began his second of five warning passages in Hebrews 3:7. He warns of the danger of doubting and disbelieving God because of hardness of heart. His focus was on warning Jewish Christians not to miss God’s rest like their ancestors did.

He continues the issue of God’s rest in Hebrews 3:12-19. It is important to remember that Hebrews and the warning passages are written to believers. Zane Hodges, 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. It would be much easier to read Hebrews as a believer if the writer was addressing the warning passages to false professors and not true believers. As a believer, one must rightly understand what that means for those who have placed faith in Christ alone.

The point of this warning passage is the danger of moving from belief to disbelief. Concerning the warning from Numbers 14, Raymond Brown declares, This is a picture not of casual drifters, but deliberate deserters. And Leon Morris, The rebellion he warns against consists of departing from a living, dynamic person, not from some dead doctrine. William L. Lane emphasizes the point, The allusions to Num 14 are significant because they indicate that unbelief is not a lack of faith or trust. It is the refusal to believe God. It leads inevitably to a turning away from God in a deliberate act of rejection.

One might say, how does the Israelite’s rebellion relate to my confession of faith? Warren Wiersbe, No believer today, Jew or Gentile, could go back into the Mosaic legal system since the temple is gone and there is no priesthood. But every believer is tempted to give up his confession of Christ and go back into the world system’s life of compromise and bondage. We must consider whether our belief in God has diminished. Once, I trusted him for my very life, my daily needs, my hopes and dreams. Now, my belief may be turning to disbelief. I can’t trust Him. I can’t believe a God worth knowing would allow this or that to happen to me. There is a fine line between belief and unbelief. The Israelites crossed that line etched in the desert sand. They didn’t enter God’s rest.

We must determine the meaning of God’s rest and are we in danger of losing it. Consider the words of Warren Wiersbe, The emphasis in Hebrews is that true believers have an eternal salvation because they trust a living Saviour who constantly intercedes for them. But the writer is careful to point out that this confidence is no excuse for sin. God disciplines His children. Remember that Canaan is not a picture of heaven, but of the believer’s present spiritual inheritance in Christ. Believers who doubt God’s Word and rebel against Him do not miss heaven, but they do miss out on the blessings of their inheritance today, and they must suffer the chastening of God.

The value of this passage is not just the warning but the instruction on how not to turn belief into disbelief. Times of doubt will come to every believer. F. F. Bruce, To begin well is good, but it is not enough, it is only those who stay the course and finish the race that have any hope of gaining the prize. Of course, the prize for Christians is not salvation which is a gift but the reward of serving Christ as coheirs. The writer of Hebrews exhorts Christians to encourage one another. God made us interdependent, not independent. That is why we need each other to come alongside in time of need. W. H. Griffith Thomas, One of the best ways of keeping ourselves true is to help other people, and the duty is here set forth of exhorting one another. There is scarcely anything more striking in Christian experience than the fact that in helping others we often help ourselves. The best time to deal with disbelief is noted by the writer, today.

As noted, the issue of Hebrews 3 is not the possible loss of salvation but the loss of inheriting all God has for us as coheirs. Consider Thomas Constable, The apostate generation of Israelites failed to enter the Promised Land when they hardened their hearts and provoked God by their disbelief. Is the implication that Christians who do the same will not enter heaven? Many interpreters have taken this view. However, the New Testament elsewhere teaches that all who believe in Jesus Christ will go to heaven because simple faith in Christ is what saves us (e.g., Eph. 2:8–9). . . If our subsequent unbelief resulted in our loss of salvation, the condition for being saved would have to be faith plus faithfulness, which it is not. Remember, “rest” does not equal the Promised Land (or heaven) but obtaining all the inheritance that God wants to give believers in the Promised Land (or heaven).

Taking salvation off the table should not soften the sting of this warning passage. Those who have tasted the Lord should want more. I want all of what God has for me, today and into eternity! I choose the route expressed by Charles Spurgeon, You are to hold fast, to hold on, and to hold out to the end; and the grace you need in order to do this is waiting for you if you will but look for it, and daily live under the power of it.

May God’s rest remind us of what is in store for those who believe in Christ alone. Join the study of Hebrews 3:12-19 which may be found under the Books of the Bible tab. Rest in Him by faith.

Make time for God’s rest!

The writer of Hebrews begins his second of five warning passages in Hebrews 3:7. He warns of the danger of doubting and disbelieving God because of hardness of heart. His focus is on warning Jewish Christians not to miss God’s rest like their ancestors did. R. Kent Hughes, It all began so well—but ended so poorly. Of the 600,000 men (the million-plus Israelites who began so well), only two over the age of twenty ever got to the Promised Land—and that was forty years later. The rest fell, disappointed corpses in the desert. The grand and terrible lesson of Israel’s history is that it is possible to begin well and end poorly.

The Old Testament relates truth to the Hebrew Christians from the experience of their ancestors. The writer warns that as all of the Israelites who left Egypt (except Joshua and Caleb) did not enter God’s rest, neither may they. As that truth was applied to them, it most certainly may be applied to us. Raymond Brown, It is important to note that, in the view of the author, God is still speaking to them through this Old Testament scripture. In his view the Psalms are something more than memorable hymns of rich poetic beauty. They are vehicles of God’s present revelation to his people.

The first use of the word rest in Hebrews is in verse 6 of chapter. Thomas Constable, For Israel, “rest” meant the enjoyment of all that God had promised the nation, not just entrance into the Promised Land . . . For the Christian, “rest” is the enjoyment of all that God has promised us, not just going to heaven. This includes the fullness of rewards that can be ours if we follow the Lord faithfully.

When one has seen the goodness and faithfulness of God but willfully hardens his heart in disbelief, how dangerous that is. Charles Spurgeon wisely wrote, God cannot save me. He is not able to forgive me; the blood of Christ cannot cleanse me; I am too black a sinner for God’s mercy to deal with. hat is a copy of what the Israelites said: God cannot take us into Canaan; He cannot conquer the sons of Anak. Though you may look upon unbelief as a slight sin, it is the sin of sins. Ray Stedman states, Over forty years, their real knowledge of God had not increased because their grumbling hearts blinded their spiritual eyes. A teachable spirit sustains a grateful heart.

It is easy to say that the Israelites who headed for the Promised Land were foolish to harden their hearts. It is easy to say that the Hebrew Christians should not have considered turning away from Christ. It is not too difficult to find those today who started well and ended poorly. R. Kent Hughes, The point the writer of Hebrews wants his readers to see is that it is possible to have a remarkable spiritual “exodus” and yet fall by the way when trouble comes. . . The problem today is that so many people when asked about faith point to their “exodus”—when they began with Christ. They can wax eloquent about their experience. . . Their “exodus” is a convenient memory. But to trust God now? That is a problem, for their faith is dead.

These are days when rest seems hard to imagine. Everything has been harder because of COVID19, changing weather patterns, turmoil, distrust and more. Can there ever again be rest for the weary? The writer of Hebrew deals with God’s rest throughout the rest of the epistle. This is a warning to not duplicate the foolishness of a million Israelites who couldn’t take God at His word. He loved them. He cared for them. He provided for them. He proved it daily. But, their hearts were hardened. We might say too bad for them but be careful to not miss the writer’s message for today, don’t let it be too bad for you.

Ray Stedman offers hope for future rest, . . . as we shall see, this Canaan rest was a symbol, a shadow, of a greater rest available to the people of God in the future. Join the study of Hebrews 3:1-6 which may be found under the Books of the Bible tab. Make time for God’s rest which is available today and forever.

Consider one’s confession of Christ!

The writer of Hebrews encourages the readers to truly know Jesus in whom they have placed their faith. These were Jewish converts facing extreme pressures, even persecution. Is Jesus really more important than Moses who was faithful in all of God’s house according to Numbers 12? As Jewish converts to Jesus Christ needed to have confirmation of their confession, so do we. Never forget that what Jesus Christ can do is based on Who He is.

Let’s take a few moments and consider the foundation of our Christian confession based on an observation of Hebrews 3:1-6. This passage gives a number of reasons why Jesus is worthy of confessing Him as Savior and Lord. Be encouraged to dig deep as noted by Charles Spurgeon, He is supremely worthy of our perpetual consideration from all points of view. . . If you think little of your Leader you will live but poor lives. Consider Him, often think of Him, try to copy Him. With such a Leader what manner of people ought we to be?

Jesus is an apostle, one sent by another for a purpose. Thomas Constable, . . . He is the One God sent to reveal the Father to humankind. . . It is amazing to think that God the Father sent God the Son to reveal Himself to His creation. I am reminded of the thought that God does not need us - He wants us. Our triune God has always had relationship and fellowship within the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Just as amazing, if not more, so is that Jesus came to be our High Priest. R. Kent Hughes, Because he was perfectly human and perfectly divine, he knows both man and God. Thus he is able to speak to men for God and to intercede to God for men. It is a wonderful thing to have one represent mankind before a holy God but it is beyond compare to think our confession is based on Jesus, the High Priest who not only represents us to God by offering Himself as our once-for-all sacrifice!

The writer of Hebrews next focuses on a comparison of Jesus to Moses. The writer confirms the faithfulness of Jesus and Moses in God’s house. Raymond Brown, Moses was a faithful steward in the house, but Christ is its owner. As noted in Hebrews 1, Jesus was assigned responsibility by the Father to create all things. He created the house in which Moses was a faithful servant. William Barclay, . . . Moses was the servant; but Jesus was the Son. Moses knew a little about God; Jesus was God. Therein lies the secret of his superiority. And William L. Lane, Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses in the same measure as God has more honor than the universe he created.

A comparison of Jesus to Moses must consider Moses as a type whereas Jesus is the reality. The tabernacle in the desert only pictured the permanent residence in heaven where Jesus now sits in authority at the right hand of the Father. Donald Hagner, In Moses we have promise; in the Son we have fulfillment, for in him God has accomplished his saving purposes.

Such consideration of one’s confession must lead to a proper evaluation of personal commitment. The writer to the Hebrews declared verse 6, And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. As noted earlier in this study of Hebrews, the warning passages can’t speak of loss of salvation since salvation is a gift. The warning must deal with false profession and/or loss of reward. Ray Stedman, It tells us that courage or boldness, and the demonstration of hope in word and deed is the continuing mark of those who belong to Christ. It does not rule out periods of weak faith and struggle. Also note the position of Zane Hodges, . . . just as one who was a true Levite by birth could withdraw from participation in the tabernacle of Moses’ day, so too one who is truly a Christian by new birth may withdraw from his priestly role within the functioning household. It was precisely this danger which concerned the writer, in the present warning passage as well as in later ones.

I have no interest in weakening the warning passages in Hebrews but to reconcile them to Scripture. One must affirm that salvation is a gift and rewards are for faithful service. Therefore, I believe this passage is meant to confirm the value of our confession which is secured by faith in Christ alone. Also, we are called to carefully, by God’s grace, build on that one foundation that which is worthy of that confession. Please take time to consider 1 Corinthians 3:11-15.

Learn more about why it is so important that our confession is tied to obedience. Join the study of Hebrews 3:1-6 under the Books of the Bible tab. There is no greater confession that to declare that Jesus is my Savior and Lord!