A Warning Against Unbelief

In 3:1-6 the writer was comparing Jesus and Moses. Now he moves to the followers of Jesus and Moses. He is going to use the illustration of Moses followers as a warning to those who claim to follow Jesus. There were, among this group of Hebrew Christians, some who were falling away from the faith. The writer uses a significant amount of his time warning those who were abandoning the faith. We see that in our churches today. There are people who appear to follow Christ for some time only to fall away. Let’s see what we can learn from these passages about unbelief.

1. Jewish people were not saved because of their heritage (7-11).

Notice that the Bible claims divine authorship here. Look at verse 7.

“as the Holy Spirit says”.

Some have claimed the Bible does not claim to be the Word

of God. It does. Here is an example. The writer is quoting Psalm 95:7-11. He doesn’t say “the Psalmist says”. He says “The Holy Spirit says”.

The reference is to Exodus 17. The Hebrews were raveling to the Promised Land through the wilderness. They were thirsty and there was no water. They began argue with Moses and questioned if God was even among them. They charged with Moses with bringing them to the desert to kill them and their children.

God had already miraculously provided both food and water for them recently on at least two previous occasions (Ex. 15:25-27 & 16:13-14). They had no reason to believe the Lord was going to let them die.

Now look at verse 6.

“your fathers put me to the test”

They said “God if your real give us water.” That was the test. The problem was God had already done so much for them:

Plagues

Red Sea

Destroying Pharaohs army

Given them water

Given them quail

They had no reason not to believe God but they didn’t.

v. 10 This provoked God. He was provoked with the entire generation. In His anger God swore these people would not go to the Promised Land. This was not an isolated case. The people also had no faith God would protect them from their enemies. Twelve spies were sent out to bring back information about the Promised Land. Ten of them encouraged the people not to enter. Joshua and Caleb encouraged the people to trust God. The Israelites listened to the ten.

There was a pattern of unbelief in their lives. Look at verse 9. They put the Lord to the test for forty years. God determined that only the people under twenty years old would enter the Promised Land (Num. 14:28-29).

Let’s look at how this generation is described:

Hardened hearts (8)

Rebellious (8)

Astray in their hearts (10)

Most of that generation did not know who God was. Look at verse 10. “They have not known My ways.”

2. Unbelief is revealed by disobedience to the Lord.

v. 12 An unbelieving heart leads to a departure from the things of God.

Look at verse 19. It says the Israelites who were not allowed to enter the Promised Land were not able to enter because of unbelief.

Unbelief was the root cause of their rebellion. Departing from God was the fruit. It was the result.

In verse 12 the unbelieving heart is described as evil.

There are many who would disagree with this. They would say you can believe and do evil things.

I have heard many justify a life of sin by saying “I believe in Christ.”

Can Christians do evil things ? Yes.

We don’t think that every time Christians sin, they become apostate.

It was a pattern with the Israelites. They continued in sin for forty years.

The writer is compelling us to look at our own hearts to determine if we are like that wilderness generation.

Am I falling away from the living God?

To fall away from God means to fall away from His teachings.

3. We should encourage one another to continue in the faith (13).

Exhort one another- Encourage others. Encourage them to:

Forsake sin

Live for God

Why?

Because sin is so deceptive.

If we allow ourselves to be deceived by sin we risk our heart being hardened.

In other words, we begin to justify and therefore continue in our sin.

I’m afraid we have lost this in the Western church.

We are a proud people. We are offended when someone speaks to us about sin.

Let me ask you a question:

Who do you encourage to forsake sin?

Who do you encourage to continue living for the Lord?

Who do you warn about the deceitfulness of sin?

When someone tells you they don’t go to church anymore what do you say?

When someone tells you they are in an immoral relationship what do you say?

It is the obligation of the church to keep one another accountable.

When should we do this?

The text tells us. “Every day” and “Today”.

v. 4 Perseverance in the faith is proof of salvation.

v. 14 This is an important verse. It explains perseverance.

“We have come to share in Christ if we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”

Enduring to the end proves our faith in Christ is real. If our faith is not real, we will not endure until the end.

This is something Baptists need to grasp. The proof of our salvation is in the life we live. Belief is revealed by behavior.

v. 15 He reminds them of the wilderness generation again. There is an insight in this verse as to what saving faith looks like.

Our response to the voice of God reveals if the seed of the Word of God has fallen on rocky or fertile soil. The voice of God is the Word of God.

Doesn’t mean you say “Amen” to the Word of God.

It means you believe the Word of God and prove that belief by living your life by it.

Perseverance in the faith and perseverance in the Word of God are synonymous.

Next we’re going to see that the writer wants to remind the Hebrews who it was that was not able to enter the Promised Land. He wants this to sink deep down into their hearts so he asks them three questions.

v. 16 Who heard from God and rebelled?

It was the Hebrews who left Egypt under the leadership of Moses.

v. 17 With whom was God provoked for forty years?

It was the Jewish people who sinned and therefore died in the wilderness.

v. 18 To whom did God swear they would not enter God’s rest?

It was the disobedient Jews.

v. 19 Now we see the conclusion. They did not believe.

He is saying that just as unbelief kept the Jews out of the Promised Land unbelief will keep even those who identify as Christians out of heaven.

And most all Christians would agree with that. The problem we have is how we define belief.

Rebellion to God’s Word

Provoking God

Ongoing disobedience

Are all signs of unbelief to the writer of Hebrews.

In our culture you can do many things because you identify a certain way.

You may be a male but are able to play female sports because you identify as a female.

You may be a female but are able to use a male restroom because you identify as a male.

Our culture overlooks objective truth and allows people to create their own reality.

There are many who identify as a Christian.

God is not going to let us into heaven because we identify a certain way.

He wouldn’t let the Jews enter the Promised Land simply because they identified as Jews.

He won’t let people enter heaven simply because they identify as Christians.

We are saved by faith, but faith works. Saving faith transforms us.

The major question we should ask ourselves concerning our Christin faith is not:

Have I been baptized?

Have I joined the church?

The question is:

What is my response to the Word of God?

Do I conform myself to the teachings of Scripture?

Do I listen to and obey the voice of God?

The writer is concerned about many of his fellow Hebrews who claim to be Christians. He is saying “Don’t be like our Jewish ancestors who were Jewish in name only”.

Live what you say you believe and prove to yourself and others that you do indeed belong to Christ.