Danger of Unbelief

Hebrews 3:7–19 (KJV 1900)

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,

8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.

10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?

19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Last week we looked at the Danger of Neglecting our Salvation.

Two things:

Either initial Salvation.

The Power of accepted Salvation by living a life of aimlessness rather than abudance.

This next Danger is relevant in the fact that

1. These words are in present tense.

2. God is speaking today through His Son Jesus Christ—through someone greater than the prophets, greater than the angels, and greater than Moses. This shows that One so supreme is to be obeyed supremely. Man must believe and obey Christ—believe His promise of salvation and of eternal rest in the promised land of heaven.

Fear of Apathy or Unbelief

Instruction

Hebrews 3:7–8 KJV 1900

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

The Holy Spirit’s warning to one who knows the gospel, who knows the truth but because of the love of their sin and the fear of persecution or whatever it may be has not committed himself to the truth that he knows is real.

It’s as if there’s a fire in a hotel and you’re on the tenth floor and the firemen below are yelling ‘jump’ because there’s a net available, maybe on a lower roof about the fifth floor and you look out the window and you really just can’t figure out whether or not you ought to trust yourself to those firemen but the fire is moving through the apartment and you don’t have a lot of choice. But rather than commit yourself to the trust of those firemen and jump out you’re concerned with being able to hang on to your possessions so you grab them hoping you can make it by running back in and going down the stairs and you’re consumed by the fire.

Well if you want to put this passage in that context this is the Holy Spirit saying at the top of His voice—jump, that’s verses 7–19.

Do not harden your hearts. This is a charge from the Holy Spirit Himself, and it is directed to every generation of believers. It was not only a charge to Israel.

How do we know this?

Because the word says is in the present tense. The Holy Spirit is still speaking today. The charge is of critical importance to all people of every generation; there is great danger in disobeying the charge.

Now, what does a hardened heart mean?

Israel’s wilderness experience shows us. After the Jews had been freed from Egyptian slavery, they wandered about in the wilderness of the Sinai desert for some forty years. During their wanderings, they committed four gross sins that hardened their hearts.

Illustration

Hebrews 3:8 KJV 1900

8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

1. They provoked God.

Note the two phrases “in the provocation” and “in the day of temptation.” They are actually a translation of two Hebrew words which are two proper names, the names of a place where Israel sinned in the wilderness, Massah and Meribah (Ex. 17:2–7; Nu. 20:1–13).

Wandering about in the desert, the people had become very thirsty; therefore, they began …

• to disbelieve God—to distrust that He cared and would provide.

• to murmur and grumble against God and His leader (Moses).

• to regret that they had left the world of Egypt.

They just rebelled against God, did not believe that He would take care of them. They completely lost their trust in Him and began to criticize and murmur and grumble against Him and Moses, God’s appointed leader.

2. They tried God for forty years.

Hebrews 3:9 KJV 1900

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.

God took care of Israel for forty long years as the nation wandered throughout the arid desert of Sinai. God gave them food and water and all the other necessities of life, and He protected them from all surrounding enemies. Yet the people continued to harden their hearts against God, to disbelieve and distrust Him.

They approached God as though He had to meet their approval instead of their meeting His.

⇒ They tempted (peirazomai) God. This means they tested Him, put Him to the test to see if He was really good and would meet their needs.

⇒ They proved (dokimazo) God. This means they tested Him, put Him to the test to see if He met their approval. If God would prove faithful, then He would be worthy of their obedience and loyalty. They wanted Him to prove Himself first, then they would follow Him.

Note the unbelief and hardness of heart in all this. There is no belief or trust. They wanted God to prove Himself by giving the provision without any trial or suffering. They were unwilling to prove themselves, unwilling to show that they really believed and trusted God. They wanted God to prove Himself, that He was worthy of their trust and loyalty. What audacity!

What unbelief and hardness of heart—total disobedience.

3. They always went astray.

Hebrews 3:10 KJV 1900

10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

God had promised to meet Israel’s needs and He always had. They did not have the luxuries of life, but they did have God’s care and provision, and most of all they had the glorious promise of God’s land and rest. But they always went astray—always chose not to believe God. They disobeyed and distrusted God for some forty years.

4. They did not know God’s way.

God’s way is faith and trust. God wants the same as any father wants: to be trusted. No matter how little or how much a father can provide, he wants to be trusted that he does care and will provide for his children. The same is true of God. God does not want murmuring or grumbling, questioning, distrust, unbelief, or disobedience. God wants faith and trust, for faith and trust are the ways that God teaches men to trust Him more.

If we believe God—really believe Him—then the more we need and suffer trial, the more we will …

• learn to draw near God

• learn to fellowship with God

• learn to trust God

• learn to depend upon God

• learn to walk with God

This is the way of God; it is what God is after. It is the reason God created us—to know Him and to fellowship with Him. And the only way we can ever get to know Him and to fellowship with Him is to learn to trust Him more and more.

Therefore, we have to be tried and tested so that we will draw closer and closer to Him and learn to believe and trust Him more and more. This is what Israel failed to learn; this was the great failure of Israel: unbelief and disobedience.

Issue

Hebrews 3:11 KJV 1900

11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

They just never learned that God’s way was belief and trust.The result was, of course, judgment. The people chose not to follow God; therefore, they were never able to inherit the promised land nor to enter God’s rest.

They missed the permanent peace and provision of God Himself.

They died in the wilderness, the very ones who had been set free from the world and bondage of Egypt.

Focus on Yourself

Hebrews 3:12 KJV 1900

12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

Take care—watch out for unbelief.

There is great danger that believers might depart from the living God. They might do just what Israel did.

Therefore, take heed (blepete): be alert and stay alert; be on the lookout and do it constantly; watch and keep on watching.

Keep a watchful eye on your trust and obedience to God.

Watch for an evil heart of unbelief.

What is an evil heart of unbelief?

It is a heart that …

• stands off from God

• stands unresponsive to God

• renounces God

• rebels against God

• does not believe in God

• does not trust God and His promises

• does not follow God as He demands

The great failure of Israel was this: they just failed to believe God—to trust that He would do what he said: take care of them, provide for their needs, and give them the promised land and rest.

The great failure of people today is the very same thing—unbelief.

People just do not believe God—that He will do what He says: take care of them, provide for their necessities, and give them the promised land of heaven and the eternal rest from the wilderness of this world.

Fortify Each Other

Hebrews 3:13 KJV 1900

13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Encourage and Exhort one another daily. The word “exhort” (parakaleo) means to beg, entreat, or beseech. It is from the same word that the Comforter or Paraclete (the Holy Spirit) is taken. This means that the word “exhort” also includes comfort, the kind of comfort that will “strengthen and encourage the believer each single day so that when a crisis arises he may be able to stand fast” (Thomas Hewitt. The Epistle to the Hebrews. “Tyndale New Testament Commentaries.” Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1960, p. 83).

Believers are to constantly exhort one another to guard themselves against unbelief and sin.

There are eight reasons why.

1. First,

1. Your time is short.

Today is the day for believing and walking in Christ. Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow a person may be snapped out of this world by some accident or become a broken and hopeless person because of some bad news or unexpected event.

At most, life is only as a vapor or a flower: here today and gone tomorrow. Therefore, we must exhort one another to trust Christ and His promises and to follow Him as He has dictated.

2. You can be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Sin is deceitful: it looks good, tastes good, and feels good. But it enslaves human life and leaves the human heart empty, lonely, insecure, hurting, and sometimes broken. It devastates families, friends, businesses, and oneself.

In addition to this, sin hardens a person. The more a person sins, the harder and more sinful he becomes. Sin begets sin; sin nourishes more and more sin. The more a persons sins, the easier it is for him to sin.

One sin prepares the heart for the next sin.

The human heart just becomes hardened the more it sins. Sin deceives and looks good, but the more a person sins, the more enslaved he becomes to sin. (See the things that harm the human body and personality such as smoking, drinking, drugs, sex, and cursing.)

3. Sanctified Salvation is conditional.

Hebrews 3:14 KJV 1900

14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

It is not enough to say that we are saved—that we are “partakers of Christ.” We must hold stedfast to our confidence or hope in Christ and His salvation. If we are serious when we say that we have partaken of Christ and His salvation, then we are partaking of Him—we are doing exactly what He says: we are holding fast to Him. But if we do not hold fast to Christ, then we are not partaking of Him.

No matter what we claim, if we are not holding fast to Christ, then we are not partaking of Him. Sanctified Salvation is conditional—based upon this one simple requirement: a person must hold fast to Christ in order to partake of Him.

4. Each day is important.

Hebrews 3:15 KJV 1900

15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

We must hear the voice of the Holy Spirit today—every day. We must not let sin deceive us and allow our hearts to become hardened. We must take heed and watch lest we depart from God even as Israel did. It is a dangerous thing to provoke God.

5. Provoking God is Possible.

Hebrews 3:16 KJV 1900

16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

Some do provoke God. Some in Israel had heard the Holy Spirit of God, yet they did not heed His exhortation. They sinned, rebelling against God and doing their own thing. They lived as they wished, not believing or trusting God. Therefore, they provoked Him. Tragically, the same is true today. Some among us sin and harden our hearts. Therefore, we are provoking God.

6. Judgment is sure.

Hebrews 3:17 KJV 1900

17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

God had pronounced the fact: those who sinned and did not believe and trust Him would be condemned and judged. And just as He had said, those who sinned in Israel were judged. Their carcasses fell in the wilderness. So it will be today. All who sin and disbelieve God shall be condemned and judged. There is no escape for any of us who do not believe and follow Christ.

7. God judges unbelief.

Hebrews 3:18 KJV 1900

18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?

The words “believed not” (apeitheo) means to refuse to be persuaded; to refuse to believe; to withhold belief; to be disobedient. It is a person who just refuses to be persuaded despite the evidence that Jesus Christ is truly the Savior of the world; the kind of person who chooses to continue living for the world and self despite the fact of coming judgment. The unbeliever will not be allowed to enter God’s promised land of blessing and rest.

8. Unbelief shuts a person out.

Nothing will close the doors of the blessings of God—nothing will keep a person out of God’s rest—except unbelief. Refusing to believe and trust the Lord Jesus Christ and His promise of salvation will shut the door of the promised abundant living. Unbelief keeps a person from ever experiencing God’s rest, His eternal rest.