rest

Hebrews 4:1-11

The Israelites wandering around in the desert did not enter God's rest (at first) because they didn't believe God could give them the land He had promised . "the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith." v2 (see Numbers 13 and 14). We have heard the invitation from God to enter into His eternal rest, do we believe what He is saying? Do we believe that He has got something for us which is better than anything the world can offer? Do we believe that we enter His rest not by working to please Him but by "resting" in Jesus' completed work on the cross? Hear the message and believe it!

hard hearts

Hebrews 3:7-19

⁷So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, ⁸do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, ⁹where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. ¹⁰That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' ¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' "  

¹²See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. ¹⁴We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. ¹⁵As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."

 ¹⁶Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? ¹⁸And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

It's easy to look down on the Israelites at the time of Moses. They were being led by a pillar of cloud and fire, they were having food provided miraculously on a daily basis and still the regularly grumbled, complained, questioned the goodness of God and, as it says repeatedly in this section of Hebrews, hardened their hearts. When we hear God's voice are we going to listen or harden our hearts? When we hear what He reveals about Himself in the Bible, are we going to listen or harden our hearts? When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin are we going to repent or harden our hearts by justifying our behaviour? When we are challenged to forgive, confess, give, serve - whatever it might be - we have a choice to be obedient or not. And when we disobey, our heart is hardened a bit more, moving towards the sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from God (v12). As verse 13 says, let's encourage each other, so that our hearts wont be hardened. Today, if you hear His voice... listen!

the builder

Hebrews 3:1-6

¹Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. ²He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. ³Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. ⁵Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. ⁶But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

 Moses was a faithful servant in God's house but Jesus is a faithful son over God's house. Jesus is worthy of greater honour than Moses (or anyone/anything else) in the same way that the builder of a house has greater honour than the house itself - it's a totally different category. Jesus is not just the best thing in the house. He is in a totally different category. He built the house! He's not just the best thing part of our lives - He is our life. He's doesn't just love us - He is love, He defines what love actually means. He isn't just a teacher telling us how to get ourselves right with God - He is the way we get right with God.

Therefore, we are told to fix our thoughts on Jesus (NIV), consider Him (ESV), take a long, hard look at Him (Message). We are his house (v6) - He built the thing, He owns it, He rules over it