Hebrews 3:7-4:13 Part 1: The Penalty of Disbelief
Here, the preacher of Hebrews compares Moses and Jesus indirectly, by comparing their followers. Jesus is superior to Moses because Moses' people followed in unbelief, and the true followers of Jesus are those that cling to belief and exhort others to do the same. Video, below, is followed by my notes.
A. Exodus 17:1-7
1. People come grumbling to Moses about a lack of water.
2. Ask “Is God among us or not?”
3. Ridiculous, when you consider:
a. Ten plagues of deliverance
b. Parting of the Red Sea
c. Pillar of cloud and fire.
d. Making bitter water sweet
e. Just received manna at the end of the last chapter.
f. What do you think?
4. The miracle of the water from the rock is a picture of Christ:
a. Struck by Moses’ rod: The rod of judgment (as opposed to Aarons, a rod of blessing)
b. Water flowed from the “wound”
c. Living water
d. Struck once.
e. God (Jesus) stands on the rock as it is struck
5. Moses names the place Massah (testing) and Meribah (quarreling).
6. The people expressed a complete lack of faith (Unbelief) in God when faced with a difficult situation, despite what they had seen Him do just a few days or weeks prior.
B. Numbers 14:1-38
1. They had been journeying now for several months (years?).
a. Now, they have the law, they have seen numerous miracles, and they have suffered judgment for unbelief several times. Have they learned?
b. They have the promise of God that they will enter the land, but faced with difficult odds, they retreat to fear and disbelief.
c. God threatens to destroy all the people and start over with Moses (for the second time!) Vs. 11
d. Moses intercedes, appealing to the glory of God, and God relents.
e. Then, He swears that nobody but Caleb and Joshua will enter the land (vs 20ff)
f. He kills the 10 spies as an object lesson (Vs 36-38)
C. Numbers 20:2-13
1. Nearly a complete repeat of the first scene, but this is now years into the wanderings. Still, they have not learned.
2. Same rock? 1 Cor 10:4. Perhaps metaphorically.
3. Subtle Differences:
a. Aaron’s staff, staff of blessing
b. Speak to the rock
c. Jesus was struck only once. Afterward, we need only ask him, and he pours out forgiveness, life, and blessing.
d. Moses is angry,
e. Struck it twice with HIS staff. Ruined the type.
4. Moses’ sin was not anger, but unbelief.
5. Moses is barred from the promised land because of unbelief.
D. Psalm 95:7-11
1. In context, this psalm is one that rejoices over the greatness of God as displayed in his works, calls people to worship him, and warns them not to continue, despite the evidence of His works, in disbelief. This is the central theme of our passage in Hebrews.
2. “Today,” don’t harden your hearts. It was too late for the Exodus generation, but it is not too late for you.
3. Vs 9: Put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
a. No further proof should have been needed then, nor should there be now!
b. We have seen even greater works. Let us not look for more proof that God is who he says he is.
1. John 10:38; 14:11
2. Rom 1:18ff; 2:12ff
c. Miracles don’t necessarily lead to belief. Mat 24:24; Luke 16:19-31
4. Huge statement: vs 10: For forty years I loathed that generation.
a. Don’t let that be said about us!
b. God is longsuffering but he won’t quit the guilty. Ex 34
c. Waited a long time for them, giving opportunity for repentance. It never came, because “they go astray in their heart and do not know [God’s] ways”.
d. Long-term hardening of heart.
e. Continuous exposure to the things of God, if not coupled with belief and repentance, is dangerous.
f. Clay and wax.
5. Vs 11: Verdict. Final judgment. There is no return for them.
a. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is continued refusal to repent after seeing the work of God in your life for your salvation.
1. Matt 12:31
2. A saved person cannot commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, because they have responded to the saving work of God.
3. The Exodus generation, most Jews since, and most people in the world today, do.
b. After hardening your heart against the saving entreaties of God for so long, there remains no opportunity for salvation.
1. Heb 10:26
2. Not God’s fault. Yours.
1. Attributed to the Holy Spirit, not David. Ultimate authorship.
2. Quote has subtle differences.
a. Place names translated into their meanings: testing and provoked.
b. It’s the works that happened for forty years, not the anger of God.
c. Same spirit of the text. Same result.
3. Take care: your will is involved. Also “hearts” in vs 10.
4. Lest there be an evil, unbelieving heart.
a. We all have an evil heart before God regenerates it (Rom 1-6).
b. The natural heart of man is drawn, like gravity, toward hell and damnation. Only God interrupts that progression.
c. Yet here, we are told to participate with our minds in restraining our hearts.
5. “Fall Away” G: ἀφίστημι aphistēmi
a. Apo: away from, apart.
b. Histēmi: A prolonged sense of Stato, to stand unmoving.
c. To remain unchanged, standing at a distance, looking away.
d. Not “Turning away,” ἀποστρέφω apostrephō
1. Luke 23:14
2. Acts 3:26
e. This is not the action of a believer.
1. “Fall away” sounds like the person was once with Christ, and now is not.
2. This person has never come to Christ. They are staying away.
6. “As long as it is called today” vs “hardened.”
a. We don’t know the point at which someone crosses the line in their heart or in the mind of God from resisting to hardened.
b. If they are still alive, keep trying. Perhaps the Holy Spirit will still save them!
7. Hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
a. Sin seems good for a while, but then death comes.
b. James 1:13-16
8. If we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
a. This is to the believer (we know). Still an “if.”
b. Heb. 3:14 For we have come to share in Christ. The evidence of the Christian truly partaking of Christ’s salvation involves endurance to the end. The condition (if indeed) has been understood in various ways. Some have argued that the condition (“if”) indicates that true Christians can lose their salvation. Scripture is clear, however, that true believers cannot lose their salvation, as evidenced, e.g., by John 10:27–29 (“no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand”), Eph. 1:4 (“he chose us in him before the foundation of the world”), and many other Scripture passages (e.g., John 6:39–40; Rom. 8:35, 38–39; Phil. 1:6; 1 Pet. 1:3–5).Hebrews 3:14 should be understood in connection with v. 13, as is indicated by the linking word “for” (Gk. gar). That is, v. 14 is linked to the exhortation not to become hardened (in unbelief and sin). Thus, the logic of the argument is that those who are hardened or who become hardened (v. 13) give outward evidence that they are not (and never have been) genuine believers who “share in Christ,” because genuine believers do not become hardened; instead, they persevere—that is, they hold on to their original confidence firm to the end. Of course, Scripture also encourages believers to pray for and seek to bring back any who have fallen away (James 5:20; 1 John 5:16), in the hope that they will turn back. Still, this passage should be viewed as a sober warning—intended as a means that God uses to keep Christians resolved in faith and obedient until the end. The ongoing experience of perseverance results in “confidence” and assurance that one does in fact “share in Christ.” This verse then provides a grave warning to everyone who claims to be saved—that is, to examine oneself carefully to be sure that one is, in fact, a genuine believer, because if there is no evidence of perseverance in faith and obedience, then there is real reason to doubt that such a person has ever been saved. --ESV Study Bible
c. Preservation & Perseverance! (John Piper)
1. We are saved by Grace alone through Faith alone Apart from works.
a. Eph 2:8-9
b. Rom 3:28
2. Those who are justified will certainly be glorified
a. Rom 8:30
b. John 10:27-29
3. No one will be glorified/finally saved who does not persevere to the end.
a. 1 Cor 15:1-2
b. Col 1:22-23
c. Matt 10:22
d. 1 John 2:19
4. God himself will keep his children from falling away
a. Phil 1:6
b. 1 Cor 1:8-9
5. God keeps his children by his children
a. Heb 3:13-14
b. James 5:19-20
6. Eternal Security is a human project with divine orchestration and guarantee.
d. Four soils: Only the ones who yield their fruit demonstrate their salvation, but others start to grow.
1. Hangers on
2. Cultural Christians
3. Unconverted churchgoers (and Pastors!)
9. Who where…
a. All those who left Egypt left in unbelief. They escaped out of a desire for self-preservation, but ultimately, their failure to arrive demonstrated their failure to believe.
b. They witnessed miracles, made professions, and even followed instructions, but they did not ultimately have faith.
c. Only a small handful who left did so believing, and they were permitted to enter the land.
F. Application to us:
1. Turn and Embrace Christ! Do not “stand permanently far off.” If you have not embraced the gospel, you need to!
2. Cultural Christianity is Hazardous to Spiritual Health! The more someone is exposed to the gospel and rejects it the harder their heart becomes and the less likely that they will one day turn and be saved.
3. Participate in the Preservation of Saints! Be a tool of the Lord in the ongoing salvation of your brethren.
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