| Hebrews 3 Previous Chapter | Next Chapter 1 Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; 2 Who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. 3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, since he who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by some man, but he who built all things is God. 5 And Moses truly was faithful in all his house as a servant, testifying of those things that were to be spoken afterward. 6 But Christ is a son over his own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. 7 Therefore as the Holy Spirit said, "Today if you will hear his voice, 9 When your fathers tempted me, tried me, and saw my works for forty years. 11 So I swore in my wrath, 'They will not enter into my rest.'" 12 Take heed, brothers, lest there be an evil heart of unbelief in any of you in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold firm the beginning of our confidence to the end, [We can enter union with Christ and God if we through the Spirit mortify the sinful nature, which occurs if we heed and obey Him as we persistently and patiently wait for Him. To wait on God is to persistently sit in humble silence, listen for his voice and words, watch for his revelations, hear his commands, and then obey His voice.] 15 While it is said, "Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation [and rebellion]."1 16 For some, after they had heard his voice, provoked him [and rebelled]; however, were they not those who were led out of Egypt by Moses? 17 But with whom was he grieved for forty years? Was it not with "those who had sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?" 18 And to whom he swore that they, those who disobeyed,2 would not enter into his rest? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of their unbelief, [unwillingness to trust, depend on, and obey God]. Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | |||||||||
1 Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation. From George Fox's Journal:
But we resolve to hear the Son, as both the Father and he command; and in hearing the Son, we hear the Father also, as the scripture testifies. For the letter to the Hebrews says, "God, who at sundry times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son:" mark that, God has spoken to us (his apostles, disciples, and church), by his Son. And where, some have objected, "That although Christ did speak both to his disciples and to the Jews in the days of his flesh, yet since his resurrection and ascension he does not speak now." The answer is: the Jews could not hear his heavenly voice then, neither can those who say they are Christians, but today are in the same nature as the Jews were then. But the disciples of Christ, who learned from him, they heard his voice then and hear it now.
After Christ had risen, Christ spoke to the Apostle Paul and to the rest of the disciples, including John, when he wrote his revelations. And the Apostle said to the Hebrews, "See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more will we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, who neglected and resisted Moses, and who died under the hand of two or three witnesses. Whoever resisted Moses' law (who spoke on earth), died for it without mercy.That was a natural death. But they who now neglect him who speaks from heaven, they neglect their salvation. Therefore while it is still called day, do not neglect to hear his voice. Those who do neglect to hear his voice while it is called day, harden their hearts. Heb 3:15
The Apostle said that God at sundry times, and after diverse manners, spoke to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son, mark, has spoken to us by his Son. For which reason, John said in the Revelation, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches." Rev 2:7. "And Christ is said to speak from heaven." Heb12:25.
2 The Jews had left the rich cities of Egypt to end up in the desert, with no food, no water, no entertainment. This was bleak. They could not believe that God was really going to deliver them from the wilderness to a land of milk and honey. They doubted God's promise. They didn't believe, so they didn't obey. The Jews sinned and were slain by God in the desert to never enter the promise land, to never enter the rest.
Why were the Jews slain in the desert by God? Disobedience. Why did Adam and Eve fall? Disobedience. Why did the Lord say those who thought they were Christians would be sent away from his presence? Disobedience. What does it take to attain salvation? Obedience. He [Jesus] became the Author and Source of eternal salvation to all those who heed and obey Him. Heb 5:9. Belief without obedience is just lip service and make-believe Christianity of assemblies of hypocrites.
This chapter and the next is the warning to all who call themselves Christians: to avoid losing your soul and being banned from heaven, as the Jews were killed in the desert and banned from entering the promise land, you must zealously labor in faith to attain the promise, which is union with God and entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, within you and around you. This results in your entering the rest, where you cease from you own labors to labor under God's direction; following the promptings of God, energized by God. Thus your then true Lord and master controls and energizes you by his power, and your words and deeds are performed according to his will and to his pleasure. This is "thy will be done;" you have ceased your own will, ceased your own plans, ceased your own decisions — at rest in Christ, with God's will and power in control.
Oh Christendom! Do not be at ease in your sins, thinking only belief in Jesus is necessary: Arise and depart, for this is not your rest. Because it is defiled, it will destroy you, yes, with utter destruction. Mic 2:10.
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