Hebrews and Me Session 2 Hebrews 3:1-4:13 Entering God s Rest Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Psalm 95:7 Hebrews 3:7, 15; 4:7b Paul Dorosh Friends and Fellowship McLean Bible Church November 4, 2018
Hebrews Series Outline 10/28 1-2 The Son, Prophets, Angels and Me 11/04 3:1-4:13 Entering God s Rest 11/11 4:14-6:11 Our Great High Priest; Beware! 11/18 6:12-7:29 God s Promises, Melchizedek & Me 11/25 8-9 The New Covenant and Me 12/02 10 Shadow & Reality; Persevere! 12/09 11 Examples of Faith 12/16 12-13 Discipline, Warning & Conclusion
Outline: Entering God s Rest Hebrews 3:1-4:13 Christ the Son; Moses a Servant (Heb. 3:1-6) Warning Against Unbelief (Heb. 3:7-19) Do not harden your hearts (Psalm 95:7-11) Background: Israel s Unbelief (Numbers 13-14) Salvation through faith, not by works A Sabbath Rest for Believers (Heb. 4:1-13) Hearing God s voice 3
Context: Hebrews 2: 14-15, 17-18 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death that is, the devil 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. 4
Hebrews 3:1-4 1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 5
Hebrews 3:4-6 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God s house, bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. 6
God s House What command is found in these verses? What words are repeated in these verses? How are Moses and Jesus each described? How are we described? 7
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: Hebrews 3:7-11 Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested and tried me, Though for forty years they saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with the generation; I said, Their hearts are always going astray, And they have not known my ways. 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, They shall never enter my rest. a a Psalm 95:7-11. 8
Background: Numbers 13 The Israelites at the Edge of Canaan 1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders. 26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community and reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it. 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, We can t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. 9
Numbers 14 The Israelites Rebel 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. 13 Moses said to the LORD 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now. 20 The Lord replied, I have forgiven them, as you asked. 10
Numbers 14:21-23, 30 Punishment for Rebellion 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 11
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed, we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 15 As has just been said: Hebrews 3:12-15 Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion. 12
16 Who were they that heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of their unbelief. Hebrews 3:16-19 13
God s Anger How is Israel s behavior described in these passages? Why was God angry? (See Numbers 14:23; Hebrews 3:7-9) How is God s anger different from our anger? My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:19-20 14
1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, a Psalm 95:11. Hebrews 4:1-3a Entering God s Rest So I declared on oath in my anger, They shall never enter my rest. a 15
3b And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: On the seventh day God rested from all his works. a 5 And again in the passage above he says, They shall never enter my rest. b Hebrews 4:3b-5 a Genesis 2:1. b Psalm 95:11. 16
Hebrews 4:6-7 6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and that since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it Today. This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. a a Psalm 95:7,8. 17
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God; Hebrews 4:8-11 10 for anyone who enters God s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. 18
God s Rest For the Israelite community, rest referred to the promised land, which the Israelites would reach if they obeyed. Here, would rest from their oppression in Egypt and their wanderings in the desert. We are also called to a Sabbath rest -- a rest from works. 28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Mt: 11:28-30 19
Salvation by Grace, through Faith, not by Works 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-10 20
Hebrews 4:12-13 12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. In the context of v.11 (making every effort to enter God s rest), why are thoughts and attitudes of our hearts important? 21
Hearing God s Voice Prayerfully reading God s Word Quietly meditating on the meaning Asking God to apply it to your life Keeping short accounts: asking for and receiving God s forgiveness 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24 22
For Discussion Describe some examples of being hardened by sin s deceitfulness in your own life or in others lives. What are some practical ways we can encourage one another daily so that none of you may be hardened by sin s deceitfulness? (Heb. 3:13) 23
Encouraging One Another 12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin s deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:12-13 24