12 06 2021
The dangers of unbelief.
As we saw in Psalm’s unbelief is the opposite of faith. God wants a people who will trust him. Looking at this chapter holistically, it was bad enough to disobey God when Moses was in charge of the people of God. How much worse it is to be disobedient to the Son of God! To Apollos, Jesus is greater than Moses therefore the punishment of disobedience will be greater. It is God who saved Israel from the Egyptians with mighty miracles which were unheard of. The people of God in that generation were pushing all the wrong buttons. Out of that generation only Joshua and Caleb made it into the promised land. God takes pleasure in a people who trust and obey him. This is a lesson we learned from the Psalm.
Apollos then spells it out to his readers.
“12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, 15 while it is said,
“TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,
DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.”
16 For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. “Hebrews 3:12-19 NASB
It is so easy for us to take the wider road of pleasure and putting self before God. In this paraenetic material of exhortation there was a very real danger of some of the believers falling away. Even before AD 70 both Jews and Christians were being persecuted and if we read this letter very carefully, we can see material pointing to this for example later on before the faith chapter:
“But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” Hebrews 10:32-36 NASB
These Jewish Christians were suffering for their faith. There was a clear danger for them to lose hope. Apollos was a great pastor! He was able to draw from the wellsprings of Scripture to encourage them to follow the Lord whatever the outcome. It is so easy for someone to call themselves a Christian when they live in the lap of luxury with no financial woes. We need to be reminded today that everything can be swept away in an instant. Some of these believers to whom Apollos is writing to suffered loss of houses goods and in some situations even life. This was the reality. As believers we have a choice, this moment; Do we serve the Lord Jesus, or do we turn our back on all the good things God has done for us? Jesus Christ, God of God, light of light, becoming full human and a man broke into our human domain and for a season became a human being like all of us. This was not enough! We deserved to be judged and to be punished by eternal death for the sins we have committed. Instead, it was God’s plan to send his son to a hill and be crucified in our place. The wonder the mystery of this. Now the door is open for us to enter heaven.
You as the reader of Hebrews like these early believers are called to make a choice. Today if you hear his voice. As long as it is called today. Apollos is not mincing words: Today is now. Today is not yesterday and it is not in the future, it is now. As a Christian have you suffered? If the answer is no, then good carry on serving him. As a Christian have you suffered? If the answer is yes keep on worshipping him. Have you passed the litmus test of faith?
Verse 14 says: For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. NASB
If you haven’t suffered my friend, you might in the future. Live by faith and live by faith including all the responsibilities as a child of God. He commands us to love and to live by faith. If you are living by faith, then where is the fruit of that love? It wasn’t cheap for God to become a human being and to die on a cross. Do you have a cheap my friend or is there substance to it. Many people have lost homes because of war and famine. As a believer if you have been in a position to help another human being ; what did you do?
I’m not judging, I will be found lacking and it is only by grace that I stand!
You might be suffering and there may be a possibility to turn your back on god’s ways and go to crime. I’m saying don’t do it. God loves you my friend and in him, in Christ there is always a way.
Lets look at the text more carefully;
Verse 12-14 are an explanation of the theme found in verse 6, that the believers should stay faithful. It does imply suffering as a consequence of the sin they committed. The mood of verse 12 to 13 move from – to +. Verse 12 says ‘take care’ the beginning of verse 13 says ‘but encourage…’
From a negative point of view verse 12 says that they should keep away from unbelief. For example the readers may have entertained the idea that perhaps Jesus is not the Christ after all.
From a positive point of view verse 13 says that the readers should encourage each other day by day. These questions for the readers being of Jewish background are of the highest importance. The answer to the question however is that Jesus is the Christ the true King of Israel.
Verse 14 has the same feel to it as verse 6. By looking at the key words in both sentences we find the following.
Verse 6 confidence = verse 14 assurance.
“ 6 firm = “ 14 firm.
“ 6 end = “ 14 end.
Obviously if I was going to use the above words then there must have been something that was discouraging me. In chapter 12/3 the writer does give us a clue to the problem. Possibly within the Jewish community (and I am convinced there was) there was a Jewish voice that said Jesus was not the Christ but an imposter. These Jewish Christians were worn down and they were ‘tired’, they were losing heart (12/3b). They were under some type of persecution (verse 4) possibly losing jobs, being rejected by the family and friends. It does not seem to be the case that any of these believers were being murdered (12/4) for their faith. More like they were under peer pressure to conform to the standard beliefs of the Jewish community.
chapter 3/15-19 a summary.
Having looked at the situation of these Jewish Christians, the writer quotes a part of the wilderness experiences of Israel (see chapter 3/7-8 from Psalm 95/7). He then explains that the reason why the Jews did not listen was because of unbelief and this was worked out in disobedience. So, Israel did not listen to God.
Reflection
How can I finish this section of scripture? What have we learned? The main lesson I think is that the way of faith is better than the way of unbelief. Jesus is fully God and fully man. He came into the world to save us from our sins. If we turn our back on Jesus, we turn our back on God. It is that simple. So let us not shrink from faith ‘now’ but stay firm, lock ourselves away and pray and seek wisdom. Whether we are suffering or nor not suffering Jesus is always close to us. It is not a feeling thing, it is an objective reality.
Weaver1has's Blog 
Leave a Reply