Daily Meditations

Hebrews 3:12 See to it, brothers and sisters The author of this epistle to the Hebrews suddenly changes his focus, he has used Israel as an example and a lesson as to what can go wrong in our relationship with the Lord God and now, he changes the point of his argument and puts the onus on us -  the church, early believers and in 21 st  Century, in other words, you and me. We are the brothers and sisters that need to take these lessons on board. If we have sinful, unbelieving hearts then we too risk losing our claim to the Promised Land, we too may waste our lives wandering in the wilderness instead of finding fulfilment in the promises of God.  I have struggled for many years to understand the context of what now follows. Does Hebrews teach us that we can lose our salvation? Does it claim that there are many who have been delivered from slavery to sin, but who actually never make it to the eternal rest that God has prepared? Listen carefully to the description given ...

Hebrews 3:11 They will never enter my rest! None of us are capable of putting ourselves in God’s shoes! But many of us have been, or are, parents. We know what it is like to have the very best hopes and ambitions for our children, we can see their potential and encourage them to take steps to fulfil it, but rarely does it go exactly as we planned! There is rebellion implanted in the hearts of all human beings, even our kids, and we are all born with an inclination to ignore advice and to do things our way.  God did so much for those ancient Israelites, He used miracles to deliver them from Egypt, He parted the Red Sea and calmly drowned the Egyptian soldiers who were in pursuit. He fed and watered them on their journey and led them to Mount Sinai where, for the first time in human history, He revealed His heart and the means by which those people could honour and obey Him. He was not a merciless tyrant, who insisted on unquestioning subservience, He was a compassionate Father who w...

Hebrews 3:10 Their hearts are always going astray The unbelief of the Israelites and their insolence in questioning God’s ways led to Him being exceedingly angry with them. He accuses their  “Hearts of always going astray .” What does this mean? Are there lesson here for us? Firstly, our hearts go astray when we adamantly refuse to listen to God’s voice. They also go astray when we realise He has spoken but we question His judgement! Our hearts also go astray when we look at situations and problems and evaluate them with human wisdom rather than through the eyes of God. There must be countless occasions in all our lives when the Lord has issued instructions for us to proceed with his plans, but we see the obstacles, we look at our own in abilities, we measure the risks and fail to trust Him to carry us through. What an indictment of our faith it is when we spend years “in the wilderness in disobedience” and someone else has to come along and pick up the reigns and carry out the tas...

Hebrews 3:9 Testing God and regretting it The author here continues to muse over the foolishness of his Jewish ancestors as they rebelled against the Lord God. You may remember that the Israelites made good progress on their journey through the wilderness from Egypt and captivity. It was a trek for sure and there were a lot of people, plus their sojourn at Mount Sinai would have taken up some time, but not enough to stop them from arriving at the borders of Canaan within a few months! Upon their arrival, Moses sent 12 spies to search out the land and, as we know, ten of the spies came back fearful of the inhabitants and convinced that the Israel forces were not strong enough to tackle the fortified cities and powerful men who dwelt in them. Only Joshua and Caleb believed that victory was achievable. There followed a night of arguments and grumbling involving the whole community, in fact they became so indignant and angry at being what they thought was hoodwinked, that they threatened t...

Hebrews 3:7-8 continued Today, if you hear His voice “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”  We need to spend a little more time considering the implications of this statement. To hear the voice of God is a great honour and privilege. God speaks in many ways, primarily through His Word the Bible, but also through preachers, teachers and godly men and women. He may speak through circumstances or through dreams and visions, sometimes it is just a simple conviction that drives our attitudes and actions. God speaks through creation, so clearly that Paul argues, in Romans 1, that if men cannot hear Him, they are “without excuse!” When we think about it, the voice of God is everywhere and those who are willing to humbly listen by faith will hear Him. We cannot know Him unless He first speaks, just as creation could not happen until God spoke into the darkness and chaos of the primordial void.  As we have seen, the message here involves Israel who were honoured to...

Hebrews 3:7-8 Do not harden your hearts These verses, and those that follow up to verse 11, are direct quotations from Psalm 95:7-11. The warnings here are not just an appeal for persistence and dedication on the journey but also a caution against disobedience and unbelief. Notice that the Holy Spirit is described as the “speaker” here. This is not the only time that the Scriptures attribute the Word of God to the Spirit of God, Peter says clearly in his second letter , “For prophecy never had its origins in the human will,  but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  2 Peter 1:21. Paull writes to Timothy and reminds him that all Scripture is “ God-breathed ”. It follows that we must take the quotations from Psalm 95 very seriously, something the Israelites failed to do! While they were being tested by God in the wilderness, they were guilty of hardening their hearts against Him, especially when He brought them to the bounda...