Hebrews 3:9

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 to stone Moses and Aaron! The Lord was angry with these doubters and accused them of treating Him with contempt. As a consequence, the whole community was cursed to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until a generation of them had passed and their children were ready to take up the challenge. The 10 doubting spies were struck down with a plague and only Joshua and Caleb survived. Numbers 13-14.

The 40 years of wandering were not pleasant! The people frequently grumbled and must have deeply regretted their unbelief. This is the lesson for us; we should not take the promises of God lightly. We cannot judge situations with our own eyes or understanding, if the Lord says “It can be done, get on with it” then we should learn to trust Him. There may be giant obstacles in the way, and the opposing forces may appear to be overwhelming but if God is for us, who can be against us? We have two choices, either to do it His way or to spend a lifetime regretting that our faith in Him was not strong enough to see us through. 

I recall once being on a walking holiday in the Cotswolds and talking to a lovely, gentle man who had, as a teenager, felt the call to serve the Lord in a foreign land. He trained, gained financial support and set off full of expectations. The culture, the language and the challenges of the work were tough and he only lasted a few weeks and then returned home. 40-50 years later he still regretted his decision and wondered how life might have turned out if he had stuck at it!

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