Hebrews 12

KingComments

‹ Chapter 11 Hebrews — All Chapters Chapter 13 ›

Hebrews 12:1

We See Jesus

Hebrews 2:8. We still have a small portion from the quotation of Psalm 8 to speak about. Though this is a small portion, it includes much. It is written: “You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” This indicates the complete government of the Lord Jesus over creation, as it appears in the following. ‘All things’ is indeed everything and doesn’t allow any exception. It includes all things both in heaven and on earth, each part of the created universe. Wherever you look in the universe, there will be nothing found that is not subjected to Him.

If you look around you, there is still nothing to be seen of that general government. You see much misery and sorrow. That’s because man has given up and lost the government because of sin. That government is now in the hands of satan (Luke 4:6), who since the fall of man is ‘the god of this age’ and ‘the ruler of the world’ (2 Corinthians 4:4; John 12:31). The curse is over the creation. Peaceful animals have become predators and the soil of the earth started to produce thorns and thistles.

Hebrews 2:9. But it will not remain that way. To see how it will be, look upward. There you see “Jesus”. And how do you see Him there? “Crowned with glory and honor.” For the earth the day that He will be crowned is still to come, but in heaven He already wears His crown. God has given Him that place of honor as reward for His work on the cross. The suffering of the death that the Lord Jesus has endured, is so highly appreciated by God that He immediately gave Him the place with Himself that is beyond all things and all men (John 13:31-32).

Because of this suffering of death the Lord Jesus “was made a little while [or: a short time] lower than the angels”, for angels cannot die, while the Lord Jesus died. And still He is the Creator of the angels and therefore their Master! It was only for a short time, only three days, but He was still a little lower than the angels. His humiliation has no boundaries and therefore His exaltation neither has boundaries. Today you don’t see all things subjected to Him, but in faith you see indeed Him to Whom all things will be subjected!

That’s the issue of the writer of this letter: turning the gaze upward to Him Who is on high. And to see Him is to see His work too that He did on earth by God’s order. He took the place of humiliation to taste death for the entire system that was far away from God. (‘To taste’ has the meaning of ‘getting to know by coming into contact with’.) Where the first man failed in such an extreme and irreparable way, the second Man came to obtain the full right on creation.

He obtained that right by glorifying God on the same territory where the first man failed. He glorified God on the territory where the enemy, who deceived man by his trick, ruled over man in power and wickedness. Therefore the Lord Jesus tasted death with the special purpose to redeem the children who would be brought to glory by God. Another reason that He tasted death is that the wonderful results of that would spread to all that is created, “for everyone” or “for every thing” (Darby Translation). So great is the grace of God.

To faith this all is an enormous encouragement. You see a Man in glory Who went through death and rose again. He is the assurance that it is not about the current world, but it is about the coming one. The way He went through suffering to glory, is also your way. By keeping yourself focused on Him, you get the power to endure all persecution and suffering.

Hebrews 2:10. From this verse you see the Lord Jesus in the midst of His brethren, where He also takes the first place (Romans 8:29). That is the sphere of intimacy. “It was fitting for Him” means that it was fitted for Whom God is, for His whole way of acting that is never in contrast with His Being. “For whom are all things” shows that in the coming world God and His glory will be in the center. “Through whom are all things” makes clear that God is the origin of everything new that is to come, and He has wanted this. But God does everything through the Son. He is the center of the world that is to come, the millennial kingdom.

Then you read something wonderful. You read about “sons”, indeed in plural. Of these ‘sons’ you read further that they are brought “to glory”. The whole purpose of the letter is to focus your eyes on the final goal of the journey. Here you hear that when the Lord Jesus will reign on earth in the glory of the millennial kingdom, He will be surrounded by many sons. And who are those sons? They are the believing Hebrews to whom this letter is addressed and you are one of them too. You are seen here as one of the ‘sons’.

There are even “many”, so not just a few. You and countless other sons have already gone on the way to the glory. ‘Sons’ are all people who have accepted the Lord Jesus by faith and who are looking forward to His return to establish the millennial kingdom.

The way to glory, however, is a way of afflictions and goes through many difficulties. But there is an “author” (Hebrews 2:10; Hebrews 12:2; Acts 5:31; Acts 3:15), the Commander Who is in charge during the course. That is the Lord Jesus.

He has already gone all the way and He is already in perfection. He has gone through all the hardships which many sons on earth have to go through. This now is what is fitting for God. It would not be fitting for God to expect things of the ‘many sons’ of which the Son had not been a partaker. It was fitting for God’s Being and nature to bring His Son as Author through the same way of many trials to the glory of the millennial kingdom. In this way the Son has been made perfectly fit to be an Author to all sons who on earth still have to go through a way of afflictions.

Hebrews 2:11. You see how much God connects His Son with the many sons. Nevertheless the Holy Spirit also guards for an identification of the sons with the Son. There must always be a distinction. That He does by speaking about “He Who sanctifies and those who are sanctified”. You also see this distinction in John 20 where it is not written ‘our Father’ and ‘our God’, but “My Father and your Father, and My God and your God (John 20:17; cf. Matthew 17:27).

Here it is also not written that the Son and the sons are ‘all one’, but that they are “all from one”. ‘He Who sanctifies’ is Christ the Son. That He sanctifies means that He separates you from the people of the world to Himself. ‘Those who are sanctified’ are the believers, the sons.

It means that He consecrates you to be His companion and to follow Him. It is about your sanctification as a believer. The Son is seen here as Man, for only in this way God could unite people as sons with the Son and make them one company, one people and of course with the Son as Author.

Therefore He, the Son, is not ashamed to call us, the sons, “brethren”. That doesn’t mean of course, that we call Him ‘Brother’. It would be inappropriate to speak amicably about Someone Who surely is near to us, but for Whom we have the deepest respect.

Hebrews 2:12. Using three new quotations from the Old Testament the writer makes clear how much the Lord Jesus and His own are ‘all from one’. In the three quotations the true Manhood of the Messiah and the close relations He has with His people on that basis, become apparent.

That relation could only be achieved after He had accomplished the work on the cross and by His death and resurrection. Only then He could speak to them about the Father as ‘your Father’ (John 20:17). He could only introduce them to the Father when He had fallen into the earth as a grain of wheat and had died, with the result of much fruit (John 12:24). That fruit He is presenting to you here: ‘brethren’, ‘sons’, ‘children’. You are included here! In each of these three relations you see an exceptional relation between the Lord Jesus and His own.

The first quotation comes from Psalms 22. This psalm speaks penetratingly of the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross as the Bearer of sins. The response of God on this work is also spoken of in that psalm (Psalms 22:21b). God answered Him by raising Him from the dead. Through His resurrection the results of that enormous work has become visible. One of the results is that He proclaims the Name of His Father to those who He calls ‘My brethren’.

But it doesn’t stop there. This proclamation produces a new result, namely, that He in the midst of His brethren (the church) and together with them sings a song of praise. He Himself starts to sing this song of praise “in the midst of the congregation”. His song is the song of gratitude as a response to the fact that God has raised and glorified Him. And as a result of His work you and I may sing with Him. In this way we are with Him in the same position before God, a position that we owe to Him alone. Isn’t that great?

Now read Hebrews 2:8-12 again.

Reflection: What do you learn here about the connection between the Lord Jesus and yourself?

Hebrews 12:2

We See Jesus

Now read Hebrews 2:8-12 again.

Reflection: What do you learn here about the connection between the Lord Jesus and yourself?

Hebrews 12:3

We See Jesus

Now read Hebrews 2:8-12 again.

Reflection: What do you learn here about the connection between the Lord Jesus and yourself?

Hebrews 12:4

We See Jesus

Now read Hebrews 2:8-12 again.

Reflection: What do you learn here about the connection between the Lord Jesus and yourself?

Hebrews 12:5

Be Made Like the Brethren

Hebrews 2:13. This section starts with a quotation in which the Manhood of the Messiah appears in a wonderful way. True manhood never becomes more apparent than in putting trust in God, no matter what the circumstances may be. It is a quotation from Isaiah (Isaiah 8:17) who is determined to wait on the Lord persistently and to look forward to Him, while he is in the midst of a nation for which the Lord has hidden His face because of their sins. That trust characterized the Lord Jesus when He was on earth. This is the trust that the recipients of the letter – and you too – may have.

What people were saying, mocking Him, when He hung on the cross, “He trusts in God” (Matthew 27:43), was the power of His life unto death. This trust in God is of fundamental importance in a situation in which still nothing appears from the realization of God’s plans and in which everything appears to be the opposite. Every opposition Christ faced on His way on earth could not take away His trust in God or even reduce it a little bit. In this He is your and my example.

However, He is not only an example. He also connects us to Himself in this trust that He has in His God. He trusts that He and we, the children, will go through all the difficulties together and that we will arrive in the period of blessing and joy that we are looking for. This too is a quotation from Isaiah (Isaiah 8:18). What Isaiah has said about himself and about his children the writer applies also to Christ and the remnant. “I and the children” indicates that Christ has connected Himself as Man to the children that God has given to Him. Here it is about the spiritual children of God in this time. They are connected to Christ.

It is not about children of Christ or children of the Lord Jesus. The Bible never uses such expressions for believers. Here it is about the children of God who by Him are given to the Lord Jesus. Like in the way the children of Isaiah who, also in the meaning of their names, were a testimony to God’s faithfulness in the midst of God’s people, the believers of nowadays are in the midst of apostate Christianity on earth.

This quotation contains a great encouragement. With a trust that is so typical of Him, He gives aid to all who are given to Him by God. He points at them and says, as it were, to God: ‘These are the children You have given Me. I will lead them safely through all difficulties and I will bring them where I am.’

Hebrews 2:14. Before God could give them to the Lord Jesus, however, He had to become Man first. And not only that. If the Lord Jesus wanted us as children to be one with Him in His position before God, then it was necessary that He first made Himself one with us in our need. That’s why He partook of “blood and flesh”. The time before He became Man, He did not share in that, but He had to do that to be able to die. His death was necessary, because man was subjected to death.

Due to the fall of man satan confiscated man and got leverage over him, a power that he exerts through death. The Lord Jesus came to put an end to that. Only death can eliminate death. A beautiful illustration you find in David who killed Goliath with his own sword (1 Samuel 17:51). It also had to be the death of a man to destroy death for men. The Man Christ did that. In that way the risen Christ gained “the keys of Hades and of Death” (Revelation 1:18), which means that He has full authority over them.

Hebrews 2:15. Through His triumph over death and by rendering powerless, or disabling, the devil, the Lord Jesus worked an awesome liberation. With liberation there is mention of an enemy who had a total control over you, in such a way that you yourself had no possible way to free yourself. By sowing fear of death, the devil made sure that men remained under his control. The devil always reigns by fear. Death is “the king of terrors” (Job 18:14). Concerning us, this fear has gone, for Christ has taken away the threat of that. Now death doesn’t scare us anymore.

Hebrews 2:16. The Lord Jesus has not come to earth to die for angels. His concern was “the descendant [or: seed] of Abraham”. Literally it means the company to whom this letter is addressed. They are not only physically the seed of Abraham, but they are also and in particular in a spiritual sense his children (John 8:33-39). The latter are of course also the believers from the Gentiles (Galatians 3:7-9; Romans 4:9-12) and therefore God laid hold on you and saved you. He accepted you and you are His.

Hebrews 2:17. To be able to accept you and other countless people, the Lord Jesus “had to be made like His brethren”. That meant that He changed heaven for earth and came to live as Man in the midst of men and partook of their life. That was a tremendous humiliation for Him. And if you imagine that He took the lowest place among men (Philippians 2:5-8), He really went through whatever a person could possibly go through. No matter how bad a situation may possibly be, it is not unfamiliar to the Lord Jesus.

In a perfect way He made Himself like the brethren. He has freed everyone who He calls His brethren, from the power of the devil. You saw that in Hebrews 2:14. However, there were also sins that had to be reconciled. That is said at the end of Heb 2:17.

For both problems there was only one solution: death. To be able to die the Lord Jesus had to become Man. Through His death and resurrection He conquered death and him who had control over it, that is the devil, and made atonement for the sins of God’s people. Therefore He could justly be “a merciful and faithful high priest”. He is merciful with a view to the misery, the temptations and the afflictions in which you may find yourself. He sympathizes with you. He is also ‘faithful’. He is that to Himself and to His promises. He is focused on the goal and He will lead you there, right through all the hardships and misery.

In all those things His concern is the “things pertaining to God”. He never does something for you that is apart from God. He sees your life in connection with God. As High Priest He is busy on your behalf, to help you that you may satisfy God in everything.

First, He had to make atonement on earth as High Priest for the sins of His people. He did that and therefore God can deal with His people and can also be with them on earth. As long as His people are on earth, they need support and encouragement. Therefore the High Priest, when He accomplished His atoning work, is now seated in heaven to continually be the High Priest. To God everything is in order, the sins are reconciled, but there is still a way to go. With a view to that way the Lord Jesus is making efforts, so that God’s people will glorify God on that way instead of becoming unfaithful and thus forfeiting the blessing.

Hebrews 2:18. No one else can help His people the way He does. Before His death He lived a perfect life, in which He got to know all the afflictions and temptations that can happen to an individual. Whatever suffering you may possibly go through, He has suffered it (Isaiah 63:9). Therefore He can sympathize with you and give you the help you need. That help pertains to the difficulties encountered by the faithful believer in doing God’s will.

There is no believer who manages to achieve the final goal by his own strength. You need help, support, compassion, and the intercession of Someone Who knows the dangers of the journey and Who has overcome. It had to be Someone Who has persevered in the toughest afflictions and thus has suffered and therefore is able to sympathize with others. That Someone is the Lord Jesus.

During His life on earth He experienced all weaknesses – not: sins, for He only dealt with them on the cross and only in the three hours of darkness (1 Peter 2:24) – of being Man. He knows what it is to be a helpless baby and to be a child growing up. He knows what it is to be an adolescent and to be an adult. He knows what it is to be hungry and thirsty and to be tired and sad. He knows what it is not to be understood, to be despised, to be rejected, to be neglected and to be blasphemed. He knows what it is to suffer hardships and to die. He has gone through everything to be able to be your High Priest in heaven now.

The temptations of the Lord Jesus in the wilderness are a beautiful example in this. He was tempted in earthly matters, in worldly matters and in religious matters (Luke 4:1-12). He responded to all temptations, that the devil was trying on Him, with God’s Word. The Lord Jesus is engaged as High Priest in heaven in making you mindful with God’s Word when you have to cope with temptations from the devil. If you quote God’s Word, the devil will flee.

Now read Hebrews 2:13-18 again.

Reflection: What has the Lord Jesus ever done to be High Priest? In which things is He High Priest for you?

Hebrews 12:6

Be Made Like the Brethren

Now read Hebrews 2:13-18 again.

Reflection: What has the Lord Jesus ever done to be High Priest? In which things is He High Priest for you?

Hebrews 12:7

Be Made Like the Brethren

Now read Hebrews 2:13-18 again.

Reflection: What has the Lord Jesus ever done to be High Priest? In which things is He High Priest for you?

Hebrews 12:8

Be Made Like the Brethren

Now read Hebrews 2:13-18 again.

Reflection: What has the Lord Jesus ever done to be High Priest? In which things is He High Priest for you?

Hebrews 12:9

Be Made Like the Brethren

Now read Hebrews 2:13-18 again.

Reflection: What has the Lord Jesus ever done to be High Priest? In which things is He High Priest for you?

Hebrews 12:10

Be Made Like the Brethren

Now read Hebrews 2:13-18 again.

Reflection: What has the Lord Jesus ever done to be High Priest? In which things is He High Priest for you?

Hebrews 12:12

Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest

Hebrews 3:1. With the first word “therefore”, the writer of the letter makes a strong connection between the two previous chapters and what is following. In the chapters 1 and 2 he magnificently presented the glories of the Lord Jesus to the readers including you. Because He is so tremendously exalted and yet also so near, therefore you must keep looking to Him. In that way you will be able to keep on going on the path of faith, right through all temptations and afflictions. You will not be discouraged if it gets tough, for you keep focusing on Him Who is far beyond everything and Who leads and helps you.

Look at how you are addressed here. You hear that well, “holy brethren”. Do you remember that the Lord Jesus is not ashamed to call the faithful believers ‘brethren’ (Hebrews 2:11b)? You are even addressed as a “holy” brother. You are one of those whom the Lord Jesus has sanctified and whom He has connected to Himself (Hebrews 2:11a).

And still it doesn’t stop there, for you are also one of the “partakers of a heavenly calling”. Israel had an earthly calling and hope. But together with these Jewish Christians you partake of a new privilege. It is about something you get by the calling of Christ from heaven. That’s why this privilege is not limited to those who are members of God’s earthly people by natural birth, but it applies to everyone who is connected to the Lord Jesus by faith. It is a calling from heaven, that is the origin, where this calling comes from, and it is a calling to heavenly glory, that is the purpose of the calling, that’s where the journey goes to (cf. Philippians 3:14; 2 Timothy 1:9).

With regard to the earth it means: loss of earthly blessings together with the endurance of rejection, suffering and shame. The letter shows this from beginning to end. But that is no deterioration. You and everyone who keeps focusing his eyes on the Lord Jesus like that, get something better instead. It is like the many believers in the Old Testament, who knew that they would not partake of the millennial kingdom during their life, but did not mourn about it. They indeed learnt to look forward to a better country and that is their heavenly country.

To be able to persevere it is necessary that you focus all your attention on “Jesus”. This Name opens a world of rejection on the one hand and a world of glory on the other hand. Every time when the name ‘Jesus’ appears in the Bible without an addition like ‘Lord’ or ‘Christ’, God wants to fix our thoughts on two aspects. On the one hand on Him like He once was as a humble Man on earth and Who was rejected by people. On the other hand God shows us that it was just that Man Whom He glorified with Him in heaven and that it is exactly in that Name that every knee shall bow (Philippians 2:10).

To Him you already testified, because you already bowed your knees for Him. You confess Him to the people around you. But what you confess in the world, you first had to learn to see in the sanctuary. Therefore this calling “consider … Jesus”. You see Him as the One Who came from God to His people as “Apostle” to reveal God’s thoughts to them. You also see Him as “High Priest”, that is as the One Who went to God on behalf of God’s people to represent them to God. As ‘Apostle’ He is the true Moses and as ‘High Priest’ He is the true Aaron.

Hebrews 3:2. After describing His functions the writer emphasizes the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus. How important is faithfulness! What is the advantage if someone has the highest and most powerful function, but is not faithful in practicing it? The Lord Jesus is faithful. He is faithful to God, Who appointed Him as Apostle and High Priest “in all His house”. ‘His house’ may remind you of the tabernacle or maybe also of ‘the house of Israel’, with which God’s people is meant (Hebrews 8:8).

Hebrews 3:3-4. God also could testify of Moses that he was faithful in God’s house (Numbers 12:7). Moses might have resembled Christ concerning his faithfulness, yet Christ far surpasses Moses, as He also far surpassed the angels in the previous chapters. Moses was not the builder of the house, not of the tabernacle, nor of Israel. Moses was not above the house, he was part of it, while Christ is the Builder of it. The glory of the Builder is reflected in the house.

The writer is easy to understand. He says: ‘If you see a house, you know that there is a builder.’ The Builder is God the Son. He is the Builder of the universe, the Builder of the tabernacle, of Israel and of the church. As Builder He is the source of all His buildings. He has invented and executed them (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2) and He dwells in them. Christ goes beyond all things. Moses was only connected to the house of Israel, but the Lord Jesus is connected to all things, without limit.

Hebrews 3:5. Here the writer refers again to the faithfulness of Moses in all God’s house. God designed this house and Moses executed God’s design (Hebrews 8:5; Exodus 25:9; 40). He was God’s minister in His house and therefore part of the house. His ministry consisted of passing on to the people what God spoke to him in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:21-22).

Hebrews 3:6. And again the comparison is made between Christ and Moses. In Hebrews 3:2 the comparison indicates that there is an accordance between Christ and Moses regarding faithfulness. Regarding the house of God, there appears to be a clear difference. Moses was a minister, indeed an honored minister, in the house, but Christ is Son over the house, which is even His house.

And then the writer clarifies almost unexpectedly the meaning of the house of the Son. Until now, when you think of the house of God, you have always thought of the tabernacle. And rightly so. However, now it appears that still something else is meant by the house, for you read “whose house we are”. That means that the believers are the house of the Son.

By itself that is not a new thought. Paul has already used earlier the picture of the house in his metaphor of the church to indicate certain aspects of the church of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:21; 1 Peter 2:5; 1 Timothy 3:15). The house as a picture of the church puts the emphasis on the dwelling of God in the church and it emphasizes that the order which is in the house, is His order.

In the letter to the Hebrews God’s people are not really seen as the church, but as a company of pilgrims that is on their way to the promised blessing. This company is also seen as a people of priests. The house of God has to do with the latter. The house of God is a house in which priestly service happens. In it Christ exercises His priestly service and the believers do that in imitation of Him. In the Old Testament you see that Aaron was in charge of the priestly family of the service that was exercised in God’s house, the tabernacle. The believers are now that priestly family (1 Peter 2:5) of which the true Aaron is in charge, the Lord Jesus, as Son over His house.

The word “if” that now follows, may possibly give the impression that what is previously said, suddenly is made doubtful. What does it mean? On the one hand you know for sure that as a believer you belong to the house of the Son. On the other hand it seems like because of the word ‘if’ a condition is connected to it. You are a member of the church, but you should persevere till the end, otherwise you will apostatize. That’s what it says, isn’t it? Is that really what is meant?

That is really not what is meant. He who has ever become a child of God by conversion and faith, is forever a child of God (John 10:28-29). This is the word of the Lord Jesus and is therefore above every doubt. There is no such thing as apostacy of saints. He who apostatizes proves that he has never been a child of God. The word ‘if’ has to do with the responsibility each confessor has. You are a confessor too, for you confess the Lord Jesus as your Lord. The same goes for me.

The course of time makes clear whether someone is really a Christian or whether he is a Christian only by name. The pseudo Christian sooner or later gives up, but the true believer perseveres till the end. That is not a matter of sowing doubt, but the addressing each individual on his confession. You are to hold fast the confidence and the boast of the hope. If you do not hold fast the confidence, you will end up like the Israelites in the wilderness, who by unbelief never reached the promised land. This is explained in the next verses.

If your confession is real, you will hold fast, for you will ask God to give you the strength to be able to. You will then hold fast the confidence to testify of Someone Whom you are only able to see by faith. You will also hold fast the boasting of your hope in a future in which He really will be seen, but then in power and majesty. If you hold fast your “confidence and the boast of our hope”, you will surely be able to resist each temptation to return to your former life.

Now read Hebrews 3:1-6 again.

Reflection: How is the Lord Jesus presented in this portion and why?

Hebrews 12:13

Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest

Now read Hebrews 3:1-6 again.

Reflection: How is the Lord Jesus presented in this portion and why?

Hebrews 12:14

Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest

Now read Hebrews 3:1-6 again.

Reflection: How is the Lord Jesus presented in this portion and why?

Hebrews 12:15

Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest

Now read Hebrews 3:1-6 again.

Reflection: How is the Lord Jesus presented in this portion and why?

Hebrews 12:16

Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest

Now read Hebrews 3:1-6 again.

Reflection: How is the Lord Jesus presented in this portion and why?

Hebrews 12:17

Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest

Now read Hebrews 3:1-6 again.

Reflection: How is the Lord Jesus presented in this portion and why?

Hebrews 12:18

Encourage One Another Day After Day

Hebrews 3:7. Also this section begins with “therefore” (Hebrews 3:1) and that’s why it also connects to what is said in the previous verses. You will see that the writer through examples from the Old Testament shows how important it is to hold fast to what he mentioned in the second part of Heb 3:6. Those examples are from the journey of Israel through the wilderness.

God’s earthly people had to go through the wilderness to the promised land to be able to enjoy the rest of God and be with Him. That wilderness journey is a picture of the journey of God’s heavenly people through the world with the goal the glory with the Lord Jesus. To that journey of faith all kinds of dangers are connected, through which the trueness of faith is tested. This section begins with chapter 3:7 and continues till chapter 4:13. It can be divided into three subsections: 1. the apostates will not enter the rest (Hebrews 3:7-4:2); 2. the believers will enter the true rest (Hebrews 4:3-10); 3. the testing power of God’s Word (Hebrews 4:11-13).

After ‘therefore’ a quotation of the Holy Spirit from Psalms 95 is quoted (Psalms 95:7b-11) and is applied by a “today” to now. In Psalms 95 it is a “today” to Israel, but until the end, which is until the coming of the Lord Jesus, God repeats this word in His love. And what is important ‘today’? Listening to His voice. Whenever you read or hear this, it is always ‘today’ and it is always the moment to listen to God’s voice.

The remedy and the protection against all evil is the Word of God. It may be the case that only a few hear it, nevertheless it still sounds to each individual among the Hebrews who has ears to hear. Hearing the voice of the Son of God is characteristic for the sheep (John 10:27). All blessing depends on that.

Hebrews 3:8. The appeal is not to harden the heart. He who hardens his heart, is unreachable for God’s voice and will surely perish on the journey to the blessing presented. The writer clarifies his urgent appeal by an example to listen to God’s voice and not to harden the heart. He points out to the readers, including you, an event from Israel’s journey through the wilderness. It is about two events, but reflecting the same bad behavior of the Israelites.

Those events you find in Exodus 17, right after they were brought out of Egypt (Exodus 17:1-7), and in Numbers 20 at the end of the journey through the wilderness (Numbers 20:2-13). They took place at Massah and Meribah. The writer doesn’t mention these names literally, but mentions their meaning. Meribah means ‘protest’, ‘fight’, ‘quarrel’, ‘dissatisfaction’. You recognize ‘provocation’ in it. Massah means ‘trial’ or ‘temptation’.

Their provocation began with their dissatisfaction about having no water to drink. They concluded from that, that God did not seek their happiness, but that He only sought the bad for them. Isn’t that a warning for you and for me? How do we react when we lack for something that we find necessary? Do we find this a reason to get dissatisfied? Isn’t there then also a great danger that we will start to tempt God by becoming rebellious and by challenging Him to prove that He is also there for you and me?

Hebrews 3:9. The Holy Spirit shows us that the conduct of Israel was not occasional, but that this conduct characterized the people of Israel during the whole wilderness journey. Moreover God showed them for forty years that He was there for them (Deuteronomy 4:32-35). He liberated them, He guided them and took care of them and yet they went straight against Him (cf. Deuteronomy 6:16; Deuteronomy 9:22; Deuteronomy 33:8). The biggest mistake you can make is thinking that you are better than they. Therefore it is really important that you take this warning to heart.

Hebrews 3:10. Now the people of Israel answered in this way to all of God’s care for them, it is no wonder that God became angry at this generation. God also indicates what the problem was: going astray in their sinful heart. Because their heart always went astray from God they did not understand anything about His ways, which means His actions both in blessing and in judgment.

Moses did know God’s ways, for God revealed them to Moses (Psalms 103:7), because he feared and loved Him. For knowing God’s ways it is necessary to give Him your heart. That’s what He asks of you (Proverbs 23:26). If you give Him your heart you put your whole life in His hands, so that He can direct it. In this way you walk in His way which ends in glory.

Hebrews 3:11. If you do not fix your heart on Him but go astray, you will never enter God’s rest. It is impossible that God will allow a person to enter His rest, who goes astray in the way the writer is telling here about Israel (Numbers 14:21-23). He swears that He will never allow that. “My rest” is God’s rest. It is the rest that He will have when He dwells in the midst of His people. That is the promised land, where the people will live in peace and in security, without any fear of enemies. This rest will only be in the millennial kingdom of peace of the Messiah, the great Son of David.

Hebrews 3:12. By using the words “take care, brethren” the writer now applies the quotation to the readers. What had happened to those who once left Egypt can happen to some of them too. The writer has a tender care for each of his readers. He addresses all of them as ‘brethren’, which means that he considers them true believers. However, he also appeals to their confession, i.e. as being responsible for their deeds.

There is a possibility that in any of them there is “an evil, unbelieving heart”, a heart that doesn’t trust in God. The writer does not presume that in all of them there is an evil, unbelieving heart. He says: “In any one of you.” By putting it that way they should all know that they are all addressed. Every person will come to self-examination and ask: “Surely not I, Lord?” (Matthew 26:21-22).

Only an unbeliever has an evil, unbelieving heart. If such a person doesn’t truly convert to God, he will surely ”fall away from the living God”. Such a person appears to have never been a believer. Through the test of faith he is exposed. The true believer perseveres, despite hardships. He knows that he has no power in himself to persevere, but that God has all power.

The pseudo believer will leave under the pressure of the circumstances. He has no trust in God, for he has no life of God, because he never went to Him with true repentance of his sins. Still he pretended that and he joined a Christian company. However, when the moment of truth comes, he falls away from the living God.

Falling away is rebelling against God. A person does that if he turns his back on God when the adversities get that great that he cannot fight against them and therefore blames God for that. The root of evil is unbelief and the core of unbelief is the lack of trust that all circumstances are in God’s hand, that He never tests beyond what someone is able and that He finally will surely make a way through all difficulties. ‘Falling away from the living God’ happens if a person goes back to a dead and outward religion, as the temple service had become, after having confessed the true service of the God of Christendom. Beside and apart from Him there is no life.

Hebrews 3:13. After the appeal to examine themselves the writer points out that they also should seek one another’s interest. They have to encourage one another. That is necessary because the danger is lurking that unbelief creeps into one’s heart because he gets trapped in “the deceitfulness of sin”.

Sin always deceives. It always looks attractive, for you wouldn’t take the bait otherwise. But once you have committed sin, you feel the bitterness of it. If you do not immediately repent by confessing your sin and forsaking it, sin will harden you. Let us not take this lightly and let us encourage one another “day after day”. That means that it should be habitual to encourage each other. This also implies that we as believers should have daily contact with one another.

Unfortunately, regarding that, individualism has gained a lot of ground among believers. Each individual is occupied with his own matters and having contact with each other as believers falls by the wayside. Therefore it doesn’t come as a surprise that many get astray from faith, though still hopefully without them falling away from the living God. It is important to give attention and care to one another’s souls and to seek one another’s spiritual well-being. We ought not to leave this care to some ‘clergyman’. It is a command to each Christian to do that to another and which ought to happen ‘today’, for tomorrow may be too late. After ‘today’ the eternal judgment follows.

He who doesn’t let himself be warned, will leave the way of the shame of Christ and will turn back to the nice, but deceiving rituals of a tangible religion with earthly benefits. Returning to that means returning to a religion without forgiveness, without hope and even without the possibility of conversion. Therefore it is that important to encourage one another day after day.

Now read Hebrews 3:7-13 again.