sleep. It’s understandable that along the way people would want to give up. Every valley with trees, grass, and a river would look like a promising place to make a home. Why continue traveling for months and months to reach the west, just because it seemed like a new frontier and held out such promise. People may begin to doubt their leaders. Maybe the trail boss does’t know the way or maybe the destination won’t be as good as they say. Why not leave the group and go your own way? Those who did leave often ended up starving, freezing, or being killed by animals.
The ultimate travel story in the Bible is the moving of the Israelite people in the Exodus to return to the area where Abraham had been promised a home-land in Canaan. Moses got the people out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and to Mt. Sinai. There they formed the laws and rituals upon which Israelite society was to be based. As they slowly moved northward through the desert, from one oasis to the next, the people continually rebelled against Moses and against God. The result was that the generation of people who left Egypt were to die in the wilderness, and it was the next generation who entered the Promised Land. That wilderness journey came to typify the experience of the Jewish people as they often found themselves oppressed, exiled, and dispersed on the journey back to inherit God’s promises. It has also represented the spiritual journey of people who find themselves captivated by the world and who must learn to follow the path back to enjoy the fullness of what God offers.
The words of God and the works of God should lead us to obedience rather than rebellion (3:7–9). Straying from God’s plan results in us not arriving at the final destination (3:10–11).
The Words of God and the Works of God Should Lead Us To Obedience Rather Than Rebellion (3:7–9)
The author of Hebrews attributes the words of Psalm 95:7–8 to the Holy Spirit (3:7). The first part of Psalm 95 is a beautiful call to worship the God of creation. The end of verse seven marks a transition to a rehearsal of Israel’s disobedience and rebellion, a group of verses the author of Hebrews will reflect on again and again.
O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.” Therefore in my anger I swore, “They shall not enter my rest.” (Ps 95:7b–11)
In the Old Testament, stubbornness and rebelliousness is described metaphorically as a “hard heart” or “stiff neck.” The Old Testament book of Numbers describes the times when the children of Israel complained and rebelled against Moses.
Now when the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, the LORD heard it and his anger was kindled. Then the fire of the LORD burned against them, and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. But the people cried out to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire abated. So that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned against them. The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” (Num 11:1–6)
Psalm 78 describes the wilderness wanderings, the rebellion of the people, and the judgment of God against that generation.
Yet they tested the Most High God, and rebelled against him. They did not observe his decrees, but turned away and were faithless like their ancestors; they twisted like a treacherous bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols. When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel. (Ps 78:56–59)
It’s a bit cliché, but the road of life is littered with broken dreams. People set out with a goal in life, but along the way they get sidetracked. Maybe the way gets too tough and people give up on their dream. It makes some people angry and bitter. They had a different vision of what they wanted to do in life, but they’ve had to settle for something else.
Each one of us has a spiritual path in life with an ultimate destination. We also have a goal within our own community of faith. We work together to help each other on this journey, to do the work of ministry together, and to form a deep relationship as brothers and sisters in Christ. We also share a goal as the people of God in this generation. How each person and each group lives up to their potential will determine how well our generation lives up to its spiritual destiny.
Straying from God’s Plan Results in Us Not Arriving at the Final Destination (3:10–11)
Verses 10–11 continue the quotation from Psalm 95. God responds to Israel’s disobedience in anger and judgment. The context for these verses is Numbers 14. When the Israelites hear the report of the spies concerning the great size and strength of those dwelling in the land (Num 13:27–33), they respond with great fear and acrimony (Num 14:1–2). They question the wisdom of having left Egypt and decide to choose a new leader to help them make the return trip (Num 14:3–4). At first Yahweh wishes to destroy them, disinherit them, and form a new nation in their place (Num 14:11–12). Moses, however, intercedes for the people and Yahweh relents (Num 14:20). Nevertheless, Yahweh announces their punishment: “None of the people who have seen my glory and the signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tested me these 10 times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their ancestors; none of those who despised me shall see it” (Num 14:22–23). When Moses told the people the bad news, “the people mourned greatly” (Num 14:39).
We can get this sense with athletic teams. It’s exciting to follow a sports team through a season. Each game that’s won is one step closer to the final victory. Each loss is a test of a team’s resolve. Maybe you can remember a time when you’ve cheered for your team in a championship game. There comes the moment at the end when you realize they’re going to make it. The end comes and all those months of supporting your team pays off. You let out a cheer or jump up and down. Then there are those other times when your team is just not up to it. As the clock ticks down you get a sinking feeling, they’re not going to make it. Your mind is numb, you feel sadness and emptiness. The story of the Exodus is that way. The Israelites who left Egypt weren’t going to make it back home. It would be up to their children to reach the final destination.
Our own efforts in life may not reach a successful conclusion. A hardness of heart, a stubbornness of will might prevent us from remaining loyal to God and committed to following the ways of God. It’s sad to meet people who are angry and bitter with God and who have turned their back on the church and their Christian faith. It is so much better to experience a life of victory and accomplishment, a life which grows in spiritual maturity each year. That’s the life of blessing, that’s the life of promise.
w
Hebrews tells us the words of God and the works of God should lead us to obedience rather than rebellion. Straying from God’s plan results in us not arriving at the final destination
Arriving at the final destination can be tricky. My parents came to visit us when we were living in Rhode Island. It was probably for my graduation from Brown University. I gave my father specific directions on how to go from the freeway straight across to a secondary road. I had one statement then in the directions: “Stay on that Road until you come to the street. It’s a winding road, but just stay on it.” He didn’t trust my directions and turned around to go back to the main road. He then traveled around a big loop around the city and back almost to where he had been. If he had just trusted me a little bit more, he would have found his way.
We must trust the directions God has given us for life. The path sometimes seems winding and may take us through difficult places. But we must stick to God’s directions for life and trust that in the end, God will bring us home.
Distractions Along the Way (3:12–19)
There are two kinds of travelers, those who travel to arrive at the intended destination and those who visit a succession of diversions until they finally arrive at a destination, not necessarily the one they originally