Hebrews 3:16-19 (NIVUK)
16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
This is a tragic story. After all that they had seen and had been through, Moses and all his peers (other than Joshua and Caleb) did not get to enter the Promised Land after their escape and exodus from Egypt. I must be honest and say that I struggle to reconcile these verses with my understanding of God through what I see in Jesus who perfectly reveals God to us – perhaps this is why I’ve been dodging this side of the passage all week. Here it is presented as the consequences of their disobedience and unbelief (this is not a case of what they intellectually agree with, but what they failed to work out in their actions as well as their beliefs). Perhaps Hebrews 4 with its presentation of Jesus gives us a way to interpret what this says about God – come along on Sunday and see what you think! But in the meantime we are left with a clear message, our attitudes and actions matter. What we do and think affects our relationship with God and our lives. This leaves me joining in with the cry of the psalmist in Psalm 139…
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
(Psalm 139:23-24)
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