Hebrews Study – Lesson 5
Heb. 3:1 THE CHALLENGE…READ
Wherefore, Holy brethren…Notice first that the writer of the Hebrews has no doubt about their salvation and connection with God. He also calls them BRETHREN…they are One with them/us, part of the family…,but the words Holy Brethren after his explanation of their union with Christ in 2:11-7 is very significant, being related to Christ Himself! (Coheir of the things of God) THINK OF IT!!!
HOWEVER, the writer puts forth a CHALLENGE to those he is writing to. It is the same CHALLENGE that he gives to US…Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession…Jesus Christ! The writer of the Hebrews is asking these believers to MAKE SOME CHANGES IN THEIR LIVES, Considering their Apostle and High Priest and FOLLOWING HIS EXAMPLE to live life IN RELATIONSHIP with God and not just practicing an empty set of rules. Christ was obedient unto God and learned God’s ways, and put them into practice. He/Christ lived in relationship with God. Learning God’s ways…following God’s ways…applying God’s ways. Jn 17:19-26
As we study this next section of Scripture the writer if the Hebrews will ask his readers to RECALL a time in history when their ancestors lived in a certain way and did not get a good report from God. As a matter of fact it says that God was angry with them. It also says that the people that he is writing to were in danger of getting the SAME report as their ancestors. As a matter of fact, it is the same danger that you and I face today! This is where he gives them their SECOND WARNING.
· Does anyone remember the 1st Warning? (Don’t forget the simple Gospel with which you were saved. Why was this important?
o The simple Gospel Saves-forgiveness of sins
o The simple Gospel Sustains-in difficult times when we do not have enough strength to practice our set of rules it, the simple Gospel continues to operate.
o AND when our sin is GREATER than our ability to obey the Law.
o The Simple Gospel RELEASES US from ANY inability to obtain or maintain our salvation and transfers ALL the responsibility to God Who IS able to SAVE.
o The Simple Gospel can WITHSTAND the scrutiny and test of ETERNITY, always applicable, never failing to meet God’s standard .
Read: Heb. 3:7-18
What is the SECOND warning? (UNBELIEF)
· What is unbelief?
· What was unbelief in their case? (According to this passage.)
· What bearing did this passage have on the 1st century Hebrews?
· Does this passage have any bearing on us?
I BELIEVE THAT THE ENTIRE BOOK OF HEBREWS, AND, THE CHRISTIAN LIFE for that matter, has its ENTIRE FOCUS right HERE. This section of Scripture focuses in a practical way on HOW GOD’S CHILDREN LIVE in a pagan world. This is a SCARY CONCEPT and can be difficult for us to evaluate honestly. I can identify with the children of Israel in their concerns. I find that I often would rather trade the life of WALKING BY FAITH for the perceived SECUTITIES of a LIFE IN EGYPT. Practically speaking, I do not see much difference with the way we as Christians live in our present day compared to the practices of O. T. Israelites. It is obvious to me when I read passages like this what their mistake was. However, I so often overlook my lifestyle of unbelief. In reality, I so often trust more in the things around me than I trust in FOLLOWING God.
But, there is MORE to this passage….IT IS NOT JUST FAITH IN THINGS WORKING OUT. IT IS MUCH BIGGER THAN THIS. It is MORE about a RELATIONSHIP with THE ONE THAT MAKES THINGS WORK OUT. It is ALL about the FOLLOWING the LIVING God in your day through this world to the place He has Promised us…a place of REST! In other words:
· YOU CAN’T DO IT YOURSELF-this life
· It takes a RELATIONSHIP
· GOD SAYS: My Sheep hear My Voice, and they follow Me, and I give unto them ETERNAL LIFE.
When the O.T. Israelites were in the wilderness what was their desire? They thought this walk of faith was to hard. God is asking me to do too many hard things. They wanted to go back to a life that was in their mind more predictable…more on their terms. They wanted to walk by sight and go back to Egypt.
God wanted to show them that they couldn’t get to His Promises their way. Read Rom 8:5-8. Romans 8 says that our way is __________? (Death) It is important to realize that WE CANNOT GET TO GOD’S PROMISES FOR US OUR WAY!
This walking by faith… following God IS very Difficult…(let’s not fool ourselves!) I find that the world that we current live in is very similar to their world that was centering around Egypt. As a matter of fact, Egypt in the Bible is representative of the world system. It was a world that had all of the answers and yet …contained most of the pain of life.
I think that it is important to reread the scripture passage in Heb. 11:24-9 that gives us an example of someone, the life of Moses, that gave up what could have been a very comfortable life, full of pleasure, for a more FULL and REWARDING LIFE, that is a LIFE of following God. Moses forsook his present culture and pursued a better country… that is a Heavenly Country where God is not ashamed to be called THEIR/HIS GOD! (Heb. 11:16) THIS IS AN IMPORTANT POINT…because in the latter part of chapter 3 and the first part of chapter 4 the writer of the Hebrews is going to tell them WHY they are not EXPERIENCING GOD’S BLESSINGS and FULFILLMENT in their life! It says that those who were offered blessings in the Old Testament (example) DID NOT RECEIVE THEM due to UNBELIEF. THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST KEY INGREDIENT TO THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. ALL OF YOUR LIFE CHRISTIAN OR OTHERWISE IS WON OR LOST HERE!
· WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?
· WHAT IS YOUR SOURCE for what you believe?
· IS YOUR FAITH IN GOD …or…yourself or other things?
· DO YOU BELIEVE HIS WORD ENOUGH TO READ IT BELIEVE IT AND APPLY IT?
· Even if it is totally contrary to this world’s wisdom?
SOMEONE ONCE SAID COMMENTING ON THE HUMAN RACE IN GENERAL…THAT WE ARE A FAITHLESS LOT… Do you agree? I tend to. Believing is not the easiest practice for us.
READ Heb. 11:24-9. It says in Heb. 11:24 BY FAITH Moses CHOOSE not to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter
· Why do you think that he/Moses did this?
· What did he stand to loose?
· Why did he do it anyway?
· What was his PRIZE…what did he gain?
· BE SURE TO READ ALL OF Heb. 11:24-9
IN THE SECOND HALF OF CHAPTER 3 HE GIVES THEM their SECOND WARNING.
· READ 3:7-11
· What is the second warning? Harden not your HEART with UNBELIEF.
God comes to us in our day…Daily…EVERY DAY! He is trying to GUIDE us THROUGH THIS WICKED WORLD, which quite frankly is full of deception. A world that is full of SELF accomplishments. ROMANS 8 says what? In this world He speaks to us. It is a world FULL of DISTRACTION and NOISE. HAVE WE STOPPED LISTENING TO HIS VOICE…??? Can we even hear His voice? Have we traded following His Voice for a WAY OF LIFE? The WAY OF LIVE offered by our present age? HOW DO WE MAKE LIFE WORK? Do we RESORT TO ROUTINE DAILY HABITUAL ACTIVITIES and practices? Are we really measuring what is offered to us by our present world against the direction God is asking us to live.
Following God’s voice is DIFFICULT at best. AT TIMES in reality IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE to follow God’s VOICE in our day. I CAN OFTEN IDENTIFY with those Israelites who God was angry with. Life and this world have a way of PREOCCUPING US…CONSUMING our day with many meaningLESS goals and activities. WE get COMFORTABLE with them. Over time we begin to adopt its methods and this world’s way. We say that it WORKS. But, does it?? Works in what way? If Moses accepted what Egypt had to offer it would have worked for him to! How do we know that it is working? What is our test? (Read) 1 Cor. 3:12-4, the TEST.
As Israel traveled through their world God asked a lot from them. They faced real problems…the need for food…their need for water…shelter, etc. SOUND FAMILIAR? When they left Egypt there were well over a million people, …probably several million. Their needs were real. All of these NECESSITIES were provided for them in Egypt. Yes, they were provided for them, but AT A COST. What was the COST? TOTAL allegiance to Egypt, a pagan system. If you look at what happened, these people, the Israelites, did not really leave Egypt willingly. If you look at the history of what happened, it was like THEY HAD NO CHOICE. God MADE them leave!
But, for what? Why did He make them leave. Where was He taking them? What did He have in mind? What was He trying to accomplish? What was His purpose?
After leaving Egypt God took them to a Quiet Place…you could say a boring place. If you remember the exchange of words that occurred between pharaoh and Moses…God told Moses to tell pharaoh to “Let my people GO.” The World/Egypt had a strong hold on them. THE WORLD did not want to let them go, and yet, God could not develop a RELATIONSHIP with them there. READ Ex. 5:1-4 Can you identify with v. 4? (May want to also read Ex. 6:1-13 God sees our BONDAGE)
There first attempt to get to their destination..the Promised Land, took longer than should have. The Promised Land was not that far. God took His time taking them there. He had something for them to learn in the wilderness.
· What was in the wilderness that wasn’t in Egypt?
· How was God preparing them for the new land?
There first attempt failed. Does anyone remember what happened? They were not ready to experience God’s REST. They were turned back to the wilderness to SPEND SOME MORE TIME WITH GOD…went back to school. How long did the second journey last?
Heb. 3:19 You can’t get there from here….there is a secret door around here somewhere…What is it? FAITH! It was around them. It was near them. It was in front of them. But, they did not enter into God’s Promised rest because they did not ACT on what God had told them. James 2:17 says that faith without action/works is DEAD! How many dead works do we perform EACH day!! This is where Israel went wrong in the Old Testament. Even in the wilderness they were living like they were in Egypt. THEY WERE CALLING THE SHOTS. God spoke to them and used real life experiences and situations to show that He loved them. But the writer of Hebrews says that they didn’t believe Him. They did not act on God’s word and leading. God was not pleased with them. Most of them DIED in the wilderness and NEVER SAW the Promised Land.
· Why was the writer of the Hebrews telling them this?
· Does this have any application to US?
· Read Hebrews 4:1, 2-11
God desires that you and I ENTER into His REST. But, it requires us to make some major changes in how we live. Moses and others were willing to make those changes.
· Is our day structured in such a way that we are able to hear God when He speaks to us?
· Are we over stimulated by busyness, …noise, ….input, and confusion routinely in our day?
· Faith is ACTION…are we taking the STEPS TO ENTER INTO GOD’S REST?
Do we want to enter into His REST? Is it POSSIBLE to ENTER INTO HIS REST?? How do we do that??
· Read Ps. 46:10- 11(Then read Ps. 46:1-11)
How do you feel your life is going right NOW? How would you describe it? His REST…or Too much of the world…fear, STRESS or otherwise? There is a way to remedy this…Jn. 10:27-8. My sheep hear My Voice…..
HOW DO WE KNOW THAT WE CAN TRUST GOD? DOCTRINE…knowing WHO GOD IS! The book of Hebrews is full of Biblical truths called doctrine about God and His ways. In knowing these truths/the TRUTH about God we will learn that He really can be trusted. Trusted with decisions small and very large. In knowing God we will begin to trust Him with our life.
Doctrinal Statement:
Faith is ESSENTIAL to understand GOD.
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