The Book of Hebrews 3:7-11 They shall not enter my rest
Hebrews 3:7-11 · Vern Peterman · Jun 23, 2013
Hebrews, No. 11
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926355323123

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. We're going to be proceeding into this passage, Courtney just read for us here, Hebrews 3, 7-11. You have it as the first slide. We don't always do that, but there's a particular reason for covering it here this way. This is a quote from Psalm 95, 7-11. Not entirely, however.

One of the things I'll point out, therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, this passage here in this particular line is pointing out to us that the Holy Spirit is the ultimate author of all of Scripture. Paul wrote, you know, all Scripture is inspired or God-breathed. And so this attributes the passage here, though it's actually later attributed to David, to the Holy Spirit as the author of scripture.

And so we'd point that out. The other thing, going to Psalm 95, the first part of that psalm is actually an invitation. As a matter of fact, the second part, verse 6 and 7, we actually sing as a praise song here. Come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand.

You may recognize that. But it's the last part here that the author of Hebrews is quoting, that today if you would hear his voice, that one. And so we have that also as a slide in your handout and on the screen here. One of the differences that I would point out is that if you read Psalm 95, most of your translations will have it this way. In verse 8 it will say, Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah and as in the day of Masah in the wilderness. There are no places Meribah and Masah. that in fact these when they are translated that is carried over into what does it mean not just what does it sound like when it's translated Meribah talks about testing or provoking and Masah talks about tried so that's what the the meaning of those words is if you look at the original language there the Greek Old Testament actually does translate them and that's what the author of Hebrews is quoting One of the patterns we pointed out early in our study of the book of Hebrews, and one that we have shown here, is the book of Hebrews alternates five times between explaining some things and then giving an exhortation.

So we've been through one cycle of that. This is finishing up, in this passage we'll be looking at on into chapter four, this is finishing up the second exhortation. And so that's what you will see here in today's passage is an exhortation. We're actually looking at just the first part of that exhortation still, because it's going to continue on into chapter four. And we'll look at that in the weeks ahead.

Now, one of the things we've got to do in order to see what this passage is about, we've got to do some review. So some of you may recognize some of this, we did it some time ago, but it's important we bring everybody along and have fresh memories of this. And so I want to tell you about Jewish baseball. Jewish baseball has different rules than anything you're accustomed to with baseball that we're familiar with.

This is from the rule book of Jewish baseball from the big Now, in the game, Jews versus Egyptians, it works like this. So the Jews are throwing the ball, they're pitching, and you have the Egyptians there receiving, and they're trying to hit that ball. So that's the way it works. You've got the Jews versus the Egyptians in Jewish baseball.

Now, it's got a whole different set of rules about strikes, okay? You know, we're familiar with three strikes, you're out. I mean, we all quote that and everybody knows that even if you don't play much baseball, you know, three strikes, you're out. It's different in Jewish baseball. To them, it's ten strikes and you're out, okay? Ten strikes, okay?

Now, the other thing is, you'd say that's a fly ball? Uh-uh. In Jewish baseball, there's an entirely different definition of flies. Entirely different definition of flies. It's just not the same at all. Completely different. Alright, now we're not done, because this is a real different game.

They have to say things like, Moses knows best. And what would Moses do, right? So, anyway, it's an entirely different game. A high regard for Moses, obviously. See, Moses and his brother Aaron would appear before their own people and then go and talk to Pharaoh. And of course, Pharaoh was always glad to see them.

Anyway. Alright, so. The way it works is the ten strikes are the 10 plagues, blood, frogs, lice, flies, diseased cattle, boils, that's like nuclear-powered zits, right? Okay. And then you got hail, and then you got locusts, and darkness, and finally death of the firstborn, okay? Those are the 10 strikes. And then you're out, see? And then you get out of Egypt.

Alright, so that's the rules for Jewish baseball. That last plague, the death of the firstborn, would be the event at which the Jews, when they would mark over the lintels and the doorposts with the lamb's blood, the blood of the Passover lamb, that that house would be passed over by the angel of death. And the Jews were to celebrate the Passover, and they were given definitions. That particular night, they celebrated differently than Jews eventually celebrated, where they actually sat down. In this case, they were to stand up. They were to eat the entire meal and not leave any.

So you better like lamb, because that's what you're going to eat. Lots of. At least for that night, they would eat standing up. And eat all of it. They were ordered to eat every bit of it. And then take off for what's called the Exodus. Alright. So they go and start loading up people. They start loading up stuff. Everything that they're going to take out of Egypt. And that includes cattle. That includes folks young, old, every age and stage. They would load up and get them ready for this Exodus. the next morning after the Passover event.

So this all took place here in this part of the world here in the area around the Nile River Delta. And so we'll zoom in on that. Here's the Nile River Delta from space. You imagine if you showed Moses this. Anyway, so here they were in the land of Goshen, which is located about where that word is placed there. And from there, they moved across. Now, they didn't actually go across the Red Sea, which is that part that you see in there, but actually a sea in the middle there of the land that was a place they actually, more than likely, crossed over. So getting a bigger picture here, here's Goshen, and they would have come there, and then, excuse me, and then they came up to the sea, and of course here they are pressed, because here's the Egyptians coming after them, here's the sea in front of them, and they all know, okay, our lamb is cooked.

The Israelites are now ready, and so Moses goes and parts the waters. So he goes there where the sea is. and parts of the waters. Now here's a bird's eye view of them crossing the Red Sea from up in the sky. And so Moses was told, Exodus 14, 16, As for you, lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. And the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.

And if it had happened today, it would look something like this. But this was instead, the Lord chose 3,400 years ago approximately for this to take place instead of today. The Egyptians were coming after them with the best of the Egyptian military equipment and a great deal of military staff and they were ready to take them back. Pharaoh had one of those, you know, what was I thinking kinds of moments, right? And so he sends his military after them. Now, this also would have been one of those things where a part of this took place at night, and that's something else to recall, and so they had the parting of the waters, and they also had the cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night, and particularly that held off the Egyptians in this event.

Now, so here are the Israelites trying to race to get through this thing. You can imagine, okay, we've got thousands of people and all kinds of livestock and everything else to get through. This isn't happening fast. But even in the midst of that, I'm sure they're all kind of panicky.

Because not only do you have the Egyptians behind you, but while there's dry ground underneath you, you got these aquariums on each side, right? And so it'd be kind of like an aquarium, except I imagine they weren't too fascinated with the fish. They just wanted to get through, right? All right. So now, So they get to the other side of this break in the sea, and they're eager to just get out of there, get done.

Then, as soon as they get over then, the Egyptians start coming through. pulls away from the cloud and the pillar of fire, and so the Egyptians are coming through and racing after them, and it doesn't turn out so good for the Egyptians. They didn't have enough swimming lessons for the horses and all the men that were in there, and they're all weighted down with chariots and things of that sort. So at any rate, all the Egyptians were wiped out, and the Israelites are, yeah, they like this. So now they've crossed the sea and they're going down the Sinai Peninsula.

As they come to the Sinai Peninsula, this is the place where God has Moses come up on the mountain and they're given the law. They're given what's called the Law of Moses. It is the completion of 613 laws. A lot of times people will just think, oh, you've got the Ten Commandments. No. 613 laws. And so this is the way it looks today, if you were to go and look at it. Just a really hard, barren rock, but that's where the Lord would have given Moses the law. All 613 laws are on the slide, believe me. Including the Ten Commandments.

And I'm not kidding you. All 613 are on here. I'm not joking. Let me give you an example. Here's among these 144 law. 144 is not to eat a worm found in fruit. Leviticus 11.41. That's one of them. Not even a little baby worm. Not even that. You're not supposed to.

Now, all 613 laws are given to Moses. Thereafter, getting the law and going up from there, they head up towards Canaan. And from there, spies are sent into the land. This journey of the twelve spies, and there were twelve, into the land is recorded for us in Numbers chapter 13, verses 1-33, and then summarized again in Numbers 34, verses 1-12. These 12 Jewish spies made this trip, and what you see here on the map is they went up a route that took them all the way up to the northern end of the land that was promised to them, and they came back along a similar route, going through many of the same places on the return trip. They made this trip for 40 days, so they went up and back, the 12 spies, over a period of 40 days so that by the time they got back then, they had seen enough to get a good sampling of what's out there, what's up there. And so, this is an artist's depiction of the spies coming back with a sample of the abundant fruit. of the land of Canaan, land flowing with milk and honey.

Numbers 13.27 has that milk and honey phrase among several different passages. So the spies come back and they're all giving glowing reports and they're all saying, hey, you can go in and take the land, right?

Not so much. Not so much. Two spies said yes, but ten of them said, no, we shouldn't do this. Not a good idea. The two spies who said, yes, the land is good and we should take it since God has given us the land, and that's, by the way, a paraphrase, were Caleb and Joshua. Those are the two spies who came back with not only a good report, yeah, this is good land, this is really a great place, God has chosen this place well for us, but they also said, God has promised that He will provide for us here, let's go take it. Those were the two. We have ten spies that said, no, we can't take the land.

The people there are giants. We were as grasshoppers among them. We will be crushed. We will be ruined. They said, no, we cannot go. So the people of Israel listened to the fearful and unbelieving voices of the ten spies So the Lord had the Israelites, as a consequence, wander in the wilderness for 40 years until that generation died off.

Can you imagine? Today, what's happening today? More funerals. What's happening tomorrow? More funerals. You're going to wait for this generation to die off. That's the scenario. And you're not going in. You're not going in. with this generation. Not happening. So here is why, this is Numbers 32, 8-13, and you have it on page 1 of your handout. This is why God's anger burned against Israel. It summarizes it this way. This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. That's the spies, right?

And when they went up the valley of Eshkol and saw the land, they discouraged the sons of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. So the Lord's anger burned in that day, and He swore, saying, None of the men who came up from Egypt from 20 years old and upward shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." And by the way, the covenant, the land covenant with Abraham was repeated to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, okay? Repeatedly, God promised it to them.

For they did not follow me fully, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun. For they have followed the Lord fully. So the Lord's anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil on the side of the Lord was destroyed.

You're not going in because you didn't believe Me. I will help you take this. I will provide beyond what you're even expecting or believing Me for. But you're not believing, so you're not going in. And do you know what, when they heard this, do you know what the people did? They said, oh, we'll go now. And the Lord said, uh-uh. You're not going in. You're not going in.

So then, they went up later, and here is the opportunity to approach the land from the east. And there, Deuteronomy 12. Deuteronomy means the second giving of the law. So here is Moses giving the law all over again, repeating everything and restating everything as the Israelites are prepared to go in the land.

He's not going in himself. And this is what he tells them in Deuteronomy 12, 8-11. You shall not do at all what we are doing here today. Every man doing what is right in his own eyes. So what do we do in this country? Every man does what's right in his own eyes.

Anyway, so, for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you.

When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies. Around you so that you live in security then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God will choose for his name did well there you shall bring all that I command you the burnt offerings the Sacrifices your tithes and the contribution of your hand all your choice votive offerings Those are voluntary offerings right which you will vow to the Lord So this is the meaning of rest to the Israelites but he's bringing that up because he's writing the author of Hebrews is writing to Jews who are tempted tempted to fall back on the Jewish sacrificial system and notice here this even talks about the Jewish sacrificial system does he want them to go back to the sacrificial system no there's a different kind of rest that he has in mind so looking at the passage here in Hebrews 3 7 through 11 with all the preface including the Jewish baseball rules What we have here, he quotes there from Psalm 95, 7-11, and in the end, because this generation refused to enter in and take me on the basis of faith, he said, I swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest. There was a rest for Israel, and there is a rest for us. And that's his point, and he's going to continue on in the passages we're going to see ahead of us. on that subject of rest.

So, Moses was a servant, but Christ was and is a son. So from Hebrews 3, 1-6 we saw that Moses was indeed a faithful servant, but that Christ is a son worthy of more glory and honor than Moses. This is critical. What he's doing here is saying, look, they had a warning here they had a warning they did not respond as God had promised that he would follow through on they did not respond to God's offer take the land now's the time I'll be with you they didn't respond and so there were consequences that was under Moses who was just a servant since Christ is a son, however, there's a different message. If the Israelites' failure to believe God's word given through Moses, who was just a servant, brought death to that generation of Israelites, then failure to believe what God has revealed through Christ the Son is an even greater error.

He's not threatening them with death. He's saying it's a greater error not to listen to and respond to Christ. It's a greater error. He's not urging them to go back to the law. He's urging them to listen to the Son who is more and of greater honor and glory than the servant. Failure to believe what God has revealed through Christ, the Son, is a greater error. That was a really big error that the Israelites made. They wouldn't listen to Moses who was a servant. Now when Christ the Son says something, are you listening? Failure to listen is an even greater error, because he's worthy of more glory and honor.

Another key point that the author has here, going back under the law of Moses does not glorify and honor the Son. You see that? Going back under the law of Moses, because Moses was just a servant. But Christ is a Son. The reigning principle for Israel was the Law of Moses, given through Moses, who was a servant.

The reigning principle for us in the Church, Romans 5.21, is grace, even though Christ, given through Christ the Son, worthy of more glory and honor.

So the people of Israel listened to the fearful and unbelieving voices of the ten spies. So the Lord had the Israelites wander in the wilderness for forty years until that generation died off under Moses, under the principle of law. Now under the principle of grace given through and spoken of by the Son. The author of Hebrews is warning, you must certainly listen. It is all the more imperative and important that you listen to the Son and that you understand the grace he's offering.

God had, past tense, a rest in mind for Israel. He also has a rest in mind for us. So God had a rest in mind for the people of Israel and the land of Israel. If they lived under the law of Moses, the law of Israel rather, given through Moses, it was a rest, and how did you describe it?

A rest from battling enemies. You've been battling enemies out here in the desert. You're going to have to battle enemies to take back the land, but once you do, if you obey me, you will have a rest. You will never again have to battle enemies. That's the rest. That's what they were promised.

As we're going to see in the passages to follow here, this one that we've just read here, on into Hebrews 4.14, God intends a rest for us as well. It's not about battling physical enemies or the land or the law. The rest God intends for you and for me is only by faith and depending on God's spiritual resources. We too are promised a rest, but it's an entirely different rest. Your assignment, your challenge, is not to take back the land of Israel. Your assignment, your challenge, is to enter God's rest. So the rest that God intends for you and me is only by fate and depends on God's spiritual resources, not ours.

Here is Hebrews 4 10 and 11 that we'll be looking at here in the weeks ahead The rest for us in the church looks like this For the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works as God did from his Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest.

Hey, let's stop a minute What is diligent sound like It's a persistent effort. Very interesting. To enter God's rest requires diligence. Let us be diligent to enter that rest so that no one will fall through following the same example of disobedience. Let us be diligent to enter that rest so that no one will fall. Let's have a kind of a poll here.

How many of us does God want to fall? No one. God has not designated that you fall. It's not God's intent. God doesn't have that in mind. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, and notice the author includes himself, so that no one will fall. The Israelites, how many fell? All of them. Twenty and up, all of them fell.

God's intent for us is that none of us fall. None of us fall. So following the same example of disobedience, God isn't asking us to go and enter the land or take back Jerusalem or some city or anything of that sort. That's not our assignment. But there is a rest for us that God intends. There is a rest that God intends. What we had up there earlier was Jesus giving an invitation that you would find rest for your souls. How do you do that? You come to Him. You come to Him.

And there's a diligence to it. I don't just do it once and I'm done. But there's a consistent diligence to do that. Pursuing that again and again, daily. Be diligent to enter the rest. And then I have one more question. Do you have to do a bunch of works to enter his rest? Look at what the first verse says. For the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works.

It doesn't mean we don't do anything. As a matter of fact, I once heard a joke that I can tell you're a Christian. Really? How's that? Oh, it's because you don't do anything. Anything. This rest that he has is not that we don't do anything. It doesn't mean we're suddenly just completely immobile. What it means is it's not our works that get the job done. It's his work through us. It's his work through us.

There is a song that I heard some time ago, and I'll give a try at it here. John Fisher wrote it matter of fact. It's actually the end of a fairly long musical piece But anyway, I think it has a great message, so we'll try it Rest rest in him Your work is through. Lean back on His great power. He'll work through you. Rest, rest in Him, your work is through. Lean back on His great power, He'll work through you.

What's abundantly clear, and I think that passage in Hebrews we just looked at in chapter four, as well as the words here to this song, is that it doesn't mean that as Christians that we don't do things. We may in fact do a lot of things and be very active, but God is not desiring or expecting that we show you know, how good we are, our quality of ourselves, by our own works and efforts. God's very intent is His works through us. That's what He has in mind, and our dependence upon Him. Resting, not meaning that you don't do anything, but resting, meaning that you depend entirely upon Him for Him to do the work through you. That's what God has in mind. And that's what we'll be seeing in this passage in Hebrews as we study it in the weeks ahead. Let's take a minute to pray here. Lord, we thank you as we look at this passage.

We thank you that You have begun a very powerful message about resting. And we thank you for the work that you intend to do in us and through us. And you have made us what we need to be in order to do that. You have put us in Christ and put Christ in us in order to carry out these works that you have in mind. And so Lord, we ask that you would teach us what that looks like. That our resting in you, though it may in fact be very active, is works done entirely in dependence upon you. And you're working through us and in us, rather than our own efforts. And we thank you for that rest. We pray that you would teach us that rest. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.