Hebrews 4:1-13. Here in the first part of chapter 4 we see the importance of hanging on to our faith in what Jesus is all about (dying for our sins to provide the only way to be right with God). The warning to fear is because this is serious business with serious consequences. If we do not hang on to Jesus we will not enter the “rest” that Heaven is. Instead we will not be allowed into God’s eternal kingdom. An eternity without God is an eternity with out all of the goodness that exists in the universe. In short that eternity is hell. In verses 2 we see that our trust or faith in the story of Jesus (and it’s reality) is a key to where we will spend eternity. What it takes for each person to be restored in their relationship with God is done from God’s end but it is still up in the air for each individual. Each person must put their trust in Jesus. According to verse 7 we should do it right away, “today”.
In verse 8 the author again speaks to that Jewish audience when he brings up Joshua. Joshua was the leader who brought the generation following the one that died in the desert into the physical Promised Land. The Jewish people though that that was the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises to their ancestors, but it was only a hint, a shadow. That is why more than four hundred years later was still reminding them that they could relax in God’s pastures and be cared for by God if they would trust “today” (v. 7 and Psalm 95:7). So the “Promised Land” wasn’t the end of the story, Jesus is the end of the story.
But there is risk (v. 11). The specific “disobedience” the author is talking about is the same “disobedience” that the lost generation was guilty of, not believing in what god was doing, not trusting God. While the test for them was going iin to the “Promeised Land” the test for the readers (and us) is believing in Jesus (Hebrews 2:14). Hebrews 4:12-13 tells us that there is no fooling God the word of God is very precise, there are no loopholes in God’s plan, no back door into Heaven. Either we believe in Jesus or we do not.
God thank you for Jesus. Help all of us take this whole thing seriously. Help none of us fall short of Heaven. Help our “knowledge” about Jesus become profitable in our lives by tying it deep into our being by faith. Help us truly believe.