BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF
Friday – September 15, 2017
If Jesus is not Lord of all in our lives, He is really not Lord at all in our lives. Like it or not we are by choice a rebellious people. The anointed writer of this Book of Hebrews has spent several verses and he/she is not done yet admonishing us to not be like those that provoked the Lord in the wilderness. Now, let’s turn our attention to our primary Bible text in the Book of Hebrews.
Hebrews 3:15-19 (KJV)
15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
For those who do not follow The Three Minute Word daily the “provocation” referred to in verse fifteen above is the refusal of the children of Israel to enter the Promised Land (Numbers chapters 13 and 14) after their deliverance from Egypt. They placed what they could see with their senses above the Word of God. They placed the inferior above the superior (by far). The spiritual realm dictates the realities of the physical realm within the laws of both realities. The people who provoked God in the wilderness died in the wilderness according to their own words never attaining the glory (goodness) of the Promised Land. We must ask ourselves, “have we attained to the glory (goodness) of our Promised Land, the Kingdom of God?” They did not enter in due to unbelief and we do not enter in due to unbelief.
As we prepare to move on let’s take a look at our primary text in the Message Translation.
Hebrews 3:15-19 (MSG)
15 These words keep ringing in our ears: Today, please listen; don’t turn a deaf ear as in the bitter uprising.
16 For who were the people who turned a deaf ear? Weren’t they the very ones Moses led out of Egypt?
17 And who was God provoked with for forty years? Wasn’t it those who turned a deaf ear and ended up corpses in the wilderness?
18 And when he swore that they’d never get where they were going, wasn’t he talking to the ones who turned a deaf ear?
19 They never got there because they never listened, never believed.
In the King James Version of the Bible Hebrews 3:15 admonishes us not to harden our hearts, in the Message Translation we are told not to “turn a deaf ear”. This deafness as is the hardening of the heart (mind) is a choice we consciously make in our rebellion against the Word of God. Have you ever been in a discussion with someone and have no interest in their point of view and are formulating a response while they are talking? Hardness of heart is a stubbornness and an attitude of unwillingness to change (our mind). The children of Israel had been in Egypt over four hundred years and were in bondage and conditioned in thought, word, and deed according to that wicked slave culture. Before Christ we were in the bondage and slavery of the world, of Satan. Now, we must renew our minds to the Word of God, the policy and procedure manual of the Kingdom of God.
In verse sixteen the writer seems almost perplexed by this rebellion, the willful hardening of the heart, the turning of a deaf ear to the Word of God. Recall that sixteen (16) is the number of love, in this case, the love of God (following through on His own Word over four hundred years earlier). These folks had seen the mighty hand of God in their deliverance. In addition, they were protected from the plagues, God placed a division between them and the rest of Egypt as He does between us and the world (Take a few minutes and reflect on Psalm 91).
Exodus 8:22-23 (KJV)
22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.
23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.
By the precious Blood of Jesus that division, that protection between us and the world is absolute impenetrable, why will we not believe, why do we tear it (the hedge of Grace [favor]) down?
Deuteronomy 7:18-19 (KJV)
18 Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
19 The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.
The mighty Hand of God brought us out of our Egypt and set us on the solid Rock, Christ Jesus.
Until our next publication, I speak blessing into your life right now, receive it in the name of Jesus, confess it, and walk it out with thanksgiving.
Numbers 6:24-26 (KJV)
24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
CONTACT E-MAIL: pastordavidwood@gmail.com
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