Hebrews 3:7-12 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

All of the Scripture is God Breathed, God inspired, God spoken. The Apostle said in:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV) All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God {the believer} may be complete, equipped for every good work.

We know that all Scripture – this Bible we cherish – is theopneustos, God breathed out. It is the very Word of God. We know that the text we study every week is written by “holy men of God who SPOKE AS THEY WERE MOVED BY THE HOLY GHOST” (2 Peter 1:21). We know this. But here today as we read our text we see the words:

Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith…

The Bible here makes it a POINT that what is being said comes from the Holy Spirit of God. This isn’t something David Buffaloe is saying. This is something God is saying. It starts with “Wherefore”. This refers back to what we studied last week. We saw a comparison between The House of Moses and The House of Christ. Both Houses are led by faithful men. But the House of Christ is SUPERIOR to the House of Moses, because Jesus is superior to Moses. The House of Moses was built by those who had faith in God, and was a shadow of the coming House of Christ. Those on the House of Moses were servants of the Most High God. But those in the House of Christ are sons and daughters of the Most High God, because Jesus Himself is the Son of God. Moses was not the Son of God, but looked forward to the coming of the Son of God. Last week we ended with this verse:

Hebrews 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Though The House Of Christ Is Superior To The Shadow Of The House Of Moses, We Learn And Grow By Studying The House Of Moses

This is why verse 7 starts with the word:

Hebrews 3:7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith …

There are lessons to be learned from the House of Moses that relate to the Christian way of life. Where did the House of Moses come from? Egypt. The lost world. A world filled with false gods and goddesses. The House of Moses, which is Israel, was enslaved by Egypt, enslaved by false gods, by sin, by the world. In the same way every person who is now a Christian – in the House of Christ – was at one time enslaved by the world, by Egypt. No one starts out in this life saved. I have shown you repeatedly that the Scripture says:

Romans 3:23 … all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God …

How does a lost person come to Christ? Consider Israel. When was Israel saved from Egypt? When Israel was at ease in Egypt, they did not cry out to God. But when …

Exodus 1:13-14 (ESV) … {Egypt} ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

When life became horrible for Israel, it was then that Israel called out to God. Their hearts were softened and their arrogance broken because of Egypt, because of the lost world. It was at this point that God raised up a redeemer in Moses. He told Moses:

Exodus 3:7-8 (ESV) Then the Lord said {to Moses}, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey

God calls His people out of Egypt, out of the world. He said, “come out from among them, and be ye separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17). God said “Be HOLY, for I am HOLY” (1 Peter 1:16).

Israel could not be a part of Egypt. God’s people cannot be one with the world. God told His people to take a Lamb without spot or blemish, kill it, and put its blood on your Home, on your life (Exodus 12:13-28). God said:

“When I see the Blood,
When I see the Blood,
When I see the Blood,
I will pass, I will pass over you!”

Where the Blood was not, death came. The Blood of the Lamb was a shadow of the Blood of Christ, the “Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:36). The Blood of the Lamb covered the House of Moses so that death would not come. The Blood of Christ covers the House of Christ so that death cannot take us. The Blood of the Lamb redeemed the House of Moses from Egypt. The Blood of Christ redeems the House of Christ from the lost world.

1 Peter 1:18-21 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain {way of life} received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

The day after Israel applied the Blood of the Lamb, Israel left Egypt praising God for His deliverance. Israel was saved from Egypt …. BUT

Would Israel Rely On God Or On Themselves?

When Israel left Egypt, they went straight to the Promised Land, and lived happily ever after. The end. Let’s go home.

No, that’s not true. Israel is a shadow of the Church, a picture of the Christian way of life. The Holy Spirit is telling us this, because the Spirit says:

Hebrews 3:7-9 … To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.

God here applies the shadow of Israel leaving Egypt to the House of Christ, the Church. He tells us as Christians, “Harden not your hearts”. The Holy Spirit is not talking to unbelievers here, but to Christians. Faith and belief come from the heart. Not that pump in your chest, but that part of your soul the Bible calls the heart. It is the heart that God saves. King David cried out:

Psalm 139:23-24 (ESV) Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

If left to itself, the Bible says:

Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart …

Our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 15:19 … out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

God calls us to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30). How can we do that if our hearts so corrupt? We must REPENT and turn to God in faith. Salvation comes when we turn from sin and toward the Savior. We stop our love affair with Egypt, and cry out to God to save us.

Every person who has ever been saved has become fed up with Egypt. They cry out to God to save them, refocusing their heart on the Lord.

How are we saved? Again I refer to Scripture:

Romans 10:9-11 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

It was not the PHYSICAL blood of the Lamb that saved israel. It was that ISRAEL BELIEVED GOD AND DID AS HE SAID. They trusted God with all their heart. They believed on the blood of the Lamb. How is a Christian saved? The PHYSICAL Blood of Christ has long been shed, but that PHYSICAL Blood does not save you. The day that Christ died on Calvary there were soldiers all about who trampled on the Blood of Christ:

Hebrews 10:29 {they trod} under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant … an unholy thing …

Preach This: On the day that Jesus died on Calvary, the soldiers that beat Him with whips had His Blood scattered all over their clothing and faces. The soldiers who drove the spikes into His hands and feet had it spurt out upon them. When they raised the Cross and dropped it into the socket of the earth, the Blood of Jesus flowed down and spattered the ground like crimson rain. Those who mocked Christ, standing at the foot of the Cross, trod His Blood underfoot.

Not one of those unbelievers were saved by the Blood.

It was FAITH IN GOD that saved Israel from Egypt. Faith does what God says. Faith believes the Lord. Faith killed the lamb, and spinkled its blood. Faith looks to Calvary, and believes in Christ as both Lord and Savior. Faith believes His Blood was shed for ME.

When Israel was saved from Egypt, they left Egypt and headed toward the Promised Land. Then God began to test them. If you are saved, you will be tested.

God could have taken Israel directly into the Promised Land. But He didn’t. When you get saved, God wants you to be HOLY. Let me define HOLINESS. To be HOLY, is to put God first. To be HOLY, is to obey God. To be HOLY, is to love God above all else. To be HOLY, is to trust God no matter what the world throws at you.

As soon as Israel left Egypt, it wasn’t long before Egypt came to drag Israel back into its mess. When you walk with God, all that is evil will plot and plan to draw you back into it’s mess. The Bible says:

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

If the devil can’t keep you from being saved, he will do everything he can to draw you back into his world. Egypt started chasing Israel, just like the devil will chase a Christian. If he can’t keep you from being saved, the devil will try to get you to:

TOLERATE evil
COMPROMISE your faith
BLEND with the darkness

God doesn’t want you to do that. What does God do? What did God do with Israel? God led Israel to a place where they were trapped. They were trapped in Egypt, but God saved them when Israel trusted God and did as He said. So God leads Israel to the Red Sea. In front of Israel is TOO MUCH WATER. They’re trapped. What will Israel do? What did Israel do?

Exodus 14:11-12 (ESV) {Israel} said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Israel was praising Moses, their redeemer, for leading them out of Egypt. But now Israel is in an impossible situation. They do not cry out to God, but instead cry against God and the salvation He gave them. They are not loving God Who saved them, but cursing God for taking them out of Egypt.

Moses told Israel,

Exodus 14:13-14 (ESV) … “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Don’t worry. Don’t fear. You are in an impossible situation. God got you out of an impossible situation before, He will do it again. Praise Him! Love Him with all your heart. Call out to Him for salvation. God will save His people.

And God did.
Israel crossed the Red Sea unharmed,
And Egypt was destroyed!

After this event, you would think that Israel would have learned. Did they? God back to our text:

Hebrews 3:8-9 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years.

No. Israel didn’t learn from the Red Sea crossing. God parted the waters and saved them, while destroying the enemy. Israel hardened their hearts. God brought Israel into the wilderness of Shur, to a place called Marah (Exodus 15:22-25). Here the water was bitter, undrinkable. Israel went from TOO MUCH water, to BITTER water. Would they call on God? No.

Israel grumbled.

After God made the water drinkable, He told Israel:

Exodus 15: 26 (ESV) … “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”

God told Israel, “Open your hearts to Me. Stop hardening your hearts. Repent. Call on Me, as you did when you were in Egypt. Trust Me and obey Me, for I am your Healer.”

The Law of Moses was not given unto Exodus 20. God is not telling Israel to follow the Law. He is telling Israel to FOLLOW HIM, to LOVE HIM, to OBEY HIM.

Would Israel listen? Again, what does our text say?

Hebrews 3:8-9 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years.

Word Study: The word translated “provocation” is the Greek parapikrasmos (pronounced par-ap-ik-ras-mos’), which means “to provoke or irritate”. Let me illustrate PROVOKED. I have here a dog toy, a squeek. How would you like to hear it? What if you were talking, each time you tried to say something I SQUEEKED this little toy. This is what Israel was doing with God. Israel was poking the Lord. God saved them from TOO MUCH water. God saved them from BITTER water. They STILL wouldn’t trust God or rely on God.

Israel could draw near to God, and BE HOLY, or they could draw near to Self and BE HARDENED. The Christian and the Church can draw near to God and BE HOLY, or we can draw near to Self and BE HARDENED. What’s your choice?

The story continues. Israel next comes to Rephidem, later called Meribah. God brought them to a place where there was NO WATER.

TOO MUCH water.
TOO BITTER water. Now,
NO water.

Will Israel trust God? He’s saved them over and over again. Our God is faithful:

1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

If there is NO WATER, and God saved us from TOO MUCH water and the BITTER water, will He not now provide? But Israel refused to be holy. Israel kept drawing toward SELF. Israel kept going back to Egypt in their hearts. Israel had an identity crisis.

Church, Do You Have An Identity Crisis?
Do You Belong To Jesus, Or Yourself?

Israel TEMPTED God, PROVED God, and SAW GOD’S WORKS for 40 years. But Israel would not draw near to God. Israel wanted to be saved from Egypt, and wanted to inherit the Promised Land, but didn’t care about God. What does the Holy Spirit tell us?

Hebrews 3:10-12 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

What kept Israel out of the Promised Land? Israel. Not God, but Israel. Their hearts were hardened. They kept “departing from the living God”. Think about that phrase, “the living God”. Why do you think the Holy Spirit calls the God of Scripture “the living God”? It is because the Source of all life is God. Jesus said:

John 5:26 (RSV) … as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself …

Life is in God. Not just future, Heavenly life, but ALL LIFE is in God. When we are saved, God calls us to walk with Him, to trust Him no matter what might occur. Our focus is God. God is self existent (Exodus 3:14). The Psalmist said of God:

Psalm 36:9 (CEV) The life-giving fountain belongs to You {o God}, and Your light gives light to each of us.

Israel was saved from Egypt by believing of God. We are saved from Egypt – this world – by believing on Christ. But you cannot shake hands with the devil and walk with the Lord. You cannot be salt and light, while abiding in darkness. Salvation is a surrender to God.

We Encourage One Another To Avoid Sin And Embrace The Savior

Hebrews 3:12-16 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort {parakaleō, to call alongside, to encourage} one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

We are not to compromise with the darkness, but are to ENCOURAGE one another DAILY – while it is today – to walk with God. We are not to harden our hearts. If you harden your heart, you rob yourselves of the blessings that God wants to bless you with.

Our God is able. Our God is able!

Hebrews 3:16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

Some provoked God – but “NOT ALL”. The children of those who left Egypt did not provoke God. The children would grow up, and enter the Promised Land. Joshua and Caleb never provoked God, but trusted God, and encouraged the people to enter the Promised Land. But Israel wouldn’t. They were SELF focused, and not God focused. So they died in the wilderness.

Hebrews 3:17-19 But with whom was {God} 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.

What a horrible thing it is to HARDEN the heart. A hardened heart cost Pharaoh his life. A hardened heart caused the first generation of Israel to lose the blessings of salvation. How horrible the hardened heart is! It provokes God.

Beloved, if you belong to Christ by faith, open your heart to Him. Repent of any sin in your life, and run to Him. Trust Him, and live in love toward God and your fellow man. But if you do not know Christ as Savior and Lord, I pray that today would be the day you would receive Him as He is. Turn from self, and toward the Savior.

The kingdom of God is at hand. What will you do? Holy, or hardened? The choice is yours.

May God touch your hearts with His Word. Amen and Amen.