In verses one through six, a comparison is made between Moses and Jesus. It is a comparison between the main pillars of Judaism and Christianity, between the old and new covenants. Whereas faithfulness throughout their house is the quality that makes each like the other, the difference is explained in terms of ownership of the house. The heir of God owns the house. Moses, as a servant in that house, as the main pillar and base of Judaism, was set as a testimony of things that would come into play later. In that Moses put forth the will of God, that word was a preparation for the actual will to come, his son. Lastly, in speaking of the house that was built, God is the builder, Moses is the contractor who began the work, and Jesus is the one who finished the work and took possession. The house, of course, is us, you and me. The house consists of the hearts and minds of the people of God.
In verses seven through eleven, the author quotes a passage that the scripture-sharpened mind would have known. The quoted reference comes from Psalm 95:7 – 11. Two things interest me, here. First is that the verse numbers are an exact match and, second is that the words spoken for God, and possibly written by King David, were ascribed to the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost. Many may simply view the matter of this quote as the writer being inspired by the Holy Ghost. However, the language is that of God, that is, the one who was tested and tried by the Israelites in the desert, the one who was provoked time and time again until sickened by that generation after proving himself in every situation. It is hard to read this quote and not think that the author is calling God the Holy Ghost. Yet, God is Holy, and God is a spirit.
What exactly was the problem in the “provocation” and what is the author of Hebrews trying to express? The provocation was the incident in Meribah where the children of Israel thirsted. When God saved them from the plagues, they were all “Yeah!” When God brought them out of bondage to Egypt with miraculous signs and wonders, they were all “You betcha!” Despite all of that, despite the manna and the quails, the little discomforts always brought them back to complaining. They were in the desert, they were hot and thirsty, and they were ready to stone Moses. They complained, “have you brought us out here to kill us with thirst?” Just as Pharaoh saw the hand of God but hardened his heart, so the children of Israel saw the hand of God but hardened their hearts. The author is telling us that the initial enthusiasm failed. They went from 'God is with us' to 'where is our God when we need him?'
Was God angry with them because they were thirsty? No. He was ready to provide water. God was grieved with the spirit in them, a spirit that never seemed to stabilize or solidify. Like a squirrel in the middle of the road, they were trying to run in two directions. There was an error at work in their hearts and it was such a big deal that God did not want them to pollute his rest with it. That might have been like putting ink in clean water – the water is no longer clean. These five verses begin with a tricky statement, a statement the psalmist applied to his day and age but, also, a statement that the author of Hebrews applied to his day and age. “Today, if you will hear his voice.”
Let us examine this statement. Today, of course, draws the attention to the present, not to the past where was found the initial enthusiasm but to the tested enthusiasm of our present day, as when the desert tested the Israelite's faith in God. Those of us who begin in faith and grow in faith can, nevertheless, expect to fall on times of testing. We will experience pains and troubles and our woes will be like a dark cloud covering the sun of our joyous strength. What will we do then? Will we whine and complain? Will we forget the sun because of the cloud or will we hold on to the certainty that the sun is more real to us than a temporary cloud? There is definitely a lesson to be learned from the provocation, a faith-building and faith-maintaining lesson we can all take to heart. The error in the hearts of the Israelites was mentioned in conjunction with them not knowing the ways of God. That knowledge is not merely a recognition of what has transpired, the knowledge must be on a personal level. The Israelites knew well what God had already done, they doubted him in their current circumstance.
Let's think about the voice. “Today, if you will hear his voice.” Whose voice is being referenced here? The writer of the Psalm did not directly quote an earlier scripture. What was said was said generally, taking into account common knowledge. So, again, whose voice are we talking about? What are our choices? I see four choices. There is Moses who pleaded for the children of Israel. There is the voice of God (which is not directly quoted) who despaired of that particular generation. There is the voice of the Holy Ghost who is, perhaps, the psalmist's renaming of God (which is not directly quoted.) However, since the author of the book of Hebrews is writing a treatise on Christ and salvation, it stands to reason that the psalmist was referenced for the express purpose of shining a light on both God and the Holy Ghost in the voice of Christ. It is the call of Jesus to the faithful that they not lose the initial enthusiasm. We must not lose sight of our goal – to enter into the rest of God. A former generation was denied access because they lost the faith.
That brings us to the cautionary plea in verse twelve. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from God.” Let's get our definitions straight. It appears the author of Hebrews is giving us the definition of a former generation's downfall. He is explaining what was under the hood, so to speak. We might take a more external view and see some justification in the people calling for water. We can relate. If we were in the desert on the brink of death, we, too, would cry out. Yet, in our day and age, we can not relate to the children of Israel seeing the Red Sea open up, or seeing the pillars of smoke and fire, or hearing the voice of God, or being abundantly supplied with manna and quail. They had no excuse for their complaint. Rather, they should have continued to believe. Instead, they departed from God in their “evil heart of unbelief.”
Next comes timely advice and, here, I lean on the author's wording without the need for much explanation. Hold each other up on a daily basis. Help your brothers and sisters be strong in their faith. Do not let a day pass you by. If you attend only the small matters of daily life, like eating and drinking, therein lies the sin that will harden your hearts against faith. Let every day, while it is today, be a day of exhortation and edification of faith and enthusiasm. Revel in your faith, “For we are made partakers of Christ,” and here I add 'only' “if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.” This comes from verses thirteen and fourteen.
We are not the same as the generation that angered God in the wilderness, yet, there is a likeness between them and us that is explained in verses fifteen through seventeen. While it may be said, “Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation,” it is obvious that some, when they heard, did provoke God – but not all of them. Some of them continued on to the promised land. The makeup of that generation was a mixed bag, just like ours is today. Some, then, heard and provoked while others heard and held fast. The ones that fell in the wilderness were the sinners who failed to exhort one another in the faith. As it is explained in verses eighteen and nineteen, not all of that generation grieved God, not all of them were denied access into the rest of God – only the ones who did not believe. The present application is that unbelief will bring the same results to us. Likewise, a continuing confidence, built up and maintained daily, will see us to our goal.
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