Bible Studies

“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”

This charge by the writer of the book of Hebrews comes after a lesson from the history of the Israelites. Verses 7 through 11 are a quote from Psalm 95, and speak of a specific event in the travels of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land.

It is recorded in Numbers chapters 13 and 14. A few months after they left Egypt, after the LORD had fought for them against Egypt, and even dried the Red Sea for their travel convenience, Israel arrived at Kadesh Barnea, in the south of the Promised Land. Twelve spies were sent search it out and see what kind of a land it was.

The spies reported that the land was fruitful, even bringing back a cluster of grapes that was so big that it was carried by two men using a pole. But ten of the spies reported that there were giants in the land, and they that were not able to take the land that God had promised to them. Because of their report, the people rebelled against Moses, and against the LORD, and decided to return to Egypt.

The other two spies tried to turn the hearts of the people back to the task at hand. The LORD had told Israel that He would give them the land. He had told them that He would fight for them. All of them had seen Him do that before in Egypt and at the Red Sea. All of them had heard God’s voice tell them His ten commandments from mount Horeb and they saw His glory and His power. They now faced the unknown with God’s promise that He would take care of them. And they did not believe Him. They tried to go back.

As the story continued, because of their disbelief, God told them that they would wander in the wilderness for forty years. The army that came to Kadesh Barnea and refused to go into the land would die in the wilderness, and their children would come into the Promised Land.

After hearing God’s judgment, the army decided that they would go into the Promised Land. Previously they showed disbelief in God by refusing to go into the land. Now they were showing disbelief in God by trying to go into the land, after He had told them to wander in the wilderness. Their unbelief in God was revealed in both situations. He told them to go into the land, and they refused. He told them to go into the wilderness, and they refused. Would they ever listen to what He said?

Parents know about this. They tell their children what is expected of them, and when they are young they generally do what they are told, though they still steal cookies and put keys into electrical outlets. As they get older, the likelihood that they will obey their parent’s word reduces. For the parents this is a source of anguish because they want what is best for their children. They want them to not make the same mistakes that they had made. Almighty God knows what is best for His creatures, and gives commands with only their best in mind.

The story of Israel at the edge of the Promised Land was an example of unbelief, from which the writer of Hebrews wanted his readers to learn. He wanted them to avoid the same error. The Israelites were frightened by the prospect of war against giants, and concluded there was nothing they could do except go back to Egypt. Even the good advice of the two spies, and the promises of God didn’t stop them from succumbing to their fears. Life brings us into contact with difficulties that bring fear.

In Matthew 6:31-33 Jesus said, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Jesus is saying that the most fundamental of our needs, food, drink, clothing, and shelter are not things about which we should fear. The Father knows that we need them. Do we believe Him? Or do we fear.

In Hebrews 13:5 we read, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Every situation in life is another opportunity for us to determine to believe God. Do we believe that He knows what we need? Do we believe that He will never forsake us? Do we go forward and trust Him? The writer of Hebrews warns his readers away from an evil heart of unbelief, turning away from the living God.

Simply trusting every day,
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Refrain

Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by;
Trusting Him whate’er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Brightly does His Spirit shine
Into this poor heart of mine;
While He leads I cannot fall;
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Refrain

Singing if my way is clear,
Praying if the path be drear;
If in danger for Him call;
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Refrain

Trusting Him while life shall last,
Trusting Him till earth be past;
Till within the jasper wall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Refrain (Edgar P. Stites)

 

Hebrews 8:12  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

This New Covenant does not require continual sacrifices to deal with sin because the ultimate sacrifice has been made. In Hebrews 8.13 the writer refers to the Lord Jesus who has made the first covenant obsolete. He writes of the old covenant which is,” growing old is ready to disappear”.

This New Covenant was made by Christ Himself signed in His own Blood. It came to the Jew first than to the Greek or Gentile, (Rom1.16).  God so loved the world that all who believe in the Lord Jesus will be saved and have eternal life. (John 3.16).

I am sure all of us think on this often.  To think of the One who created everything would be interested in every person walking this earth, including me, is hard to fathom. God has shown us through His Son, what true love is, His grace and mercy that we experience each day.

We are all sinners and we have been given the gift that the writer to Hebrews is sharing with these Jewish believers in Christ. The very words of God: I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”  Our sin has been forgiven and we have become a member of His family, with the promise of Eternal life!

Think back on that time when you put your trust in the Lord Jesus as your Savior. The sin that we carried from birth, the sin of the man Adam, has been dealt with by the man, the Lord Jesus! (Rom 5.12-21) Our sin was forgiven, and the door of eternal life has been opened to us!

Ephesians 2:4-6 “(4)  But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (5)  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (6)  and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”

Lord, thank you for Your mercy and grace.  Just a thought for the morning

 

Carl

 

Thought for the Morning

Galatians 3:23-25  But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. ²⁴  Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵  But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

Faith versus the Law is the question here.  Can you be justified through the Law? Paul writes the Law is only a tutor. A tutor helps you understand different principles and facts.  A tutor is a teacher. A tutor can teach us things but what you learn must be applied to be of any value. That’s where the problem lies, we may know the Law but in the application of the Law there is only failure. The Lord has tested His “chosen people” through the Law and there has been only disappointment.

But faith is different.  In the book of Hebrews we find a definition of faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1) Faith is believing in something you have no control over.  I have faith that the sun will rise this morning and there is nothing I can do about it.

Your thoughts and actions are based on faithful belief! What did Paul mean when he wrote,” faith which would afterward be revealed”? God dealt with His “chosen people” for hundreds of years via the “Law” and because of disobedience there was only failure. The concept of faith came with the Lord Jesus.

Our salvation does not come by something we do (works of the Law). Salvation and life come from a faith in the One who gives life, and His willingness to give us that Life based on His love and grace.  We know it is “by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” (Eph 2.8)

Romans 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

Rejoice this morning that we are not saved by our works but by the grace of our loving Lord. Just a thought for the morning

 

Carl

  “Is not My word like a fire” says the LORD,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”
Jeremiah 23:29

 Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet” who was rejected by the king of Judah and who lived through the taking of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.

In this portion of Jeremiah’s writings, he records the Lord speaking out against. false prophets. Ones that say their words are from the Lord but are not. God relates to Jeremiah the power and strength of His word. It is like a fire; it is like a hammer.

When I think of these two physical references to His word, several things come to mind. Fire can be thought of as that which destroys, or it can give warmth.  A hammer that can be used to beat rocks into pieces, destroying them, but can also be used to build up something!

The word of God can be used like a fire to destroy the false notions concerning our relationship with Him.  The fire of His word can set ablaze our sin, revealing it to us, making us aware of the destruction that will occur if we do not escape.  But the fire of His word also reveals to us the Cross where Gods Son suffered the flames of our sin giving us a way of escape.

It can also be a means of testing of where we are in our relationship with Him.  But also, the fire of His word can give us warmth in our daily walk. It can light the way and draw us closer to Him.

What about his word being like a hammer? The hammer of His word is the means by which He breaks down our resistance to His will for us.  How many times was the “word” used to guide us to salvation and we rejected.  The hammer of his word continued to chip away at our rejection until we could reject Him no more. The hammer of His word breaks away our rejection. But the hammer of His word also builds us up, driving truth into our very soul. The hammer of His word has placed us on a firm foundation.

“Is not My word like a fire” says the LORD,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”
Jeremiah 23:29

His word is like a fire and a hammer! Just a thought for the morning.

Carl

“ Heaven joys shall soon await us on the Day we reach its’ shore,
Meanwhile we must live the promise that one day we’ll weep no more.

Chorus
May our journey be the brighter and our soul at rest down here,
‘Till we reach our home in glory, where our hearts will never fear!

Oh the weakness of this body and the sorrows of these years,
will soon one day all be vanquished when we leave this veil of tears.

For this little while we journey walking by our Saviours’ side
May our eyes be fixed on Jesus ‘till at last with Him abide.”

<>< written by D.A.C.
9/1/2021….
sing to the tune of
“ Rise my soul behold ‘this Jesus” or
To the tune of “ Come Thou fount of every blessing”
8.7 8.7 D.
To God be all the glory.
😉🙌