Christ the True and Better - Hebrews 3:16-19 - The True and Better Prophet pt.3

I'll read the question you will read the answer.

Pretty simple today.

Let's straight to the point.

What is God?

Amen.

It's fitting that this is a question for today.

Because when we read Hebrews 3, 16 through 19, we really come to some very important

things that we need to address when we're looking at the issue of unbelief.

So these are really important doctrines that we go through each week.

And have you ever thought about the question not who is God, but what is God?

And question number four in the Westminster Confession, the short catechism is straight

to the point.

It's really couldn't be said any better.

And I'm thankful for that document kind of helps us keep grounded and talk about and

deal with issues about God concerning God and the ways of God.

Because as you know, as a church, our main purpose in life, our highest calling in life

is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

And that's question number one.

And to love God, love his word, love his ways and love his thanks.

So as we're going to be going through Hebrews 3, and we'll be finishing up today, we probably

won't we're not going to go into Hebrews 4, which is just a continuation.

But I want to go through some Old Testament and some New Testament with this.

It's a very straightforward message.

So let's pray.

Father, I want to come before you.

We ask that you would guide your people in your truth that you would teach us your word,

Lord that you are honored and glorified.

Lord, we know that you speak and you speak through your word.

So Lord, we eagerly await to hear from you as you guide us through your amazing, infallible,

inerrant word.

Lord, we praise you and thank you for your faithfulness and goodness and that you have

given us life and life abundantly in Christ and that it's clearly your character, who

you are, your purpose, your plan is all revealed and completely explained in your word and

we honor you.

We thank you for this amazing story of redemption and this wonderful narrative.

To you be honor and glory forever in Jesus name.

Amen.

So let's go to chapter three, verse 12 and we're going to read and keep reading all the

way through 19.

Chapter three, verse 12, take care, brothers, lest there be any of you an evil, unbelieving

heart leading you to fall away from the living God, but exhort one another every day as long

as it is called today that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin for

we have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the

end.

As it is said today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

For who were those who heard and yet rebelled?

Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses and with whom was he provoked for 40

years?

Was it not those who sinned whose bodies fell in the wilderness and to whom did he swear

that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?

So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Principle, you guys ready, a rebellious heart is an unbelieving heart and a believing heart

is an obedient heart.

A rebellious heart is an unbelieving heart and a believing heart is an obedient heart.

Psalm 37, three through five says this, trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land

and befriend faithfulness, delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires

of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him and he will act.

Many times we read this and we think if we just do good, and that's not the point of

Psalm 37, the point of Psalm 37 is trusting in the Lord means to be obedient.

Trust in the Lord and live it out, do good.

Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord, delight yourself in his ways and his word and he will give

you the desires of your heart because your heart's desires will be his desires.

It's not that God desires anything, it's not in need of anything, but that he loves

his ways.

He loves his word.

Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him and he will act.

Now, how does that fit Hebrews three?

What you'll see is in the people of Israel, the total opposite of this.

And we're going to go to the Old Testament and then we're going to go to the New Testament

and then we're going to look at Israel today and we're going to have to really deal with

some really clear issues here.

So let's go.

After who were those who heard and yet rebelled?

Who were the rebellious ones?

Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?

Interesting that this is the way the writer clarifies this.

We know that Jesus is the better prophet because when he leads a people, he leads them to the

promised land.

Moses couldn't lead them into the wilderness because he wasn't allowed into the promised

land.

Even Moses disobeyed.

And this is the prophet that the Jews hang their hat on.

This is the prophet that the Jews say that this is the one.

We need another Moses.

Moses, a good man, conformed by God to do purpose for God, but he is not Jesus.

Verse 17, with whom was he provoked for 40 years?

Was it not those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?

In other words, they, the people of Israel provoked God for 40 years.

And what was their end result?

They died in the wilderness.

They did not enter his rest, his promised land.

We're going to define that in a minute.

And to whom did he swear they will not enter his rest?

But to those who were disobedient, what do you notice the three words here?

There's three very clear words that are being presented here.

First word is rebellion.

What's four words?

Rebellion they rebelled.

Second word is they provoked.

They brought God to anger.

The third, they sinned.

And the fourth, they were disobedient.

And look what God says concerning rebelled, provoked, sinned, and disobedient.

So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Now I want you to get this.

This is important.

If you want to know who a believer is and who's not a believer, and you want to get

outside of this nonsense that people go, well, you can't judge, is there's a clear distinction

between the saved and the lost, not the church and the unchurched.

Because there's a bunch of church people that are lost.

The church doesn't save anybody.

We're talking about converted believers versus unconverted lost people.

Okay?

It is unbelief.

And unbelief is produced, or the result of unbelief is rebellion, provocation, sin, and

disobedience.

All four of these come from a heart of unbelief.

So people can say a prayer all day long.

They live a life of disobedience.

They are rebellious.

They are provoking God.

They sin in their disobedient period.

Those are unbelievers.

That is the standard.

This is not an issue of judge, lest you be judged.

Okay?

It's very important that we understand that.

We don't need to judge those in the world.

They're already judged.

They're happy in their disobedience.

Look at the world around you.

These are people that fill the pews that come to church who claim they're believers, but

they live disobedient, broken lives.

They deny the power that has been given to them.

And so we're going to see this in Deuteronomy chapter one.

So if you would turn there, Deuteronomy chapter one.

Now I want you to understand something.

What is the distinction of quote unquote God's people?

How can we know who are God's people and who are not?

God's people are an obedient people.

God's people obey him.

Jesus says if you love me, you will obey me.

We're going to see that in John five and then John 14.

Okay?

But I want you to notice something that God clarifies in Hebrews three, specifically verses

16 through 19, so that you can see it historically.

This is what God said happened, because it did.

Verse 19, Deuteronomy chapter one, verse 19 says this.

Then we set out from Harab and went through all that great and terrifying wilderness that

you saw, and on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded

us, and we came to Kadesh Ben-Era, and I said to you, you have come to the hill country

of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us.

I want you to see that.

God has given them the land.

Now I want you to notice how they respond to God.

See?

The Lord our God has set the land before you, go up, take possession as the Lord, the God

of our fathers has told you, do not fear or be dismayed.

Look what it says in verse 22, then all of you came near me and said, let us send men

before us that they may explore the land for us and bring us a word again of the way by

which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.

The thing seemed good to me, and I took 12 men from you, one from each tribe.

So God says take possession, and they're like, you know what, let's send 12 spies.

Let's kind of not sure.

So Moses is like, okay, no problem, we can do that.

No big deal.

Verse 24, and they turned and went into the hill country and came to the valley of Esko

and spied it out, and they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought

it down to us and brought us word again and said, it is a good land that the Lord our

God is giving us, yet, yet you would not go up.

What?

But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God, and you murmured in your tents

and said, because the Lord hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt to give

us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us.

Really?

I wonder what's changed.

God told them, I'm giving you the land.

He promised them the land.

It's now gone through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.

It's been brought to Moses now.

400 years they were slaves in Egypt.

You brought us out to the Amorites so they can kill us.

Really?

He took you out of the strongest nation and empire of the world called Egypt, kills the

entire army by drowning them, causes them to not only send you out of Egypt, but to

send you out with all of their gold, silver, and everything else.

They were handing it to you while you were walking through the city.

Get out.

God did all this and you're saying the Amorites are going to kill you.

What would cause them to think this way?

They love their idols.

That's what caused them to think this way.

How do we know that?

Because right after they were brought out and they're standing at the bottom of Mount

Sinai and God speaks to them and gives them the commandments by word, as in thunder, God

then hand writes the commandments on two tablets, hands it to Moses, and Moses brings them down

and when he comes down, what does he see?

They built an idol because that's what Israel does.

They're always going to have idols.

As a matter of fact, that's what it says.

Why can't anybody just look at the reality of what's happening here?

Let's define what God's people are.

God knew that they were going to do this when he brought them out of Egypt and he brought

them out anyway.

That's called mercy.

God knew that they would complain and murmur, but he fed them anyway.

That's called grace.

What more does God have to do?

Then look what it says in verse 28, Deuteronomy 1 28.

Where are we going up?

Our brothers have made our hearts melt saying, the people are greater and taller than we

and the cities are great and fortified up to heaven.

And besides, we have seen the sons of Anakim there.

Then I said to you, do not be in dread or afraid of them.

The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you just as he did for you

in Egypt before your eyes in the wilderness where you have seen how the Lord your God

carried you as a man carries his son all the way that you went until you came to this place.

Yet in spite of this word, you did not believe me.

It doesn't matter what God did.

It didn't matter if he performed all kinds of beautiful miracles to deliver his people.

He gave him his word and they still didn't believe it.

You do not believe the Lord your God who went before you in the way to seek you out a place

to pitch your tents in fire by night and in the cloud by day to show you by what way you

should go.

So not only did they hate their God, they thought he was so small that he couldn't even

defeat the Anakim.

That's how big their God is.

And they lay against the wailing wall today beating their chest and they continue to deny

the God who saved them, who came, put on flesh, died on the cross, was buried and crucified,

was crucified dead and buried and rose again on the third day, whom they crucified, the

scripture says, which we proved during resurrection weekend, each and every one of us participated.

We're all guilty.

That's just Deuteronomy 1.

So when we read in Hebrews, for who were those who heard and yet rebelled?

Was it not those who left Egypt led by Moses?

And with whom was he provoked for 40 years?

Turn to Numbers 32 verse 6.

Numbers 32:6

But Moses said to the people of Gad, now I want you to get this, this is Gad, the son

of Leah and Reuben, the son of Isilpah.

Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, these are two tribes of

the people of Israel.

Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?

So this is what happens.

They're about, they're told they need to go into the land to take the land.

And Gad and Reuben were like, no, I kind of like it here.

I like it like right here.

We want, we want this land.

Now we just, we just want, we want to build here.

We want to shepherd here.

We want to stay here.

That's how they're feeling right now.

They're like, we're done, I'm done.

We've been traveling for 40 years in the world.

I'm like, I'm parking it.

I'm tired.

Verse 7.

Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that

the Lord has given them?

Your fathers did this when I sent them from Kadesh-Burnia to see the land.

Do you remember that?

We just read that.

These people died and now it's time, Moses is at the end of his life and he's reminding

them this is exactly what your fathers did.

Oh, it's like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Okay.

Verse 9.

For when they went up to the valley of Esco and saw the land, they, they discouraged the

heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the Lord had given them.

And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day and he swore saying, surely none of the men

who came up out of Egypt from 20 years old and up and upward shall see the land that

I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob because they have not wholly followed

me.

Did you hear that?

None except two men.

So God brings them and he says to them, we're going in.

No, not doing it.

Okay.

And he says, fine, you're not going into the land with me.

What's he talking about there?

Right here in Hebrews 3 verse 18.

Hebrews 3:18

Hebrews 3 verse 18 and to whom TD swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those

Hebrews 3:18

who were disobedient.

Well, how can they enter a rest when they're supposed to be entering the land?

That's the point.

Our rest is not in what we have.

Our rest is not in our home.

Our rest is in who abides in you and who you abide with.

That's rest.

God is with us, in us and abides with us.

That's rest.

They didn't get it.

The reason why they couldn't enter God's dwelling with him is because they did not believe.

You get the point now, true rest in Christ is true belief and true belief goes and takes

the land because God said, take the land.

It's not, you know, I need to think about that.

I don't know if that's a good idea and you can apply that principle in almost any situation.

You see a hungry person, I wonder if I should feed them.

Let me think about that.

I told you that story.

No, you feed them.

There's no question whether you should feed them.

You feed them.

You do it.

That's the point.

Rest is rest is abiding with God and God abiding or in us.

We are with him and he is in us.

If we are, if Christ is in the father and we are in Christ, then we abide with Christ

in the father.

We're going to see that in a minute.

Now let's keep reading verse 12.

None except for Caleb, the son of Hathune, the Kenazite and Joshua, the son of Nun, from

for they have wholly followed the Lord and the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel

and he made them wander in the wilderness for 40 years until all that generation that

had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone.

And behold, you had risen in your father's place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still

more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel.

In other words, generation after generation after generation.

So this is Moses.

Well, it doesn't change much because the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Turn to John chapter five, John chapter five verse 39.

So instead of God taking them into a promised land and God sending prophet after prophet

after prophet to come before God, the Lord God and pray and beg that God would not forget

his people.

Do you remember that little prayer and that Daniel had spoken, Daniel nine?

Well, that prophecy is being fulfilled.

As Daniel had said, chapter five, verse 39, look at the heart of the people.

Jesus is amazing because the very, very God little G that the people of Israel followed

is Moses.

And that was just one of their gods.

Their God was their law.

They didn't want the God of the law.

They wanted the law to be their God.

That's what they did.

And then they ended up changing the written long and making the verbal Torah and get me

started on that whole situation.

Verse 39 says this says you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal

life.

And it is they that bear witness about me.

Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

Isn't that the same thing they did?

You refuse to go into the land and dwell with me there because I'm not big enough, strong

enough to take care of you.

I know I'm speaking for God.

That's not what I'm not trying to do that.

But that's kind of what they're implying.

Verse 41 I do not receive glory from people, but I know that you do not have the love of

God within you.

I have come in my father's name and you do not receive me.

If anyone comes to comes in his own name, you will receive him.

Moses came in his own name.

You received Moses.

How come I the lawgiver come in the father's name and you reject me?

That's what he's saying here.

Verse 44 how can you believe when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek

the glory that comes from the only God because they hate him.

They are a rebellious.

They pray.

They bring about provocation.

They say they're disobedient.

They do not believe and this is exactly what Jesus is saying.

Not only basically if we were to summarize the context here, I came to you, was with

you for 40 years in the wilderness, led you by fire and cloud and you still rejected me

then.

I come to you in flesh and you still reject me.

Why?

Because I'm not Moses.

Watch what he says.

Watch what he says here.

Do you not think that I will accuse you to the father?

There is one who accuses you.

Moses on whom you have set your hope.

For if you believed Moses, you would believe me for he wrote of me.

But if you do not believe in his writings, how will you believe in my words?

Ouch.

In other words, 400 years in Egypt, I deliver you out of Egypt.

I come, I put on flesh, I'm the Messiah, I'm the promised one, I'm the one who was born

in Bethlehem.

You remember that guy?

That's me.

And I turn around and I give you the words of life and you reject me here too.

Why?

Because they hate him.

Let's just be honest.

An unbelieving heart is hatred toward God.

You say you obey, but then you disobey the very words and commandments I've given you

to do.

You don't want the one who gives the commandments, you want the commandments.

And then you want to be able to manipulate those commandments to get your power and gain.

So that you can gain profit off of my words.

That's basically what he's saying here.

Let's clarify a little bit more and we'll end it with this.

John chapter 14 verse 8.

John 14:8

Now this is him talking to his disciples here, which is shocking because you would figure

that they would give it.

And he's a lot more patient and kind and understanding towards them, but he does hold them accountable

and look what he says here.

So he goes and I'll read verse 7.

If you had known me, you would have known my father also from now on.

You do know him and have seen him.

That's what Jesus says to the disciples.

And Philip said to him, Lord, show us the father and it is enough for us.

Doesn't that sound familiar in the Old Testament?

Give us manna.

Give us some food.

I'll give you manna.

Fine, here's some manna.

Now we want meat.

It's like you're never satisfied.

Show us the father, it's enough for us.

Verse 9, Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long and you still do not know me,

Philip?

What Jesus is saying is I and the father are Yahweh, totally and completely, 100% in all

essence and being.

The God of your fathers is the triune God of Yahweh.

Have I been with you so long that you still don't know me?

How much more?

What more do you want from me, Philip?

I've casted out demons, I've healed sick, I've fed twice, 5,000 people.

You still don't know me, Philip?

That's basically what he's saying here.

Look what it says.

Whoever has seen me has seen the father.

How can you say show us the father?

What was Philip's problem?

Do you not believe that I am in the father and the father in me?

The words that I say to you, I do not speak of my own authority, but the father who dwells

in me does his works.

Believe me that I am in the father and the father is in me, or else believe on account

of the works themselves.

You didn't believe the works of your fathers, your forefathers when I brought them out of

Egypt in the pillar of a cloud where I stood, in the pillar of a fire where I stood when

I met with Moses in the burning bush and I stood in the midst of the bush when I brought

plague upon plague upon plague out of Egypt and they brought you, I brought you out of

Egypt underneath slavery.

And what do you do?

You complain that you didn't have any food, so what do I give you?

I give you the greatest food you could ever want and need, manna.

You complain.

I give you quail.

You complain.

You're thirsty.

I give you water.

You complain over and over and over again.

If you don't believe what I'm saying to you, believe the works.

They didn't believe the works then.

They didn't believe his word then.

They're not going to believe his works now and they don't believe his word now.

And that has happened over thousands of years and then we turn around and we say to the

people called the church, that's the people of God.

This is not an issue of anti-Semitism.

This is an issue of clearly understanding biblically who are the people of God.

Those who love me, who will obey my word.

Look what it says, truly I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that

I do and greater works than these will he do because I am going to the Father.

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified than the

Son and if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

That is the people of God.

That is the people of God.

The reason why I'm passionate about this is because if we don't really look at the heart

of the people of Israel, you will not evangelize them and you will lie to them and tell them

something that is not true.

They are sinful, rebellious, broken people just like you and I were.

And they need a savior and his name is Jesus and over and over and over again, you bring

the glory of Jesus Christ and they reject him.

That's not my Messiah.

Of course, you want an idol, you want another Moses, that's who you want.

And you don't want a Moses that's really a Moses, you want a Moses that's in the image

of you.

So you can manipulate and control him.

That is the truth.

How I wish all people, especially Israel, the same passion that Paul had for his people,

if my people would just see.

But Paul came to the conclusion that you read Romans nine.

It's okay.

In the same way that not all Gentiles will be saved, not all Israel is Israel.

The Jews that come to faith in Christ, they are true Israel.

To them belong the patriarchs and the scriptures and the Messiah.

To them, they are our family.

Those are the ones who you should be driving to go find.

So I want to end with this one statement.

I'll read it again.

Rebellion, provocation, sin and disobedience all come from a heart of unbelief.

And you cannot be a people of God with a heart of unbelief.

Only the people of God have a heart of belief.

And if you love me, you will obey me, the scripture says.

This is difficult and true.

So please pray for our brothers and sisters who are Jews that God would draw his people

home in the same way he has drawn his people from a flock that is not of that flock.

Father, praise you and thank you.

Thank you that your people truly are people who are committed to obey you, to love you,

not an issue of law or legalism, but an issue of heart.

That if we really love you, we will do what you call us and command us to do.

Help us to walk uprightly before you, to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not

in our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge you.

And you will direct our paths.

Lord, we thank you and praise you.

To you be honor and glory in Jesus name.

Amen.