Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
The Goodness of Creation
Therefore God again, set a certain day, calling it ‘Today’, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."(Hebrews 4:7)
Hebrews 4
talks about a rest, which in turn refers to the incident in Numbers.The
Israelites had travelled from Egypt to Kadesh-Barnea. They were on the verge of
entering Canaan. After they left Egypt, followed by the crossing of the Red
Sea, they finally arrived at the entrance of the Promised Land. There should
have been a sense of excitement and anticipation as they were prompted by God:
“Send some men to explore the land of Canaan which I am giving to the
Israelites”. Twelve spies were sent to survey and spy on the land. After
40 days, they returned from their mission with both encouraging reports and
worrying signs. On one hand, the land was indeed fruitful and flowed with milk
and honey as the Lord promised. On the other hand, the
land was well fortified and the inhabitants were formidable opponents. The
majority of the spies concluded: “the land we explored devours those living in
it”.
However, this majority report was challenged by Joshua and Caleb. While not disputing the facts, they firmly believed this land could be conquered according to the promise of God. They were however overruled by the majority and their lives were threatened. Here the Israelites committed the sins of distrust and disobedience. They did not trust God would overcome the obstacles in front of them. And they disobeyed God’s command to take possession of the land. As a consequence, the entire generation with the exception of Joshua and Caleb perished in the wilderness.
This passage compares the historical situation with the current audience. Both have good news preached to them. The promise to enter God’s rest stands before the current generation just as it had stood before the Israelites. The “rest” refers to the future promise of God. If we have already possessed the rest, then we would not be urged to enter the rest. We are reminded not to be complacent. We have not arrived yet; it is something that we should “strive earnestly to enter”.If “entering the rest” is a reminder for us not to be complacent, the message of “today” (4:7) is an urgent reminder for us to accept God’s promise.
However, this majority report was challenged by Joshua and Caleb. While not disputing the facts, they firmly believed this land could be conquered according to the promise of God. They were however overruled by the majority and their lives were threatened. Here the Israelites committed the sins of distrust and disobedience. They did not trust God would overcome the obstacles in front of them. And they disobeyed God’s command to take possession of the land. As a consequence, the entire generation with the exception of Joshua and Caleb perished in the wilderness.
This passage compares the historical situation with the current audience. Both have good news preached to them. The promise to enter God’s rest stands before the current generation just as it had stood before the Israelites. The “rest” refers to the future promise of God. If we have already possessed the rest, then we would not be urged to enter the rest. We are reminded not to be complacent. We have not arrived yet; it is something that we should “strive earnestly to enter”.If “entering the rest” is a reminder for us not to be complacent, the message of “today” (4:7) is an urgent reminder for us to accept God’s promise.
We have to
look into ourselves to see if we also possess the hardened heart or if we care
more about human opinion than the counsel of God. Do we also have these giants
of the land to prevent us from accepting the promises of God in our lives?Do we
have a constant tendency to grumble and to complain? Do we have a tendency to
conform rather than to follow our conviction? Here we are reminded not to miss
the opportunity to accept God’s invitation like the Israelites did. God’s
promise is still available, but it won’t last forever. If we keep on delaying
the opportunity to accept God’s promise, one day we will live to regret it.
Prayer: O God, despite the
difficult situations we may face, help us to always trust and obey you safe in
the knowledge that you know what is best for us. Amen.
Thought for the Day: Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Wilson David, Seattle MTC
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