An Exposition
Hebrews 3:7-15: “Preaching to A Reprobate Choir”
“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw my works forty years. Therefore, I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So, I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’
“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God, but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden yourselves as in the rebellion'” (Hebrews 3:7-15, NKJV).
Ignorance of the Word of God, either deliberate or unintentional, will be inexcusable before Him on the day of judgment. Rebellion against the will and direction of God will also be dealt with at that time (Romans 1:18-32, 3:10-18).
Nobody will have an acceptable alibi, nor will anyone avoid their final stand before the Holy One and get off on a technicality. Nobody will argue over or challenge what the Sovereign LORD God has recorded (Psalm 1:5; Daniel 7:10, 26; Matthew 25:31-32; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 9:27; 2 Peter 2:9, 3:7; 1 John 4:17; Jude 1:14-15; Revelation 20:12). To take the word of someone who either has not read or understood the main principle of the Scriptures and thus allow them to do your thinking for you is also without excuse, as well as an abandonment of your God-given intellect and reasoning.
We live in a time where information is at our disposal and is always accelerating (Daniel 12:4), yet I have never witnessed such a rise and acceptability of deliberate ignorance, illogical ideas, and profound illiteracy as I have in the past few years. Every passing generation is growing as dumb as a bag of hammers, and I wonder how some people ever found directions to the birth canal, especially what passes for knowledge today.
Our public education system has declared war on common sense and objectivity in teaching the basics to our children. We have young people who feel good about themselves but cannot read their high school diploma upon graduation. We have also allowed secular educational philosophy to turn young minds full of mush into little activists who do not even know what gender or species of creature they are supposed to be on any given day.
The end-product of our colleges and seminaries is not much better. We have scores of college graduates who spent their parent’s savings to major in Klingon Studies and Dance Rituals or other fields of nonsense and now demand we pay off their student debts that they did not have to take out in the first place. We hear cries of getting paid a substantial wage for flipping burgers that will eventually give way to automation and kiosks like we see in the retail world and some restaurants. These little snowflakes were told by professors who never lived in the real world that their viewpoints had to be tolerated and room made for places where they could hide instead of being exposed to reality and the fact that no one cares how they feel or get triggered by something.
Theological seminaries are exposing future pastors, professors, and missionaries – not to the Gospels and the need to preach Jesus to a lost and dying world – but to immerse themselves in the causes and complaints of the world and champion everything except the need for souls to come before the cross of Christ and allow Him to make them a new creature free from the sins that would drag them to hell after they take their last breath.
I hear young “pastors” take their cue from the megachurches, business examples, and the cry for “relevance” instead of bowing before the holiness of God and seeking His face for direction and inspiration. All you need to do is listen to sermons and worldviews coming from “Christian” representatives in the media and the Internet, and you will see that holiness has given way to “Hip-hop.”
Ignoring God’s leadership, counsel, warnings, and Word is a recipe for national and spiritual disaster, no matter the time or age.
The writer of Hebrews reminds his readers that the nation of Israel was victim to this viewpoint even after their liberation by God from Egyptian slavery and their journey to the land He promised them. They had the godly leadership of Moses and Aaron as well as the presence of God Himself through the commandments and His presence in the Tabernacle. He was there in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, yet they continually rebelled against Him and Moses. He punished the people for their rebellious attitude (Numbers 14:26-38, 16:1-34).
You would think that forty years of wandering in the wilderness would have taught them the consequences of not obeying God, but when you read the rest of the Bible, it says otherwise. Israel would suffer through bad kings, idolatry, losses in battles, and even the loss of their nation, but only a remnant would repent of their sins and seek the face of God.
It is no different today. If you look at our history, we have had numerous blessings given to us by God, and do not let anyone tell you differently. America has had the privilege of financing and sending missionaries around the world, printing and distributing Bibles in numerous languages, establishing medical and dental missions, training pastors and teachers worldwide, and holding crusades and revivals that have seen countless lives changed by the Gospel, and the origination of colleges and universities dedicated to Christ and Christian thought.
Somewhere along the way, we decided that this was not good for us, and we deliberately walked away from God as a nation. The obvious results of such a foolish and evil decision brought about a harvest of intellectual and spiritual dung and mud, along with our impending downfall. Numerous preachers who now live in the shadow of persecution here in America are now declaring that God’s judgment has descended on us just as it did on ancient Israel and all nations that forget Him.
Even if God gave us another chance, would we be smart or alert enough to recognize it, or would we choose to meander in our self-centeredness and materialism disguised as heavenly blessings and favor?
If God did decide to have one last act of mercy placed upon our country, would we tolerate the junk that is pushed on us by unscrupulous con artists in clerical gear that passes for preaching and teaching?
Would it create a hunger for the Word and to live lives that are pleasing to God?
Would we support leaders who champion the causes and ideals of Christ, or would we support the leadership in denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention, of all places, who openly and continually condemned the supporters of the former President and his policies that included supporting Israel, championing and defending the right of every American to speak and worship without government hassle, and the right to life of the unborn?
I believe that it is the ghost of Karl Marx and not the living Lord Jesus Christ who is leading the thinking and goals of far too many church leaders today. And like the Israelites, they bow before the Golden Calf of ideology at the risk of incurring the wrath of God even though they camp by His holy mountain.
When we read of Israel’s disobedience, we need to see that we are in the same predicament. We who are the remnant need to warn everyone that the present wrath and judgment that America and the world is fixing to witness was brought on by our own sin and rebellion based on the belief that we know better than God on how to run things.
Like I said earlier, we are dumb, stubborn, and dense as tree stumps, sharp as a sack of wet mice, and heading to hell, like it or not, save for the grace and mercy from the Lord Jesus Christ that we do not deserve.
Take a lesson from the Israelites. We may be too late to pass the exams. Give your life to Jesus Christ today while there is still time.