Hebrews 3:7-19
A preacher is God’s messenger. The message comes from God’s word. If it does not come from scripture how is anyone to know it is from God. Too many messengers have delivered this message addressed to the wrong recipient. When the writer of Hebrews wrote, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…,” he was not writing to nonbelievers. This was not a message to non-Christians telling them they should respond to God’s call to repentance. He wrote this to Christians. They had become Christians by hearing God’s voice, and responding to his call to repentance. Now that they are Christians, the writer of Hebrews is warning them not to allow sin to harden their hearts. He uses the Israelites children wandering in the desert as an example. They knew God and had been following him for 40 years. They had followed a cloud by day and a fire by night. In spite of that, sin caused them to doubt.

Doubting and unbelief is the root cause of much deliberate disobedience. It had been 40 years, and God had not delivered as quickly as they expected. They have begun to doubt that he would ever keep his promise. He had delivered them from slavery, but he had not yet led them into the promise land. Their doubt gave birth to unbelief, and in their unbelief, they harden their hearts and begin to seek immediate gratification. They wanted the good life and they wanted it now. They no longer cared that God was telling them to be faithful just a little while longer. In their case, “once saved, always saved” did not turn out to be true. God had rescued them from slavery to pharaoh; by their willful disobedience, they had re-enslaved themselves to wickedness. Because of their disobedience and their failure to remain faithful God swore they would not enter the Promised Land. They died in the desert. Hebrews warns Christians not to allow sins deceitfulness to harden them. When God says hang on just a little bit longer, it really is a deadly sin to let go.