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Part 5 - Resting by Faith
Hardened Hearts
In the middle of Psalm 95 the tone changes, and the psalm turns from
speaking of faith in the Creator to addressing the issue of unbelief in the
Creator. Psalm 95 continues: "Today, if you will hear His voice: Do not
harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the
wilderness" (Ps. 95:7b-8). "His voice" is that of Jesus Christ the
Creator of a people for God. He who is speaking this section of the psalm is
the Holy Spirit. The writer to the Hebrews makes this clear in quoting this
psalm: "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you will hear His
voice' " (Heb. 3:7). As the Spirit speaks He uses the first person: "Where
your fathers tested Me," "tried Me," "saw My works," "I was angry," "they
have not known My ways," "So I swore in My wrath," and "They shall not enter
My rest." Just previously to this in Psalm 95 it was said of the Creator,
"For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of
His hand" (Ps. 95:7a). Jesus claimed to be the shepherd who cares for God's
people, the sheep. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep,
and am known by My own" (John 10:14). Jesus said regarding the shepherd,
"the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means
follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of
strangers" (John 10:4-5). Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews, "But you do
not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep
hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (John 10:26-27). Yet the
Holy Spirit is calling to those who would turn away in unbelief, "Today,
if you will hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts." The testimony of the Spirit
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to speak to one's heart and
testify of Jesus Christ. Jesus said concerning the Spirit of truth, "He will
glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you" (John
16:14). As the Holy Spirit speaks He says of the good Shepherd, Jesus, "Today, if you will hear
His voice: Do not harden your hearts." The writer to the Hebrews is using
this psalm in an exhortation to consider Christ, for he began, "Therefore,
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and
High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus" (Heb. 3:1). After quoting the
last portion of Psalm 95 the writer says, "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 have become partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end."
(Heb. 3:12-14). The commands of Jesus are those to follow Him in His way, to
believe in Him, and to abide in Him. One becomes a "partaker" of Christ by a
faith and confidence in Him that is "steadfast to the end." An
evil heart of unbelief
The warning
here is about having "an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living
God." It is a "heart of unbelief" that causes one to depart from God, and
such a heart is hardened in its position by the "deceitfulness of sin." The
Holy Spirit is saying, "Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As
in the day of trial in the wilderness." This is referring to the time of
Israel's redemption from bondage to Egypt, when they had come out of Egypt
but before they had entered into the land of promise. The rebellion and
day of trial in the wilderness spoken of here is the place that Moses named
Massah and Meribah. Massah means to test, and Meribah means to
strive or contend with. The people thirsted in the wilderness and had no water. This is the place where God instructed Moses to strike the
rock. He did so and water came forth for the people to drink. This typifies
Christ the Rock being struck - His death on the cross - that the Holy Spirit
could be poured out. The rebellion of the people in this place was not that
they thirsted and needed water, but their unbelief in God who was delivering
them and their lack of trust that He would provide for them. The Exodus
account records, "and the people complained against Moses, and said, 'Why is
it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our
livestock with thirst?' " (Ex. 17:3). It further says of them, "they
tempted the LORD, saying, 'Is the LORD among us or not?' " (Ex. 17:7).
Previously God had said to Moses, "I have surely seen the oppression of My
people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their
taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them
out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a
good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey" (Ex. 3:7-8). God
had made a promise to the children of Israel. He revealed His plan of
deliverance and the place He was taking them. He demonstrated His power as
He delivered them. The unbelief of the Israelites was an unbelief in the
person and character of Yahweh. They doubted His presence even though He led
them by a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. They attributed their
present situation as one created by Moses, who "brought us up out of Egypt."
They ignored the promise of God who said that He would deliver them. Their
rebellion was to forsake God and His plan as soon as adversity struck,
rather than seeking God for help in that adversity. Unbelief in the Being
of God
One trait of unbelief
is unbelief in the presence and character of God. It is to discount His
person. The book of Romans states, "For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the
truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in
them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His
invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that
are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without
excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God,
nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish
hearts were darkened" (Rom. 1:18-21). Here the Scripture states that
the knowledge of God's eternal power and Godhead is understood by all of
God's creation. God's wrath is upon those who "suppress the truth in
unrighteousness." They hold the truth, but suppress it in unrighteousness.
The reason for this is that "although they knew God, they did not glorify
Him as God, nor were thankful." Mankind's basic rebellion against the
Creator is to reject Him as God and to seek self as being equal to God. It
is to glory in self rather than glory in the person of God. To not "glorify
Him as God" is to not put any weight to God's vastly superior position and
power. "Nor were (they) thankful" shows the characteristic of unbelief as
also not appreciating God's goodness and lovingkindness that He has shown to
mankind. The rebellion of the Israelites in the wilderness shows these
characteristics of unbelief. They did not trust in God's power to deliver
them, neither did they trust in His lovingkindness toward them. God brought
them out of a hard bondage of slavery but they were not thankful because of
their unbelief in the being that God was. Those who rebel against the glory
of God's being become as Romans states, "futile in their thoughts" with
"foolish hearts" that are "darkened." Those who reject God seek to be their
own god, to place themselves in the place of God. Those who do so must rely
upon their own resources, and seek to build themselves up to
self-sufficiency. "Do not harden your hearts"
The call of the Holy Spirit toward the unbelieving is to "not harden your
hearts." The writer to the Hebrews warned to beware, "lest any of you be
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." There is an allure to sin. This
is an allure to self-glory and self-gratification. This is deceitful in that
it is a lie and will cause one to harden one's heart to who God is. The Holy
Spirit's witness is the need for Christ. Those who pursue after sin,
rebellion against God, are seeking to fulfill their needs apart from Christ.
They seek to enrich themselves to self-sufficiency. The longer one rejects
the Spirit's witness the more hardened that one becomes in his position. Jesus
says concerning those who think they are self-sufficient: "Because you say,
'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'; and do not know
that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; I counsel you to
buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white
garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not
be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see" (Rev.
3:17-18). The Apostle Peter said regarding faith, "that the genuineness of
your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is
tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation
of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7). The counsel of Jesus to obtain "gold refined
in the fire" is to obtain faith. It is also to obtain the righteousness that
comes from Christ, referred to as "white garments." Spiritual insight only
comes through the Holy Spirit, and so to be anointed with the Spirit is to
"anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see." The true riches that
the "poor and needy" are enriched by are the things freely given by a loving
God. Jeremiah records, "Thus says the LORD: 'Let not the ... rich man
glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he
understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness ...
in the earth' " (Jer. 9:23-24). It is the richness of the presence of a
loving God that is the true riches, yet unbelief will cause one to ignore
this and turn to emptiness.
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