BRDC 772

HEBREWS 3:15-19

UNITY OF THE WORD OF GOD

The unity of the Word of God is amazing in view of the fact that it was written by about 40 authors under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, over a period of more than 1500 years. It seems as though the book were written by one author within a few years. This is so amazing when one thinks of all the cultural and environmental and geographic differences these various authors would have experienced. The binding agent in the Word of God must, of course, be the immutable Jehovah. Nehemiah lived a thousand years after Moses, yet he believed and wrote exactly what Moses wrote. Listen to his words in chapter 9 verse 6: "Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee." Nehemiah knew that God the LORD had created the universe just as Moses knew it, because the true God was Nehemiah's God, just as He was Moses' God.

The best way to understand the Bible is to allow the Bible to be one's primary commentary. The Bible is the most complex, intricate, beautiful literary fabric that has ever been woven, and poor indeed is the individual who knows nothing about it, or knows it only as a secular piece of literature. The book of Hebrews is a good example of this point. The book of Hebrews was written to people who knew the Old Testament with all its ritual and ceremony. They knew the history of their own people as recorded in the Old Testament very well. Therefore, in order for a Gentile to understand fully the epistle to the Hebrews, it behooves him to understand the Old Testament. This is especially true of Numbers 11 and related passages such as Psalm 95. One of the elements of the beauty of the Word of God is its consistency - its unity.

In our study of Hebrews we come today to verses 15 through 19 of chapter 3: "While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. 16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. 17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." This is now the second time that this passage in the psalms, that is, Psalm 95, has been referred to by the writer of Hebrews. Notice the contempt which the Lord discloses for the unbelieving Jews. Their dead bodies were referred to as carcasses. There was little mourning, evidently, for these unbelievers who refused to hearken to the voice of God.

The wanderers in the desert were evidently idolaters along with their other sins. Most unbelievers are idolaters of one sort or another. Amos said as much when he said in Amos 5:25-26: "Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves." When people reject the authority of the Lord God, they begin a slide that carries them down to destruction. Stephen pointed that out to the Jews in Jerusalem just a few years before this present epistle was written, and went on to preach them a sermon that so enraged them that they stoned him to death. Stephen said, "Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon." Remphan is the planet Saturn, the lovely jewel with the ring around it that God created on the 4th day of creation, but was worshipped by pagan idol worshippers who ignored the obvious truth that it was a created thing, and not a god in itself.

The Word of God illuminates many secrets for those who are willing to look with an eye of faith. Psalm 119:130 says, "The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple." God pleads with the world to turn to Him in faith so that His grace can bring redemption and wisdom. It should be obvious to anyone that living in faith in Christ Jesus provides benefits that are priceless. Christians are not perfect people, but their lives are not only better for themselves, but better for their neighbors. God is grieved by unbelief, grief is a heavy burden. Jesus stood and looked over Jerusalem in helpless grief, and pled with the people there to turn to Him for their needs. They crucified Him for His concern.

When a sinner hardens his heart, it becomes callused, and has little power to understand. It is like it is covered with thick tough skin. It cannot be penetrated by the needs of others. Situations that should cause tears to stream down the cheeks are laughed at, or not noticed at all. The plight of little children, even his own, does not cause his heart to ache. Pharaoh hardened his heart, and lost his kingdom. His people suffered enormously because of his irascible rebellion. God sent Moses time after time to persuade the king to obey him, but Pharaoh demanded in Exodus 5:2 ,". . . Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go." We are told several times that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and so He did, by demanding that Pharaoh obey Him. Pharaoh, like everybody else, had to obey God or harden his heart.

In verse 16 says that some heard the Word of God, and turned around and provoked Him to wrath. We must not provoke the Lord, but rather provoke each other to love and good works, as we are told in 10:24. Fathers must be careful not to provoke their children. "Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged." It seems to me that God Himself would have become discouraged as His people provoked Him. Listen to Psalm 78:40-43: "How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! 41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. 42 They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. 43 How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan:"

Verse 15 speaks of today. How important is today! All our yesterdays are buried in the tomb of time, and all our tomorrows are in the womb of time. We have only one day. Only one hour - one minute - one breath. The children who attended the conference in Troy, Alabama this week were so very good. They were among the best behaved children I have ever preached to, and most of them were colored children. One of them was saved in the last service. It is important that children get saved today because children are subject to death. When I was a young pastor, I buried a little six year old boy. I told the story on this program. Today, oh, today.

"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to day, and forever." Therein lies the unity of the Word of God. The book of Mormon has been changed thousands of times over the past hundred or so years. The Word of God is settled in Heaven because Jesus Christ dwells in Heaven. Wherever you look in the Word of God you will find the same truths "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." This is taught in the first chapters of Genesis. It is taught through Exodus. It is declared through Leviticus, and in every book of the Bible. Dear friend, harden not your heart.