Hearts of Stone - Lives of Flesh

Hebrews 3:7-19
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test
and saw my works 10 for forty years.
Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
they have not known my ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Evidently, describing the faithfulness of Moses and of Christ has brought to the author’s mind some disquieting evaluations regarding those to whom he is writing. They are not exactly paragons of faithfulness, and he has serious concerns. The soft spots he sees in their discipleship move him to launch an effort to stimulate them to greater faithfulness in the likeness of their Lord.

His transitional phrase from the teaching section into this hortatory section is “… if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” (Heb 3:6). What now follows indicates the importance of the “if”; it is not rhetorical but an expression of a definite question concerning their firmness of faith.

The passage follows the expected pattern: a statement of exhortation, a warning, and supportive reasoning describing the dynamics of the writer’s concern.

THE EXHORTATION
The exhortation proper begins with three commands: “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion” (v. 8); “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” (v. 12); and “exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” ” (v. 13a).

Psalm 95 becomes the foundation of the exhortations that comprise the third and fourth chapters of the epistle. The “rebellion” referred to is that of Numbers 13 and 14 in which the Israelites refuse to obey God in taking the land He has promised them.
In the Hebrew, two interesting terms are used in verse 8 of this psalm. The first, Meribah, a name given to the place of the disobedience, also means “rebellion” or “strife.” The equivalent Greek word, parapikrasmos, denotes a faithlessness of heart or refusal to obey. The second word, Massah, which means testing or proof, is the name for the place of trial in the wilderness. We can compare Numbers 20:13 which tells of the people contending with the Lord even after He has shown Himself holy among them. Exodus 17:7 alludes to the same questioning spirit in which the people call out, “Is the Lord among us or not?” Deuteronomy 6:16–17 instructs the people in the very familiar passage of teaching: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you.”

The second command is: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” (Heb 3:12).
Calvin refers to this “evil heart of unbelief” as a heart diseased with sin, corruption, and wickedness that leads to unbelief. Only Christ can heal such disease, giving a new heart of faith in the new creation. Without such healing we suffer a terminal disease, here symbolized in the death of the unbelieving Israelites in the wilderness.

The third command is: “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb 3:13).

In other words, redeem the time! pursue righteousness and holiness among your brothers without delay! No one knows when "today" will be gone. Living your life for the supremacy of Christ in all things, is not a slogan or a cliche - it is a purposed attitude of the heart lived out in actions of the flesh.