Like all nations, much of Israel’s history is dark.
Even the generation which witnessed the ten miraculous plagues on Egypt and walked through the Red Sea on dry land failed to heed the voice of Moses and thus failed to enter the Promised Land.
Sadly, the path of apostasy is well worn.
The journey out of God’s favor and into His wrath begins with hardness of heart caused by the deceitfulness of sin. This leads to an evil heart of unbelief. Next, the path descends into a failure/crisis of confidence in God. This results in a lack of obedient faith when God’s word is heard. Such disobedience aborts God’s gracious blessings and ensures His just punishment.
The folly of apostasy was threatening the original readers of Hebrews (3:7-4:2). It remains a threat to its twenty-first century readers as well. If you are going to gain wisdom from those things written before, you must constantly be on guard against an evil heart of unbelief—a heart which hardens itself to the deceitfulness of sin and fails to retain a steadfast confidence in God and His word.
Let us fear lest anyone fall short of receiving his eternal inheritance. Let us fear history repeating itself.
