Hebrews 3:13-19

Exhortation to Faithfulness

So that they will not fall, Christians are to encourage one another every day. This is done so that sin and its tricky ways will not be able to harden a believer in the ways of sin. Such exhortation is needed while it is called "today"--before the night of death, which may come at any time. Members of the body of Christ come to share with Him if they hold close to themselves the hope with which they started. One must not only have that hope in the beginning of his ministry with Christ, but must maintain it until the end of that ministry. This is unlike those of the first generation Israelites who lost hope and trust in God and died without entering Canaan, which was their land of promise (Hebrews 3:13-14).

The author of the letter to the Hebrews then repeated his quotation of Psalms 95:7 to show the great importance placed upon keeping one's heart from hardening. Then, as the New International Version has it, he asks, "Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?" The rebellion was complete save for Joshua and Caleb. All those who had enjoyed the deliverance under Moses, one of God's great leaders, were lost because of unbelief (Hebrews 3:15-16).

That the possibility of falling away is great was plainly demonstrated in the falling of the people of Israel in the wilderness (Numbers 14:28-32). Though they had once believed and trusted God's promises, once they turned to unbelief they were unable to enter into the "rest" God offered. It is important to realize Israel possessed the land of rest in the promise of God but lost it through their unbelief. The writer pointed out their death in the wilderness was totally and solely brought about because of their unbelief. Edward Fudge remarks that their falling was not due to any unfaithfulness on Moses' part or inability on God's part. They simply quit trusting God (Hebrews 3:17-19; Deuteronomy 32:20).