“Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.”
16 For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry 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 not able to enter because of unbelief.” Hebrews 3:12-19.
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The sons of Israel were on the threshhold of entering the Promised Land. God had proven Himself faithful without exception in delivering them from Egypt and caring for them with mighty miracles.
Their spies also confirmed all the unbelievably good things about the land. “When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” Numbers 13:25-27.
But, the sons of Israel shrunk back into unbelief as they heard these words of the spies. “Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.” Numbers 13:28.
Caleb tried to rebuild their faith. “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” Numbers 13:30.
“But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.” Numbers 13:31-32.
“Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
“Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” Numbers 14:1-9.
“But all the congregation said to stone them with stones.” Numbers 14:10.
And, we know the rest of the story. God punished the sons of Israel by forcing them to wander in the desert for 40 years, and none of that generation entered the Promised Land except Caleb and Joshua. “So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.” Hebrews 3:19.
We too are on the threshhold of entering our rest. Are we going to fully trust the work of Christ, or are we partially going to trust our own works?
There is a real “tug of war” struggle in all of us, particularly mature Christians. We are continually tempted to partially rely on our own self-righteousness and our own ability to know and obey the Law.
Like the sons of Israel, we receive promises of God. Are we going to trust God? We know the “justification by faith alone in Christ alone” promise of God. But, we also see these giants in the land, and we want to trust what we can see and depend on our own self-righteousness and our own ability to know and obey the Law.
Paul also struggled with this “tug of war” struggle.
There is the pull to rely on depend on our self-righteousness and our own ability to know and obey the Law (“the flesh”): “although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.” Philippians 3:4-6. “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles;” Galatians 2:15.
There is the pull to trust the “justification by faith in Christ alone” promise of God: “nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” Galatians 2:16.
Then, there is the pull back: “But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!” Galatians 2:17. We can almost hear Paul think: “I should trust the Law and what I have been taught my whole life!”
But, Paul looks to Christ again and his faith stiffens: “For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” Galatians 2:18-21.
We are on the threshhold of the Promised Land. Are we going to trust the promises of God and enter the Promised Land despite the giants we see in the land, or are we going to shrink back? Are we going to rest on the work of Christ alone? Or, are we going to try to supply in addition our own works of self-righteousness just to be safe?
“Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:11.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 