W. Robert Godfrey

It's the church that's called to obey as Israel was called to obey.

And the church is warned that if it fails to believe and obey and listen, it will not enter the rest.

So this is a very serious warning.

Remember, Hebrews began by talking about the danger of Christians drifting away from the truth.

Hebrews seems to have been written particularly to Jewish Christians who have begun to conclude maybe life was better in Judaism than it is in Christianity.

Jews weren't persecuted.

Christians are being persecuted.

Jews had a magnificent physical temple.

Christians have no physical impressive place of worship.

Jews had a priesthood that was visible and gloriously attired.

We don't have a priesthood.

We're called constantly to believe in a heavenly temple and a heavenly high priest and a heavenly this and a heavenly that.

We're tired of heavenly.

We want something we can hold onto on earth.

And so there is danger that some of these Jewish Christians are gonna slip back into Judaism.

And so this is a very solemn warning.

that they mustn't drift from the truth, they mustn't slip back, they have to listen, they have to believe, they have to obey.

That's what's being laid out here.

Then if we go down to chapter four, verse seven, we read again, he appoints a certain day, today, that's a quotation from Psalm 95, saying through David so long afterward in the words already quoted, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

For if Joshua had given them rest, you see this is coming back to rest as land, entering the land of promise.