The Son of God greater than Moses, so Unbelief towards Him incurs a Heavier Punishment than befell Unbelieving Israel in the Wilderness. Heb. 3:17-19.
- 17 with whom was he grieved? Here it means that he was indignant at them. See ver. 10 This question was designed to stir up the conscience of the reader, cf. Matthew 21:28, James 4:5, was it not with them who had sinned? Nu. 26:64, 65, 1Cor. 10:1–13. God was angry with them for their sins, we have the same reason to apprehend that he will be angry with us if we sin; and we should, therefore, be on our guard against that unbelief which would lead us to depart from him. ‘Whose carcasses fell in the wilderness.’ Nu. 14:22, 29, 32, 33, Deut. 2:15, 16, Jer. 9:22, Jude 5. He doth not say ‘they died,’ but their ‘carcasses fell,’ which intimates contempt and indignation… It is that we may take heed that we ‘fall not after the same example of unbelief’ (Heb. 4:11). There is then an example in the fall and punishment of unbelievers” (Dr. John Owen)
- 18 to whom swore he See ver. 11. Nu. 14:30, Deut. 1:34, 35. But to them that believe not Nu. 14:11; 20:12, Ps. 106:24–26. “Unbelief is the sin that shuts up the heart of God, and shuts up the gate of heaven, against them; it lays them under the wrath and curse of God, and leaves them there.” M. Henry
- 19. So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” v. 19), Mk. 16:16. Jn. 3:18, 36, 2Thes. 2:12, 1Jn. 5:10, Jude 5. “God thinks the one sin greater than all is unbelief. We are saved by faith; we are lost through unbelief. The heart is purified by faith; the heart is hardened by unbelief. Faith brings us nigh to God; unbelief is departure from God” (Saphir).
- Let us learn in view of the reasoning and exhortations here
- The evil of unbelief. It excluded that whole generation, consisting of many hundred thousand souls, from the land of promise—the land to which they had looked with ardent hopes, and with warm desires.
- We lose confidence in God. In dark and trying times we begin to doubt his promises, his oaths, the wisdom of his dealings, and about his goodness. Unbelief is the beginning of woes.
- Let us live a life of faith, and say with Paul, “The life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2:20.” So living, we shall have peace.
- Let us live expecting the future “rest promised” that remains for us. Let us keep our eye fixed upon it.
- Let us persevere to the end. He that does not endure to the end of life in the ways of religion can never have been a Christian.
- No man should delay the work of salvation to a future time. To-day is the accepted time; to-day the only time of which we have any security. God speaks to-day, and to-day his voice should be heard. No man on any subject should defer till tomorrow what ought to be done to-day.” Bernes, Albert &co
