Written by Sue Sanders
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest’” ( Hebrews 3:7-11).
God promised those who came out of Egypt rest in the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Unbelief led to disaster in the wilderness and dead bodies on the way to Canaan—an entire generation that escaped from Egypt except for Joshua and Caleb failed to enter into the Promised Land. The wilderness was God’s chosen way for the Israelites to reach the Promised Land, but it was also a road strewn with the dead bodies of those who failed to believe.
They fell short because of their unbelief.
Moses himself fell short and could not enter the Promised Land.
We can fall short as well—fail to enter into this place of rest, one so glorious that we definitely do not want to miss it.
Adam Clarke explains the meaning of come short: “It is an allusion. . .to the races in the Grecian games: he that came short was he who was any distance, no matter how small, behind the winner.” Think of the joy Israel had in coming out of Egypt and approaching the Promised Land, and then think of all the graves dug in the desert. A wonderful promise was available but unattainable. They came short because they heard God’s Word, but it was not mixed with faith.
What blessings am I missing out on because of my unbelief? I hear God’s Word, but I am not always mixing it with faith. Jesus Himself said that He could not do many miracles in His hometown because of their unbelief.
Guzik affirms that when” there is more faith—more of the anticipation of blessing and favor from God—there is more blessing indeed.”
Lord, help me. I do not want to “fall short” and fail to enter into Your rest.
Guzik, David. David Guzik’s Commentaries on Hebrews. http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/guz/view.cgi?bk=57&ch=3. 1997-2003. STUDYLIGHT.ORG. 2001-211. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.
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