Brother Mike Ministries

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Hebrews 3:7-8
By Brother Mike (4-16-16; 55 minutes)
   


7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice ,
8
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness


INTRODUCTION 

Back in Hebrews 3:1-6, we were commanded to consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. And, by considering Him, we learned that Christ is so much greater than Moses as the builder of the house is so much greater than the house. Indeed, the builder of the house has more honor than the house of which Moses was just a part, and the builder of all things is God, who is Christ Jesus. So, although Moses was faithful in all his house, Christ is so much greater as a Son over His own house, and, for these reasons, we read in Hebrews 3:7-8, which we will cover in this study, Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his [Christ's] voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness; that is, because Christ is so much better and greater than Moses, how much more should you listen to Christ and not harden your hearts against Him as the Israelites did during their wilderness sojourn as we shall see.
     

Verse 3:7

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice . . .   

The first word of this verse is Wherefore. This Wherefore points back to the previous verses 1-6 that we went over in our last study, which commanded us to consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. And, when we considered those verses, we discovered that Christ is superior to Moses as the builder of the house is superior to the house. And, we found that Christ is superior to Moses because Moses was simply a man, but Christ is the Son of God. The point being that Christ of the New Covenant is so much greater than Moses of the Old Covenant. And, it is because this is true that we now come to the word, Wherefore. In other words, because Christ is so much greater and better than Moses, we read, Wherefore, or for which cause, as the Holy Spirit says, Today if you will hear His voice. The verb translated as says in the sentence, as the Holy Spirit says is in the Present Tense and Active Voice, which means the action of this verb says is continuous or ongoing, and can be translated, Wherefore, as the Holy Spirit is saying [over and over again]. In addition, the verb translated as will hear in the conditional statement, Today if you will hear His voice is actually in the Subjunctive Mood, which means it is a statement of possibility, and should be translated, Today, if you should hear His voice (see Present Tense and Subjunctive Mood ). So, our verse now reads, 

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost is saying [over and over again], Today if ye should hear his voice ...

The idea is that if you should happen to hear His voice - of course, it is possible that you won't hear His voice - but if you should hear His voice, then, as we read in the next verse, you should not harden your hearts. The voice, of course, being referred to here is the voice of Christ. So, Today if you should hear Christ's voice, who is so much greater than Moses, then you should not harden your hearts. This sentence, Today if you should hear His voice is the beginning of a quote from Psalms 95:7-11, which is stated almost word for word here in Hebrews 3:7-11. Let's read Psalms 95:7-11 and then continue our verse by verse exposition of Hebrews 3:7-11, which basically says the same things as Psalms 95:7-11. We read in Psalms 95, 

Ps 95:7 ... Today if ye will hear his voice ,
8
Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness :
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work .
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways :
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest .  

Now, in comparison, Hebrews 3:7-11 reads,  

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice ,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness :
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years .
10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways
11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest .)   

The main difference between Psalm 95:7-11 and Hebrews 3:7-11 is that Psalms 95 says in verses 9-10,  

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work .
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways . . . 

But, Hebrews 3:9-10 says, 

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years .
10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways .   

So, the differences between Psalm 95:7-11 and Hebrews 3:7-11 are quite small, and we can clearly see that the human writer of Hebrews, guided by the Lord, had Psalm 95:7-11 in mind when he wrote Hebrews 3:7-11. 

Now, we already concluded that Hebrews 3:7 should read,  

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost is saying [over and over again], Today if ye should hear his voice ... 

But, now, let's move on to our next verse.
   

Verse 3:8:  

8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness . . . 

Here, the verb translated as Harden in the sentence, Harden not your hearts is in the Subjunctive Mood, which is the mood of possibility. So, it should be translated, You should not harden your hearts. The idea is that you could harden your hearts, but, if you should hear His voice, as we read in the previous verse, you should not harden your hearts. Our verse now reads, 

8 You should not harden your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness . . . 

Now, what does the word provocation mean? Well, it means an action or speech that makes someone annoyed or angry. So, what we are being told in our verse is that you should not harden your hearts as the Israelites did when they made Yahweh angry and annoyed in the day of temptation in the wilderness. Of course, the day of temptation in the wilderness, or it could be translated, the day of trial in the wilderness is a clear reference to the 40 years in which the Israelites who had come up from Egypt wandered the desert because of their unbelief, and, during this time, they were tried as to their belief and trust in Yahweh. Unfortunately, they all failed the test except Joshua and Caleb, and so they all perished in the wilderness without ever entering the Promised Land. Only Joshua and Caleb as well as all the Israelite's children who were born during the 40 year sojourn were allowed into the Promised Land. But, the generation of Israelites which came up from Egypt, they all perished in the wilderness because of unbelief. 

In order to understand just how the Israelites hardened their hearts, so that we might not ever do the same, let's now take some time to look at what they did in that day (the 40 years) of the wilderness sojourn to provoke Yahweh to anger. First, after Moses brought the Israelites up from Egypt and through the Red Sea on dry ground, we read in Exodus 15, 

22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water .
23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah .  
24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink ?
25 And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them
26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee .
27 And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters .   

Here, in this account, we discover that the Israelites murmured or complained against Moses, for they had no good water to drink because the waters were bitter, which means that the waters were poisonous. Obviously, the murmuring against Moses was their sin because to do this meant that they didn't trust that Yahweh would take care of their basic needs such as their need for water even though they had seen all the miracles in Egypt including the parting of the Red Sea. So, one thing we learn from this account is that we should not ever murmur or complain about not having our basic needs taken care of because if we will just ask the Lord for help, He will always take care of our basic needs, especially if we are one of His elect. We must just be patient and wait on the Lord, and He will show us the way in order to have all our basic needs such as water, food, and clothing taken care of through His wonderful loving care.  

But, there is a deeper and more spiritual lesson from this account as well. In this case, the poisonous waters represent all the false gospels, religions, philosophies and beliefs in the world today that the world loves to drink by which they are all poisoned unto death. In order for these poisonous waters to be purified, the tree of life, the gospel, who is Christ Jesus, must be cast out into these waters of the world - this is a picture of the gospel being sent out into all the world - and, by the gospel being cast out into the world, the world is purified in the sense of the elect, who were once a part of the world, became saved or purified by the tree of life, Christ Jesus. So, the Israelites in the wilderness represent the elect in the world who are crying out for spiritual water, namely the gospel, to satisfy their souls. For us who now recognize that we are in Judgment Day when salvation has come to an end, we can learn from this account that even though we are surrounded by so many lies, false religions, false philosophies, and false gospels, we should not complain and murmur to Christ as the Israelites did to Moses, but we should trust and know that Yahweh will take care of our basic spiritual needs as we simply ask for and trust in His loving care. He will not keep us from the pure waters of truth, but by and through the tree of life, Christ Jesus, He will give us pure water from the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. To put it another way, don't murmur or complain about not having the spiritual drink needed in this Day of Judgment while out in the wilderness of this world, but rather request that Christ give you spiritual water, which are the spiritual truths of His Word, and He will cast out to you the tree of life, which will purify your waters so that you can see more and more spiritual truth as we come closer and closer to the Last Day.   

Now, we read of another account during the Israelites sojourn in the wilderness wherein they murmured or complained. We read in Exodus 16, 

1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt .
2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness :  
3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger .
4 Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no
5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily .
6 And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt
7 And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us ?
8 And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD
9 And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings .
10 And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud
11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying ,
12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God
13 And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host .
14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground .    
15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat .
16 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents .  
17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less .
18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating .   
19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning .
20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them .   
21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted .
22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses .   
23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning .
24 And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein .  
25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field .
26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none .  
27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none .
28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws ?  
29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
30 So the people rested on the seventh day
31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey .   

Now, what we see in this account is that the Israelites complained and murmured about not having food like the food they had in Egypt, and they even said, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. So, it is clear that by their complaining and murmuring, the Israelites did not trust in Yahweh to take care of their basic needs. This time it was the need for food. And, it was because of the Israelites lack of trust or unbelief in Yahweh to provide for their basic needs of water, food, and clothing that they were finally not allowed into the Promised Land, but then had to wander the wilderness for 40 years until they all perished. Only their children were finally allowed into the Promised Land.   

So, what can we learn from this account? Certainly, once again, we can learn to trust in Yahweh to provide for our basic needs of water, food, and clothing instead of complain or murmur about not having these things. We can ask Him for these things, certainly, but we should not complain about not having these things, for our heavenly Father knows that we need these things. We read in Matthew 6,  

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward .
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly .  
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking .
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him .   

And, we read in Luke 12,  

22 And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on .
23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment
24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls ?
25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit
26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest ?
27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these .    
28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith ?
29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind .  
30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things .
31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you
32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom

Clearly, then, we should not be concerned with what we should drink, or what we should eat, or what we should wear, because our heavenly Father knows what we need before we even ask Him.  

But, there is a deeper, spiritual meaning to the Israelite sojourn in the desert as well. The Manna represents Christ (John 6:31-58), the Word of God, and, in that the Manna was provided for the Israelites every morning means that Yahweh will give us spiritual food from the Word of God every day if we will just read His Word. Yes, the Manna is their every morning, and if we will seek for it every day in the Holy Scriptures, just like the Israelites had to go out and collect it every day except, of course, on the Sabbath Day, Yahweh will feed us the spiritual truths of His Word. We should never complain about not having sufficient spiritual food during these days of judgment, but we should simply ask Him for His food, and then search the Bible for the spiritual food that sustains us through these difficult times in the wilderness of this world during spiritual Judgment Day ever since May 21, 2011.    

We should notice that the Israelites did not only complain and murmur during their sojourn in the wilderness, but they also out right disobeyed the commandment of the Lord. With respect to the Manna, we read back in Exodus 16,  

19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it [the collected Manna] till the morning .
20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them .  

And, again, we read of their disobedience,  

25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field .
26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none .    
27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none .
28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws ?   

So, their lack of trust or belief in Yahweh resulted in their disobedience to what Yahweh said. And, isn't that unbelief the same reason why people don't obey Yahweh today. Jesus said,   

Joh 14:23 ... If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him .   

This means that the test as to whether a man loves God or not depends on whether he is obeying what Jesus commands. The Israelites, except for Joshua and Caleb, did not love God, and this is why they could so easily go against what Yahweh, who is Christ, would say to them. Likewise, if we say that we love God, but have little interest in learning about and obeying what pleases Him in His Word, then how can we say that we love God. Jesus said,

Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments .   

And,   

1Jo 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him

And, how can we obey His commandments unless we know what they are? Therefore, I am always skeptical when someone says that they believe in God, but rarely, if ever, seek for truth in His Word. These poor people are lost in their sins of deception, and how deep is that darkness?  

Now, as the Israelites continued on their sojourn in the wilderness, we find another event of the many wherein they murmured or complained to Moses. We actually went over this in our last study in Hebrews, but let's mention it again to improve our memories. We read in Exodus 17,    

1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink .
2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD ?  
3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst ?
4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me .   
5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go .
6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock [one time], and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel .   
7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not ?     

Here, we discover that the people murmured or complained once again because there was no water in the place that they had traveled to. They even chided, or scolded or chastised Moses because there was no water. So, the Lord told Moses to take his rod and strike the rock in Horeb and water will come forth for the people. But, when we compare this account with another description of the same account, we discover that, yes, Moses did strike the rock, but he did not strike it once, but twice in disobedience to Yahweh. We read in Numbers 20,  

1 Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there .
2 And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron
3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD !
4 And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there ?  
5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink .
6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them .  
7 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying ,
8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes [we also know that Moses was commanded to strike the rock once from the previous account of the same event]; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink .  
9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him .
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock ?  
11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also .
12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them .
13 This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them .    

So, in this parallel account of the water of Meribah, we find that Moses actually struck the rock twice instead of just striking the rock once as we saw he was commanded in the previous same account to do. The result being that he was not permitted to enter the Promised Land, but, in fact, he died before the Israelites could enter. We read about his death in Deuteronomy 34 wherein he was allowed to see the Promised Land from afar just before he died, but he was not allowed to enter into it. We read,    

1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan ,
2 And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea ,
3 And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar .
4 And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither .  
5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD

Now, what do we learn from this account at the waters of Meribah? The first thing we learn is that the children of Israel murmured or complained, and we know that it was because of their murmurings or complaining that they were eventually not permitted into the Promised Land, but, instead, they had to wander the wilderness for 40 years until that generation, except for Joshua and Caleb, perished in the wilderness. This is all a clear warning to us that if we are always complaining about how the Lord has been leading our lives in this wilderness of a world, we, too, will not be allowed into the Promised Land of heaven. Complaining all the time is simply evidence that we have not truly been saved, that we do not trust in Yahweh, for if we trusted in Yahweh we would know that everything that takes place in our lives is being guided by Him, and so we can know that it is for our best because scripture tells us that all things work out for our good. We read in Romans 8,    

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose .     

Furthermore, there is a spiritual lesson we can learn from the water of Meribah. First, even though their may not seem to be any spiritual drink in these days of judgment which we now find ourselves, we should not complain, but, instead, we should make our requests known to Yahweh through Jesus Christ, and then trust and believe that He will provide because we know that He will. Yet, it is always within His time so that we must patiently wait on Him. One thing I have definitely learned in my walk with the Lord is that His timetable is often times not my timetable. I want things now like a little child, but He wants things most often later, and so there is conflict between me and Him, and, if I do not learn to rest and wait in Him, my life can be misery. But, as I learn to rest in and wait on Him, I see His timetable come into being so perfectly and precisely that when things begin to happen according to His plan, I can do nothing but praise Him for the wisdom in His timetable. So, during these times in Judgment Day, we are being forced to wait in order to teach us to rest and wait in Him, but this is only temporary, for in His time He will reveal it all, and we won't be disappointed, but we will praise Him for having done everything in our lives the way He did. The truth is, then, that we never have a reason to complain or murmur, but only a reason to pray, watch, and wait in the perfect peace that one can only have in Christ Jesus. So, let's not murmur; let's not complain, but only trust and believe in the one who is in control of all things, and who only works out all things for the good of His elect for all time, every time.     

Now, as we had learned in a previous study, the account of the water of Meribah has even a deeper, spiritual meaning. The rock is symbolic of Christ. We discover this in a number of verses. For instance, we read in Romans 9:33,   

Ro 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed .    

And, again, we read in 1Corinthians,

1Co 10: 1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea ;
2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea
3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat ;
4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ .   

And, finally, we read of all those who claim Christ such as in all the churches, but whose Christ is a false Christ, 

De 32:31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges .  

So, when Moses struck the rock twice in the account of the water of Meribah, it is a picture of crucifying or striking Christ, the rock, twice. It is the same as saying that the one sacrifice of Christ in which He was struck was not enough, but another sacrifice or striking of Christ for a demonstration was needed to complete the whole picture so that the water of life could then fully spring forth unto the elect. Yes, Moses' striking of the rock twice is a picture of all those who now believe that Christ atoned for sins at or before the foundation of the world, and who believe that He then had to be crucified or struck a second time on earth in order to demonstrate all that He had already done. They are all those who have struck the rock twice. They say that Christ atoned for sins before the world even began, and that was all sufficient, they say, but they then say that Christ had to be struck a second time on the cross to manifest a demonstration of all that He had accomplished before the foundation of the world. So, in one breath they say that the crucifixion of Christ before the world began was all sufficient, but, then, in the same breath say that the first crucifixion before the world was not enough because Christ had to be struck a second time on earth to demonstrate what He did before the world began. What a contradiction! And, what a deception of the evil one (see The Demonstration Gospel is a False Gospel )!    

Okay, let's stop here, and we will continue next time showing further how the Israelites in the wilderness hardened their hearts so that we might not do the same thing and, so, not be allowed into the Promised Land of heaven because we were never actually saved.   

CONCLUSION   

In this study, we are told that today, if we should hear the voice of Christ, we should listen, for He is so much greater than Moses. In fact, He is God. We should not be like the Israelites in the wilderness who murmured and complained about not having their basic needs met for water and food because if we will simply ask Christ for help, He will provide that help in His time and way. This is His promise! We don't have to complain and argue with Yahweh, but simply trust and believe. Indeed, if we find ourselves complaining all the time about the way our life has gone, this could be evidence of our never being saved. Furthermore, in this Day of Judgment that we find ourselves, we should never complain about not having all the spiritual truths that we would like, but we should pray and wait on the Lord, and He will provide for our basic spiritual needs as well as our basic physical needs of food, water, and clothing. Finally, we should not be like Moses who struck the rock twice, and believe that Christ was struck once at or before the foundation of the world, and then struck again when He came to earth as a demonstration of what He had already done. If we believe in this, we will be like Moses and not be allowed into the Promised Land of heaven because this could reveal that we are not truly saved. It is a Judgment Day test! Will you fail or pass the test? 

Now, to the true elect of Yahweh, may the LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace .

2:14-18  
3:1-6 
3:7-8 
3:9 
3:10-11 
3:12-13 
3:14-19 
4:1-6

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