Jack Neo joked about ITE being “It’s The End” in his movie I Not Stupid. The idea of being the end has a connotation of helplessness; there is nothing much one can do anymore if the end comes. The study of the end time, which is called eschatology, interests not only the Biblical scholars, but also the non-believers. Many movies have been made with the end days as their theme. We can more all less see the Biblical images of the end days in The Matrix (especially the last one), The Legend, Terminator, and more.
As a Christian, as a partaker of Christ, I also need to hold fast of my assurance firm until the end (v14). And today’s passage reminds me that Christian faith is really a journey; it is not a point event, or a standalone experience that will change the entire destiny of a person forever. There is no living happily ever after. Christian life is not a fairy tale. It is a journey; a journey for me to travel on, but not alone.
Again the author of Hebrews advocates Scripture, saying: Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me (v15). This is the anchoring verse before the author presents his stylistic rhetorical questions from verse 16 to 19. When I read verse 15, I was immediately drawn to the phrase until the end in verse 14. The end begins with today! What is important for today is to hear the voice of God.
There are many things we can start doing today; we can read the newspaper and feel depressed about the economic situation, we can plan to work hard and save wisely for our future retirement with nothing to do but waiting to die, we can also simply happy-go-lucky and leave the worries at the end of our life which maybe tomorrow, and we can seek some sort of religious experiences or modern day pop psychologies to tell us nothing at the end of the days. Today text reminds me that the most important things to do for today is to hear the voice of God, and obey.
Yes, obey! Do not harden my heart, but to obey. The author goes on by giving the example of Israel coming out for Egypt into the wilderness in verses 16-19. Commentator, George H. Guthrie, writes the following:
In 3:16 – 19 the author follows a stylistic pattern of asking a question and then providing an answer. The questions at the beginning of each verse are taken directly from the quote of Psalm 95:7c – 11. The answers provided, however, derive from other Old Testament passages that have to do with the desert wanderings. That those who came out of Egypt with Moses were the same as those who rebelled against the Lord (Heb. 3:16) may be concluded from Deuteronomy 9; Numbers 14:1 – 38; or Psalm 106. That “those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert,” were the same as those with whom God was upset (Heb. 3:17) also derives from either Numbers 14:1 – 38 or Psalm 106. The concept of the disobedient ones as those to whom God swore they would not enter his rest (Heb. 3:18) finds expression in Deuteronomy 9:7, 24.
He concludes that unbelief and disobedience are closely linked! Therefore, today, listen to the voice of God and obey. Then we can endure until the end.
In this season of Lent, we are on the journey to the Cross with Jesus. When we meditate on the Cross, Jesus will speak to us. You will hear His voice, obey until the end.
HHS…
Abel…
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