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Caution! The Danger of a Hardened Heart
June 27, 2010
Hebrews 3
by Pastor Stan
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THE SUPREMACY OF CHRIST: A SERMON SERIES IN HEBREWS
"CAUTION! THE DANGER OF A HARDENED HEART" (HEBREWS 3:7-19 / P. 847)
JUNE 27, 2010

INTRODUCTION
-- Lead-in song: "Lord, Most High"

-- Today is the 70th day that oil has been leaking from the British Petroleum well in the Gulf. There are indications that the explosion that caused the leak wasn't without warning. In fact, there may have been several warning signs in the days leading up to the accident and in the hours immediately preceding it. Unfortunately, those warning signs were ignored or disregarded, with tragic consequences.

-- There are warnings repeatedly given throughout the book of Hebrews—warnings that if disregarded will bring far more tragic consequences than what's happening in the Gulf. One of those warnings is the section of Hebrews that we come to today. Turn in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 3.

-- The theme of Hebrews is "the supremacy of Christ."  So far we've seen the author of Hebrews declare that Christ is superior to the OT prophets, to the angels, and to the great law-giver Moses.
     Now, the author is about to pause to give us a warning and starts that warning by using Israel as an example.
    -- Read vv. 7-11

I. EXAMPLE OF ISRAEL (VV. 7-11)

    A. THESE VERSES ARE A QUOTE FROM PSALM 95.
        -- The 95th Psalm was very familiar to the Jewish Christians to whom Hebrews was originally addressed. It was typically read at the start of each Sabbath.
        The Psalm has two parts. The first part is a call to worship, and the second part, the part of the Psalm quoted here in Hebrews, is a warning, a warning about resisting God's call and disobeying His Word.

    B. 2 INCIDENTS
        -- The Psalmist supports this warning with an allusion to 2 incidents in Israel's history.

        1. Rephidim (Exodus 17)
            -- The first incident is one that occurred at a place named Rephidim in Exodus 17.
            -- God has marvelously and miraculously delivered the Jews from the bondage and oppression of slavery in Egypt. He has sent horrific plagues on the Egyptians and parted the waters of the Red Sea for Israelites. He has made Israel His covenant people at Mt. Sinai. He has fed them with His manna in the barren wilderness. And then in Exodus 17, as Israel proceeds towards the Promised Land of Canaan, they come to a place called Rephidim, a place without any water supply. And although the people of Israel have seen powerful evidences of God's ability to provide for them, they quickly begin to complain to Moses and angrily express their displeasure that Moses has brought them out into the desert wilderness only to die of thirst, and there are rumblings about turning around and trying to make it back to Egypt.
            Moses begins to make desperate intercession before the Lord, and God instructs Moses to take the staff that he had used to part the waters of the Red Sea and to gather the people before a large boulder and to strike it with the staff, and God will cause water to burst out in a mighty stream from the rock.
            Moses renames that place  Massah-Meribah, the place of testing and quarrelling. The people of Israel had every reason to trust God to provide for them, but instead they grumbled and complained and started to rebel against Him.

        2. Kadesh-Barnea (Numbers 13-14)
            -- The second incident alluded to in Psalm 95 is one that occurred at a place named Kadesh-Barnea and is described in Numbers 13-14.
            -- Israel has continued on from Rephidim or Massah-Meribah towards the Promised Land of Canaan. In Numbers 13-14 Israel reaches the southern border of Canaan and camp at a place called Kadesh-Barnea.
            God instructs Moses to choose 12 spies, one from each tribe, and send them on a surve


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