Useful Bible Studies > Hebrews Commentary > chapter 3
The Bible often tells us the history of the 40 years that God’s people spent in the desert. It is a sad history.
Moses was their leader there. He was God’s servant, and he trusted God completely. But, on several occasions, the people refused to trust God. They preferred to complain about Moses and about God. That often happens when people are not loyal to God. They doubt when they should believe God. They complain when they should trust him. And they refuse to obey him.
But the people should have learnt that they could trust God completely. It was God who saved them from their sad lives as slaves in Egypt. It was God who overcame Egypt’s great army. It was God who provided their supplies of food and water. It was God who showed them the route to follow. God provided their light by night and God provided protection from the hot sun by day. God defended them when enemies attacked.
They had no reason not to trust God. And they had nobody else to trust. But whenever there were problems, their fears seemed too strong for them. And so, fear replaced faith (active belief and trust in God). They even tested God. In other words, they tried to force him to help them. It is wrong to test God. God wants us to trust him.
The passage calls those people ‘your fathers’. People used to speak in that manner about members of their family from previous centuries. They were proud of their family history and of their nation’s history. They were proud that Moses had been their leader. But they should not be so proud. It was their own families who refused to obey him. It was their own families who would not trust God in the desert.
So people should learn lessons from history. They should learn that they must always trust God.
Next part: The anger of God (Hebrews 3:10)
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© 2014, Keith Simons.