Hebrews 1:5--2:4

Mike Leake

Hebrews • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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As we go through Hebrews you are going to have to get accustomed to rather lengthy scripture introductions, because it is so steeped in Old Testament thought that we need to get that background just so we can get into the mind of the author of Hebrews. So today, I think it helps us to go back a little bit to the Israelites during the Exodus and their wilderness wanderings. It’s okay if you’ve never heard that story, I’m going to tell you the short version this AM.

The second book of the Bible is called Exodus. It tells the story of God’s deliverance of the Israelite people. You see the book of Genesis ends with God’s people moving to Egypt because of a great famine. The end of Genesis is all about a guy named Joseph and how God provided for his people through him. He was a great leader. But at the start of Exodus though we see that their leader didn’t know anything about Joseph. He’d forgotten all about him and so the Israelites were just another people group that they ruled over. And so he ends up making them slaves.

We see in that they are afflicted with heavy burdens, it says that the Egyptians “ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service”.

You’re going to have to get acc

Last week we looked at the Exodus—the great deliverance that God brought about of the Israelite people under Egyptian slavery. Look with me briefly at what the Lord had delivered them from. We see in that they are afflicted with heavy burdens, it says that the Egyptians “ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service”.

Don’t gloss over this. What does it mean to have a “bitter” life? It means that you hate to wake up every morning. There isn’t much hope. There’s no hope of retirement on the horizon. No weekends off. No pay. No life of your own. And so life becomes bitter. The sunrise doesn’t bring you joy—it ticks you off. Your sense of humor, if you’ve even got one becomes dark and sarcastic. Your heart becomes cold and calloused. And every day it only deepens. They are enslaved with no hope of this just being a rainy day. This is life.

I haven’t even gotten to the fact that the Egyptians enact a policy which ensures the death of your child, if he is a boy. If there was any hope to be had—any sunshine on the horizon—it might have been having a son. A young man that can perpetuate your family name, perhaps someday he’ll taste freedom. Perhaps you can have some sort of “life” through him and his children. Perhaps. Not anymore. Your wife is pregnant. It’s supposed to be a time of joy, instead it’s a time of great fear. If he’s a boy then you can consider him gone. If she’s a girl, likewise she’ll end up having her identity stolen by Egyptian men.

This is a terrible terrible situation and one that doesn’t seem to have much hope. They have such a broken spirit that in that aren’t even able to listen to Moses when he tells them that God is indeed going to deliver them. Do you hear it? Do you hear the bitterness? Do you hear the sunrise causing anger? That’s what happens when hope is deferred for so long that your heart becomes very sick.

But God does deliver them from the Egyptians and it is beautiful. Their broken spirit turns to joy and worship in . They sing a song. And this isn’t a song of lament. This is a song of joy. A song that hadn’t been on their lips in years. And they sing with all their hearts because the days of bitter slavery are over. No more threat on the life of your children by a wicked Pharaoh. No more pointless working for another. Those days are over. You are free!

So look with me at . Miriam and all the women with tambourines are singing and dancing and praising the Lord. It’s a time of great joy. Then there is a twist in verse 22.

Moses leads the people away from the Red Sea and they go into the wilderness of Shur. And there are three days without drinking water. They finally find a place but they can’t drink the water because it is bitter. And so they grumble to Moses. “What are we going to drink?”

Here we are given a clue as to what is about to come. They’ve just seen the Red Sea part in two. The Red. Sea. Part. In Two. They clearly are being led by a God that is sovereign over the waters. But they don’t get it and so they grumble. “How are we going to get water”.

Moses cries to the Lord and Moses throws a log in the water and it becomes sweet and able to drink. And here the Lord teaches them. “If you listen to me, if you trust me, then I won’t do to you what I did to the Egyptians…for I am the LORD, your healer”. And then they come to an oasis in the desert. And they encamp there.

But see what happens in . It’s shocking. And here the people of Israel are traveling into the wilderness and listen to verse 2-3.

“Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

In other words, “we’d rather be dead in Egypt where at least we knew that we had food.” And certainly it’s intentional that this statement comes right on the heels of what God said in . Here the Israelites are saying that they’d rather be identified with the Egyptians—the dead ones in the Red Sea—than to be living in freedom in the wilderness. We’d rather die by your hand than be delivered by your hand.

This won’t be the last time they say this either. They’ll say something similar in before God provides water from a rock. They’ll say it again in after they leave this Sinai wilderness.

“Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we at in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up and there is nothing but this manna to look at.”

And they’ll say something similar in . They’ve now seen the Promised Land. The place that God promised. God has brought them all this way. He’s brought them out of Egypt with all of the plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea, the water made sweet, the manna from heaven, the quail, the water shooting out of a rock, the pillar and cloud following them, the Law given to them on Sinai, grace after the stupid Golden Calf incident, victory over Amalek, and a million other things of provision along the way. And they are staring at the Promised Land and it’s beautiful. But the people are big. And they are afraid they won’t prevail.

“Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to one another, ‘Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Egypt. Bitter slavery. Killing your babies. Egypt.

Let’s go back there. Why in the world would they—after having seen everything that they have seen, after receiving the Lord’s provision, after having been brutally treated in Egypt, after seeing the hand of God deliver them and care for them time after time after time. Why in the world would they say, “I think I’d rather be in Egypt”?

And so how does God respond to this generation? He tells them that they’ll never see the promised land. They will die out int he wilderness—never getting to enter into God’s rest. God judges them and cuts them off from the promise because of their grumbling, because of their unbelief.

We’re kind of cold to this, I think. We hear this story and we’re like, “good for you God. Don’t put up with those goobers who have seen such amazing things and then don’t trust you.” Then we lose electricity for about three hours or maybe we even go through real intense suffering. “Why God! Why are you doing this to me! And we cry out and complain and grumble.”

Eventually this same generation ends up starting at the promised land. Right at the entrance. But it looks to big and beautiful and there are already people there and so they aren’t sure if the Lord will really give it to them. Again…they’ve forgotten again and again about God’s provision for them. And so what do they do? They grumble and complain and whine. And what happens?

God says...”you will never enter into the promised land”. You’re cut off. He judges them. Their going to die without ever seeing the promise fulfilled.

If we’re really tracking with them emotionally I think we get it. And it might seem a bit harsh. Would God still do that today?

And we comfort ourselves with the fact that, “thank God we are living in the New Testament period when God is far more kind and gracious and doesn’t just you know strike people dead on the spot.” He’s gotten a bit wiser over the years…he tried being legalistic and such in the OT and that didn’t work so he’s changed his mind a bit and decided to woo us with love and kindness.” You see we’ve got this idea that God was far more serious in the OT but he’s loosened up a bit in the NT. He’s lowered his standards. He’s a good chap, he’s like a doting grandfather who just can’t help but bless his cute little grandkids—even if they burn the house down.

But does this square with the Scriptures?

READ TEXT

What was all that talk about angels?

Some have read this and thought that there was a bit of weird theology about angels going on that the author of Hebrews had to confront. But I don’t believe his intention is to debase angels or their role as servants of God. Now, I do think there might need to be somewhere some teaching on angels and maybe there is some angel-stuff that’s gotten out of control in our day. People don’t become angels and you don’t want them to. The gospel is so much sweeter and better. Angels long to look into the good news of Jesus. Angels would love to taste and drink from the streams of grace. So you don’t want to become an angel when you die. But that’s most certainly not a point the author of Hebrews is making here.

He is making an argument of lesser to greater.

He is contrasting the Son of God with angels and fundamentally their roles in both the old and new covenant. It’s like this. If you get an email from a Nigerian prince who claims that he needs your help and that he’ll give you this large inheritance if you can just help him out a bit. You aren’t going to believe that. And you’d be forgiven for that. But if a guy shows up dressed in all this garb and has official seals from a Nigerian prince and comes with all this credibility and pomp and such then you’re likely going to be a bit more inclined to believe. And there might be even more consequences for you if you reject this message because it comes with more credibility. But what happens if the Nigerian prince comes himself and he comes with proof and credentials and such. And you slam the door in his face because you still don’t believe—or worse yet you don’t even care. Well that’s a much greater offense isn’t it.

So in the same way the Old Testament was mediated by angels. Glorious, splendid angels. Or as it says in 1:7, “winds, a flame of fire”. They are “ministering spirits sent out to serve”. And these are some glorious creatures—when people are met with angels in the Scriptures they are moved to fear. And as it says in 2:2, “the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution”.

In other words their legit. And the Old Testament is legit. You sin against this covenant and you are cursed. You don’t enter the promised land. As the Scriptures proclaim elsewhere in everyone who doesn’t abide by everything written in the law is under a curse. That’s what he’s saying here in Hebrews. He’s pointing to angels and the old covenant and saying that was legit.

BUT it wasn’t nearly as glorious as Christ.

That’s the point. He shows through chapter 1 that Jesus is superior to angels.

One he is superior by his relationship. He’s the Son. He’s not created like angels are. As such he is also worshipped. Angels aren’t to be worshipped. Jesus is. He is the Messiah. He is the promised deliverer. Angels aren’t.

But why is he making this argument? His argument runs absolutely counter to our easy-believism. It’s counter to our God as a doting grandpa. He’s saying, “if the OT carried that kind of consequence…if people in the OT who grumbled and complained and neglected and didn’t grab hold of the promise of God in the OT didn’t enter the promised land then what makes you think that those who are neglecting a far greater salvation will somehow escape judgment?

So here is the point this morning from this text. You will drift, you will neglect, unless you are diligent. And if you do drift, and if you do neglect, then you will not escape judgment.

In a moment I want to show you how what I just said squares with the idea of the security of the believer. But in order to really understand that doctrine you have to let this text say what it is saying, not neuter it, and let the weightiness of it fall upon us. You will drift, you will neglect the gospel, unless you are diligent. And if you do drift, if you do neglect, then you will not escape judgment.

First, what does it mean to neglect, to drift?

Drifting is a nautical term. It’s of a ship not being anchored down and drifting off to sea. Had a friend last year who was walking alongside a beach on vacation and the tide came in and took the guy and swept him away and there was nothing they could do. They had signs up and everything that said, don’t go beyond this point. He didn’t listen. The tide came in and he was sucked out away from the shore. Nothing they could do. That’s kind of the picture here. If you aren’t anchored you will drift away.

But he also uses the word neglect here. What is that? We can get a picture of this in . Same word is used. Read

This wedding invitation is of less interest than this one guys farm or this other guys business. Those were more pressing matters. Those had his heart. And that’s the picture. We need to pause on that for a moment. Because drifting and neglecting aren’t violent and aggressive words. Their rather passive. They just happen. Usually without you really even noticing.

You see, dear friends, that we need not be great open sinners in order to perish; it is merely a matter of neglect. See how it is put here: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” You need not go to the trouble of despising it, or resisting it, or opposing it; you can be lost readily enough simply by neglecting it. In fact, the great mass of those who perish are those who neglect the great salvation, —CHS

You can believe that the gospel is true. Not resist it. Not oppose it. But it’s just kind of there. It’s just kind of a thing. It doesn’t captivate you. It doesn’t cause you to cancel your plans to go to the wedding banquet. I mean, if you don’t have anything better that day you might go…but you aren’t gonna cancel plans for it. It’s not going to be the, “I MUST go to this thing. I wouldn’t miss this for the world!” Is the good news of Jesus that thing for you?

WHAT IS THIS GOOD NEWS OF JESUS?

God

Man

Christ

Response

So what happens is that we are given new hearts, new desires, a new life. And THAT is why if you have truly been born again—truly been given a new heart—you aren’t going to neglect or drift. Picture it this way. You are swimming in a creek. And the current is going pretty swiftly. Right beside you is a leaf. And it’s being taken along with the current. It goes wherever the current takes it. Even if it wanted to not drift that doesn’t matter—it lacks the capacity to drop anchor. Why? Because it has been severed from the branch. It doesn’t have an anchor system.

Now look beside you and see a tree that’s rooted into the ground but sticking out over the stream. The branches and leaves are dipping into the water. The current is hitting them with the same force but what’s happening? That leaf is staying right there. Why? Because it’s rooted and grounded. It’s attached to the root system. It’s still on the branch. And so it’s not drifting.

That’s why these warnings are here in Hebrews. In one sense you might be able to look at these warnings as test of genuineness. In other words if you persevere you know that your faith is legit. If you drift, if you neglect, well then you know your faith isn’t/wasn’t legit. But I think it actually is doing something a little bit different. I think they are actual warnings and these actual warnings are the means that God uses to keep his children anchored. You see if you hear something like, “don’t neglect, don’t drift” and your heart bubbles up and says, “ah, I’m alright. What’s the big deal. God isn’t going to do anything.” Then at this point you are much like the Israelites of old who would always cry out to God in distress but then when they got fed they got full and then they forgot him. They drifted. They neglected.

But the new covenant has done something decisive in our hearts. You hear, “don’t neglect, don’t drift” and it causes you to press into Jesus more. Not out of law-driven fear but out of grace-motivated love. The thought of being a leaf departed from your precious Savior is more than you can bear. And so you dig in even further.

God is loving and gracious and wonderful and kind. And he was just that same way in the OT. But He’s just as holy as he ever was too. And neglect of the gospel is far MORE serious than neglect of the law in the OT. If God judged in the OT that way how much more if we neglect the gospel. It’s not that he has lowered his standards. It’s that he has met his perfect standards through His Son, Jesus Christ. And if you reject the provision of His Son then you’ve rejected the only provision there is and you will in no way escape. You neglect the Son—there isn’t anything left for you.

His farm and his business.

That’s what it looks like to neglect.

you will drift

you will neglect

unless you are diligent.

And if you do drift

and if you do neglect

then you will not escape judgment.

picture a leaf. picture a tree.

What does apostasy look like?

What does drift and neglect look like?

It’s not that he has lowered his standards. It’s that he has met his perfect standards through His Son, Jesus Christ. And if you reject the provision of His Son then you’ve rejected the only provision there is and you will in no way escape. You neglect the Son—there isn’t anything left for you.