Hebrews 3 & 4

Along the same lines as last lesson, what you'll read here are just our notes.  However, we did this study with the desire to do more object lessons and tell more stories, so we expanded our notes to include the illustrations and object lessons.  Hopefully it'll be an easier read, and make a little more sense.  :-)

Jael's thoughts on Hebrews 3 - 4

At the beginning of the lesson, we removed a log from a fire we had going outside. We told the girls that that would come into play later.  :-)  The log was still flaming when we left.

We have the same calling Paul did! (3:1)

There are so many possible distractions in the world.  We have to focus on the true thing. Now, I want everyone in the room to NOT think of a polar bear starting NOW.  You know, don't think about the white one.  The one that lives in the arctic.   With black claws and pads.  The one that can kill people.  Don't think about a white polar bear.  Okay, stop.  How many people were able to keep from thinking about a white polar bear?  Most of you, right?  How?  By thinking of someone else?  You fixed your thoughts on someone else!  By fixing your thoughts on Jesus, you'll be able to avoid all the other distractions in the world. (3:1)

Apostle means "messenger".  Jesus was the word come to us.  He brought the message to us by coming and living among us.  He WAS the message.  (3:1)

Jesus never betrayed that which God gave him or told him to do.  He was faithful.  (3:2)

The Bible compares Jesus to Moses.  Somehow, I never equated Moeses I with being the most faithful servant in God's kingdom before Jesus.  (3:2)

Jesus was even more faithful than Moses.  Jesus never disobeyed God.  Moses received God's word.  Jesus WAS God's word.  (3:2)

Jesus was God.  He built the house.  Moses was human.  He was part of the house.  Jesus, being God, could do everything perfectly.  Moses, being man, couldn't.  (3:4)

Houses don't come together by random chance.  Now, I randomly put a room together.

 What do you think?  Not very pretty, huh?  The tub is by the bed, and the fridges is by the bed, and there's a tree by the tub.  When a room or a house doesn't have a designer, it's not good.  Things don't turn out well.  That's why we needed a designer.  God.  (3:4)  

God made everything.  (3:4)

Moses was as faithful to God as a servant can be.  But JESUS was as faithful as a son could be.  And we are sons of God!  We can live in Christ's victory.  (3:6)

We are his house, as long as we represent him.  (3:6)

We boast about our hope in eternal life.  Sylvia: I just passed a test today with this AMAZING score!  I'm so smart, 'cause I can remember all that stuff!  Don't you think I'm genius!?  I mean, I passed it in WAY the time given me.  And now I have 20 credits!  I'm so happy!  Jael:  That's really cool!  I'm glad you passed!  But I have Jesus.  You're happy now, because things went well.  I'm happy, because I know my future.  Before each test you take, you don't know how it will turn out.  But I know that I will pass God's inspection, because I am pure because of Jesus Christ!  I have the confidence and ability to stand before God pure and spotless, so I can be happy all the time!  I know the end of the road!  (3:6) 

The Holy Spirit issues the "today, if you hear his voice..." speech.  (3:7)

When the Holy Spirit calls, DON'T say no!  Just do it!  (3:7&8)  (see Ephesians 4:30)

TODAY, if you hear his voice.  Not tomorrow.  (3:7)

The period in the desert was a time of testing, as well as a time of punishment.  Everyone has times of testing "in the desert."  Yes, it may start as a punishment, but God can turn it into a time of testing.  So always stay tuned to God's voice!  (3:8)

Or...was the time in the desert a time when they tested God?  (3:9)

When God is tested, he always proves himself.  And the people who test him see what he does. (3:9)

Those who test God, even after he shows his wonders, do not know God and his ways.  Their hearts aren't fixed on Jesus. (3:10)

God gets angry at persistent unbelief.  At those who just don't get it out of stubbornness of heart.  God hasn't changed since the OT.  (3:10)

When God is angry, he can be harsh.  Those who forsake God can never be at peace.  (3:11)

God's peace must be something else!  Not being in it is a terrible punishment!  Or, is his rest heaven?  (3:11)

Guard yourself from a heart that goes astray.  Note that it doesn't say "from sin" or "from unbelief."  It says to guard from a "sinful, unbeliving heart."  This could mean one of two things.  1)  What our heart is like is how we'll behave 2)  God sees the heart: you may stumble, but God can see that your heart is focused on him.  Now, we have two eggs here.  Daisy and Kaity, could you please spin them?  See how Kaity's egg spins all over the place, while Daisy's stays right where it started?  That's because I boiled Kaity's egg.  It has a hard heart, and so it wanders. That why we need to guard from a hard heart.  (3:12)

Encourage each other!  A log by itself gets cold!  Let's go outside and check on that log.  See?  There are no more flames coming out of it.  Why not?  The other logs are still burning just fine. What's the difference?  The log by itself is more likely to succumb to wind and cold.  The  other logs keep each other burning.  That's why we need to keep encouraging each other.  We have to help each other stay lit for Jesus.  (3:13)

God gave us today.  I read a story once in a book called Christian Mother Goose about the Tomorrow Catchers.  These were a group of "monks" who had been trying to thousands of years to catch tomorrow.  They had these huge "butterfly nets" with which to catch tomorrow.  They had clocks that could predict the time up to the millisecond.  When Christian Mother Goose went to visit them, she stayed up with them to see if they could catch tomorrow.  At the stroke of twelve, they all swooped their nets, and lo and behold!  One of them caught something!  It was an owl.  :-P  Then Christian Mother Goose got to explain to them why they couldn't catch tomorrow.  After all, at the stroke of twelve, tomorrow becomes today!  You can never live in tomorrow.  Besides, in the Bible, it talks about God giving us today.  (3:13)  

We are part of Christ if we are confident in him.  Imagine that you're on a zipline. You may start out at the top holding confidently to the zipline handle, but if you let the speed and all the stuff around you to frighten you, you start loosening your grip on the handle, and, ultimately, you'll fall.  (3:14)

God is always offering second chances.  "So long as it is called TODAY."  "TODAY, if you hear his voice..."  Yes, you may have messed up badly in the past.  But you have a fresh start TODAY.  Not tomorrow.  Not next week.  TODAY!  (3:15)

The punishment was given to those who disobeyed.  Even if you are descended from them, you have a clean slate before God.  "I won't punish the children for the sins of their fathers."  (3:16-18)

They couldn't do any of the good stuff God promised because of unbelief.  (3:19)

Even though we can enter his rest, we MUST NEVER grow complacent.  We must keep searching until we get there.  That's not a law thing.  Imagine that you finally earn $10, and you want to get something at the store that costs $10.  You've wanted that item for forever, but you never had them only until now.  On your trip to the store, you keep looking in your pocket or your hand or wherever you have the money.  Why?  Do you HAVE to look at it?  No!  Why do you do it?  Because you want to make sure it's still there!  You don't want to arrive at the store without it.  That's how we should be with our faith walk. (4:1) 

We have the same good news they did!  The only difference is that we combined it with belief!  Callie, see this 1 million dollar bill?  It is for you.  Will it do you any good if you just sit on the couch?  No!  You have to come and take it!  You're coming and taking it is a sign of your belief that I will give it to you.  (4:2) 

Belief is very important.  (4:3)

Even though we may not see what God is doing, or though it seems like he keeps changing his mind, He knows the end result.  (4:3) 

God rests.  It is a God-like thing to rest.  Those who disobey God cannot rest.  (4:4-5)

God picked a day and called it today.  He decided that whenever "today" occurs, you should listen to  him.  (4:7)

The Promised Land was only a symbol of what is to come: heaven!  Joshua couldn't give them rest.  Jesus can!  (4:8)

People who love and obey God will do what he does.  He created a sabbath-rest.  The earthly sabbath is merely a symbol of God's sabbath in heaven.  (4:9-10)

Those who enter into God rest from their own work.  We don't have good works.  We rest from them.  We do God's work.  (4:10)

We don't want to copy those who went before us by disobeying. (4:11)

God's word is always new.  When I began studying these two chapters, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to come up with much.  I ended up with six pages of notes.  Why?  Because God's word is alive.  It constantly speaks.  There is always something new in it that you never saw before.  (4:12)  

God's word can separate anything.  I read the story about a convicted criminal who was put in prison.  While there, the Chaplin went to him, and started telling him about Jesus.  The criminal said, "Ha.  God.  Who's God?  There is no God!  His so-called 'word' is just a bunch of junk."  The Chaplin said, "Okay.  Here.  Open it up and read."  So the criminal opened it up to a passage that says, "The fool says in his heart, 'there is no God.'"  That was the end of the criminal's protests.  (4:12) 

God's word judges.  Now, I know we've been taught that judging is bad.  But look at this yardstick.  I'm putting it against the back of the chair, and it is judging the chair to be 38 inches tall.  Is that judging back?  No!  The yardstick is just telling the truth!  That's how God's word judges us.  It just shows us where we are in comparison with where we should be.  (4:12) 

God can see everything.  Our thoughts, words, motives, and dreams.  Everything.  And we must give an account before him.  Scary thought, huh?  (4:13)

However, Jesus went up before us!  He covers our sins!  We profess that!  If we hold to that faith, our sins will be covered!  (4:14)

Jesus understands everything.  Don't you think that God knows what we go through as humans?  Sure!  But Jesus became a man so WE'D know that God knows.  He went through temptation, just like we did.  Yet, he never gave in.  If we are Christians, we are IN CHRIST.  If we are in Christ, must we give in temptation? No!  Will we?  Possibly.  But that's why Jesus is our great high priest.  (4:15)

If you have murdered someone, would you be able to approach a judge with confidences?  No.  But what if someone had pleaded guiltless to the murder instead of you.  Would you still be guilty in the court's eyes?  No.  Now, in heaven, we have been cleansed of the guilt of murder.  We can approach the judgment throne with confidence, because we have a high priest who covers our sins, and can help us when we need it.  (4:16)

Memory verse: Therefore, God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time late He spoke through David, as was said earlier, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your voice as you did in the rebellion."  (Hebrews 4:7)

Sylvia's Thoughts on Hebrews 3 - 4

3:1-3 – We are to look to Jesus as the one who was totally faithful and completely worthy of glory.

3:2 – Wow, Moses is here being compared to Jesus for faithfulness!

3:3 – Moses is being compared to a house and Jesus the builder: He allowed God to shape and “build” him however He willed.

3:5-6 – Then, in verses 5 and 6, there’s a different “house” analogy… Moses is being compared to a servant, while Jesus is a son. But both are part of the same household, as are we “if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.”

3:6 – What exactly does “boasting in our hope” mean? Skit: Sylvia talks to Jael, acting really excited and proud about her "amazing" CLEP score that she attained because of her "brilliance" and boasting about it. Then, Jael counters that by "boasting" about Jesus and how amazing He is and how He will give her perfect knowledge in heaven someday. 

3:8 – Ask girls what “hardening hearts” means 

3:10 – The people of Israel saw God’s works in truly awesome ways, yet they kept on “putting God to the test” and rebelling against Him.

3:13 – “Exhort one another every day”… what does this look like?
Pray for each other; comfort each other; tell each other when we notice sin in another’s life.

3:16-19 – Again, the people of Israel saw amazing things that God had done… wonderful miracles and mighty works. Yet they sinned against Him anyway and refused to believe in Him.

4:4 – Again, “somewhere spoken.” Glad to know I'm not the only one who has trouble remembering references!

4:12 – The Bible isn’t just a book of religious instruction; it has power in itself. It pierces to the division of soul and spirit… it convicts people of sin and draws them to repentance… it speaks to everyone, of all times, places, and circumstances… it discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart, providing wisdom for every situation and conviction for every sin.

4:15 – As we read last week, Jesus can sympathize with us in our weakness and pain because He was tempted exactly as we are, though He never sinned. He experienced unimaginable heartache.

4:16 – If we ever need a comforter, we can run to God. If we need understanding, He is there. If we need mercy and forgiveness, He is the only one who can supply it. If we need help, He is the one to ask. He is enough to fulfill every need we will ever have, and we can approach Him “with confidence” because of Christ’s sacrifice.

Memory verse: Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Homework for next time: Read Hebrews 5 & 6.  Come up with at least one comment or one question to share.  (If not...you may have to make one up on the spot!)  Also, chose a verse from Hebrews 5 or 6, and memorize it.