Hebrews 4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.
What the people of Israel experienced in the desert is a warning to the readers of Hebrews. Will they heed God’s call to believe in God’s promises or will they continue in their hardened hearts? The failure of the Israelites also showed their deep problem of sin. The author moves in time to when the people wandered in the desert for forty years. If the people would have gone directly into the promised land without the discipline of the desert wandering, they would not have been ready to experience God’s blessings. The promises of God can be experienced only by those with faith. What the people experienced in the OT is a type or example of what people may experience today in regards to the gospel of Jesus. Any rest in the OT is only temporary compared to the eternal rest available today through Jesus. Israel’s experience in the promised land of Canaan was a prelude to experiencing the deeper hope of eternal through Jesus.
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