One of the problems the children of Israel had to deal with was the many, perhaps most of them believed that because they had been chosen by God to be His people, they did not need to obey Him. The Lord disproved this theory following their meeting with Him at Mt. Sinai when He refused to allow them to enter the Promised Land because of their lack of faith in Him. In Hebrews 3:15-19 Paul reminds the Hebrews that their ancestors whom the Lord had brought out of Egyptian slavery had provoked Him, causing Him to be grieved with them for 40 years. These were those “who sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness, to whom He swore that they would not enter His rest (the Promised Land) …. So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief,” which resulted in rebellion against Him after the spies returned from scouting out the land. As a result of their faithlessness/rebellion, they spent the next 40 years wandering in the desert of Sinai while God killed off everyone over 20 years of age except Joshua and Caleb. Of the older Israelites, not even Moses was allowed to enter the Promised Land. The Lord tells us that “Unto whom much is given, much is required.” Israel had been given much, therefore God required much of them. Their failure to meet His expectations cost them dearly.

In Hebrews 3 Paul was telling the biological descendants of the Sinai Israelites that to doubt God’s Word was to rebel against Him, which would cause doubters to miss out on the promises of God. As had their ancestors, some of the Hebrews (Israelites) believed that the fix was in for them because they were the seed/descendants of Abraham. John the Baptist addressed this issue many years later when confronting a group of Pharisees and Saducees who had come to his baptism believing that their genetic ancestry automatically made them acceptable to God. Calling them a generation of vipers, John told them that they must produce the fruit of repentance before seeking baptism–they had to truly repent of breaking the Ten Commandment Law. Then they had to obey it–produce fruit–proof of their repentance. Having adopted the Talmud, these people and their followers had abandoned the Ten Commandments as their guide to God’s will. (This practice still holds true among many Jews today). The baptizer then addressed their basic problem: “And think not to say within yourselves, ‘We have Abraham to our father,’ for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children of Abraham”–ancestry was meaningless when it came to entrance into the Kingdom of God. They had to be truly converted, not merely repentant, to have any chance of entering into God’s presence.

That Israelites had to be converted in order to receive the promises of the Lord is brought out in three specific passages of Scripture. In Psalms 19:7,8 we find these words: “The LAW of the Lord is perfect, CONVERTING the soul; the TESTIMONY of the Lord is sure, MAKING WISE the simple. The STATUTES of the Lord are right, REJOICING the heart; the COMMANDMENT of the Lord is pure, ENLIGHTENING the eyes.” Having access to the Scriptures was not enough, Israel had to believe and obey them in order to enter into His rest. Nothing has changed.

“I will teach transgressors (of the Law-1 Jn. 3:4) Thy WAY and sinners (Law-breakers) shall be CONVERTED unto Thee” (Ps. 51:13). Those who broke God’s Ten Commandment Law (including Commandment #4) were transgressors/sinners who had to be converted. Nothing has changed.

Isaian 6:10 tells us that Israel was in sin–they were Law breakers. God told them through the prophet that they must see with their eyes, hear with their ears, convert to Him and be healed. They had to see and hear God’s Word, believe and obey it in order to be spiritually healed. This constituted the conversion process. Nothing has changed. Those who refuse to believe and obey God’s Word–refuse to convert to Him–will not receive eternal life regardless of their religious pedigree (ancestry, churchiness, etc.) To be continued. L.J.