So here was Stephen in Acts 6:8, “a man full of God’s grace and power,” about to be stoned to death by members of a Jewish synagogue, with the approval of a top-ranking Jewish religious leader called Saul (8:1). So, what began with Jacob centuries ago had created a monster like Saul, who could justify killing a man who was so obviously sent by God.
But how was that possible? Well, according to the writer of Hebrews 3:12 it was Israel’s “unbelieving heart” that did it; that’s what “turned them away from the living God” and made them constantly resist him.
Unlike Abraham – who simply “believed the Lord” (Genesis 15:6) – Jacob’s descendants relied instead on their own ways and means of solving their problems. But look where it got them: Ephraim (descendant of Jacob) was “multiplying lies and violence” in Hosea 12, just like the Jewish synagogue was doing against Stephen, and now we’ve got Saul condoning the murder of a godly man. Seventeen hundred years down the road from Jacob the Jews were a fearful, angry, confused mess.
Clearly, then, God orchestrated this entire story of Israel and its endless wrestling match with him to show us ALL where it takes us. It takes us to the same place it took Israel, Hebrews 3:11, where God “declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest’” – which is obviously something really bad, but what does it mean?
Well, in Hebrews 4:3, it’s those “who have believed who enter that rest.” Belief is the key. Belief in what, though? It is the belief, verse 4, that “on the seventh day God rested from all his work,” because, verse 10, “anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.”
To enter God’s rest it involves resting like God rested on the seventh day of creation, in clear contrast to wrestling against him, which began with Jacob and continued all through Israel’s history. But it identified what a struggle it is for us humans to trust (or rest in) God. Our human history, pictured by Israel, has always been about wrestling versus resting.
Fortunately, Hebrews 4:9, “There remains a Sabbath-rest for the people of God,” so the opportunity is still open for us to rest and not wrestle. But, verse 11, “It takes every effort to enter God’s rest”….(next blog)
Buck To Basics 