Reading in Hebrews this morning, it talked about the Children of Israel who refused to enter God’s rest. As I read that I pictured my granddaughter, who when we were walking through a busy parking lot drew her arms close to her body and tried to hurry ahead of her Mom and me, determined to go her own way. She was two years old and determined to be free from constraint. Are we not like my granddaughter, were not the Children of Israel? Let me go my own way!

I couldn’t help but think about the series The Chosen. The Children of Israel couldn’t see God face to face. They couldn’t sit and listen to Him. At one point, when He was going to speak with them they were so afraid. When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Exodus 19:18-19.

So…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14.

What I especially love about The Chosen is that it dramatizes the time when Jesus lived among us. He slept, He healed, He laughed, He ate, He performed miracles. One of the things that Jesus had to deal with was the constant request to perform miracles. “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” John 4:48. So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” What did Jesus say to them? “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” John 6:32-33.

The Children of Israel didn’t believe even when God provided manna in the desert wilderness. The people in Jesus’ day didn’t believe even though they saw the healing he did. The true miracle? For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:12-13.

Are we so afraid of God seeing everything that we fear to come to Him? He already sees. From the devotional Hearing God by Dallas Willard, Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor. Proverbs 18:12.

I thought about that verse in the context of the sharp, double-edged sword. Pride kept the Children of Israel from believing God. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Hebrews 4:2.

They wanted to go their own way just as my granddaughter stubbornly wanted to be free of any hand that would keep her safe in a busy parking lot. Are our hearts proud? It takes humility to acknowledge we don’t know everything….and turn to the One who does. Jesus came to be among us. There were those who refused to believe what their own eyes saw, what their own Scriptures testified. There were also those who did believe and were able to interact with Him in a personal relationship. He wants that today with each of us. Everything we are is already laid bare before Him. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16.