In Numbers 13–14, the Israelites come to the cusp of the Promised Land and send spies to check it out before they move in. While the spies return all agreeing that it is an amazing land flowing with milk and honey, ten of them consider the inhabitants too powerful to conquer while only two think that God will give them victory. Israel has a decision to make—do they persevere, trusting in the faithfulness of God, or do they shrink back in unbelief and head back to Egypt?Well, they make the wrong choice, and a whole generation dies in the wilderness because of it.

In Hebrews 6, we are brought back to the wilderness in one of the most chilling warnings in Scripture. Most Bibles call the passage “the warning against falling away” or “the warning against apostasy,” and it is not to be considered lightly. The author challenges us—are we willing to trust the promises of God, or are we going to fall away? If we fall away, where will we go? Back to Egypt? What waits for us there?

Tucked into this same passage is one of the best illustrations of Jesus’ role as our great high priest. Hebrews 6:19 calls him a “sure and steadfast anchor for the soul.” In these verses we learn both the absolute faithfulness of God’s promises to us in Jesus and the importance of staying faithful to him.

As we learn to see God in the sacred spaces all around us, we need to cling to Jesus. If we leave him, where can we go? But we can be confident. Jesus has gone before us into the Promised Land and he is calling us to follow. Press on!

See you on Sunday!