Study Desk

That is why the Holy Spirit says, "Today when you hear his voice,

Remember what it says: "Today when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled."

And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn't it the people Moses led out of Egypt?

And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn't it the people who disobeyed him?

So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.

God's promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it.

For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said, "In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,'" even though this rest has been ready since he made the world.

We know it is ready because of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day: "On the seventh day God rested from all his work."

So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: "Today when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts."

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs.

While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.

For example, there was God's promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:

God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind.

So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.

There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.

but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him, "The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: ‘You are a priest forever.'"

But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever.

The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.