So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God [unbelief had shut them out].
Hebrews 3:19, 4:2 KJV
For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God] proclaimed to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) by those who heard it; neither were they united in faith with the ones [Joshua and Caleb] who heard (did believe).
I want to encourage you today with a simple truth: Unbelief is a force that is opposite to the force of faith. Through intimacy with the Lord and renewing your mind, you and I can experience all the Promises of God that are over our lives and experience a life of power and victory. Brace yourself, I’m going to use a simple physics illustration to make this point more clear.
Let’s say you have a cow with a rope around its neck, like a leash. If you have ever been outside the U.S. into a third-world country, you probably have seen someone walking a cow in this manner along the road on the way somewhere. In Kenya, I saw a man with an adult cow lashed to the back of his MOTORCYCLE. Don’t ask me how he did it. I’ll never forget that. I laughed in amazement when I saw that poor man trying to balance that motorcycle at low speeds with this big cow on the back!
You can lead a 2000lb cow by a little rope with a very small amount of tension, assuming the cow cooperates with you. If that cow chooses not to walk with you, no amount of tension on that stringy rope will make him move. The rope will certainly snap before you can lug that big cow along.
When you are using your faith, it is like holding the rope and pulling in one direction. It’s not difficult to see an obstacle move in your life when you are operating in faith, for just a small amount of faith is all that is necessary to move things of great mass. (See Luke 17:6)
But UNBELIEF is like the cow. When you have unbelief operating in your life, it’s as if the cow is refusing to move with you, and even stops or goes backwards. Your faith will not overcome the unbelief you have operating in your life!
Here’s the physics illustration I warned you about:
Not too bad, right? Whichever force is greater will cause motion in that direction. We want motion in the faith direction!
Faith versus Unbelief: Joshua and Caleb
The main idea is this: you might think you are operating in great faith, but any unbelief you have works in the opposite direction as the force of faith. Your faith may be working just fine; there may be nothing wrong with it. Your faith doesn’t need to be big, flashy, or fancy-sounding. It just needs to be pure and childlike. That’s what Jesus meant when He talked about the power of mustard-sized faith that can remove great obstacles.
I can hear someone saying, “Oh, but the force of faith is much more powerful than anything else! There’s no way that this is Scriptural.”
Let’s see how this concept lines up with the Word.
Notice what the Holy Spirit says in Hebrews 3:19.
So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God [unbelief had shut them out].
The Holy Spirit is talking about the Israelites, when they were just about to enter the Promised Land after being led by God out of Egypt. What caused them to not inherit what was rightfully theirs at that time?
The Bible says it was unbelief.
What is rightfully yours today? As children of God, we have a great inheritance that includes everything that Jesus purchased for us on the Cross, including regeneration from sin; healing from bodily sickness and disease; deliverance from demonic oppression, depression, and possession; and most importantly, intimate relationship with God the Father.
What does unbelief look like, then? Let’s go back to the account of the twelve spies in Numbers 13.
After the twelve spies had scouted out the Promised Land, only two returned with a report of Godly faith. The other ten brought back “an evil report.” In Hebrews, the Holy Spirit calls their report unbelief.
Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to conquer it.
But his fellow scouts said, We are not able to go up against the people [of Canaan], for they are stronger than we are.
So they brought the Israelites an evil report of the land which they had scouted out, saying, The land through which we went to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.
There we saw the Nephilim [or giants], the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
Caleb and Joshua brought back a good report by trusting God at His Word. The ten spies who brought back the evil report refused to believe God. God had promised them that they would take the land. He didn’t say, “You will go in and possess the land, but only if you think you can take the soldiers therein.”
No, God didn’t put any qualifiers on His promise. He said, “But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people.“ (Leviticus 20:24)
Joshua and Caleb held tightly to God’s Promise. They didn’t let their physical situation override God’s Word to them. Many of you are letting your physical circumstance overwhelm your belief in God’s Word.
“Oh, I know that the Bible says. ‘By His stripes you were healed,’ but I just need a word from God concerning my healing.”
Or this one, “If God wills it that I be healed, may Thy will be done, and not my own. He must have a purpose for this sickness; He knows what He is doing, even though we don’t understand it.”
I could write for the rest of 2021 on that statement alone. Suffice to say that Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus comes that we may live an abundant life. Sickness in any form is not God’s will. This can be plainly seen from a casual reading of many Scriptures. Why would God bring sickness in “His sovereignty” just to have Jesus Christ, the express image and identical representation of God (Hebrews 1:3) come release people from sickness? Why, indeed, are we taught that sickness is from God, when Scripture plainly tells us in no uncertain terms that it is from Satan? (See Acts 10:38)
These types of belief systems are the embodiment of unbelief, which, as we have seen, is a force operating in the opposite direction as Godly faith.
The definition of unbelief is knowing God’s Word (which is His will) and refusing to believe it.
This is why the ten spies died in the wilderness; for leading God’s people astray into this unbelieving mindset. I believe that God had no choice but to wipe them out and cause His people to walk through the wilderness for forty years; if not, they would have certainly seen their words (the evil report) come to pass, and Israel would have been wiped out.
The ten spies’ unbelief was pulling so hard in the opposite direction than that of faith that their prophetic words (their belief that they would be overcome) would certainly have come to pass. You see, their refusal to take God at His Word was their choice, and it cost them their lives.
Probably the most forceful revelation of this truth is found in Jesus’ ministry, when He came to His hometown to work miracles and bring life to the people, but because unbelief was present, Jesus’ own faith was hindered. Think of that!
But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
Mark 6:4-6, KJV
And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.
Did you see that? Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, could do no mighty work because of unbelief. Even the faith of God is hindered by the force of unbelief.
Look Your Problem in the Eye and Remind it of God’s Word!
If this is disconcerting, don’t fret, you are not alone. This should actually come as a comfort. If unbelief is as strong of a force as the Bible says it is, then it is a relief that we can do something about it.
I’m glad that I wasn’t born with a fixed mixture of faith and unbelief, thus forever determining my ability to grow and believe God in life. I can take Him at His Word any day of the week, and I can choose to grow in my faith and continually push away unbelief. Praise God!
Through renewing your mind to the Word of God, you can fill your heart and mind with God’s Words of faith and power, which pushes out unbelief. Furthermore, you can pray and fast as a way to rid yourself of further unbelief, which is connected to the flesh. Fasting and prayer will help you take control over your body and your physical senses, which will enable your faith to work properly when confronted with physical manifestations that would normally produce unbelief. (If you want to learn more about this, I encourage you to study Matthew 17:14-21)
My encouragement to you today is to get into God’s Word and let it change you! Let faith arise; push out unbelief. Push out refusal to believe with belief.
Look your circumstance square in the eye and tell it in no uncertain terms that you choose to believe God instead of the problem, which may look something like this:
“___________________ (Insert the circumstance you are facing here: like “sickness,” or “anxiety”), I don’t care what you look like! I don’t care what the doctor says I have! I don’t care that they say cancer runs in my family! I don’t care that my bank account is empty! I don’t care that it looks like I may lose my job! I don’t care that my physical senses are screaming at me, “God’s Word may work, but it won’t work for you.” I choose to take God at His Word! Satan, you foul liar, the Bible says _________________________(insert God’s Promise that pertains to your situation here, like 1 Peter 2:24 or Philippians 4:6-7), and I will not be moved from this place of faith. I do not allow unbelief to rob me of God’s Promises spoken over my life like the ten spies allowed it to rob them of their rightful inheritance.
“Yes, it may look dim. It may look like I am outnumbered. It may look like the battle is over, and I am on the bottom of the dogpile. But I choose to disregard the evil report of unbelief and I choose to take God at His Word, right here, and right NOW, in the mighty and powerful Name of Jesus!”
Whoo! Come on! I’m fired up just writing this. Think of a circumstance in your life where you aren’t seeing any momentum (another physics term that relates MASS and VELOCITY. A lot of people have mass, but not much velocity).
Could it be because of lack of faith? Then get into the Word and allow the Holy Spirit to breathe scripture to you in your situation. He is faithful to reveal His Word (which is His will) to you, every time. I dare you to take God at His Word today.
What if you are in faith? Is it unbelief? Are you refusing to take God at His Word? Take a good look at the passage we went over in Numbers 13 and see which side of the cow you are on.
My deepest love, prayers, and desires are for you today as you read this and are built up by the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit confirming His Word.
Be encouraged, and be filled with the pure and unmixed faith that comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God!
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