For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith (Heb 4:2).

God’s word is spiritual, and reveals the spiritual reality. God’s word purposes to turn the spiritual reality into a reality in this physical world. And what comes between the two realities is faith in our hearts. When God’s word passes through our faith, it substantiates the spiritual reality into this physical world, and we see it as a miracle. In other words, when God’s word is combined with our faith, a miracle happens, but when it is not combined with our faith, nothing happens and it is of no value to us. As for “they” in the above scripture, the writer of Hebrews refers to the people of Israel who just came out of Egypt.

Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief (Heb 3:16-19).

When these people came out of Egypt, they all heard and believed that God would bring them to the Promised Land. This promise actually goes back to the time of Abraham when God made a covenant with him promising to make him into a great nation, and give the land to his children. Some hundreds of years had passed, and the time came for them to enter the land. But what happened?

That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt (Num 14:1-4)."

Having heard the report given by those who had gone to explore the land, all Israelites became afraid, and refused to enter the Promised Land. What did they think about the promise God had given them? They lost the faith that they once had. With such unbelief, God could not bring them to the land, so he let them wander in the wilderness for 40 years till they died there. So, read again what the writer of Hebrews says about them:

For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith (Heb 4:2).

When God’s seed was sown unto their hearts, they received it with joy and believed for a while. But when a trial came, they fell away.

Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away (Luke 8:13).

They had no root. It is the root that ties the tree to the ground so that it can stand. As the tree gets taller the root needs to get stronger and grow deeper into the ground. Otherwise when winds blow, it will fall.