Hebrews 3:12

‘Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God.’

The first thing that they are to do is to ‘take heed’. They are to examine their hearts to see whether they have within them ‘an evil heart of unbelief in falling away from the living God.’ Compare 2 Corinthians 13:5. Unbelief is the evidence of an evil heart for it testifies to a heart in rebellion against, and contrary to, the living God. It is to take up a position exactly the opposite of that of Jesus and Moses who were faithful (Hebrews 3:2). And the inference is that to fall away from Jesus Christ is so to rebel against the living God. Thus men and women should constantly, (without overdoing it), test themselves to see whether their hearts are remaining true to Jesus Christ, or whether some interest, or pleasure, or temptation, or emphasis, is causing a barrier between Him and them.

(On the one hand we are to test ourselves regularly whether we are maintaining our obedience to what God requires of us, but on other we must remember that overmuch self-examination is not good. In the end we should be looking constantly and positively to Christ and not at ourselves. But there are times when such self-examination is very necessary).

The phrase ‘evil heart’ is found in Jeremiah 16:12; Jeremiah 18:12 and describes a stubbornness of heart and mind which is set against obedience to God. It is a set of mind which deliberately turns away from God for its own intrinsically selfish reasons.

The phrase ‘living God’ is popular with the writer (Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:31; Hebrews 12:22) and emphasises the character of God. Among other things it draws attention to His awareness of, and living presence among, men, and His active interest and concern. It reveals Him as One Who is there to act, and is indeed acting on behalf of His own, but also, in warning, as One ready if necessary also to bring judgment on men. It shows Him as One intimately concerned with world affairs, in contrast with dead idols. To fall away from Him is not to reject an absent landlord, but to spurn a present Friend and Guide.