Hebrews 3:12 “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”
Essentially, “unbelief” is “departing from the living God”! Hosea characterizes “departing from the LORD” as “whoredom” (Hosea 1:2). Destruction is the result of spiritually “departing from the living God”, practicing “whoredom”. The effect of this “whoredom” is made clear in such passages as, “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself” (Hosea 13:9). The Children of God can never be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39), but we certainly can bring His righteous wrath upon us by not obeying His word; to wit, “if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 1:20). Refusing and rebelling is associated with “unbelief”; that is, not believing that God means what He says. Moses told Israel, “if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; 18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land” (Deuteronomy 30:17-18). James tells us that “every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” (James 1:14), which leads to “death” (James 1:15). Isaiah gives this exhortation to those who are “departing”, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7). When the Lord told Israel that they had destroyed “thyself”, He also told them, “but in me is thine help” (Hosea 13:9). I fear that we have become so comfortable in our blessings that we are forgetting where our blessings come from, we are embracing our carnal blessings more than we are our God Who gives us these abundant blessings. The Church at Ephesus had left their “first love” and was warned that they could lose their Church if they didn’t return (Revelation 2:4-5). The Church at Laodicea had so strongly embraced their prosperity that they had become “lukewarm”; that is, they had become severely lethargic in serving the Lord and they were also warned (Revelation 3:16). But, there is “help” in the Lord; so, let us prayerfully resolve to go to and be a part of our Lord’s Church, read His Word, actively listen to His preached Word, and strive with all diligence to obey His Word.!