Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 3:19

"And we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief." — Hebrews 3:19 (ASV)

The depressing conclusion sums up what has gone before. The author does not say that they did not enter but that they “were not able to enter” the land of Canaan. Sin is self-defeating and prevents people from entering God’s rest. This is not an arbitrary penalty imposed by a despotic God. It is the inevitable outcome of “unbelief.” The warning to the people of the writer’s day is clear. To slip back from their Christian profession into unbelief would be fatal.