Partakers of Christ or Corpses in the Wilderness

This passage begins by stating what it takes to be a partaker of Christ, that it, to hold steadfast to the end, and then again reminds us not to harden our hearts today. Having restated that we should not harden our hearts, today, as in the rebellion, our writer reflects on the specifics of that rebellion, the anger of God, and corpses in the wilderness. All these reminders, including the graphic image of bodies in the wilderness, build up to the conclusion of the text: "they could not enter because of unbelief." We should not walk away from this passage with an insignificant view of the seriousness of unbelief, and the consequences of it both on earth and in the life to come.