seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,”[a] bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”[b]
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 15 As has just been said:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”[c]
16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
a. Hebrews 3:5 Num. 12:7
b. Hebrews 3:11 Psalm 95:7-11
c. Hebrews 3:15 Psalm 95:7,8
This is from bible_studies.org.
Jesus is both the Apostle and High Priest of the Christian faith. These titles do not involve His divine essence; they speak in regard to His superior ministry. Moses is very highly regarded by the Jews, so the author of Hebrews now attempts to make his argument for the superiority of Christ without belittling the ministry of Moses.
The author’s use of the word “Apostle” (used of Christ only here), expresses the superiority of His commission, He being sent directly from God as a messenger. As High Priest, He is man’s direct intercessor with God.
This section presents the superiority of Jesus over the highly-revered Moses. The Lord had spoken with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11), and had given the law to him (Neh. 9:13-14). The commandments and rituals of the law were the Jews’ supreme priorities, and to them Moses and the law were synonymous.
We do not want to belabor this point, but, the Father sent them both on a mission. The difference in the two (possibly the smallest difference), is that Jesus was the real Deliverer and Moses was His shadow. The last statement on this that I will make now is that Moses was leading his people to their promised land, Jesus is leading us to our eternal Promised Land.
“If we hold fast”: This is not speaking of how to be saved or remain saved (1 Cor. 15:2); it means rather that perseverance in faithfulness is proof of real faith.
The person who returns to the rituals of the Levitical system to contribute to his own salvation proves he was never truly part of God’s household, whereas the one who abides in Christ gives evidence of his genuine membership in that household (Matt. 10:22; Luke 8:15; John 8:31; 15:4-6). The promise of God will fulfill this holding fast (1 Thess. 5:24; Jude 24-25).
The writer cites (Psalm 95:7-11), as the words of its ultimate author, the Holy Spirit. This passage describes the Israelites’ wilderness wanderings after their delivery from Egypt. Despite God’s miraculous works and His gracious, providential faithfulness to them, the people still failed to commit themselves to Him in faith (Exodus 17; Num. 14:22-23; Psalm 78:40-53).
The writer of Hebrews presents a 3-point exposition of the Old Testament passage:
(1) Beware of unbelief (verses 12-19);
(2) Be afraid of falling short (4:1-10); and
(3) Be diligent to enter (4:11-13).
The second of the five great warnings of Hebrews begin here. The first concerned neglect; this one warns against doubt. Do not doubt God’s promise. As is common with the other warning passages, exhortations and illustrations are incorporated with the warning.
The second warning, begins here and is addressed to “brethren,” professing believers, lest any have unbelief in his heart and thus depart from God. This “departing” (Greek apostenai), is the source of our word apostasy, which is a deliberate departure from God’s full revelation.
These Hebrew brethren were being tempted by an “evil heart of unbelief” to return to Judaism. To do so meant they would have to reject the fuller revelation they had received in Christianity and return to the incomplete revelation of Judaism. Thus, they are admonished to “Exhort one another daily”, with the truths that will strengthen their faith in Christ, such as the truths contained in this epistle.
Provocation in this particular passage means irritation. Do not get irritated with God. Many times, when someone very close to you dies, you first get irritated at the one who died, and then wind up getting irritated with God about the death. For the natural man, this is a normal thing to do.
This is just about as clear as it could be made, those who do not have faith in Jesus Christ will wind up in hell. To be saved, we must believe in our heart and confess with our mouth. One more time I will give my favorite Scripture on this.
Romans 10:9 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
Live for God. Live your faith in Jesus Christ every day. Be a separated people for Christ.
I need to remember that when the Christians read this letter for the first time... back in the ancient church.... they still believed that Jesus was coming back with a huge army... and He was going to run Rome out of town. They had been waiting for a few years..... not decades or centuries.... only a few years. But... it had been years and they thought Jesus was coming right back. They were deflated.... it got harder and harder every day to keep looking forward to when Jesus arrives. A man who could cheat death on a Roman cross was the answer to their prayers. God was sending them a "David" a mighty king who would run those Romans out of town.
Now the Romans did not like the Hebrews at all. All this talk about a descendant of Jacob [Israel] surviving the Cross was just plain ludicrous. The Roman soldiers hunted down Christians.... they couldn't have them thinking anyone could survive the cross. After all, the crosses were constructed on a hill just outside of town for a reason. The Romans wanted everyone to know and understand that the cross was waiting for anyone who thought they could stand up against Rome. That made Christian life perilous.
So... after years of hiding from the Romans.... and waiting ..... waiting.... waiting.... for Jesus to return.... some of them were just chalking it up to a scam and going back to Judaism. They knew God was there with Moses.... when all those Jewish laws and traditions came about. God had been a cloud during the day and a firenado at night. He led them to the "Promised Land".
They wanted the old stuff back.... because they knew it was the truth.... God gave Moses the law... everyone respected Moses..... this guy Jesus.... come to think of it.... even His own family rejected Him.
So.... the author of the letter says "Hold UP!" Moses was a big deal but Jesus is the biggest deal. Moses was a good captain. He lead millions of people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. He was their leader for 40 years. That, in their mind, was stability.... they wanted that.... not to be hunted down. The author says Jesus is the Son of God and He's offering eternal life.
But they wanted "law and order"..... they wanted the tried and true....living through all those laws was a hard row to hoe.... but it was a life good enough for Moses.....
Moses took them out of slavery.... Jesus will take them to Heaven.
They were stuck on the wrong guy.
