Hebrews 3:1-6
One of the most difficult tasks in the interpretation of the
book of Hebrews is to think like a Jew.
This book was written to a group of professing Hebrew-Christians who
were seriously considering leaving Christianity to go back into Judaism. The author of Hebrews goes to the Old
Testament to show how Christ is superior to all the Old Testament teachings,
and why they must not leave Christ and go back into the Old Testament system.
Hebrews 3:1-6 shows us
that Jesus Christ is superior to Moses.
It is very difficult for us as Gentiles
removed 2000 years from New Testament
times to understand the reverence and esteem in which Moses
was held by the Jews.
Almost all of Jewish religious history was related in some way to
Moses. Moses was his own prophet,
priest and king. Through Moses,
Israel was freed from Egyptian bondage.
Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant or the Mosaic Law. Through him, the whole of the Levitical economy was instituted - the tabernacle, the
priesthood, the sacrifices. Moses
was the administrator of the theocracy for Israel. Moses was the hero of every Jew, for he was the supreme leader
and lawgiver.
If Christ is the Messiah, then it would have to be proven
that Christ was better than Moses.
No Jew would follow a man with fewer credentials than Moses. With great finesse, the author does not
defame Moses, but he exalts Christ to show that Christ is superior to Moses.
CHRISTÕS HIGH OFFICES (Hebrews 3:1)
ÒThereforeÉÓ -- In chapter one of Hebrews, we saw that Christ was truly
God. In chapter two, we saw He was
truly man. It was also declared
that Christ was a Òmerciful and faithful high priestÓ (Heb. 2:17), so now the author begins to tell us how
Christ was a ÒfaithfulÓ high priest.
Since Christ is the God-man, our High Priest, we are to relate these truths to our lives, and the first step in this process is to meditate on Christ by considering Him.
Ò...holy brethren...Ó --
The author assumed that the vast majority of people to whom he was writing were
true, born-again believers in Jesus Christ. He addresses them as brethren based on their outward
profession of faith in Jesus Christ.
They are also called ÒholyÓ in that they have been Òset apartÓ to God
for divine service. They are
members of the Christian brotherhood and separated from their unbelieving
Jewish kinsmen.
In GodÕs eyes, there is only one brotherhood and that is the
brotherhood of all true believers in Christ. These true believers have different backgrounds, talents,
temperaments, education, rank and race, but they form one brotherhood separated
to the service of God.
Some time ago I was asked to lead a dorm discussion at VPI
for the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. During the discussion time, several of the students asked me
about the brotherhood of man and how I felt about it. The question was asked because there were about five Orientals
and three blacks in the audience.
I said I do not believe in the brotherhood of all men, and immediately
they tabbed me as a fighting fundamentalist of the white, protestant, middle
class. They said, ÒYou are then
against having people of different races in your church.Ó I replied that not every white man was
my brother, not every oriental was my brother, not every black man was my
brother and not every red man or brown man was my brother. My brothers and sisters are any and all who have placed their faith in Christ. The true brotherhood of Christ consists
of all Orientals, blacks, whites or browns that have been called by God to
salvation through Christ. For my
brothers and sisters in Christ, I live and would gladly die. There was silence among the students
and those of another race listened to what I had to say about the gospel of
Christ.
Ò...partakers of a heavenly calling...Ó -- These Hebrew-Christians were sharers in the calling that
comes only from God. All
Christians are associated with one another in the holy brotherhood because of
the sovereign call of God to salvation.
ÒAnd we know that God causes all things
to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called
according to His purpose. For whom
He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and who He predestined,
these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He
justified, these He also glorifiedÓ (Rom. 8:28-30).
ÒÉwho (God) has saved us, and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternityÉÓ (2 Tim.
1:9).
ÒI, therefore, the prisoner of the
Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have
been calledÉÓ (Eph. 4:1).
We are Christians at this very hour because God has sovereignly called us to be Christians in His divine plan.
Note carefully that this is a Òheavenly callingÓ in that it
originated from heaven and it takes us to heaven. This is also a heavenly calling in that in the Old Testament
much of the Jewish hope was an earthly hope, but in the New Testament the
Church has a heavenly hope, for the Church has its eyes fixed upon a city whose
Maker and Builder is God, the new and eternal Jerusalem.
This is the first mention of the contrast of heaven and
world, or material things of this world, which are temporary and heavenly
things which are eternal.
The book of Hebrews is a heavenly book. Christ fulfilled all the Old Testament
types and shadows. When Christ
rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father, He took
everything of spiritual significance up to heaven. Our whole worship now is spiritual and heavenly. Our Christ is in heaven; our worship is
in heaven; our home is in heaven.
We no longer need altars, buildings, tabernacles, candles, because we
are a heavenly people serving a heavenly Christ!
Ò...consider Jesus, the Apostle and High
Priest of our confession...Ó --These Christians were to give deep
contemplation to Christ and fix their spiritual eyes on Christ. It was only as they seriously
considered Christ that they would not leave Christianity for Judaism. It is only as we think about, meditate
on, give attention to Christ that we learn to love Him and long to please Him.
Christians have made a confession (profession) of faith in
Christ as Lord, Savior, King, Priest and Prophet. The word ÒconfessionÓ means that when the Christian makes
his initial act of faith in Christ he agrees or consents to the fact that
Christ is Lord, Savior, King, Prophet and Priest as God has declared Him to be.
A true believer is one who confesses Christ to men.
ÒThat if you confess with your mouth
Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you
shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness,
and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvationÓ (Rom. 10:9-10).
ÒEvery one therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who
is in heaven. But whoever shall
deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heavenÓ (Matt.
10:32-33).
While there are some who only profess Christ outwardly, who have never been regenerated, the true believer is one who confesses Christ before God and men.
ÒApostleÓ -- Jesus Christ is the Apostle. ÒApostleÓ means Òone who is
sentÓ and refers to a ÔmissionÓ to earth to reveal GodÕs will to men. As a prophet, Christ represents God
before man and speaks to us from God.
Therefore, hear ye Him!
ÒHigh PriestÓ -- As a high priest, Christ represents man before God and
speaks for us to God.
Lest we miss the argument, these words ÒApostleÓ and ÒHigh
PriestÓ are introductory, to show that Christ is superior to Moses. Moses was a prophet, but Christ was The
Prophet (Deut. 18:15). Moses was a king, but Christ is King of
kings (Deut. 33:5). Moses was a priest, but Christ is the
High Priest (Exodus 24:6; 32:11).
CHRIST IS SUPERIOR IN HIS PERSON TO MOSES (Hebrews 3:2-4)
ÒHe was (being continually) faithful to Him who appointed
Him, as Moses also was in all His houseÓ -- Moses is given the highest compliment; he was faithful in all his house.
In the household of God, Moses resembles Jesus in his faithfulness. Though Moses was not without personal
failings (killing the Egyptian, slowly responding to GodÕs call and smiting the
rock in anger) he was faithful as a minister. ÒNot so, with My servant
Moses, he is faithful in all My household; with him I speak mouth to mouthÉÓ (Num. 12:7-8).
The difference between Moses and Christ was that Moses
ministered faithfully during a limited period of time on earth, but Jesus ever
lives to exercise faithfully the office of Divine Mediator and High Priest from
His throne in heaven.
The term ÒhouseÓ refers to people and not to buildings. The house of Moses was the children of
Israel. The house of Christ consists of all true believers. The Òhouse of GodÓ in New Testament
understanding refers to the Church made up of people. In the Old Testament, the tabernacle and temple were called
the house of God, but these are types and shadows pointing forward to Christ
and the Church. Nowhere in the New
Testament is the house of God referred to as a building. In fact, the early Christians had no
building for almost 300 years. When they referred to the house of God,
they thought of people not buildings.
GodÕs purpose in the New Testament is not to dwell in buildings but to
dwell in people.
ÒOr do you not know that your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are
not your own? For you have been
bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your bodyÓ (1 Cor.
6:19-20).
ÒFor He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by
just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone,
but the builder of all things is God.Ó -- Moses ministered faithfully to Israel, but he was not the
founder of Israel but only a member of that great nation. But Christ, who is God in His reincarnated
state, actually called the nation of Israel into existence. Jesus Christ was the Jehovah of the Old
Testament and He alone is the founder of Israel. Therefore, Christ deserves more honor and glory than Moses.
CHRIST IS SUPERIOR IN HIS WORK TO MOSES (Hebrews 3:5-6)
ÒNow Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant...Ó -- Mosses was faithful in his house of
Israel but he did the work as a servant.
He was a servant in the house but not the creator of the house. A servant does a lesser work than the
creator.
Ò...for a testimony of those things which
were to be spoken later...Ó -- There was a divine design in all of
MosesÕ work as a servant in the house of Israel. A servant is always working in anticipation of
something. All of the institutions
that Moses set forth were to point to Christ who
was to come. The tabernacle, the feasts,
the sacrifices, the holy days, the law, all were types and shadows of
the promised Messiah.
ÒFor if you believed Moses, you would
believe Me; for he wrote of MeÓ (John
5:46).
ÒAnd beginning with Moses and with all
the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the
ScripturesÓ (Luke 24:27).
ÒÉbut Christ was faithful in all
His house as a servantÉÓ -- Christ is the Son who is Lord over the Church, the
spiritual house of God. Moses is a
servant; Christ is a Son. Moses
served in his house. Christ served
over his house as Lord. Christ,
therefore, is superior to Moses in every way.
Ò...whose house we are, if we hold fast our
confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the endÓ -- The author assumes that those to whom
he is speaking were true believers, for he says, Òwhose house we are.Ó He accepts their profession of faith
because they are the house of Christ.
They had professed Christ and outwardly identified themselves
with the household of Christ, but they were also under obligation to maintain
their personal confidence and Christian hope. The author then interjects the word ÒifÓ which means Òmaybe
you will and maybe you wonÕt.Ó
This is another reference in the book of Hebrews to the doctrine of the
perseverance of the saints.
Eternal security is not the issue here, for we know that the truly saved
person can never be lost. The
issue here is that a truly saved person will evidence his faith by holding fast
(seizing, taking possession of) the Faith. True Christians have confidence (assurance, boldness) and
hope (ChristÕs coming and the receiving of a resurrected body). They have this confidence and hope
right up to the end. The ÒendÓ
refers to the end of a personÕs life or until the end of all human history as
we know it, at the second advent of Christ.
Remember, this is a warning to these Jews who were thinking
about leaving Christianity for Judaism.
If they leave Christianity, they were never saved in the first place,
but if they stay they will persevere right on to the end.
This warning is just as true today as it was in the first
century. True believers persevere,
never perfectly, but they do push on in the Faith. There is always the possibility that in any group of
believers there are mere professors who are self-deceived into thinking they
are Christians because they go through all the external rituals of
Christianity. A Christian is one
who believes in Christ and lives for Christ.
The necessity of persevering in the Faith is taught in other
places.
ÒJesus therefore was saying to those
Jews who had believed Him, ÒIf you abide in My word,
then you are truly disciples of MineÓ (John 8:31).
ÒFor we have become partakers of
Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the endÉÓ (Heb. 3:14).
ÒÉby which
also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless
you believed in vainÓ (1
Cor. 15:2).
The cares and the riches of the world may lure a Christian temporarily away from Christ, but he will persevere. Trials and persecutions may discourage a true believer, but he will grasp tightly Òthe confidence and rejoicing of hopeÓ which is his because he belongs to the spiritual house of Christ, the Church.
This verse teaches that Christians can have the assurance of salvation. As true believers, they can have the confidence, boldness and assurance of salvation with great rejoicing. This is not boasting; it is a confidence that is ours because we know the living Christ. Nor is it a presumption to have assurance of salvation, for this is the natural result of seeing the living Christ at work in us.
One of the greatest truths in all the Bible is that true
Christians will persevere in the Faith once for all delivered to the saints!
CONCLUSION
Are you a Christian or a churchman? Have you had a religious experience or
regeneration that comes from God?
Do you know Christ or are you committed to a church organization? A Christian is one who receives Christ
by faith, acknowledging him as Lord and Savior. Have you made this step of faith?
You can know that you are saved. You can have assurance of salvation and boldness before
God. You can have the joy of
knowing you will have a resurrected body.
How can you know? Receive
Christ by faith and begin to live for him daily; then assurance will come. ÒMy sheep hear My
voice, and I know them, and they follow MeÉÓ (John 10:27).