Therefore, holy brothers and sisters…
So there’s a “therefore” and we should make a quick attempt to recall what the context of this thought is. Whenever I am writing about a certain book or series and I am going sequentially, I like to go over what we did last time for a review. This “therefore” is a great reminder to do that, so let’s go back briefly to the end of Hebrews Chapter 2:16-18
16 For surely it is not angels he [Jesus] helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Jesus suffered and lived to bring many sons and daughters to Glory. He had to be made like us because it was fitting to conquer sin with suffering. He fulfilled prophecy found in Psalm 22 that said that he would declare God’s name to his brothers and sisters. Since we are brothers and sisters, the messiah had to be like us, but to be the perfect sacrifice he also had to be like God. Therefore the incarnation was necessary. Verse 17 he had to be made like his brothers fully human in every way. Although Jesus was superior to Angels, he wasn’t put on this earth to help angels. He was put on this earth to help us! Jesus was put on this Earth so we among the elect could all be saved! But Jesus was put on this earth to be not just the perfect sacrifice, but also the high priest that offers the sacrifice. Jesus was more than a lamb; he was the high priest who offered the lamb. Having Jesus as a high priest that means that we have a merciful and faithful high priest. It means we have a High priest who has gone through suffering and temptation, and can therefore help those of us who are suffering and those of us who are being tempted. THEREFORE –
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.
To all of us who share in this heavenly calling. To those of us who consider ourselves sons and daughters of the almighty God. To those brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ who are now described as and called holy (and we are holy because we’ve been made holy by the perfect sacrifice and the complete atonement). Here’s a command. Fix your thoughts on Jesus. Acknowledge that he is our high priest. He is our apostle. Jesus was faithful to the one who appointed him. Which means He was Faithful to God. He carried out everything he was supposed to, and did so flawlessly. He was without sin, so he never slacked off or gave a partial effort. He didn’t skip over some difficult parts of his responsibilities. The author of Hebrews makes another comparison. He compares Jesus to Moses. Remember in Hebrews 1, we heard Jesus compared to the prophets. He is the way that God now uses to speak to his people. In the past God spoke through the prophets, but now he speaks through his Son. Jesus is superior to the prophets and made them obsolete. Jesus is supreme over all of the angels, who are commanded to rejoice. Jesus is given authority over all creation, so he’s superior to all of Israel’s Kings. He is superior not just as a King, but as a Son. The only Son. Since there is no other begotten Son, Jesus is superior to any other sons (which means that he is superior to all of us). Now we see Jesus being compared to Moses. Both Jesus and Moses were described as being faithful to God. Now the author is writing to Hebrews, so in their eyes, Moses was the bringer of God’s Law. He was the human author of the first 5 books of the Bible and the Torah, known as the Pentateuch. We believe that scripture is God’s word, so Moses was the first human that God used to record his written word. Moses was known to be faithful in God’s house. Moses was faithful to God, and the result of that faith was God’s Law that Moses brought. In the same way as Moses, Jesus was faithful, and the result was the grace and the freedom that he bought. Let’s read on to see not just this comparison but the contrast between Jesus and Moses.
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,”
The author said Jesus and Moses were both faithful, but Jesus was superior.
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Then the author compares Jesus to a builder, and Moses to a House.
Last Fall, I traveled to a place called Falling Water. It was an amazing home built on the top of a waterfall along a tributary known as Bear run. Bear run is a 5 mile tributary of the Youghiogheny river. When you visit this house, the architecture and beauty of design take your breath away. You can see levels of the home floating above this waterfall.
The materials of the house perfectly complement the types of rock you see along the river, and the home flows naturally with the environment around it. If you ever go to see this building, you will not regret it. They give tours of the house, and discuss each room and each area of the home, along with its purpose and function. As much as you hear about this house, the building materials, and the qualities of the house, you will hear even more about Frank Lloyd Wright, the Architect who designed, conceptualized, and presided over the construction of this home. Without the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright, the home would have been made much cheaper, but a larger distance away from this waterfall. Regardless of how architecture, mechanical and structural engineering equations prove such a thing is possible, no builder would have dared to draw out architectural plans to build a home on top of a flowing, moving, river and waterfall. If you visit Falling water, You will also hear about Edgar Kaufman, the businessman who hired Frank Lloyd Wright. Without the investments of Edgar Kaufman, who sponsored the project, the idea would have never been conceived, because there was no demand for a home in that part of Bear Run. Even if Frank Lloyd Wright had been able to imagine the idea, it would have been nothing more than a theoretical drawing until the Kaufman family started writing checks. The project went way over budget, so the additional checks really made the project come to fruition. All this being said, the house is a beautiful thing. The house is worth attention and praise. The house is worth a certain amount of honor. However, the BUILDER is worthy of greater honor than the house itself. The house is just a thing that exists. The real honor is discovered once you stop and question why the thing exists. It exists because a man named Kaufman saved his earnings and opened a store that provided something that customers demanded. He made profits from the business, and used them to sponsor a genius named Frank Lloyd Wright to design it. That genius spent years studying architecture, the science of understanding the strength and ability of various materials to bear a weighted load. That genius not only studied the numbers and math and science, but also the artistic and aesthetic understanding of being part of a certain environment in a unique and isolated part of God’s creation on this earth. That genius then was hired by that businessman to think more about it and conceive of an idea, solving problem after problem to make a vision a reality. The house is honorable, but the builder receives greater honor.
What does this have to do with Moses? In verse 5 Moses was described as a faithful servant in God’s house. The servant was a hired or chosen man to accomplish a task. The vision, the inspiration, the planning, the design was God. Jesus was greater than Moses because Jesus was the builder. Jesus was the intelligence. At best, Moses was the servant labor like he was described in verse 5. But in this example in verse 3, Moses was also compared to the house itself because he’s part of God’s creation. That means that Moses was compared to a dead, unthinking, unintelligent piece of material, who happened to be placed intelligently and in an inspired form. While the house is beautiful and worthy of honor the Builder is the one who receives greater Honor. Again, the author of Hebrews is writing to people who are followers of Moses, and the Mosaic Law. The author explains that not only is Jesus superior to prophets, kings, priests, and even angels, but he is superior to Moses, who we’ve discussed is held in highest regard.
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.
Not only is Moses faithful as a servant like verse 5 says, but Christ is faithful as a Son, like verse 6 says. Verse 6 also says that Like Moses, we are God’s house, his Workmanship. Moses as a servant is not a new idea for he Hebrews, the first half of verse 5 references something else. That Footnote [a] reference Numbers 12:6-8
6 [the LORD] said, “Listen to my words:
“When there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,
I speak to them in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?”
The back story here is that Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses. They started to undermine his authority, asking “has God spoken only to Moses? Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” They were ambitious to have the relationship with God that Moses enjoyed. They wanted to be prophets that spoke God’s word, and they were jealous. But more than that, they were starting to gossip because Moses married a Cushite wife. People can be terrible when they think they know what’s best for you better than you do. Sometimes they mean well, but if they disapprove of your choices, or if they feel threatened by an outsider, they will cause trouble. God intervened in this situation and called the three together to the tent of meeting. Instead of playing “he said, she said” or “whisper down the lane” God brought all three together and spoke this part that we just read from Numbers 12:6-8. These verses explain how God normally spoke to prophets in that time. Visions and Dreams. However, Moses is more faithful than the prophets. Because Moses is Faithful, God speaks to him face to face. God does not speak in riddles to him. And Moses sees the form of the Lord. Other translations say Moses beholds Jehovah’s form attentively. His form, likeness, shape or Glory. The conclusion of God’s rebuke and thought process is the question, “why are you not afraid?” The idea is they should have been afraid to speak against Moses, because he is God’s servant. The fault or sin was obviously speaking against Moses, but God knows their hearts, and they weren’t even afraid to commit the sin. He told them they should have been afraid when they sinned. The point is, if you speak against God’s servant, you speak against God. Romans 14:4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. If you sin against somebody, you sin against God. If you judge one of God’s servants, you Judge God’s sovereign will! Let’s continue on to Hebrews 3:7-11, which is a direct quote of Psalm 95:7-11
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.’ ”
Today if you hear his voice. This first part illustrates the timeliness of our worship for God. If you hear God’s voice, you should act immediately. Today. Don’t wait for a better time. Don’t wait until you’ve cleaned yourself up or prepared yourself. That time will never happen. We can’t clean ourselves up, we shouldn’t wait until we’re scholars to come to a church, or to attend a Bible Study. Do it today. Today if you hear his voice, The second part says we should listen for God’s voice. Some Christian denominations and churches go a bit overboard in saying they hear God’s voice speaking to them. The best answer to that is to say which verse? Which verse is speaking to you, because that’s how God communicates with us. Hebrews 1 explained that God no longer uses prophets. So Today, if you hear God’s voice, chances are it’s because you are hearing a verse from the Bible or you are understanding something from scripture, or you’re learning something about Jesus Christ. If you hear something, Verse 8, Don’t harden your heart. Listen to the word of God, study the Bible with an open and teachable heart. Allow yourself to be affected by scripture. How does verse 8 continue? “as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness” What’s this rebellion? The copied verse from Psalm 95 uses different words or rebellion and time of testing. It says “Meribah” for rebellion and “Day at Massah” for time of testing. Those two words give a bit of a clue what the writer is talking about. It would be clear to a Hebrew reading it, but for us, it might be a bit more confusing. Meribah and Massah were names for a place during the Exodus. The Israelites were at a place called Rephidim in the desert of Sin traveling out of Egypt. They had seen God’s miracles, the plagues that had crippled their cruel Egyptian masters, the parting of the Red Sea. They had even seen God provide manna and quail for food. But at this point they were growing thirsty and quarreled against Moses. Did they believe that God would continue to provide for them? No, they did not believe or trust. They asked why they were brought out of Egypt just to die of thirst. They were testing God, by asking whether God was even with them or not. But they were not just quarreling with words; when Moses prayed to God, he said they were ready to stone him. So this rebellion wasn’t just a disagreement or a quarrel. This was a group of people in open mutiny against the people God was using to save them. The Lord told Moses to strike a rock with his staff, and water would come out. He did this before the elders, and the people had water to drink.
Problem solved. For now.. But around 40 years later, they were in the desert still wandering and they came to a place called Kadesh. The Israelites again complained about not having grain, figs, grapevines, pomegranates, and water. They said that they believed they would die out there, together with their livestock. God spoke to Moses and Aaron and said to gather the assembly of people, take the staff, but to speak to the rock. Moses was angered, and asked the people, “listen rebels, must we bring you water from this rock?” he then hit the rock twice with his staff. This moment demonstrated both the unbelief and lack of faith of the Israelite people, but also the lack of faith of Moses and Aaron themselves. They disobeyed God’s instruction, and instead of speaking to a rock, the struck or smote the rock. Not once, but twice. This rock is compared to Jesus Christ himself in 1 Corinthians 10. The group of Israelites had been drinking of the rock of Christ, and so their rebellion against Moses was a rebellion against God. And Moses’s action wasn’t just a simple act of frustration, his sin caused pain and suffering and a smiting or striking of the Rock, Christ. Now we see that the problem the Israelites faced in the desert is the same problem we face as Christians. If you hear God’s voice, Do not harden your heart. Jesus Christ said My sheep listen to my voice. Let’s jump ahead briefly to Hebrews 3:15-19
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.
The Israelites demonstrated their disbelief in God’s provision, just as we demonstrate our lack of faith and trust in God’s provision. If we hear God’s voice, we should listen. We shouldn’t harden our hearts or let them stray, or we will be essentially doing the exact same thing that the Israelites did in the desert. What happened to the Israelites when they disobeyed and let their hearts stray? They were not permitted to enter into God’s rest. They were not allowed into the promised land. Even Moses and Aaron were not given that promised land. They saw God’s provision, but their sin kept them from the resting place that God had prepared. The same could happen to us. We can know of God’s provision but our sin can keep us away from God’s rest. It would look a little different. Because Now here we are On this side of the cross, knowing everything we know about Jesus Christ, we are left an even greater level of understanding about who God is. We know God’s plan for our sins. We know God’s love for us. We have promises of eternity and heaven. But when we see all these things, and even then harden our hearts, or let them go astray, we forfeit an even greater inheritance. Not just a plot of land on this earth, but a room in a house that’s being prepared for us in heaven. Any time we start to honor stuff or covet those things that we can see, and place more desire and honor on those things instead of the things of God, we allow our hearts to stray. Hebrews 3:10 says God’s complaint ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ When we value things, we discount or dishonor knowing God’s ways. In Romans, Paul explains it this way, We exchange the glory of God for created things, giving glory to the creation and not the creator. This is just like the example of honoring the house instead of honoring the creator. When we get caught up in the here and now, we stray from our understanding of God’s promise for eternity. God’s promise for rest. This rest is more than just resting in peace when we are dead, or taking a nap. Those things are a shadow of a greater truth. This rest is a Sabbath rest that is found only in Jesus Christ. This is a rest from our works, and a rest from being justified by our works, This rest is grace. I wrote an entire post on the sabbath rest, a few years back and next post we will go into that in greater detail. But know that the stakes are greater than just Moses not entering a location. When we don’t see God’s rest, it’s a terrible thing. It means we deny Christ and become unbelievers. The Hebrews who didn’t believe were not able to enter into rest at their promised land. But for today’s unbelievers, the rest that is unable to be entered is Heaven itself.. If you are following along in your Bibles, you’ll see that we went from Hebrews 3:11 and jumped to Hebrews 3:15-19. Verses 15-19 explain 7-11 in greater detail and explain more about that rebellion. Verses 15-19 describe the severity of not entering into God’s rest and show the similarity of our unbelief to the unbelief of the rebels. But now I will take us back to Hebrews 3:12-14 and close there, because that part explains a bit of the application.
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.
Let’s examine our hearts. The writer says see to it that none of you has a sinful or unbelieving heart. This is a great command. Take a look at your actions. Take a look at the motivation behind your actions. We should do this first and foremost on ourselves. We know ourselves better than anyone else. We need to be humble and teachable and honest. Why did I act the way I did? Why was I so angry then? Or on the flip side. Why was I so excited about this or that thing, when I can’t be excited to go to church and worship? See to It that you aren’t turning away from the Living God! Then, the author also implies that we should see to it that nobody has that hardened heart. We need to engage each other in probing and testing our hearts. This phase is dangerous, because you need to have a strong relationship with the brother or sister that’s holding you accountable. You can’t have a good sense of someone else’s heart until you’ve spent a good amount of time with them. One hour per week on a Sunday isn’t enough to really notice a strong pattern of behavior. And noticing behaviors isn’t enough to link that to a motive. Also, testing someone else’s heart can seem like judging if it isn’t done with love on the tester‘s side, and humility on the tested‘s side. This is an area that potentially could lead to hurt feelings if not done right, but it’s also an area that allows us to strengthen and sharpen each other. Verse 13 says encourage one another daily. It shouldn’t all be rebukes and correction, but also encouragement! As long as it’s called today. As long as we are in Today, there’s still time to soften our hearts and allow God’s teaching and instruction to produce understanding and fruit. We have come share in a perfect and glorious inheritance because we share in Christ. We were drawn by God to share in Christ. And the author here qualifies that with the idea of perseverance. If we hold our conviction firmly to the end. We have perseverance promised to us. If we don’t persevere we aren’t God’s, If we do, we are. God already knows who we are and whose we are. We should encourage each other to value this salvation and treasure this inheritance. Even if the end result is known by God, we should still be excited to be used by God to do His will. As long as it’s called “Today” we can hear God’s voice. We can value God’s teaching and we can repent of the sins that harden our hearts toward God. If we value God already, if we have repented of our sins, we can encourage one another to continue growing in God’s love and his sanctifying path in our lives. Again, this is why we are here. To honor and worship God, to grow in our love for God, and to encourage one another to do the same.