Hebrews 3:1-19

How can I get to heaven?

Hebrews

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 3

2 The superior *apostle 3:1-4:13

Jesus is superior to Moses 3:1-6

v1 Brothers and sisters in Christ who belong to God, you share the call to be with him in heaven. So let us take time to think about Jesus. God sent him to us to show what he is like and to be the chief priest whom we trust. v2 He did what God sent him to do, just as Moses did in the house of God. v3 The person who builds a house gets more honour than the house. That is why Jesus gets more honour than Moses. v4 Every house has a builder, but God is the one who builds all things. v5 God told Moses what to do and he did it as the servant of God in all his house. Moses spoke about what God would say in the future. v6 Jesus Christ was true as a Son over the house of God. We are his house, if we keep our confidence and *boldly trust in him to the end.

Verse 1 In Chapter s 1 and 2 we saw how Jesus is greater than the *prophets and the *angels. This is because of his own greatness and because of what he has done for us. So now we are to think about him both as the *apostle and as our chief priest. To the Hebrews, Moses was the first *apostle and Aaron was the first chief priest.

The word ‘*apostle’ means someone whom God sends. An *apostle comes to people as the agent of God. So God sent Moses to the Hebrews when they were slaves in the land of *Egypt. He came to set them free and to lead them out of that country. To do this he had to go to the king of *Egypt and persuade him to let them go. At first, the king refused. But after God had done many powerful works, he sent them out. God sent Jesus to lead people out from the rule of the devil and to bring them to God. Jesus came to us to show us what God is like. He overcame the devil and set us free from his power.

The chief priest was a man who went to God as the agent of the people. He had to make sacrifices for all their *sins. Then he asked God to forgive them. Aaron was the man whom God made the first chief priest. He had to make the sacrifices for his own *sins as well as for the *sins of the Hebrews. Once every year he took the blood of an animal into the most holy place, and then God forgave the people their *sins. Jesus is the one who is our chief priest. He made a *sacrifice of himself for all our *sins. He did not need a *sacrifice for himself, because he was without *sin. Because Jesus took his own blood to God, God forgives us our *sins. (The word blood here is instead of the word *sacrifice).

Verse 2 An agent must be true to the one who appoints him. God sent Moses to be over his house, that is, as leader of the Hebrews. He led the Hebrews out of the land of *Egypt and for the 40 years that they lived in the desert. Moses did all that God asked him to do, although he did fail at times. The writer says that Moses was true to God. He was a great man and the Hebrews gave him great respect.

God also sent Jesus to be his agent on earth. He always did what God asked of him. He always spoke the words that God gave him to speak. He completed the task that he came to do. He was perfect in all his life and he never failed.

Verse 3 Both Moses and Jesus deserve all the honour that we can give to them. But much more honour is due to Jesus than to Moses. Moses was true to God as a servant in the house of God. Jesus built that house and is the owner of it. The builder and owner has more honour than the house itself. That house is the people of God. The servant, who in this picture is part of the house, must be less than the builder. Moses was a great man among the people of God. Jesus is so much greater because the people of God are his house.

Verse 4 Jesus became a real man for the work he had to do. He was always God and even when he became a *human being he was still God. Jesus said, ‘I and my Father are one’ (John 10:30). That is why there is here no difference between God and Jesus. Each house has a builder and God is building this one. Verse 3 tells us that Jesus is the builder of this house. God is the author and maker of all things. He does this by Jesus Christ his Son. So Jesus is the maker of all things.

Verse 5 Moses was a good servant in the house of God. The word servant does not mean that he had to do only small tasks. He had an important part to play in the story of the Hebrews. He was the agent of God to bring them out of *Egypt. He received the law from God and gave it to them. He was like a father to them in the desert. God sent him to be the *apostle of the Hebrews. His task was not just for his own days but it was to speak about the future. His life was to point to the work of an *apostle who was to come. The Hebrews looked for a man like Moses to come and lead them. That man is the *Messiah, who is Jesus Christ.

Verse 6 We now have the final proof that Jesus the Christ is greater than Moses. He is the Son who is over his own house. He must have more honour than Moses, who was only a servant in that house. Jesus as the agent of God brings to us far more than Moses could bring. We are part of his house, when we come to Jesus accepting all that he has done for us. We can have joy and confidence as we look to the future. We must hold on to this *belief and not let it go. We can be certain that God will do all that he has promised.

Warning to obey 3:7-4:2

v7-8 So, as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today, when you hear me speak, do not oppose what I say. That is what the *Hebrew people did when they were in the desert. v9 There they tested me and tried me. They saw what I did for 40 years. v10 So I was angry with those people. I said, ‘Their hearts are always wrong. They have not known my ways’. v11 In my anger I declared, ‘They shall never enter my place of rest (Psalms 95:7-11)’. v12 Be careful, my Christian brothers and sisters, that none of you has an evil heart that does not trust God. Such a heart will turn you away from the God who is alive and active. v13 Encourage each other daily, as long as it is still ‘today’, to be true to God. This is so that *sin will not lead you away and your hearts become hard towards God. v14 We are partners with Christ, if we trust him to the end, as we did at first. v15 God is still saying, ‘Today, when you hear me speak, do not make your hearts hard. That is what the people in the desert did, when they turned away from me’. v16 Who heard God, yet turned away from him? It was the people whom Moses led out of the land of *Egypt. v17 Who made God angry for 40 years? It was the people who had turned away from him. These all died in the desert. v18 To whom did God declare that they would never enter his rest? It was the people who did not obey him. v19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because they did not trust God.

apostle ~ one whom God sends; especially one of the 12 that Jesus chose to be his helpers.'boldness/boldly ~ to be brave and without fear; with courage.
angel ~ a spirit person made by God to serve him and take his messages. There are angels who sinned and now serve the Devil.
spirit ~ that part of a person which we cannot see but which can speak to other spirits or to the soul; there are other spirits which can be good or evil.
sin ~ to sin is to do wrong, bad or evil; not to obey God; sins are the wrong things that we do.
soul ~ the part of a person that we cannot see that is in us during our life and lives after we die; it is our inner life (not the body); it is that part of people that God speaks to through their spirits.
Egypt ~ a country where the Israelites were slaves before the exodus.
Israelites ~ the people of Israel.
exodus ~ a word used to refer to the time when God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt.
Israel ~ God changed the name of Jacob to Israel (Genesis 35). The sons of Jacob were the beginning of the nation of Israel. The land that God promised to them is the land of Israel.
sin ~ to sin is to do wrong, bad or evil; not to obey God; sins are the wrong things that we do.
sacrifice ~ an offering to God, often an animal or bird, by the Jews to ask God to forgive their sins. Jesus gave himself to die as a sacrifice for our sins.
Jews ~ people who were born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children. It is also a name for the people of Israel.
sin ~ to sin is to do wrong, bad or evil; not to obey God; sins are the wrong things that we do.
Israel ~ God changed the name of Jacob to Israel (Genesis 35). The sons of Jacob were the beginning of the nation of Israel. The land that God promised to them is the land of Israel.'human being ~ a human person.
Messiah ~ the special servant of God, the name God chose for Jesus Christ. The person that God sent to save his people from their sins. God promised the Jews that Messiah would come. Jesus is that Messiah but the Jews still do not believe it.
sin ~ to sin is to do wrong, bad or evil; not to obey God; sins are the wrong things that we do.
Jews ~ people who were born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children. It is also a name for the people of Israel.
Israel ~ God changed the name of Jacob to Israel (Genesis 35). The sons of Jacob were the beginning of the nation of Israel. The land that God promised to them is the land of Israel.
belief ~ what we accept as true... see faith.
faith ~ to trust someone or something; belief and trust in God and in Jesus his Son; belief that the Bible is true.
Hebrew ~ a Jewish or Israelite person. The language of the Jewish people.