INTRODUCTION TO HEBREWS 3 The apostle having discoursed, in the preceding Chapter s, concerning the dignity of Christ's person, and his wondrous grace in the assumption of human nature, and suffering in the room and stead of his people, exhorts the Hebrews in this to a serious consideration of him,... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE, HOLY BRETHREN,.... The apostle calls the Hebrews "brethren", not because they were of the same natural stock and lineage, but because they were in the same spiritual relation; they all had the same Father, belonged to the same family, were the adopted sons of God, the brethren of Christ,... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO WAS FAITHFUL TO HIM THAT APPOINTED HIM,.... Or "made him"; Christ, as man, was made, but not as God; nor is the apostle speaking of the divine nature of Christ, but of his offices: wherefore this phrase designs the constitution and settlement of him in office; which may take in the eternal appoi... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS MAN WAS COUNTED WORTHY OF MORE GLORY THAN MOSES,.... Moses was counted worthy of glory and honour, and had it given him, both by God and by men; by God, as appears from the work he called him to, to deliver his people Israel, to reveal his mind and will to them, and to rule and govern them;... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR EVERY HOUSE IS BUILT BY SOME MAN,.... Or by some one; for a house does not build itself: this is true of houses properly taken, or improperly, as nations, tribes, families, and kindred, of the whole church in general, of particular congregations, and of individual believers; the greatest saints,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES VERILY WAS FAITHFUL IN ALL HIS HOUSE AS A SERVANT,.... Moses was not only a servant to the Israelites, but he was also the Lord's servant, a servant of his choosing, sending, and approving; he was a servant in holy things, and served the Lord heartily, sincerely, and ingenuously, with all... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT CHRIST AS A SON OVER HIS OWN HOUSE,.... As Moses was not, though the Jews say that he was מאריה דבית a and בעל הבית b, "lord and master of the house"; yea, and בן בית, "the Son of the house" c; but this he was not: Christ is the Son and heir, the Lord and master; he is a Son, not by creation, or... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE, AS THE HOLY GHOST SAITH,.... In Psalms 95:7 TODAY IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE; either the precepts of Christ, to hear which is to obey them; and this is an acknowledgment to Christ as King of saints, and is a testimony of love to him, and is wellpleasing in his sight; and in which the sai... [ Continue Reading ]
HARDEN NOT YOU HEARTS,.... There is a natural hardness of the heart; the heart of man is like a stone, destitute of spiritual life, motion, and activity; it is senseless, stupid, impenitent, stubborn, and inflexible, on which no impressions can be made, but by powerful grace: and there is an acquire... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN YOUR FATHERS TEMPTED ME,.... This the apostle cites and repeats, to expose the glorying of the Jews in their ancestors; to dissuade them from following their sinful practices; to deter them from the same by observing both their sin and punishment; and to heighten their regards to the voice and... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE I WAS GRIEVED WITH THAT GENERATION,.... דור המדבר, "the generation of the wilderness", as the Jews often call them; and which they say was more beloved than any generation e; and yet they will not allow them a part in the world to come; Hebrews 3:11. When God is said to be grieved with t... [ Continue Reading ]
SO I SWARE IN MY WRATH,.... Swearing is ascribed to God, to show the certainty of the thing spoken of; as of mercies, when he swears in love, and by his holiness; so here, of punishment, when he swears in wrath, in indignation, in sore displeasure, and the threatened evil is irrevocable and inevitab... [ Continue Reading ]
TAKE HEED, BRETHREN,.... This exhortation is grounded upon the state and case of their ancestors before given, as a warning and caution to the then present Hebrews; and whom the apostle styles "brethren", to show that he had no hard thoughts of them, and that his jealousy was a godly one, and not an... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT EXHORT ONE ANOTHER DAILY,.... In order to prevent unbelief and apostasy. The phrase is sometimes rendered, "comfort one another", or, "yourselves together", as in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 which the saints may do, by discoursing together about divine things; by praying together; by instructing one an... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WE ARE MADE PARTAKERS OF CHRIST,.... Being loved by him, given to him, and chosen in him before the foundation of the world; and so participate of all spiritual blessings in him; for this respects something past, and may be rendered, "we have been made". The phrase is expressive of union to Chri... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILE IT IS SAID TODAY,.... Exhort one another, and hold fast Christ and his Gospel, and faith and confidence therein; what follows is a repetition of the citation in Hebrews 3:7 in order to make a further improvement of it; which shows, that the words belong to the present times of the Gospel, and... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR SOME, WHEN, THEY HAD HEARD,.... The Arabic version adds, "his voice"; the law on Mount Sinai; the voice of words, with the voices and thunderings that attended it; the book of the covenant read; the whole system of laws and ordinances delivered to Moses, and by him to them; and also the Gospel,... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WITH WHOM WAS HE GRIEVED FORTY YEARS?.... As is said in Psalms 95:10, Hebrews 3:10, WAS IT NOT WITH THEM THAT HAD SINNED; not merely by committing personal iniquities, and particular provocations, which all men are guilty of, but by committing public sins; they sinned as a body of men; they jo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND TO WHOM SWARE HE THAT THEY SHOULD NOT ENTER INTO HIS REST,.... As in Psalms 95:11, BUT TO THEM THAT BELIEVED NOT? the Lord; notwithstanding the signs and wonders he showed among them, they would not be persuaded by Moses and Aaron, by Joshua and Caleb, to be still and quiet, to cease murmuring,... [ Continue Reading ]
SO WE SEE THAT THEY COULD NOT ENTER IN,.... To God's rest, the land of Canaan, for they died by the plague before the Lord, and their carcasses fell in the wilderness, before they came to it, Numbers 14:37 and the reason was, BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF; their distrust of God, his power, and his providenc... [ Continue Reading ]