Working on various books in the New Testament
Verses 1-2 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; 2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
Because Jesus Christ for a short time lived in a body of flesh and suffered all those things mankind suffers and yet made reconciliation for the sins of mankind, the Apostle Paul instructs the Hebrew Christians who are set apart and who are brothers or family in the LORD to consider Him who is both an Apostle or one sent forth and a High Priest for all who believe in Him. Jesus Christ was faithful to the Father just as Moses was faithful. The Greek word translated as “house” is “oikos” and it can mean an ordinary house or home, a palace, the house of God, the tabernacle, the human body, the place where one has fixed his residence, all the persons forming a household, or the family of God which is the Church of the Old and New Testaments. In the context of these verses, this writer is interpreting the word ‘house’ to mean the household of God or the Church. The Prophet Moses was first and foremost faithful to God, then faithful to God’s tabernacle where He met with Moses, faithful to the Hebrew people, and faithful to his own earthly family. Moses built the Church in the wilderness under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and through the giving of the Law. Likewise, Jesus Christ was faithful to His Father, to the people He was sent to minister to, to His disciples, and to His earthly relatives. He established the Church and gave His Holy Ghost/Spirit to dwell in the people of the Church.
Verses 3-4 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. 4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
Jesus Christ, as man but also as God, built and is building the household of God. He established the New Testament Church and it is Jesus who sustains all things, both physical and spiritual. The Hebrew Christians were indoctrinated with Judaism and with the veneration of the Prophet Moses. They had attended the synagogues or the Temple in Jerusalem and been taught the Babylonian Talmud. The Apostle Paul had the difficult job of re-educating them to the Gospel message and therefore it was necessary for him to put the Prophet Moses in proper perspective. Moses was not greater than Jesus Christ because Moses could only have built up the nation Israel with the guidance and power of Jesus Christ, God Almighty. So the house of Israel was built up by Jesus and the Church was/is also built up by Jesus. Therefore, He deserves all glory.
Verses 5-6 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; 6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
The Prophet Moses was/is a type of Jesus Christ in Scripture. His life and his work was a testimony of what was to come. Moses told the Hebrew people as recorded in Deuteronomy 18:15, “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.” The Apostle Peter in his first great sermon after the Day of Pentecost stated likewise. “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.” Acts 3:22 Now Jesus Christ is over the Christian Church and is the builder of it. He is the Prophet Moses spoke of who came from the tribe of Judah, sent to witness to the house of Israel. Unfortunately, the Jews of Jesus’ day did not accept their Messiah, resulting in the end of their nation in 70 A.D. as prophesied by Jesus Christ and in them being scattered over the face of the Earth, never to be a nation again.
Application: The LORD prophesied in Amos 7:8, “And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more”, and again in Amos 8:2, “And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.” When God says something twice, it is firm and will not change. These verses were ignored by Cyrus I. Scofield in his false doctrine and are ignored by the pastors and teachers who have adopted Scofield’s false doctrine and who teach that the nation Israel can be saved a different way other than through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, that Israel is going to establish a kingdom on Earth in which King David will return and rule, that there is a rapture, and so forth. Jesus clearly taught that His Kingdom was spiritual “and not of this Earth”, and that His Kingdom would be given to the Gentiles, which the last 2000 years of history has born out. To be a part of the house of God, one has to come to Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life.
So the Hebrew Christians the Apostle Paul was writing this epistle (letter) to were those people who had already heard the Gospel message, come to Jesus Christ in faith, been baptized in water, and been filled with the Holy Ghost/Spirit. Therefore the Apostle Paul was encouraging them to hold fast to their salvation and faith and to rejoice in the promises of eternal life with Jesus Christ because they were now part of His Kingdom. Their citizenship was not on this Earth, but in Heaven.
Verses 7-11 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Here the Apostle Paul was reminding the Hebrews of the mistakes their ancestors made after coming out of Egypt. They hardened their hearts and rebelled against the LORD while in the wilderness. They were so wicked and disobedient that the LORD left them living in the wilderness for forty years until all who had rebelled against Him had died, and their children were then allowed to enter the promised land of Palestine. The moral to this historical story was that one should yield to the leading of the Holy Ghost/Spirit and trust in Him so that the promised land, which for the Church is eternal life in Heaven, can be attained.
Verses 12-14 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Application: Remember that the Apostle Paul was writing to converted Christians, yet he was warning them that it was possible to depart from that which they first encountered in their salvation experience and to fall into sin and unbelief and then depart from the LORD. There are three enemies the Christian must battle: the flesh, the world, and the Devil. Any one of these enemies can cause a Christian to fall. And if repentance is not forthcoming and Christians leave their relationship with the LORD, the end result is that they will be like the Hebrew ancestors and die in their sins and not enter the promised land, Heaven. These verses from the Apostle Paul destroy the false doctrine of “once saved, always saved”. There is no guarantee of Heaven if believers fall away from the Faith. The Apostle Paul states above that Christians should encourage and strengthen each other DAILY. Today is the only day that counts. There is no guarantee of a tomorrow. All Christian believers need to be sure they are right with the LORD each and every day.
Verses 15-19 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. 16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. 17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3)
Here the Apostle Paul repeats verses seven and eight above. To harden one’s heart means to become obstinate or stubborn. Provocation is a noun which means an action or speech that makes someone annoyed or angry. A hardened heart angers the LORD. Plain and simple. To be a man or woman after God’s own heart means to be humble and easily lead by the Spirit of God. It means to do things His way and not our own way. Christians are to be obedient children if they wish to remain sons of God and part of His family.
Application: Some of the saddest verses in Scripture are found in Matthew 7 and Luke 13. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done may wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:21-23 “Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold there are last which shell be first, and there are first which shall be last.” Luke 13: 23-30 Jesus Christ told his disciples that the religious people whose hearts were not right but who performed religiously would not enter into His kingdom, regardless of their works. Today, churches are full of religious people who use the correct Christian vocabulary, who tithe, who sit in the pews every Sunday, who take ‘communion’, and who may teach Sunday school classes and so forth but who are not truly saved from sin, death and Hell. Many of these religious people believe they are saved. Many of them have accepted false Bible versions and false doctrine. But most of them have never truly yielded themselves to the leading of the Holy Ghost/Spirit. They are not walking with the LORD Jesus Christ. And since no one is promised ‘tomorrow’, it is essential that each day those who believe they are following Jesus Christ should take inventory and be sure that their hearts are right with Him and that they are following His leading and being obedient to His Word. Sin should not and cannot be part of the Christian’s life. Pride in performing works for the Church will not get one into Heaven. Only a sincerely humble heart and attitude and a love for Jesus Christ will do.