The Letter to the Hebrews Chapter 3 Jan-Apr 2014 FXCC

Hebrews 3 Continues the theme of Jesus’ superiority, but this time compared to Moses Includes another warning Need to encourage each other in order to get thru this

Warnings On bottom side: “Keep Upright” Warning: May cause drowsiness on “Nytol Sleep Aid” Warning: May contain traces of nuts on “Hershey’s Almond Bar” Some assembly required on a 500-piece puzzle Before installing fanbelt, be sure you shut off the engine as it may cause irreversible injury “WARNING – May cause cancer in California on the product ”Roll-A-Hose”

Hebrews 3:1-6 1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess, 2 who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God’s house. 3 For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself!

Hebrews 3:1-6 4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken. 6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s 8 house. We are of his house, if in fact we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope we take pride in.

Hebrews 3:1-6 Therefore! Already shown – Jesus is greater than angels – Jesus is High Priest They are called “brothers” – Remember how chapter 2 ended – We are God’s children, Jesus is our brother, we are “brothers” to each other

Hebrews 3:1-6 Apostle – God’s representative to/before people High Priest – People’s representative to/before God

Hebrews 3:1-6 Now the writer is going to “take on Moses” – Jews hold Moses in “HIGH” esteem! – The writer is treading dangerous ground – You do NOT “dis” Moses! Both Moses and Jesus were found faithful Both were tested and remained faithful

Hebrews 3:1-6 The writer approaches this topic not by comparing their characters, but their roles Moses was the best steward/servant of the house Jesus is the Son of the Owner – Therefore Jesus is over the entire household – The house is the believers

Hebrews 3:1-6 We (Christians) are members of His house IF We hold firmly to our confidence Faithfulness is required, i.e. – Don’t give up – Don’t quit – Don’t lose hope – Clearly they could lose their salvation

Hebrews 3: Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! 8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness. 9 “There your fathers tested me and tried me, and they saw my works for forty years. 10 “Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering and they have not known my ways.’ 11 “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’”

Hebrews 3:7-11 Here begins the real warning! The writer uses what example? – The Exodus and the 40 years wanderings What happened? – Tested, tried – Hearts wandered – Did not know God’s ways

Hebrews 3:7-11 How had God proved Himself by the time they were at Sinai? – Plagues – Red Sea – Manna – Water from rock – Quail – Gifts of craftsmenship

Hebrews 3:7-11 What was Israel’s response? – Testing – Trying – Wandering hearts God’s response? – 40 years of wandering – Where they could witness more of God’s work – They could not enter the promised land!

Hebrews 3:7-11 The writer quotes Psalm 95:7b-11 – 7 …Today, if only you would obey him! 8 He says, “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah, like they were that day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors challenged my authority, and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I was continually disgusted with that generation, and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray; they do not obey my commands.’ 11 So I made a vow in my anger, ‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’”

Psalm Reference Psalm 95:1-7a is an invitation to worship God – “Come let us…” 95:1,2,6 – Sing, shout, music, bowing, kneeling, etc – Proclaim God is Lord and creator Jesus is worshipped by the angels, because He is God’s Son 7b-11 invite the people to “hear” God (listen and obey)

Psalm Reference Do not reject or harden your hearts – Meribah means “quarreling” – Massah means “testing” – Two sites where Israel rebelled btwn the sea and Sinai – These events are Exodus 17 Vs 10 of the Psalm looks back to Num 14 – Here the people did not trust God’s promises to take the land

Psalm Reference How long did Israel wander, because of their sin? Remember this letter was probably written shortly before 70 AD When did Jesus die? So the writer and/or the readers might see some connection

Hebrews 3: See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes the living God. 13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception. 14 For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence firm until the end. 15 As it says, “O, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Hebrews 3:12-15 Warns against unbelief and hard hearts Urges them to encourage each other They need to persevere, continue to the end As with the angels, it was IMPORTANT to listen to Moses BUT it is MUCH more IMPORTANT to listen to Jesus NOW

Hebrews 3:12-15 Daily they are to encourage each other Can we encourage each other if we never see each other? – You are here so I am talking to the choir Israel failed to enter the Promised Land If we fail to remain faithful, the result is much worse We will miss out on Heaven!

Hebrews 3:12-15 The church was designed to be a community NOT a hermitage God did not intend for us to “go it alone” We are supposed to support each other The NT is full of “one another” passages

Hebrews 3: For which ones heard and rebelled? Was it not all who came out of Egypt under Moses’ leadership? 17 And against whom was God provoked for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear they would never enter into his rest, except those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they could not enter because of unbelief.

Hebrews 3:16-19 The amazing thing is that those who rebelled where the very ones who had witnessed all the miracles! Who was God mad at? – The ones who sinned – Their bodies were buried in the desert Who could not enter the promised land? – Those who doubted, did not believe, rebelled

Hebrews 3:16-19 Even tho it is not noted here in Hebrews These were also the people who SWORE to follow God God used the wilderness as a training ground – They were supposed to learn to trust Him – Learn to believe Him – Learn to obey Him – W/out God they all would have died there!

Hebrews 3:16-19 The reference is to Numbers 14 Clearly this passage is equating Israel’s promised land, with heaven for us Doubt, disobey, rebel – Don’t expect to be in heaven Their unbelief, lack of faith, refused to believe God’s promises, did not trust God – Resulted in REBELLION!

Hebrews 3:16-19 Doubting God’s promise that was relayed to them by Moses, carried a severe punishment How much worse the punishment if we doubt (don’t trust) God’s promise to us given through His Son?

Doubt Doubt! We all doubt (sometime, frequently, whatever) Doubt in this text is not short term/temporary The problem arises when we allow doubts to destroy our belief in God, then we have a real problem

Conclusions Learn from Israel’s past failures Follow Jesus Trust Him – He has a proven track record – The Bible shows us that track record Israel failed, you/we can succeed if we just trust Jesus

References F.F. Bruce, “The Epistle to the Hebrews”, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, Eerdmans, 1967 Edward Fudge, “Our Man in Heaven: An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews”,, Baker, 1974 – Available on-line for free – html html

References Edward Fudge, “Hebrews: Ancient Encouragement for Believers Today”, Leafwood Publishers, 2009 John Mark Hicks, Hebrews, Word Doc – content/uploads/sites/10/2009/03/hebrews- edited.doc content/uploads/sites/10/2009/03/hebrews- edited.doc

References Referenced in John Mark Hicks, Hebrews, Word Doc are the sites for a sermon series (Strength for the Journey) by Rubel Shelly and John York on Hebrews – G=316&Start=121&SortAlpha= G=316&Start=121&SortAlpha – G=316&Start=101&SortAlpha= G=316&Start=101&SortAlpha – 60&Start= &Start=161 – 60&Start= &Start=141

References Bobby Valentine’s “Stoned-Campbell Disciple” blog – aul-and-the-unquestioned-authority-of-the-old- testament/ aul-and-the-unquestioned-authority-of-the-old- testament/