Session 5

Hebrews Session

Heb. 3:1-6

Video Content Development

Scheduled video shoots: September 9, 1:00 pm - Sessions 5-6

Rough Draft of Hebrews

1. Introduction

a. Personal Greeting

As we prepare ourselves, I want to ask you to think of meaningful leaders you have had in your life? People who you highly respect, trust their advice, and maybe even admire to the point of wanting to be like them.

We can probably all name several people for who we have deep respect. Perhaps it is someone in your family, a close friend, or a grandparent. Hopefully, we have all found people in our lives who we can trust to steer us in the right direction.

We often think of “Great Leaders” as a special designation for thos who led a a large scale. And it is true that highly disciplined leaders often move into larger scales of leadership. I believe that many of us personally know great leaders, who God has used to help shape our lives.

Whoever it is that comes to mind for you, take a minute to join me in considering:

“What qualities do great leaders have that inspire others to follow them?”

Consider your own leaders who you follow, who you aim to be like, who’s voice you respect. What about them compels you? What have they done to build respect? Earn your trust?

Is it their:

Ability to empathize?

Their humility?

Perhaps its their courage and integrity?

Is it their ability to inspire you to a better future or is it their ability to adapt?

Or maybe it is their discernment?

Some demonstrate passion and conviction, others are collaborative and constantly look out for others. Whatever the case, I would start by encouraging you to share your appreciation with them. Even if it doesn’t seem like it,everyone needs encouragement.

Now imagine for a moment that one of these leaders in your life felt the Lord call them into a larger scale of leadership.

It is always inspiring o see our leaders rise up. When we see our people who we know begin to impact wider ranges of people. As leaders rise, we can begin to revere them in deeper ways, as we feel that we are part of their story.

This is how the Israelites felt about Moses. But it took some time to get there. Moses was one of their own, but they didn’t really grow up with him., more like under him. You see the people were slaves but Moses was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, and lived with privilege. There are several reasons why Moses would need to be intentional about building unity. Because God called him to be the leader of all the Hebrew People. It took a long time for Moses to earn respect and authority, people didn’t know if they wanted to trust him. What made it extra hard was he kept trying to stand up for them before Pharoah, and it only seemed to make things worse for the people.

With great perseverance, Moses eventually led the people out of slavery in Egypt. This happened because of the plagues that God brought upon the Egyptians through Moses. As the people left Egypt, they continued to see God use Moses in powerful ways, particularly, in parting the Red Sea in half so that they could walk through on dry ground, saving them from the Egyptian army. Even after all that, there was still more trust to be earned. The people complained about the lack of water and food, their desire for meat, their fear of the Canaanites, and like any leader they complained about Moses. They even started a rebellion against him. But God put an end to all of that. Over time, the people saw Moses as trustworthy. Time and time again, he revealed integrity, and faithfulness to God above all else.

When we study Moses, we find that he was more than just a great leader. In fact, Moses was a mediator between God and the people. He would come to the people with God’s commands, laws, and instructions (Ex. 19:3-6). When the people sinned or rebelled, Moses interceded on their behalf, by asking God for forgiveness and mercy (Ex. 32:11-14, 30-32).

We see Moses offer sacrifices on the peoples behalf in Exodus 24:4-8. Which is the role of a priest. But interestingly enough, Moses was actually born through the Levitcal line, which is the tribe of Israel that God established as the priests.

Moses Also:

Played a foundational role in Consecrating Aaron as the first High Priest and set set aside all who belonged to Aaron and Consecrated them (Ex. 28-29, Lev. 8-9) Meaning, that the Lord used Moses to establish and set apart everyone who would become priests in Israel.

IN Exodus 32 and Numbers 16 we see Moses make intercession and atonement on behalf of the people. The people, including Aaron and his sons, sinned by building a golden calf that they began to worship as God. So Moses, went to the Lord on their behalf and made sacrifices for them.

He did the judging and teaching, on several occasions he led them in worship, and was even involved in constructing and overseeing the tabernacle.

You see the image we come to see Moses in, is that he functioned like a high-priest for the Israelites. But beyond that, he also functioned like a prophet who was determined to follow God. But not just any prophet, in Numbers 12:6-7 we actually see God set Moses apart from other prophets:

“Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. 7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.”

As a prophetic, Priest, and judge of the people, Moses became Israel’s most effective intercessor, who worked miracles through God’s Spirit, and became one of the greatest leaders in all of history. In fact, it would seem that Jews around the time of Jesus had the highest respect for Moses. They learned to trust and follow his lead as they held his teaching close.

2. Segue Questions

Read Hebrews 3:1-6.

Share the names of some leaders in your life.

What characteristics do they have?

What makes a great leader?

What does God’s word have to say about leadership?

Leader Guide:

3. Teaching 1st Point: The Household of Faith

a. 3-5 minutes

b. Focus on verses 1-4

We all know that good leaders come and go. From generation to generation the make up of leadership can change drastically. Even as we look at Israel’s history, we find that Moses died, Joshua stepped into leadership until the people began to settle in the Promised Land. But when Joshua died, Israel went into the time of the Judges, a time where the people fell into all kinds of sin and the leaders frequently proved to be totally inadequate. In fact, the book of judges ends with this summary statement:

Judges 21:25 “25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

This helps us to see the type of light Moses is seen in by the Hebrew people. After Him and Joshua, everything started to fall apart. It is a stark contrast between leaders, establishing there is a vast difference between leaders who are faithful to God and those who are unfaithful. In the eyes of people, leaders can do okay when they have good principles and ideals, but biblically, what always matters is their faithfulness to God Himself. Which is why Moses sternly warned the people to always esteem God in the highest play by submitting to His law.

As we enter into Hebrews 3, we need to recognize all of this background in order to understand these first six verses. But to really grab hold of them, we need some more background, specifically on who or what God’s leaders are to engage.

Our author starts by calling those he is writing to “Holy Brothers.” This is an interesting phrase because it communicates two things that are about to be focal points.

“Holy” is a reminder that we have been set apart by God. That He has made great investments in us. Not only are they called “Holy” but they are also said to have a heavenly calling that came from Jesus Himself. To ignore or downplay Jesus, His investment, or His calling on our life would not just be to have indifference towards God, but is actually an insult to God.

“Brothers” is a common New Testament word reminding us of our familial connection to one another. In the Old Testament, we have a strong sense of family within the people of Israel. They are all descendants of Abraham and claimed as God’s people. Now, non-Jewish people could also serve God but the Jewish people seemed to consistently miss this teaching point of God. In the New Testament, we see explicit teaching that the gospel is for anyone who would believe. Meaning that anyone who puts their faith and trust in Jesus is drafted into God’s family as a “Brother” or “Sister.”

This idea continues to develop through these verses as we see this illustration of the house. First, we see that “Moses was faithful in all God’s house.” There are two ways for us to think about “God’s house.”

The first is that it is a reference to the tabernacle. The tabernacle was of great significance. If you study Genesis 2-3 and then compare it to the direction God gives in building the Tabernacle, we find that it is meant to reflect a time when man lived in God’s presence with freedom, without the barrier of sin. Both the Tabernacle and the Garden of Eden represent a sacred Space. God’s presence is found in both, the cherubim are interwoven, the entrance faces east, they are comprised of precious materials, and both represent symbolism for life and light.

In every way, the tabernacle was designed to evoke the unparalleled direct communion we had with God in the Garden of Eden. Not only does the tabernacle operate in light of the beginning, but also looks forward in hope of restoration.

The looking forward is of course to the fulfilment of the promises of God. Which is totally fulfilled and revealed in the person of Jesus. Thus, in the New Covenant, this restoration has been made possible through Jesus’ blood. Meaning, that the Old Covenant with the Tabernacle was of tremendous value to God’s people, the New Covenant is simply greater.

The second way we can understand the familial language and use of the word “house” in this passage is simply all of God’s people. In the Old Covenant, we would primarily see this as the people of Israel. In the New Covenant, we see this in light of anyone who puts their faith and trust in Jesus and demonstrates this commitment by how they walk in His ways. Again, we find that the New Covenant is greater than the old because it is not primarily a people group but now through Jesus, that people has become a blessing to all nations. Anyone can have hope of restoration with God and have communion with Him.

in either case, our author compares the value of the New Covenant to the Old. Showing us that Moses was faithful in stewarding the Old and Jesus succeeded Moses by being faithful to steward the New and greater Covenant. The writer deliberately invites us to think of God’s marvelous investment through Jesus that assures us of His progressive work on our behalf. Reminding us of His faithfulness and love for us. Which is part of the basis for the call in verse six, that because we have seen God’s work, we can have even greater confidence in our faith and we can be unashamed in boasting about our hope in Jesus.

4. Group Discussion:

Read Hebrews 3:1-6

Leader Guide:

Digging Deeper (Cross-References)

5. Teaching 2nd Point: From Great to Supreme

The core of the argument in these verses require understanding of God’s house, Godly leadership, and the difference between the Old and New Covenants. Perhaps the first thing you noticed in reading these verses is the stark contrast between Moses and Jesus. Your first impression may have even been that this writer is not a fan of Moses. But look carefully at how Moses is portrayed.

He says:

Just as Jesus was faithful to God the Father, so was Moses.

Just as Jesus was fiathful to His calling, so was Moses.

Moses is called faithful to God twice and accurately taught the people about what God would do in the future through Jesus.

Our author does not slander Moses in any way, rather he has the utmost respect for Moses. If the goal was to simply demonstrated Jesus as better, then the writer likely would have pointed to Moses’ shortcoming’s and then reminded us that Jesus didn’t have any. Instead, there is nothing but respect and appreciation for Moses. Which means that as we consider the comparison from Moses to Jesus, our author is intentional about presenting Moses in the best light in order to exalt Jesus even higher.

After all, it’s one thing to say that Jesus is better than a sinner. But our author takes the chooses to paint Moses as one of the greatest, if not the greatest leader. He was a prophet, a priest, and judge. He was Israel’s most effective intercessor, who worked miracles through God’s Spirit. He was faithful to God and and had to wear a plethora of ministry hats in order to accomplish his calling. It might not be that Moses was the greatest leader in Israel, but also in all the world. Moses was a man of excellence who led from a humble position of faith in God.

It is against this great leader, who is highly esteemed, highly revered, that the writer of Hebrews compares to Jesus.

What we find is that:

Though Moses was faithful, Jesus was more faithful.

Though Moses humbled himself to submit to God’s way, Jesus submitted himself to the point of death.

Though Moses was a great leader, Jesus was far better.

Though Moses was given significant responsibility, Jesus was given more.

Just as the Garden of Eden was better in every way than the Tabernacle, so Jesus is better in every way than Moses.

The analogy is “as great as Moses was, Moses was a faithful servant who was in God’s house. But Jesus, as the Son of God, is faithful over God’s house. One has the status of “servant in the house,” and the other, the “Son who is over the house.” By giving deep respect and appreciation for the servant, our writer helps us to exalt Jesus all the more.

6. Group Discussion:

Read Hebrews.

Leader Guide:

Digging Deeper (Cross-References)

7. Teaching Summary

a. Summarizes the major points and concludes by leaving a challenge or application that is based on the three collective teaching points.

i. Should be direct and clear.

The teaching of Hebrews 3:1-6 is further demonstrated in the parable of the wicked tenants. It is a parable recorded in Matthew 21. It is a allegorical story of how God built a vineyard, leased it out to His people, and sent prophets to us declaring His word. Yet, time and time again, we didn’t listen. We were more interested in the vineyard than God. Even to the point that when God sent His own Son, we crucified Him, trying to claim this world as our own.

But the beauty of the gospel is that those who intended His death for evil accidently made the perffect sacrifice out of God’s only Son. Jesus came knowing what would happen. So He came on purpose. By dying on the cross Jesus faced death itself, that dreadful end that we all fear. That terrible reality caused by our sin. But in coming back to life, Jesus defeated death and defeated our sin.

His sacrifice was so great, that He was able to die for your sin, for my sin, and for anyone who confesses Him as Lord and submits to Him. You see, the Old Covenant required punishment for sin. So people would have to make an animal sacrifice. That animal would pay the cost of their sin with its life. This is something they had to do again and again as they sinned and fell short of God’s law.

But Jesus was the greatest sacrifice, He was so much greater that He only had to die one time, and that one payment was enough value to provide for every single person who would receive it.

You see, we are not just looking at how Jesus is the greater than Moses, we are looking at how Jesus is greater than the entirety of the Old Covenant.

8. Close

Thanks for watching today. I am praying that the Lord would richly bless you, by opening your mind and heart to the fulness of that Old Testament Covenant. Because when you finally see it clearly, you awe and reverence for Jesus will grow insurmountably.