Better Than Moses

Introduction

In our text today, Jesus is compared with one of Israel’s historic heroes: Moses. In this comparison, Jesus is shown not only as superior and more glorious than Moses, but in an entirely different category than him. Moses was a servant in the household of God, but Christ is a Son over that same household of God’s people. This all has a great effect on us since we, who have believed and hold our faith confidently, are that very household under the faithful appointment of Jesus the Son of God.

Moses: Faithful and Glorious In All God’s House

Who was Moses? Moses is one of the most important figures in Israel’s history. It was his calling to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, deliver God’s covenant law to them, and then bring them through their wanderings in the wilderness and into the promised land. He famously was adopted by Pharoah’s daugher after being hidden in a basket among the reeds, only to murdern an Egyptian for beating a fellow Israelite. This Israelites do not interpret this act as salvation, and Moses has to hide among the Midianites. It is here, as a shepherd, that God calls him to be the instrument he would use to deliver his people out of Egypt and into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses, despite his hesitation, returned to Egypt and, through signs performed to display God’s power and judgement of Egypt and her gods, led the Israelites out of Egypt. From here, he acted as a leader, a judge, a lawgiver, and a prophet for Israel until his death shortly before his successor, Joshua, led the people into the promised land.

Moses is a spiritually unique character in the biblical story for many reasons. God uses him to lead his people out of exile in Egypt almost singlehandedly. He has experiences with God that almost no one else in Scripture can claim to have had, including the encounter at the burning bush, recieving the Law, talking with God in the tent of meeting, and seeing the glory of God to an extent that no other human being had ever seen it in this life. Moses is a hero in Israel’s history, and his importance as a leader, an intercessor, and a representative of God’s authority is hard to overstate.

However, Moses was not perfect. He was unable to lead Israel into the promised land because of an incident where he performed a miracle in the wrong way. Where he was commanded to speak to a rock for it to provide water for the thirsty and complaining Israelites. Moses, in seeming frustration with their unbelief, struck the rock twice rather than speaking to it. We can read the consequences of this act in Numbers 20: 12

Numbers 20:12 ESV

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

It appears that, in losing his temper on the Israelites, he disobeyed God in front of them. Moses was not representing God, he was acting in his own emotions and lost control. In doing so, he displayed rebellion and disobedience to God, despite this being the very thing he was upset about (how easy it is to let frustration towards the sins of others lead us into sin ourselves!). Because of this failure in his leadership, God tells Moses that he will not be the one to lead Israel into the promised land.

Now, the author of Hebrews mentions two characteristics of Moses that are notible and important in our text. His faithfulness and the glory God showed through his ministry.

Faithful

In verse 2 we are told that Jesus “was faithful to him who appointed him (God the Father), just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house.”

The faithfulness of Moses, with the exception of the incident with the rock, is consistent throughout the story of the Exodus. Although he was initially hesistant to do what God had commanded, he was faithful despite often having his life and wellbeing put in danger.

No chapter in his life shows this more clearly than in Exodus 32 where Moses prays for the Israelites and makes atonement for them, even putting his own place in God’s covenant at stake in Exodus 32:32

Exodus 32:32 ESV

But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.”

So, Moses’ faithfulness to the role God had given him is beyond almost any other biblical figure. Certainly, if anyone in the history of God’s people can be pointed to as an example of faithfulness, it is Moses.

Glorious

It is also assumed in our text that Moses was a glorious figure, since we are told that Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than him. If the purpose of the author is to show us how glorious Jesus is, it only makes sense that he would use the example of a man known as glorious.

Now, if you are going to think of a man in the OT known for being glorious, again you could hardly find a better figure to focus on than Moses. If you look at old paintings of Moses, you’ll notice he is often depicted with “horns”. These are not really meant to be horns, but rather beams of light shining from his face, depicting the glory which was displayed through him to the people after receiving the Covenant on the two stone tablets again. In Exodus 33:18, Moses asks God to show him his glory and God casues his goodnes to pass before Moses, who is hid in a cleft of the rock and allowed to see his back, but not his face. Of course all of this is somewhat symbolic, as God’s nature doesn’t have a physical body. Instead, it is an antropomorphic display to Moses or description of what Moses saw. When he comes down from the mountain with this second copy of the law, his face is shining with glory because “he had been talking with God” (Exodus 34:30). The Israelites are so overwhelmed by fear when they see this shining and Moses has to put a veil over his face to hide this glory from them, except when he goes before the Lord in the tent of meeting.

In 2 Cor 3:12-16, we are given a NT interpretation of this event in Paul’s writing:

2 Corinthians 3:12–16 ESV

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

So, the glory of Moses was a shining of God’s glory from him who had glimpsed it. Because of Israel’s unbelief, fear kept them from seeing God’s glory. While Moses’ faith made him worthy, the unbelief if Israel made them unworthy of God’s glory.

Jesus Over God’s House

Now, we see the purpose of this text; the comparison between the faithfulness and glory of Moses and the same of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

The purpose of this, we will see, is to convince us of the better position Christians find themselves in than the OT people of God did. Moses was the golden leader of the Pentatuch, he delivered the law and covenant of God to his people. Now, if it is true that the Son of God is greater than Moses in every way, it will follow that the covenant he brings, the promises he brings, and the leadership he brings are greater. How, then, can you leave Jesus and go back to Moses?

Servant Vs Son

But how is the Son of God different from Moses? It is not simply a matter of quantity of faithfulness and glory, but of quality as well. This is becasue Moses is called a servant in God’s household, whereas Jesus is a son over God’s household.

The difference between a servant and a son was very clear in the ancient world. Both were members of a household, both played a role in the family, and as children, both were probably treated in similar ways. But the difference is that, while a servant was a posession of the household, the son is an heir of the household. A son sits over the other members of the house, and they belong to him as the heir of the house. A servant, however, has no place of ultimate authority, but instead is deligated with whatever power they need to do their duties within the house. They are part of the household, and are subject to the decisions and authority of the head and of the heir.

So, the faithfulness and glory of Jesus is not only better by degree, but of a different quality to that of Moses. This is what is meant when the author says that Jesus is counted worthy of more glory than Moses, “as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honour than the house itself.” House here is not talking about the building we call a house, but rather a family or household. Households were much more than a nuclear family in those days, and included everyone under the authority of the patriarch of the family, including children and servants.

Verses 3-4 makes it clear that Moses was part of the house, since the glory of Christ compared to his glory is as different as the glory of the builder of a house comparred to the house itself.

There is also a different purpose in the faithfulness of Moses compared to Christ. In verse 5 we read that “Moses was faithful in all of God’s house as a servant to testify to the things that were to be spoken later.” What this means is that Moses’ faithful commitment to his ministry, especially in bringing the covenant to Israel as a mediator for Israel, was not an end in and of itself. Nor was it bringing the final word which God’s people needed. The NT consistently sees the OT law as pointing towards a greater covenant to come, a covenant enacted by the coming Messiah. Galatians 3 makes it clear that the law was never able to save people from their sins, but was rather meant to point towards the promise made to Abraham which would be fulfilled by Christ.

So when Moses testified to the things that were to be spoken later, this means that the law which God gave him, which he gave to Israel and testified to, was never meant to be a permanant and final message of salvation, but rather these testified to a coming day when the fulness of salvation, the perfect revelation of God, would be revealed. This, of course, is the Gospel which the first few verses of chapter 2 told us was delivered at first by the Lord and attested to us by those who heard it, that is, the Apostles. Christ, as the Son of God, has the authority not only to deliver a message, but to author it himself and to bring all of God’s communication with humanity to fulfilment.

He is faithful over the house, meaning that he is not only faithful in carrying out the commandments of God as a servant of the house, but is faithful to lead that household to God himself. Moses gave the Old covenant, but did not author it. Jesusu is both the giver and author of the New Covenant in his blood.

Conclusion: We Are His House

The text here ends with identifying out place in all this. We are the household of God. We, like Moses, are servants in this house, although in Christ we are adopted as sons in this household.

However, our membership in this household is dependant on something. It is not as if simply receiving the sacrements or being blessed by a priest keeps in us this household. Instead, unsurprisingly, our membership in this house is staying in the house.

“hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope” - FF Bruce writes:

The Epistle to the Hebrews A. Jesus Greater Than Moses (3:1–6)

Nowhere in the New Testament more than here do we find such repeated insistence on the fact that continuance in the Christian life is the test of reality.

In the NT, perseverance is consistently put forward as a necessary proof of being a true child of God in Christ. Here, it is not only holding onto the belief of the Christian faith, but holding to them with confidence and legitimate pride in Christ our Saviour. While some of the Hebrew Christians were being tempted to tuck their tails between their legs and go back to the synagogue to perhaps practice a Jewish lifestyle as a secret Christian, the author points out the importance of being unashamed of the Gospel and of Jesus Christ.

Later, the author of Hebrews will tell us to join Christ in the shame of being executed outside the city. Paul proudly proclaimed that he was not ashamed of the Gospel in Romans 1:16. Jesus said in Luke 9:26

Luke 9:26 ESV

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

So, being considered part of God’s house, in which the Son is in charge, is a public and unashamed display of our confidence in Christ. Baptism is the way we first did this in our Christian lives, publicly pledging our allegience to Jesus and to his household, the church.

In our public confession of the hope we have in Christ Jesus, we are also called to be faithful in God’s house, not to testify to some future event or message, but to one that came through the Gospel in Jesus.

What is our take-away from this text? How do we apply it?

The OT points to Christ, just as the ministry of Moses pointed to a ministry of greater faithfulness and glory.

Jesus is faithful to his household, even to the point of giving his life. This ties into chapter 2 where we are called his brothers and sisters. When we look at the things Moses went through, the way he put himself between the sinful people and the wrath of God, Christ’s faithfulness is much greater than this, his intercession much more costly and much more effective. His glory also is much greater, and unlike Moses who had to put on a veil to hide this glory, for Christians the veil is removed. In fact, it is in the removing of this veil that sactification is accomplished. 2 Cor 3:18

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

This means through Christ we behold the glory of the Lord, just as the Israelites would had done if the veil had not been necessary. But unlike with Moses, this glory is not visible, and yet much more real. What was visible for Israel was a shadow, or physical display of the invisible glory of God which transforms our hearts and minds into the image of Christ.

And so, we belong in this household of glory with a faithful Son to look after it and fill it with such majesty. But this is only true if we hold fast to our confession. This does not nulify the doctrine of election, for God knows who are his and they will make it to the end, but for us great care must be taken to live boldly and with a holy boasting in Christ because I am his and he is mine. Our goal is to bring all into this household that we can, and so as servants of the Son, and more as adopted sons and daughters ourselves, this is our duty. If we fail in this duty, if we hide the light of the glory of Christ, if we fail to be examples of the faithfulness of Christ to the world, were we part of that household to begin with?