Warning against Unbelief

1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 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 were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

Discussion questions

Why are the brethren called “holy”? Are you holy?

Why is Jesus referred to as the Apostle? What does “apostle” mean?

Why is He referred to as a High Priest? What things did He and does He do as a Priest?

Consider Jesus

Remember the writer’s purpose for this letter

He was concerned that some in the Jewish Church were not appreciating the person and work of Jesus correctly or fully

He may have had this concern due to hearing some things going on in the Church

Jews returning to living under the Law

Sacrificing in the temple

Holding the Old Covenant in a higher regard than the New Covenant

Living as if the Messiah had never come

In the first two chapters of this letter, the writer pointed out the greater reverence they had for angels

He gave them a warning to pay closer attention to Jesus as Messiah

They should also understand the penalties they were risking in continuing in disobedience to the New Covenant

Now in Chapter 3, the writer is asking his audience to consider Jesus as the Apostle and High Priest

He opens in the first verse a call to the holy brethren, the partakers of a holy calling

A Handbook on the Letter to the Hebrews Hebrews 3:1

The Greek word for “holy” describes either God himself or any person or thing that belongs to him in a special way

This terminology could also be applied to Jewish brothers, regardless of whether they knew Jesus as Lord

All Jews could be called holy brethren

All Jews are partakers of a Heavenly calling

Although, the Greek word used in Hebrews 3:1 is reference to spiritual brotherhood

In a more general sense this word used in the New Testament denotes “fellow-Christians” or “Christian brothers”

The usage of this word is derived from Jewish religious custom

He is asking his audience to take a closer look at Jesus

It is like glancing quickly at something and thought that you saw it correctly

But then upon closer examination, you realize you didn’t see it properly

This exactly what the writer is asking his audience to do

Telling them that perhaps they didn’t get a full picture the first time

In asking them to take a closer look at Jesus, he provide them with a comparison and contrast with Moses

Moses is a Servant, Christ is a Son

Jesus was faithful to the Father, in the same way that Moses was faithful to the Father in serving in the Lord’s house

There is a specific phrase in Greek that means “a house servant”

Moses was a slave of the house owner, and the owner was God

The reference to “house” is therefore a euphemism

It refers to the family of God, the people of Israel that Moses was chosen to lead and represent before God

Moses was an intercessor for the people, and the one who brought the Word of God to the people

And Moses was faithful in all these things

And then in v3. the writer says that Jesus was counted worthy of even more glory than Moses

For the Jews, Moses is the preeminent God

The man who delivered Israel from slavery, guided them through the desert and gave them their precious Covenant and Law

Moses is traditionally an even more imposing figure in Judaism than Abraham

But here the writer is stating that Jesus was worthy of greater honor

He makes this claim because Jesus was the builder of the house, not merely the servant

The writer here has just said that Jesus is God

The writer brought his audience to a logical conclusion by presenting a logical progression

He said Moses was a servant of God

And God is the one who called Israel and formed them into a nation and placed Moses over that nation

And Moses served God by caring for that house of God, which God built

Then the writer says Jesus is worthy of more honor than Moses, because Jesus was that builder whom Moses served

Jesus is the same God that called Israel and led them in the desert

Jesus is the same God who appointed Moses to server over Israel

Jesus is the One who gave Moses the Law through angels

This is why the writer called the audience to take a closer look at this Messiah you thought you knew

He is more than just a messenger or prophet or ruler

He is God in the flesh

Because He is God, He is worthy of so much more honor than any of His servants - even Moses

The writer refers to Jesus as both Apostle and High Priest

The term apostle means “sent one”

Jesus was sent by the Father and can be then referred to as the apostle

High Priest is someone who goes in between people and God, sort of like a mediator

Jesus bridges the gap between us and God

God is the Cause of Everything

We know that God commonly works through men to accomplish His purposes

It stands to reason that God is the builder of every house

The writer is saying that the work Moses did was under the direction of God

And likewise, the work Christ did was also in service to the Father and according to the Father’s purposes

Continuing the comparison between Moses and Jesus, the writer created a lessor-to-greater relationship

Moses is a picture of Jesus in lessor form

Moses’ life was orchestrated by God to illustrate the life and work of the coming Messiah

In vs. 5-6, the writer says that Moses’ faithfulness in serving God in the house God constructed, was to be a testimony of what would come later

This was to present a picture of Christ

The writer says in v.6, that Jesus fulfilled that picture when He came to be a faithful Son over God’s house

The house that Jesus is watching over is the children of God

The believers are the house that Jesus guards faithfully

All of those who had trusted in God’s promise to bring a deliverer, a Messiah, have become part of that house

This also includes us

However, the writer introduces a condition with the one small word “if”

He states that we are in this house, the body of believers, the saints of the New Covenant, if......

We hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end

The confidence a Christian holds onto is the confidence that our sins have been paid for in full by the blood of Christ

It is confidence in the sufficiency of Christ’s work that leads us to cast off all other false means of salvation

These are works, superstitions, myths, and humanism

We turn to Christ in knowing that nothing else works and nothing else is needed

The hope which we boast about to the world is the hope of resurrection

After our death, we know that the Lord promised we will experience the resurrection that He also experienced

Death is not the end for us

This is our cause for boasting to the world of that hope that one day we will live again without fear of death

The writer says that we can count ourselves as a part of the family of God, if we are confident that Jesus’ death was a sufficient payment for our sin and we expect to be resurrected

Paul states in Romans 10 that it is these beliefs that define saving faith

As we move into the next section, the writer is less concerned with teaching about God or Christ than with moving the reader to action

Do not Reject God like in the Past

Hebrews 3:7–11 (ESV)

7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. 10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ 11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ ”

Discussion Questions

What does it mean to “harden your heart”?

In what way did they provoke God?

How were they testing God?

Why could they not enter into the Promised Land (My rest)? What does this tell us about God’s nature and the consequences of sin?

Just as the Holy Spirit Says

Once again the writer make use of the Old Testament to convey his point

The writer quotes from Psalm 95:7-11

In this Psalm we find the retelling of the story of Numbers 13 and 14

He is invoking a powerful reminder for the readers

He refers to the rebellion of Israel in the desert

The generation of Israel tested the Lord a total of ten times during their travels in the desert

Israel tested the Lord’s patience by repeatedly questioning the Lord’s faithfulness and goodness

They accused Him of leading them into the desert to kill them with thirst and hunger

They complained about the manna

They worshipped a golden calf

They rebelled against Moses’ leadership

They repeatedly tested the Lord’s patience, practically daring Him to act against them

At the end of those ten times of testing, the Lord’s patience came to an end

Final act of testing came when the Lord brought Israel to the brink of entering the promised land

Instead of believing the good reports of Joshua and Caleb, the people chose to believe the lies of the other spies

They didn’t believe God’s promise that the land would be a blessing

Instead, they chose to believe the lies spoke through the disobedient spies

They sided with the father of lies rather than the Father of lights

That was the breaking point for the Lord

The mistrust and disobedience of Israel, disgusted the Lord

It is at this moment that the psalmist was speaking

Also it is this moment that the writer of Hebrews has in mind as he is about to bring a warning to the early church

When looking at the details of Psalm, we are able to see what concerned the writer

The psalmist says, “If you hear the Lord’s voice today, then respond in the right way - don’t harden your hearts to God

He is referring to what happened to the generation who wandered in the desert

As a collective they heard the Lord’s voice

They saw His wonders and miraculous signs

They heard his voice as the sound of thunder

But most of them rebelled repeatedly

They only heard the Lord in a physical sense, not a spiritual sense

Their hearts remained hardened

Their hearts were not receptive to the word of God

They didn’t accept the promises of God

They repeatedly most of that generation demonstrated a lack of faith

The psalmist makes this distinction in v.10, they went astray in their hearts

They were deceived in their hearts and seduced by the enemy’s lies

They didn’t truly know the God’s ways and lacked a saving knowledge of God

The generation of Israel lacked a true heart and were unable to act in faith in response to God’s promises

Back in Chapter 2, the writer issued his first warning, against drifting away after hearing the truth

Now the writer is about issue his second warning, reaching past mere attention to the message and into a heartfelt acceptance of its truth

Stand Firm in Obedience and Faith

Hebrews 3:12–18 (ESV)

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?

Discussion Questions

In what ways might an unbelieving heart manifest itself?

How can we increase our faith in God?

What does it mean that we are partakers of Christ?

What happened to the people who provoked God?

Unbelieving Heart

The writer is addressing his audience as brethren, which causes some to ask could he be speaking to believers in this warning?

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 11.23 ἀδελφός, οῦ

11.23 ἀδελφόςb, οῦ m: a close associate of a group of persons having a well-defined membership (in the NT ἀδελφόςb refers specifically to fellow believers in Christ)—‘fellow believer, (Christian) brother

Looking at what the Greek-English Lexicon defines the original Greek word to mean, the answer would indicate that the writer was referring to fellow believers

There are many commentaries that interpret the use of brethren as meaning the unbeliever

However, I would propose that the writer was speaking to believers or those in the congregation that professed to be believers

But their hearts do not belong to God

Ellingworth and Nida point out that:

The writer uses the phrase “lest there be in any of you” makes it clear that at this point he is not afraid of the whole community, to which he is writing losing its faith, but that some individuals within it may do so

It is those that may “fall away” that the writer is warning

The Greek word used to convey the“fall away” is:

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 34.26 παραπίπτω; ἐκπίπτω; ἀποστρέφομαι; ἀφίσταμαι

34.26 παραπίπτω; ἐκπίπτωc; ἀποστρέφομαιb; ἀφίσταμαιb (and 2nd aorist active): to abandon a former relationship or association, or to dissociate (a type of reversal of beginning to associate)—‘to fall away, to forsake, to turn away

The meaning of “fall away” points to abandoning a former relationship would indicate once again that the writer is writing to warn the believer not to fall away in disobedience

Therefore, be careful of sin that is not confessed, as it can have a hardening effect on our hearts

Living in sin without repenting, can suck us into a life of sin that brings shame to Christ

Similarly to those who had unbelieving hearts in Israel eventually made themselves known through their disobedience in the desert, so it is with the unbeliever in the congregation

Leon Morris describes it this way:

“But to reject God’s highest revelation is to depart from God, no matter how many preliminary revelations are retained. A true faith is impossible with such a rejection.”

In v.13 the writer is urging his readers to encourage each other constantly

The author sees Christian fellowship as very important

It can build people up in the faith and form a strong fortification against sin and apostasy

At the end of the day it is our responsibility to help other brothers and sisters to not fall away from God

God calls us to encourage each other daily

The family of believers should function as a safety net, motivator, and accountability partner for each and everyone

The writer adds the word “today” to indicate a sense of urgency to the readers, because today does not last forever

We may not get another opportunity to make the phone call, send that email or text message to encourage a brother or sister God has placed on our heart

Then in v.14 he makes use of an interesting phase “become partners of Christ”

So what does he mean by “become partners of Christ”?

It is the privilege we have in being Christians that the writer is stressing

It is not the kind of work Christians due alongside Christ

He is encouraging his readers to understand that it is important that the believer hold firmly to what God has give him till the end

Provoking God

In the final four verses of chapter 3, the writer presents several rhetorical questions to the reader that emphasize that it was the people who were in a position of spiritual privilege and yet sinned grievously

Sometime it may feel that God is far away being without much contact with or care about what is going on in the world

This view may tempt us to think that He doesn’t care much about our sins

The writer wants his audience to realize that our sin provokes God

It is grossly offensive to Him

He also makes use of what happened with the Exodus generation to help his audience understand the consequences of sin

The writer states that they were unable to enter God’s rest due to unbelief

His warning to his readers, and to us, slipping back from their Christian profession into unbelief would be fatal

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