Sunday, March 16, 2008

Hebrews 5

Jesus Christ- A greater high priest than Aaron

The old Aaronic priesthood is inferior and obsolete


   Man-made chapter breaks are very poor in Hebrews. This is
a continuation of the thought in Hebrews 4:14-16 where we read:

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered
heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we
believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses,
for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come
boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his
mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need
it most.


   Jesus is an ideal priest because he understands us. No angel
can function as a priest for man - only a human being could. He understands
us because He too has suffered physically and has experienced temptation (but
without sin), sorrow, etc. He was chosen by God for this position and He offered
the ultimate sacrifice.


   "In the Jewish system, a tremendous weight of significance and emphasis
was placed upon the glorious office of the high priest; and, for the encouragement
of Christians tempted to revert to Judaism, it was therefore necessary to show
that Christ was and is indeed a great high priest, not merely equal, but vastly
superior to any of the high priests of Israel. In this and following verses,
the author of Hebrews analyzes the high priesthood of Christ in such a manner
as to prove that the Christians who had given up the priesthood of Aaron and
his successors had, in Christ, received far more than they had lost. In every
conceivable comparison, as to rank, character, quality of sacrifice, or whatsoever,
the marvelous superiority of Christ is emphatically demonstrated."

- Coffman, James "Commentary on Hebrews 5" [Online]
Available
www.searchgodsword.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=heb&chapter=005


(1)Every *high priest is a **man chosen to
represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents
their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins.


*high priest: The high priest was the mediator between God
and the people. It was his job to offer them to God in their behalf the gifts
and sacrifices of the people. The people could not legitimately offer their
own offerings - they must be all brought to the priest, and he alone could present
them to God. We have a high priest over the house of God, to offer all our gifts
and his own sacrifice, therefore we may come with boldness to the throne of
grace.


   Jesus is now in the presence of God constantly interceding
on our behalf.

1 John 1:9 says, "But if we confess our sins to him,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness."

1 John 2:1 says, "My dear children, I am writing this
to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an
advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ,
the one who is truly righteous."

Because of Christ's intercession Paul could say, "Who dares
accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself
has given us right standing with himself." (Romans 8:33).
Who can accuse us of anything when Christ is interceding for us? Our Lord has
accomplished what no other high priest could accomplish: He paid the penalty
for our sin in full, and God is satisfied.


   "There is no place in Christianity for any priesthood--that
is an affront to the full and final priesthood of Jesus Christ Himself. Any
priesthood on earth now implies that atonement for sin has not yet been made.
Christians have no need for someone to go to God for them; Hebrews 4:16 tells
us we can go directly to God's throne of grace. First Peter 2:5, 9 tells us
that all Christians are priests. Every man, by faith in Jesus Christ, enters
directly into God's presence. When Jesus died, the veil in the Temple was torn
from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51) indicating that access to God is now forever
open to those who come through His Son."

- MacArthur, John. "Our Great High Priest" [Online]
Available www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/sg1610.htm


**man: The high priest had to be a human, not an angel nor
even a god. Thus, Jesus had to be human to be a high priest.

Hebrews 2:17-18: Therefore, it was necessary for
him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters,
so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before
God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.
Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help
us when we are being tested.

Hebrews 7:11: So if the priesthood of Levi, on
which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why
did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order
of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?

Hebrews 8:1-2: Here is the main point: We have a
High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne
of the majestic God in heaven. There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle,
the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not
by human hands.


(2) And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because
he himself is subject to the same weaknesses.


(3) That is why he must offer sacrifices
for his own sins as well as theirs.


   On the Day of Atonement, the high priest had to sacrifice
for himself first, to remind himself and the nation that he had sin to atone
for, just like the rest of the people of Israel:


Leviticus 16:1-6: The Lord spoke to Moses after the death
of Aaron’s two sons, who died after they entered the Lord’s presence
and burned the wrong kind of fire before him. The Lord said to Moses, “Warn
your brother, Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain
whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Ark’s cover—the
place of atonement—is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above
the atonement cover. “When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow
these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering
and a ram for a burnt offering. He must put on his linen tunic and
the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around
his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so
he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on. Aaron must take from
the community of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt
offering.“ Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to
purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord.


Hebrews 7:27-28: Unlike those other high priests, he does
not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their
own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this
once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the
people’s sins. The law appointed high priests who were limited
by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son
with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.


(4) And no one can become a high priest simply
because he wants such an honor. He must be *called by God for
this work, just as **Aaron was.


*called by God: The high priest at this time was selected,
not by God, but by the Roman government.


   This verse has nothing to do with robed priests in the Catholic,
Anglican, Episcopal, Mormon, Methodist or other churches. Those who claim to
be special priests or ministers set apart from "ordinary" Christians
are impostors. Their distinctive dress does not make them qualified to serve
God as priests. The Bible does not authorize a New Testament office of robed
priests.


**Aaron: Only descendants of Aaron could be high priests,
but Jesus was instead a descendant of David of the tribe of Judah, not of the
tribe of Levi.


   The story of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16) demonstrated
God did not tolerate self-appointments or rebellion. Korah, a Levite, along
Dathan and Abiram, Reubenites, rebelled against Aaron being assigned the Priesthood.
They designated themselves priest also. God demonstrated his choice by allowing
the ground to open and swallow the rebels and the ground to cover them up. Fire
then fell on the 250 people who tried to assume the role of priesthood.


(5) That is why Christ did not honor himself
by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God,
who said to him,

“You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.”


Psalm 2:7: The king proclaims the Lord’s decree:
“The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your
Father.


(6) And in another passage God said to him, “You are a priest forever in the order of *Melchizedek.”


*Melchizedek: Melchizedek is mentioned in only two places
in the entire Old Testament—Genesis 14:17–24 and Psalm 110:4. His
name means “King of Righteousness,” and he was also “King
of Salem [peace] - Jerusalem.” But the fascinating thing about Melchizedek
is that he was both a priest and a king! King Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26) wanted
to be both a priest and a king, and God judged him. Only in Jesus Christ and
in pre-Law Melchizedek were these two offices combined. Jesus Christ is a High
Priest on a throne!


Genesis 14:17-20: After Abram returned from his victory
over Kedorlaomer and all his allies, the king of Sodom went out to meet him
in the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek,
the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some
bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing:
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed
be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you.” Then Abram gave
Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.


Hebrews 7:1-3: This Melchizedek was king of the city of
Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after
winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him.
Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek.
The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of
Salem means “king of peace.” There is no record of his
father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life.
He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.


Hebrews 7:11-14: So if the priesthood of Levi, on which
the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did
God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of
Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron? And if the priesthood
is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. For the priest
we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never
served at the altar as priests. What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe
of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.


Psalm 110:4: The Lord has taken an oath and will not break
his vow: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
- An examination of the passage from which this quotation is taken shows that
this psalm gives a conversation between God the Father and God the Son, which
was held in the council chambers of eternity with reference to the great plan
of redemption.


   Levites began service at age 25. Unless they died first,
they were to retire from service at age fifty (Numbers 4:46-49; 8:24, 25). By
contrast, Christ continues as high priest in heaven forever because His tenure
is not limited by, nor can it be cut short by, retirement or death. He lives
on and on.


   Some say that Melchizedek was Shem, but while Shem was still
alive at this date (he lived 502 years after the flood) the simple fact remains
that the Bible does not say that Melchizedek was Shem. According to Jewish Oral
Scripture, "Melchizedek" was the priestly name for Shem, the son of
Noah. According to Genesis 11:10-26, Shem lived 500 years after the birth of
his first son Arphaxad. There were 290 years between the birth of Arphaxad and
the birth of Abram. When Abram was born, Shem lived for another 210 years. According
to Genesis 25:7 Abraham lived 175 years. Therefore Shem in fact outlived Abraham
by 35 years. Further, we know Shem’s lineage whereas Melchizedek had no
recorded lineage (Hebrews 7:3). Some say that Melchizedek was the pre-incarnate
Christ, because the description in Hebrews 7:3 can only fit Christ. This would
mean that Christ in some pre-incarnate state actually lived on earth as a human
king. While we know that the pre-incarnate Christ as the Angel of God made appearances
on earth nowhere does the Bible indicate that these were more than brief instances.


(7) While Jesus was here on earth, he offered
prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one
who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep
reverence for God.


Refers to his agony in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46, Mark 14:32-42,
Luke 22:40-46).

Hebrews 2:10 : God, for whom and through whom everything
was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that
he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader,
fit to bring them into their salvation.

John 12:27-28: “Now my soul is deeply troubled.
Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the
very reason I came! Father, bring glory to your name.” Then a voice spoke
from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will
do so again.”

 Matthew 26:39: He went on a little farther and bowed
with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let
this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your
will to be done, not mine.”


(8) Even though Jesus was God’s Son,
he learned *obedience from the things he **suffered.


*obedience: This "learned obedience" means that
the Son said "yes" to the Father's will in the Garden of Gethsemane
and on the cross. He finished the course laid out before Him.


Hebrews 2:18: Since he himself has gone through
suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.


**suffered: The Bible never teaches that strong faith will
keep a Christian from all suffering. Christians are appointed to affliction
(1 Thessalonians 3:3). It is through many tribulations we enter the kingdom
of God (Acts 14:22), and our current suffering is the prelude to glorification
(Romans 8:17).


   It is possible, I suspect, that the author here is also preparing
them for the suffering and testing of them on the horizon - the destruction
of Jerusalem and of the temple and the severe persecution of believers about
to fall on them.


(9) In this way, God qualified him as
a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of *eternal
salvation for all those who obey him.


*eternal salvation: Notice that this salvation is ETERNAL,
not just until you sin again. You can't lose your salvation. Would it
be ETERNAL salvation if you accepted Christ as savior then committed a
sin, losing your salvation, but died before you could be saved again?


(10) And God designated him to be a
High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.


A Call to Spiritual Growth


   From here until Hebrews 6:20 is almost an interruption in
Paul's thoughts about Melchizedek. Chapter 7 then picks up the thread once again
about the high priest. Why the interruption? He's probably thinking to himself
that they are so immature and so wrapped up in "tradition" that they
may not understand what he's teaching here, especially about Melchizedek and
the high priesthood. They can't seem to go beyond the Jewish traditions and
rituals and grow up in Christ. They wanted to be part of both worlds - Christian
and Jewish. How many Christians today fit the "spiritually dull" description.
in verse 11. Look at today's "Christendom" with all its religious
trappings and traditions - "saints", holy days, priests, incense,
fancy expensive church buildings - not just in Roman Catholic and Orthodox religion
but even in Protestantism. Jesus would be most unwelcome in most of these places
- he wouldn't be dressed in his "Sunday best" and would refuse to
bow down to those running the places.


(11) There is much more we would like to say
about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are
spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.


2 Peter 3:15-16: And remember, the Lord’s patience
gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul
also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him — speaking of
these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to
understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his
letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts
of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.


(12) You have been believers so long now that
you ought to be *teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach
you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like
babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.


*teaching others: The goal for believers should be to grow
spiritually and in knowledge to the point where they can win others to Christ
and be able to help the less mature Christians grow. What would we think of
someone who was physically an adult and deliberately chose
to continue being cared for and fed by someone else? These believers, and most
today, prefer to sit in their comfortable pews on Sunday morning then go about
their days like nothing happened - they'd simply gotten their weekly booster
shot.


   My goal is that each of you become teachers of the Word -
not necessarily to hold Bible studies, but to share with other believers who
may be chronologically younger than we are or spiritually younger than we are,
or our spiritual peers, and yet we have learned something that they haven’t
learned. And so we share that. And so the author of Hebrews is saying, “Look,
you ought to be at the stage in your spiritual lives where you are turning to
younger Christians, spiritually speaking, and helping them along in the basics
of the faith and yet you are not there.”


   In fact, he says here that they seem to be going backwards.
They are going back to milk. It is like a child who has come off the bottle
and has come to solid food and suddenly he reverts to the bottle. The author
is asserting that these people are stuck on the elementary truths. The natural
response to growth is fruit…one bears fruit by teaching others.


   Every Christian ought to increasingly understand his or her
faith, and have something to offer those who are in need. They should be capable
of imparting a word of hope, a word of encouragement. They should have a depth
of reality in their prayers. They should have advanced beyond “the elementary
principles of the oracles of God”— beyond baby talk.


   It is the desire of God that every Christian should be able
to say at the end of life, “I have finished my work.” This accomplishment
was termed “entering into rest” by the writer of the Epistle to
the Hebrews.


(13) For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know
how to do what is right.


(14) Solid food is for those who are
mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference
between right and wrong.


   All the Jewish ritualism was keeping them from growing spiritually.
That is the problem today too where emotionalism is the focus when getting deep
in the Word and our walk with the Lord should be the focus. These Hebrew Christians
must abandon the Temple sacrifices, together with its attending rituals and
its accompanying priesthood.


1 Corinthians 3:1-2: Dear brothers and sisters, when I
was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I
had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants
in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because
you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t
ready,


Ephesians 1:17-18: asking God, the glorious Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight
so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that
your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident
hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich
and glorious inheritance.


   The thought does not really end here and once again the chapter
break is poor. Chapter 6 continues this thought:


Hebrews 6:1-3: So let us stop going over the basic teachings
about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature
in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental
importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t
need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection
of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move
forward to further understanding.



Bibliography/Works Cited:


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Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Hebrews 4

Enter into God's Rest!


   Chapter 3 ended with the warning that it
was unbelief that kept the people of Israel from entering into the promised
land and the rest God had promised there. Remember that the chapter
divisions are human made. Chapter 4 is a continuation of chapter 3 where
the ending thought is about entering into God's rest, where we read:


Hebrews 3:16-19: And who was it who rebelled
against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn’t it the
people Moses led out of Egypt? And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t
it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? And to whom was
God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest?
Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him? So we see that
because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.


(1) God’s promise of
entering his *rest still stands, so we ought to tremble
with fear that some of you might **fail to experience it.


*rest: The Greek word for rest is katavpausiß
(kat-ap'-ow-sis) which means to cease from work or from any kind of action because
everything is DONE - COMPLETED! That is, no more self effort as far
as salvation is concerned. The idea of “rest” can has several
layers of meaning, The “Promised Land” was the destination for Israel.
For the believing Christian the “Promised Land” is “salvation”
and “victorious living” in the present and heaven in the future.
Israel, as a nation, lacked faith in God’s promise and failed to enter
in His rest - not only in refusing to enter into and conquer the "Promised
Land", but also in rejecting Jesus as the Messiah.


**fail to experience it = come short of
it. The writer is warning the Hebrews "Don't make the same mistake
Israel did in the wilderness." Brought to the edge of the “Promised
Land”, they failed to enter it. “Some of You” could apply
to both the “saved” and “unsaved”.

The saved reader could miss the “Promise Land”, the Lord’s
“rest”, because they fail to trust in Christ’s “finished
work” and instead go back to the "beggarly elements" mentioned
in Galatians 4:9 (But now, after that ye have known God,
or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly
elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? - KJV) or
try to be perfected in the flesh as in Galatians 3:3 (How
foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit,
why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?).
And either through “carnal living” or “works oriented”
salvation, wander in a restless wilderness, rather then “rest” in
the “Promise Land”.

To the unsaved, “to come short of it” applies to those who heard
the Gospel, but lack faith and, therefore, fail to enter the “The Land
of Promise”, like those who did not believe who came out of Egypt.


   So, how do you experience God's rest today?
If you can answer this, you've also answered whether the author is referring
to saved Hebrews or Hebrews who had heard the Gospel and knew the truth intellectually,
but had not yet accepted Christ as their personal Savior.


Matthew 11:28-29: Then Jesus said, “Come
to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am
humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.


   Jesus spoke of a twofold rest in Matthew
11:28-29. The first was a rest of soul given by Him to those who came
to Him. This would arise from a consciousness within them that they
need no longer be concerned about their ‘labors’ and ‘burdens’
as they followed Him. They would be able to cast them off. Jesus is comparing
the "rest" he offers to the yoke of the Law as interpreted by the
Pharisees. By following Him, they could find forgiveness and acceptability
with God. They could learn to rest in Him. And they would no longer be under
the yoke of the demanding and unceasing requirements of all the rules that the
Pharisees added on top of the Law. The Pharisee’s yoke was very heavy.
Jesus' yoke and burden were easy and light. Thus, there was a once-for-all
entering into rest by coming to Christ in faith and trust, followed by a continuing
entering into rest by walking with God. And this became theirs by ‘partaking
in Christ.’


(2) For this good news—that
God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just
as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t
share the *faith of those who listened to God.


   Some manuscripts read they didn’t
combine what they heard with faith.


*faith of those who listened to God: Referring
to the failure of the Hebrews at Kadesh-barnea to share Joshua and Caleb's faith
who believed God, regardless of the problem of "giants in the land".
The Hebrews being addressed by Paul are being asked - do you want to be overcomers
like Joshua and Caleb, believing what God says (in this case that Jesus is Messiah
and that He is better than Moses) or do you want to be like the rest of Israel
- being forced to wander in the wilderness until you drop dead and never enter
into the promised land and thus obtain God's promises? The Israelites in the
desert were on the very edge of obtaining the end goal of their escape from
Egypt, and then they drew back when they saw the potential cost! They could
only go so far with Moses, but no further. See Numbers chapters 13-14. Even
to this date, Israel as a nation has yet to enter into His rest - they are in
the land, yet attacked daily and the religious ones strive continuously to please
a demanding God Who seemingly refuses to give them peace!


   The proclamation of the truth began first
at Jerusalem and then spread throughout Judea. Next it went to Samaria and from
there to the uttermost part of the earth. As we have already learned, the gospel
had been preached to most of the Roman Empire by the time Paul wrote Romans
in 58 A.D. Only 12 years later, Jerusalem and the Temple were in ruins!


Hebrews 11:6: And it is impossible
to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe
that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.


   This relates to us today - do we want to
be merely "religious" and know "about" God, possibly not
even saved, going to church every Sunday and being "good" but otherwise
being indistinguishable from the rest of the world, or do we want to know Him
personally, to have a personal relationship with Him, to walk with Him, to turn
our lives over to Him, to live for Him, to stand up and be counted? What does
it mean to us Gentiles today to "enter into His rest?" The United
States is full of churches, but how many sitting in the pews singing the hymns
are saved or even understand what they are singing or really know whom they
are supposedly worshiping? Do we want to go "all the way" with Jesus,
or only up to the point where it looks like the cost may be too high? What would
be our attitude if, as in China and North Korea and many Muslim countries, believing
in Christ would mean imprisonment, torture and death? I bet the number of declared
Christians in the USA would plummet by over 90%, let alone in Europe!


Genesis 15:6: And Abram believed the Lord,
and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

 Habakkuk 2:4b: the righteous will live by their faithfulness
to God.

 Romans 1:17: This Good News tells us how God makes
us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith.
As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous
person has life.”

Ephesians 2:8-10: God saved you by his
grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this;
it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward
for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we
are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus,
so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Hebrews 10:38a: my righteous ones will live by faith.

 Hebrews 11:1: Faith is the confidence
that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance
about things we cannot see.


   God required faith before obedience and
works; without faith, works meant nothing. The attitude behind
the action determines the true nature of the heart. God looks at the heart not
the action; the action merely demonstrates the heart. Sacrifice was part of
the Mosaic law, but sacrifice was the result of sin and disobedience. God preferred
obedience, which demonstrates belief. Israel in the wilderness was a picture
of “unbelief”. 1 Samuel 15:22: But Samuel replied,
“What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams


   Will we, with Paul, proclaim: I don’t
mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already
reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection
for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I
have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting
the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach
the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ
Jesus, is calling us. (Philippians 3:12-14)


(3) For only *we who
believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God
said,

“In my anger I took an oath:

‘They will never enter my place of rest,’”

even though this rest has been ready since he made the world.


Quoted from Psalm 95:11.


*we who believe: In contrast to Israel in
the wilderness, part of Paul's audience here did believe the Gospel and will
enter His “Rest”. Of the over one million souls who left Egypt,
20 years and older only two, Joshua and Caleb were allowed to enter
the promised land. This was a testimony against the majority
who built a golden calf to lead them back into Egypt, showing their
lack of faith, even after signs and wonders in their delivery. (Exodus 32:1-16).
This latter include Moses, who also disobeyed God, and was prevented from entering
the promised land. Joshua, who typified Jesus Christ would lead the children
of the disobedient generation into the “Promised land”.


2 Corinthians 13:5: Examine yourselves
to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves.
Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the
test of genuine faith.


   What is meant by "rest" in Psalm
95:11? Note the fact that Paul spoke of it as "that rest." This shows
that Paul was speaking about that rest which God had promised to Israel. Leviticus
26:1-13 shows that it was residence in the land of Palestine where God would
give them the rains in their proper season and abundant crops. Moreover, He
would not allow the diseases of Egypt to come upon them but would keep them
in good health. Furthermore, He would protect them from invasion by a hostile
army. Thus the land of Palestine was to be "Paradise Regained" or
"Eden Regained". This promise will be fulfilled for those who enter
the Millennial Kingdom.


(4) We know it is ready because
of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day: “On
the *seventh day God rested from all his work.”


*seventh day: The Hebrew word for seven is
the root for “Sabbath”. On the Seventh day, God rested from His
six days of creation work. This “Rest” of God typified the coming
rest for the people of God, who were to rest from their work. We can rest from
our work because Christ has brought us into His rest.


   Quoted from Genesis 2:2. Did God "rest"
because He was tired or because the work was finished? "Rest" follows
a finished or completed work.

John 19:30: When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It
is finished!” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.


   When will we be able to say "It is finished"?
When we rest in His finished work and stop trying to do it ourselves - stop
trying to make ourselves righteous by "doing" rather than "being".
Herein lies the struggle between "salvation by works" versus "salvation
by faith" so expanded upon in Romans.

Colossians 2:10: So you also are complete
through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.


(5) But in the other passage
God said, “They will never enter my place of rest.”


Quoted from Psalm 95:11.


Jeremiah 7:22-26: When I led your
ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices
I wanted from them. This is what I told them: ‘Obey me,
and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I
say, and all will be well!’ “But my people would not listen
to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires
of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward. From the
day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my servants,
the prophets—day in and day out. But my people have not listened
to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful—even
worse than their ancestors.


(6) So God’s
rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good
news failed to enter because they *disobeyed God.


*disobeyed: Obedience is the result of faith,
lack of obedience is lack of faith.


   Those who were disobedient, who rejected
the “Good News” would not be permitted in God’s rest. This
was typified in the “Promised Land”, Moses was not able to enter
because of disobedience, in the Wilderness of Zin, Moses hit the rock twice
rather then just speaking to the Rock as God commanded. (Numbers 20:7-12, Deuteronomy
1:37) The first generation typified disobedience against God and were not permitted
into His rest. This would also happen to the generation that rejected Christ.


(7) So God set another time
for entering his rest, and that time is *today. God announced
this through David much later in the words already quoted:

“Today when you hear his voice,

don’t harden your hearts.”


Quoted from Psalm 95:7-8.


*today: Tomorrow may be too late. They had
to accept the promise while it was still being called "To-day," which
period of time, ended with the downfall of the Jewish nation in 70 A.D. There
was therefore very little time of this period remaining since in all probability
this letter was written 50 - 60 A.D. The entire nation had been evangelized
by 60 A.D. The message had come to them not in word only but in power and in
demonstrations of the Spirit

2 Corinthians 6:2: For God says, “At just the right
time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the
“right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.


(8) Now if *Joshua had succeeded
in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another
day of rest still to come.


*Joshua: Joshua (Yehoshua) failed, Jesus (Yehoshua)
succeeded. Jesus is greater than Joshua. Even after Israel
entered the land under Joshua's leadership and ceased their warfare, they never
really had any peace because they never did completely their enemies - nor have
they to this very day. Verse 8 is extremely confusing in the King James Version
when it reads, "If Jesus had given them rest." The author was speaking
of Joshua rather than Jesus of Nazareth. However, the Hebrew name "Joshua"
was translated into Greek as "Jesus." The context must be used to
determine whether to translate into English as Jesus or Joshua. Joshua is picture
of Christ, he led the children of the rebellious and unbelieving generation
into the “Promised Land”. This is a picture of what is to come,
as Israel will one day look to Jesus (Joshua) as her King and Messiah. (Zechariah
12:10 - “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer
on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me
whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve
bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.).


(9) So there is a *special
rest still waiting for **the people of God.


*special rest: Greek "Sabbatismos"
- a Sabbath rest.

Today, God rests in Christ's finished work and so does the believer.
That's one reason Christian believers do not keep the Old Testament Sabbath,
for our rest is not in a day but in a Person. We enter into the reality of what
Jesus meant when He said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and
carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you
will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the
burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

As far as the believer's standing is concerned, he has already
entered into rest. His salvation is based upon a finished work.
But, often our state does not correspond to our standing. Many
genuine believers lack assurance of salvation. Many occupy lower ground than
God intends. Calvary rest frees us from the burden of our sin. We can rest it
all on Christ along with all the other heartaches and problems of life. The
writer wants to see this accomplished in his readers. He wants their state to
be in keeping with their standing in Christ. - Phillips, John. Exploring
Hebrews. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1988 - page 58.


**the people of God: The People of God is
Israel, and the Church. Israel has yet to attain to the “Rest” which
was promised. In the Millennium, Israel will attain the “Rest” promised,
the Church has attained Israel’s promise in this dispensation.


Romans 11:25-29: I want you to understand
this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about
yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this
will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. And so all
Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say, “The one who rescues
will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness.
And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.”
Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits
you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because
he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God’s
gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.


(10) For all who have entered
into God’s rest have rested from their
labors, just as God did after creating the world.


   Entering this rest means no longer needing
to work. The idea isn’t that there is no longer any place for doing good
works. The idea is that there is no longer any place for works as a basis for
our own righteousness. This cessation from works as a basis for righteousness
fulfills our “Sabbath rest.” God rested from His works on the original
Sabbath of Genesis 2:2 because the work was finished. We cease from self-justifying
works because the work is finished by Jesus on the cross.


Ephesians 2:8-10 (KJV): For by grace are
ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should
boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.


(11) So let us *do our
best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the
people of Israel did, we will **fall.


*do our best = be diligent: It is
the responsibility of the hearer of the Gospel, to enter the “Rest”
promised by God, through the work of Christ. The saved must strive to enter
God’s promise and cease from their self-effort. The unsaved need to quickly
decide, “Today” before their hearts are hardened.


**fall: The example of the “fall”
here is according to the of Israel in the Wilderness. The two groups in
the wilderness, those who believed God, and those who did not believe,
the first century Hebrews also had those who believed and those did not.


   The “Believer”, has entered
the “Rest” promised by God. In addition, the Christian who
takes God’s promises to heart enjoys the “Rest” of a
victorious Christian life. Believers are saved by faith, in Christ alone,
not by works. When the saved person comes to this understanding, he or
she can “Rest” in their salvation. Salvation is no longer
self effort, but rest in the completed work of the Savior.


Ephesians 2:8-10: God saved you
by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for
this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward
for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew
in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.


(12) For the *word
of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest **two-edged sword,
cutting ***between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our
innermost thoughts and desires.


*word of God: God’s word will testify
against those who choose to reject its message. God’s word is Living and
powerful.

John 1:1: In the beginning the Word already existed. The
Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Revelation 19:13: He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his
title was the Word of God


**two-edged sword: The word for Sword here
is mavcaira Machaira (makh'-ahee-rah) which was a small sword or large
knife used in killing animals or cutting flesh. The two edges allowed the sword
to cut two ways. The writer of Hebrews is comparing God’s word to this
instrument. Our actions and inactions are judged, according to God’s Word,
both to loss and to benefit.

Isaiah 55:11: It is the same with my word. I send it out,
and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and
it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Ephesians 6:17: Put on salvation as your helmet, and
take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Revelation 2:12: “Write this letter to the
angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one with the sharp
two-edged sword:.


***between soul and spirit: A man may
have a thorough grasp of Bible truth and be a walking encyclopedia of
scriptural knowledge and yet not be spiritual or even saved! “The
New Testament use of pneuma for the human spirit focuses on the spiritual
aspect of man, i.e. his life in relation to God, whereas psyche refers
to man’s life irrespective of his spiritual experience, i.e. his
life in relation to himself, his emotions and thought. There is a strong
antithesis between the two in the theology of Paul.” (Guthrie) The
apostle’s meaning seems to be that whereas the soul and spirit are
invisible and the joints and marrow are covered and hid; so sharp and
penetrating is the divine Word, that it reaches the most secret and hidden
things of men.


(13) Nothing in all creation
is hidden from God. Everything is naked and *exposed before his eyes, and he
is the one to whom we are accountable.


*exposed: Greek - trachelizo. Literally,
having the throat exposed - as ready to have it slit!


   Verse 13 can be to those who feel they
have things to hide in their lives - which would include most of us. It
was written to motivate the first readers of Hebrews to let the Spirit
apply Psalm 95 to their own situation. It was a call to faithfulness before
the searching of God. That is a serious matter, but it does not have to
be an intimidating matter. If we really desire God's will in our lives
we will welcome the Holy Spirit applying the scalpel of the Word to our
hearts to cut away all that obscures us from seeing if there is any sin
(Psalm 139:23-24). It is because we are totally accountable before God
that the author urges his readers, "let us make every effort to enter
that rest" in verse 11.


Christ Is Our High Priest


(14) So then, since we have
a great *High Priest who has **entered heaven, Jesus the ***Son
of God, let us ****hold firmly to what we believe.


*High Priest:

Hebrews 2:17: Therefore, it was necessary for him to be
made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be
our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could
offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.

Hebrews 3:1: And so, dear brothers and sisters who
belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully
about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messenger and High
Priest.

 Hebrews 6:19-20: This hope is a strong and trustworthy
anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s
inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become
our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.


   No other High Priest was called great.
No other High Priest passed through the heavens. No other High Priest
is the Son of God. Unlike all the other high priests that ever lived and
died, Jesus lived and died and rose from the dead never to die again.
This is why the whole Old Testament system of the priesthood is over.
Jesus is the final priest between man and God because he will never die.
He has his priesthood by an indestructible life (Hebrews 7:16). We have
a priest and he is alive.


   One of the jobs of the high priest
of Israel once a year was to pass through the veil into the Holy of Holies
alone and then to come back out after the atonement had been sprinkled
on the Mercy Seat. The author of Hebrews is telling that our Lord Jesus
Christ as a priest didn’t pass through an earthly veil into an earthly
sanctuary into an earthly Holy of Holies. He actually passed through the
heavens. In other words, he is saying that Christ’s sacrifice is
the real sacrifice. He entered into the heavenly Holy of Holies, that
the earthly one was patterned after. He really did establish a restoration
of fellowship between God and His people and that is why he uses this
phrase, “He passed through the heavens.” He was raised into
the very presence of God, a sign again, of His unique position. And, now
we are told to come boldly to the throne of our gracious God
according to verse 16.


**entered heaven = passed through
the heavens. Jesus has "entered" the real Holy of Holies
just as the high priest passed through the “Curtain”once a
year and entered the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur (the day of Atonement)
to appear before the ark of the covenant, the Lord's throne on earth.
This was a picture of Christ, our High Priest who passed through the Heavens.
He is thus "exalted above the heavens" (Hebrews 7:26).. In fact,
Psalm 104:2 describes the heavens as a "Curtain."


***Son of God: Not a "son of Aaron".


****hold firmly: 1 Timothy
6:12: Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold
tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which
you have confessed so well before many witnesses.


   The Israelites failed to hold firmly
to what they'd been shown.


   We have more modern examples of those
who held their faith firmly:

Martin Luther before Charles V when Luther refused to
recant and said "Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God.
Amen."

Corrie TenBoom, author of The
Hiding Place, who was imprisoned by the Nazis for hiding Jews.

Those hundreds upon hundreds of Chinese home church leaders
such as Zhou Heng who are even now being rounded up and sent to prison
for worshiping the Lord outside of an "approved" church or for
distributing Bibles and so many in North Korea and in Muslim countries.

Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was hung by the Nazis.


   What does it mean for us to "hold firmly
to what we believe?"


   In John 17:4 Jesus says
to the Father, I brought glory to you here on earth by completing
the work you gave me to do. Jesus did something no priest ever
did when he was ministering: He sat down (Hebrews 1:3). That indicates He finished
His work. The high priest in Israel never sat down in the Holy of Holies--in
fact, there weren't any seats, except for the mercy seat, and you didn't dare
sit on that! When Jesus accomplished His perfect work and sat down, that indicated
the work of atonement was finished. No more sacrifices needed to be made. Shortly
after the book of Hebrews was written, the Temple was destroyed when the Romans
sacked Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Since that time there have been no sacrifices.
They are no longer needed because Jesus made the final sacrifice.


Hebrews 7:25-26:Therefore he is
able, once and forever, to save those who come to God
through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. He
is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy
and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and
has been given the highest place of honor in heaven.

Hebrews 8:1: Here is the main point: We have a
High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of
the majestic God in heaven.

Hebrews 9:12-14: With his own blood—not
the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once
for all time and secured our redemption forever. Under the old system,
the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s
bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ
will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living
God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as
a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Hebrews 9:24: For Christ did not enter into a holy
place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in
heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now
before God on our behalf.

Hebrews 10:11-12: Under the old covenant, the priest
stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices
again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest
offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all
time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s
right hand.


   The book of Hebrews marks the end of
the sacrificial system. Old Testament Judaism was based on a priesthood
interceding between men and God, but when Jesus came as the final priest
and offered the final sacrifice, the need for such a priesthood vanished.
Do you notice the lack of a priesthood and of sacrifices in Islam - yet
God tells us that "without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness?"
There is no place in Christianity for any priesthood--that is an affront
to the full and final priesthood of Jesus Christ Himself. Any priesthood
on earth now implies that atonement for sin has not yet been made. When
the Roman Catholics do the mass and observe the transubstantiation, they
are sacrificing Christ all over again! Christians have no need for someone
to go to God for them; Hebrews 4:16 tells us we can go directly to God's
throne of grace. First Peter 2:5, 9 tells us that all Christians are priests.
Every man, by faith in Jesus Christ, enters directly into God's presence.
When Jesus died, the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom (Matthew
27:51) indicating that access to God is now forever open to those who
come through His Son.


(15) This High Priest
of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same *testings we
do, yet he **did not sin.


*testings: Hebrews 2:18: Since he himself
has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being
tested.


   We might hear of the death of a child,
and feel a measure of sorrow. But it is nothing like the pain we would
feel if it were our own child. Many people told me, after my daughter
DJ died, that they knew how I felt - but they could not possibly even
begin to know.


**did not sin: 2 Corinthians 5:21: For
God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our
sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.


(16) So let us come
*boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his
mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.


*boldly: Discouraging us from this access
is a central strategy of Satan. The devil sometimes wants us to consider
Jesus as unapproachable - perhaps encouraging us to come by Mary or some
church-appointed saints instead of Jesus. Sometimes the devil wants us
to think of Jesus as being powerless to help, not as one who sits on a
throne in heaven.


   Christ has restored the relationship
of those who have believed; we have entered God’s rest. We are no
longer under works but grace. We can enter God’s throne room, not
for judgment but for Grace. When we come, we may obtain mercy (this is
not getting what we deserve) and find grace (this is getting what we don’t
deserve) in our time of need.


   Rabbis taught that God had two thrones,
one of mercy and one of judgment. They said this because they knew that
God was both merciful and just, but how could these two attributes of
God be reconciled? Perhaps God had two thrones, displaying the two aspects
of His character. On one throne He would show His judgment and on the
other His mercy. But here, in light of the finished work of Jesus, we
see mercy and judgment reconciled into one throne of grace. Remember that
grace does not ignore God’s justice; it operates in fulfillment
of God’s justice, in light of the cross.


Hebrews 10:19-23: And so, dear
brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place
because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving
way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since
we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go
right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him.
For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to
make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold
tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted
to keep his promise.



Bibliography/Works Cited:


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Saturday, February 9, 2008

Hebrews 3

Jesus Is Greater Than Moses: Jesus is the Son, Moses is the Servant.


Moses was faithful, Jesus was faithful, the Jews in the wilderness
were not faithful, we are to be faithful.


These Jewish believers were being told to get their eyes off Moses
and to get them on Christ instead.


   "In this passage, the author of Hebrews argues to his
Jewish Christian friends in this congregation that they must not be tempted
to go back to Moses, because they have already embraced someone who is superior,
even to Moses. Now we may not be tempted ourselves to go back to Moses; but
we are often tempted to go somewhere else, other than Christ, our ultimate hope
for our ultimate comfort in which we put our ultimate trust. So these words
are directly relevant to us, and I think you will see three or four things that
are very important for all of us as we wrestle with that particular issue in
our lives. As we, as believers, walk the walk of faith in this world and are
from time to time pulled away from Christ, the first thing we learn in this
passage is that we must remember who we are, by God’s grace." - Duncan,
J. Ligon, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi.
"Hebrews Vol. 1 Archive Index" [Online] Available
www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/hebrews/Vol%201.htm/


Chapter 1, describes the nature and person of Messiah, that He is God in flesh
(Hebrews 1:1,3,6,8,10).

Chapter 2, built on the first chapter, establishes the glory of Messiah’s
covenant, the sanctified are brothers of Christ, who will be in “Glory”.
(Hebrews 2:10).

Chapter 3, built on the 2nd chapter, makes the case of the need to turn completely
to Christ and not struggle between the Old and New Covenants.


   As we read this chapter it is IMPERATIVE that we bear in
mind TO WHOM this letter is written or we'll get confused. We are not early
Hebrew Christians torn between Judaism and Christianity; though, we might be
torn between what passes today for Christianity and true Christianity - a faith
in the living God as revealed to us in Jesus Christ.


(1) And so, *dear brothers and sisters who
belong to God and are partners with those **called to heaven, ***think
carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s ****messenger
and *****High Priest.


*dear brothers and sisters: Greek - holy brethren


**called to heaven: Greek - heavenly calling. King
James version: partakers of a heavenly calling. Israel in the Old Testament,
on the other hand, had an earthly calling - to the land!

Ephesians 1:3: All praise to God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

Ephesians 2:6: For he raised us from the
dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms
because we are united with Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:20: But we are citizens of heaven,
where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return
as our Savior.


   It is a heavenly calling because it comes from heaven --
from God. And it is a heavenly calling because it invites us and leads us to
heaven -- to God.


***think carefully: The author is saying "STOP! PAY ATTENTION!
THINK ABOUT THIS DEEPLY! DON'T SLIDE OVER THIS!" If we are to be faithful,
we are to keep our focus on Jesus. Consider this Jesus!
Ponder him. It is the same word Jesus used in Matthew 6:28
when he said, "Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow..."


   The author exhorts those of us to consider Jesus. We need
to live our whole life focusing on Him. He is all we need.
Paul said it well when he said this: So you also are complete through
your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
(Colossians 2:10).


****messenger: Greek - apostle. Acts 3:22-26
(Peter speaking): Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise
up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen
carefully to everything he tells you.’ Then Moses said, ‘Anyone
who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from God’s
people.’ “Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke
about what is happening today. You are the children of those prophets,
and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God
said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the families on earth will
be blessed.’ When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first
to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from your
sinful ways.”


*****High Priest: Occurs 17 times in Hebrews. Not mentioned
after Acts. The word "priest" not used by Paul in any other of his
epistles - because the priest relates to the Jews, not the Gentiles. We must
be very careful as we study this treatise to whom it is written - the Hebrews!
Ephesians presents Christ not as the high priest but as the Head of the Body!
An apostle represents God to man; a priest represents man to God -
Jesus was both! Moses was God's messenger (apostle), but not High Priest - that
required another person, Aaron. Nor, were either king. Jesus is all three to
Israel - apostle (messenger, prophet), priest and king.


Hebrews 2:17: Therefore, it was necessary for him to be
made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be
our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could
offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.


Hebrews 7:17, 24-27: And the psalmist pointed this out
when he prophesied, “You are a priest forever in the order of
Melchizedek.” But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood
lasts forever. Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those
who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their
behalf. He is the kind of high priest we need because he is
holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and
has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. Unlike those other high
priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their
own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once
for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s
sins.


   "A lot of times our Catholic friends think that Protestants
don’t like priests. Well, that’s actually not the case. It’s
just that we have one. Jesus is our High Priest; we don’t accept
substitutes. We love the priesthood of Christ; but it is a soul-sufficient
priesthood. We don’t need any extra priesthood added on top of it. So
in this passage you see Christ as priest, representing men before God. The High
Priest is the prime representative of the people of God to God. He is the one
who offers the sacrifice of atonement. And the author of Hebrews is saying,
“I want you to stop for a minute. I want you to consider who Jesus
is, He is both God’s representative to man and He is man’s
representative to God.”" - Duncan, J. Ligon, Senior Minister, First
Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi. "Hebrews Vol. 1 Archive
Index" [Online] Available www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/hebrews/Vol%201.htm/


(2) For he was *faithful to
God, who appointed him, just as **Moses served *faithfully
when he was entrusted with God’s entire house.


*faithful: The main point is that Jesus was FAITHFUL just
as Moses was FAITHFUL and then the readers are directed in verse 14 to also
be FAITHFUL!


**Moses is mentioned 11 times in Hebrews and about
700 times in the Bible. No name could mean so much to a Hebrew as that of Moses.
Paul had to overcome this reasonable prejudice and show them One Who was greater
than Moses!


(3) But Jesus deserves far more glory
than Moses, just as a person who builds a *house deserves more praise
than the house itself.


*house: The house referred to here is Israel, Moses was a
faithful servant to the house of Israel, but Jesus was the creator of Israel.
The writer wants his audience of Jewish believers to grasp the meaning of the
“New” covenant. How the Old is superseded by the New, how the builder
is greater then the house.


   Moses received much glory from God. This is seen in his shining
face after spending time with God (Exodus 34:29-35), in his justification before
Miriam and Aaron (Numbers 12:6-8), and before the sons of Korah (Numbers 16).
But Jesus received far more glory from the Father, at His baptism (Matthew 3:16-17),
at His transfiguration (Mark 9:7), and at His resurrection (Acts 2:26-27 and
Acts 2:31-33).


(4) For every house has a builder, but the
one who built everything is God.


Colossians 1:16: for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things
we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen
world. Everything was created through him and for him.


(5) Moses was certainly faithful in
God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the
truths God would reveal later.


Numbers 12:6-8: And the Lord said to them, “Now listen
to what I say: “If there were prophets among you, I, the Lord, would reveal
myself in visions. I would speak to them in dreams. But not with my servant
Moses. Of all my house, he is the one I trust. I speak to him face to
face, clearly, and not in riddles! He sees the Lord as he is. So why
were you not afraid to criticize my servant Moses?”


John 5:45-46: “Yet it isn’t I who will accuse
you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in
whom you put your hopes. If you really believed Moses, you
would believe me, because he wrote about me.


   The ancient Rabbis considered Moses to be the greatest man
ever, greater than the angels. Paul, of course, does not criticize Moses; he
exalts Jesus Christ.


(6) *But Christ, as the Son, is in
charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, **if
we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.


*But: The Greek is more like On the other
hand - comparing Christ to Moses.


**if: Does this indicate conditional salvation or the possibility
of loss of salvation? Faithfulness is a sign that we have indeed been saved
and not simply self-deluded into believing that we're saved and can't lose our
salvation, no matter what. Now this "if" is a serious thing. We are
his household -- we are God's people, we are God's possession and inheritance,
that is we are saved -- if . This "if" is so serious and so important
that the rest of chapter three is a support and explanation of it. In fact much
of the rest of this book is meant to make this "if" plain. Too often
salvation by grace is used as an excuse to sin. Romans 6:1-4:
Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more
of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we
continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with
Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried
with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious
power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.


   Some interpret this to mean, if we don’t fall from
the faith, we shall be saved. This would mean that no one is saved until they
die, (The end). What is meant, is that perseverance demonstrates true faith.


Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who calls
out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only
those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On
judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name
and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’
But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s
laws.’ This is not the case with the believer, sanctified with the
Holy Spirit, deposited in the believer as God’s guarantee of redemption:
Ephesians 1:14: The Spirit is God’s guarantee
that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased
us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.


   Moses was a part of the house he ruled but Christ
was the builder of the house. The difference between a servant and
a son is that the son, by inheritance, owns the house, and is Lord over the
house, and provides for those in the house out of his wealth. But the servants
don't own anything in the house, and the servants follow the word of the owner.
Jesus, as a son, is superior to Moses in these three ways: he owns the
house of God; he rules the house of God and he provides for the house of God.
By comparison Moses is just a servant in the house. He doesn't own
it; he doesn't rule it; and he doesn't provide for it from his wealth. So consider
Jesus in relation to Moses.



Piper, John, Pastor, Bethlehem Baptist Church. "Do Not Harden
Your Heart in the Day of Trial" [Online] Available www.soundofgrace.com/piper96/08-11-96.htm
August 11, 1996:


A Condition for Being, not Becoming


Notice first that this condition -- "'if' we hold fast to hope" --
is a condition for being something now. Verse 6 does not say: you will become
God's house if you hold fast to your hope. It says, "We are God's house"
if we hold fast to confidence and hope. It's like saying, "You are a Southerner
if you pronounce Ronald Reagan's wife's name 'Naintsy' instead of 'Nancy."
Talking like this does not make you a Southerner; it shows that you are one.


So I think Hebrews 3:6 teaches that "if we hold fast our confidence and
the boast of our hope firm to the end, we show that we are God's house."
This is what defines the household of God: God's people hope in God. God's people
are confident in God. They hold fast to God as their boast. That's the human
trait and evidence of belonging God's household. If you want to be assured
that you are of God's household test to see if you hope in God and have confidence
in God and look to God for the security and happiness of your future and the
satisfaction of your heart.


Here is another support for this: in verse 1 the readers are called "partakers
of a heavenly calling." It says, "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers
of a heavenly calling . . ." So the writer is assuming that his
readers are already partakers of God's heavenly call. They are heaven-bound.
They are not just hearers of the call; they are partakers of -- sharers in --
the call. So when he puts a big "if" on this in verse 6 -- if you
hold fast to your confidence in God -- he means: you are partakers of the call,
you are the household of God, and the evidence of this is your persevering
confidence and hope in God to the end.


Now jump ahead to verse 14 to confirm that this is the way the writer is thinking.
In verse 14 we have an "if" statement very much like the one in verse
6: "We have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of
our assurance firm until the end." Being "partakers of Christ"
in verse 14 is virtually the same as being "partakers of the heavenly calling"
in verse 1. And both are the same as "being God's house" in verse
6.


But notice the wording carefully here in verse 14, because it is a strong confirmation
that we are on the right track. It says, "We have become partakers of Christ,
if we hold our assurance to the end." The condition is future: "If
we hold fast assurance to the end." But the effect of the condition relates
to the past: "We have become partakers of Christ." So it's clear that
the point here is not: hold fast to your assurance in order to become in the
future a partaker of Christ. The point is: hold fast to your assurance
in order to show (prove, evidence, demonstrate) that you are a partaker of Christ.


Salvation Can't be Lost


Now this is utterly crucial because it shows that this writer does not believe
that you can truly partake of Christ, share in his heavenly calling and be a
part of his house and then lose that salvation. This is tremendously important
because, Lord willing, we are going to see other parts of this book that could
easily be taken to mean that we can lose our salvation.


But ask yourself this question: If verse 14 says, "We have become partakers
of Christ (in the past), if we (in the future) hold fast our assurance,"
then what conclusion should we draw if we do not hold fast our assurance (in
the past)? I believe the answer is: Then we have not become partakers of Christ.
It would be wrong to say, "If we do not hold fast our assurance, then even
though we were once partakers of Christ, nevertheless now we lose our part in
Christ." That is the opposite of what this verse says. It says, We have
become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast our assurance to the end; and if
we do not hold fast to our assurance to the end, then we have not become a partaker
of Christ. Not holding fast to our assurance does not make us lose our
salvation; it shows that we were not truly saved.


Maintaining Assurance


Everything in chapter three (and I would argue that everything in this book)
is written to encourage and empower you to be earnest and vigilant and
focused in the fight to maintain strong assurance in Christ. Let me
show you this so that you get a feel for how important this is to the writer
to the Hebrews. Over and over again the writer urges us to persevere in our
hope and not to throw away our confidence, because this is the living evidence
that we truly have become partakers of Christ. For example:


Hebrews 2:1 -- For this reason we must pay much
closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.


Hebrews 3:6 -- We are his house, if we
hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.


Hebrews 3:14 -- For we have become partakers of Christ,
if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end .
. .


Hebrews 6:11-12 -- And we desire that each one of you
show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the
end, that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who
through faith and patience inherit the promises.


Hebrews 10:23 -- Let us hold fast the
confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised
is faithful . .


Hebrews 10:35 -- Therefore, do not throw away
your confidence, which has a great reward.


Hebrews 12:1 -- Therefore, since we have so great a cloud
of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance,
and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us.


The Strength to Persevere is God's


And as we come to the end of the book he delights to bless us and remind us
that the strength to persevere to the end is not our own, but God's. This is
the point of Hebrews 13:21:


[Now the God of peace] . . . equip you in every good thing to do His will,
working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to
whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.


The surety of believers lies not in the absence of conditions in the promises
of power.


But the way we experience the power of God through Christ to work this persevering
grace in us is through the warnings and promises of the word of God. That's
why the book was written. God doesn't work in us the endurance apart from the
word. He works by the word. Our great salvation and our great Savior
(which is what this book is about) are the inspiration the Spirit uses to hold
us fast. So we must consider Jesus (3:1) and not neglect our great salvation
(2:3). That's what this book is written to help us do.


What then would be the conclusion if we do not hold fast to our assurance?
The answer is not that you stop being a partaker of Christ, but that you had
never become a partaker of Christ. Read it carefully: "We have become partakers
of Christ if we hold fast to our assurance." And so "If we do not
hold fast to our confession then we have not become partakers of Christ."


On the basis of this text I said last week that this book teaches eternal security.
That is, it teaches that if you have truly become a partaker of Christ,
you will always be one. He will work in you to preserve your faith
and hope. Another way to say it is that if you are a child of God you
cannot cease to be a child of God. But we all know that there are many
people who make a start in the Christian life and then fall away and forsake
the Lord. That kind of person is very much on this writer's mind. He knows that
happens and he deals with it in this text and how to keep it from happening.
But when it happens his explanation is not that the person really was a partaker
of Christ, but that he never had become a true partaker of Christ. If we hold
fast to our assurance we have become a partaker of Christ; if we do not, then
we have not become a partaker of Christ.


In other words persevering in faith and hope, holding fast to your
confidence in God is not a way to keep from losing your standing in Christ;
it is a way of showing that you have a standing in Christ. That standing can
never be lost, because you have it by the free grace of God, and because
Christ has promised with a covenant and an oath (Hebrews 6:17-19) to keep those
who are his (Hebrews 13:5; 20-21). In other words, my security and assurance
is not a decision or a prayer that I remember doing in the past; my
security and assurance is the faithfulness and power of God to keep me hoping
in him in the future. My security is that "he who began a good work in
me will complete it to the day of Christ" (Philippians 1:6).


How Can We Be Assured of Our Eternal Security?


So the second question is: What shall we do? How shall we know and enjoy and
be assured of our eternal security? Verses 12 and 13 give two answers: one more
general and the other more specific.


First the general answer in verse 12: "Take care, brethren,
lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling
away from the living God." The general answer is, "Take care!"
or "Take heed!" or "Look!" In other words, don't be careless
or nonchalant or inattentive about the condition of your heart. Look at it.
As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, test yourselves to see if you
are in the faith. Or like Peter says in 2 Peter 1:10, "Be
diligent to confirm your election and your calling." Don't
coast or drift and take your perseverance in faith for granted. All kinds of
alternative passions are making war on your soul every day to steal your faith
and replace Christ with other treasures. Take care! Be on the look out! Be earnest!
Be watchful over your heart. As Proverbs 4:23 says, "Watch over your
heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." That's
the answer of verse 12. Take heed!


Someone may ask, "Well, if I am a true partaker of Christ, as I believe
I am, why do I have to take heed and be so vigilant, when you have said that
I am eternally secure and can't lose my standing in Christ?" I think the
question assumes something that the New Testament says is not true. It assumes
that God's way for his chosen ones to get to heaven is without vigilance and
watchfulness and self-assessment and diligent use of means. But in fact Jesus
says, in Luke 13:24. "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many,
I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." And Peter says,
"Be sober, be watchful, your adversary the devil prowls around like
a roaring lion seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). The truth
is not that true Christians don't have to be vigilant and watchful over their
hearts; but that you can know you are a true Christian if you are vigilant
and watchful over your heart.


It's the cavalier Christians who need to be worried about their standing.
It's those who were baptized and walked an aisle or prayed a prayer and took
communion and came to church, but do not love Jesus or count him their dearest
treasure or bank their hope on him and look forward to seeing him and can say,
"To live is Christ and to die is gain." These are the self-assured
ones who need to feel insecure (see Deuteronomy 29:19). They are people, often
in the church, who treat their salvation like a vaccination. They got the vaccination
years ago and assume all is well without giving any thought to the dangers of
unbelief around them. They say, "I got inoculated against hell when I was
eight days old -- or six years old." And so getting to heaven is not a
matter of vigilance over their heart to keep it from becoming hard and unbelieving.
It's simply a matter of making sure that the inoculation happened. These are
the ones that are in tremendous danger.


That's the first answer to how we stay assured of our eternal security: Take
heed to your heart. Guard against unbelief. That is, be vigilant to maintain
your confidence and hope in Christ against all competing treasures.


The second answer is more specific in verse 13: "But encourage (or exhort)
one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today,"
lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The second answer
is that eternal security is a community project. What shall we do at Bethlehem
to avoid an "evil heart of unbelief" and not be hardened by the deceitfulness
of the sins that tempt us every day to treasure them more than we treasure Jesus?


The Strength to Persevere is God's And as we come to the end
of the book he delights to bless us and remind us that the strength to persevere
to the end is not our own, but God's. This is the point of Hebrews 13:21. [Now
the God of peace] . . . equip you in every good thing to do His will, working
in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be
the glory forever and ever. Amen. The surety of believers lies not in the absence
of conditions in the promises of power. But the way we experience the power
of God through Christ to work this persevering grace in us is through the warnings
and promises of the word of God. That's why the book was written. God doesn't
work in us the endurance apart from the word. He works by the word. Our great
salvation and our great Savior (which is what this book is about) are the inspiration
the Spirit uses to hold us fast. So we must consider Jesus (3:1) and not neglect
our great salvation (2:3). That's what this book is written to help us do. But
it didn't last. And that is why this example is so important to the writer of
Hebrews. He wants the professing Christians to last, to persevere. Because that's
the only way they will prove they are truly God's house and truly share in Christ's
salvation. So he says look at Israel and don't be like them. Pick it up at verse
8: Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me [or perhaps better, "as
in the embitterment"], as in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 where
your fathers tried me by testing me, and saw my works for forty years. 10 Therefore
I was angry with this generation, and said, "They always go astray in their
heart; and they did not know my ways;" 11 as I swore in my wrath, "They
shall not enter my rest." In other words they had seen God's gracious works;
they had seen signs and wonders and miracles of mercy, they had tasted the heavenly
gift, but instead of being softened to trust God in the day of trial when things
were difficult, they became hard and unbelieving and did not trust God's goodness,
but murmured. The result was that God was angry and cut them off from the promised
land. Now the point is that this is what will happen to us, if -- the big "if"
of verse 6 and 14 --If we harden our hearts in the day of trial and murmur against
him and throw away our confidence and hope in God. The story of Israel is an
example for the professing church. Do not treat the grace of God with contempt
-- presuming to receive it as an escape from the Egypt of misery, but not being
satisfied with it as guidance and provision in the wilderness of this life.
O how many professing Christians want the mercy of forgiveness so that they
won't go to hell, but have hard hearts toward the Lord when it comes to daily
fellowship with him!


Piper, John, Pastor, Bethlehem Baptist Church. "Do Not Harden
Your Heart in the Day of Trial" [Online] Available www.soundofgrace.com/piper96/08-11-96.htm
August 11, 1996



   How can we be sure that we're really of His house? Hebrews
3:6 gives the answer: "If we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing
of the hope firm unto the end." Some people have misunderstood that verse--they
have thought it is saying we must keep ourselves saved, that we could lose our
salvation. But since we couldn't save ourselves to begin with, how could
we keep ourselves saved? What this verse is saying is that perseverance
is proof of salvation. Those who are truly part of the house of God
will not depart from the faith. Whoever leaves proves he never belonged in the
first place (1 John 2:19). That truth is repeatedly emphasized in Hebrews because
the Jews the writer was addressing were in danger of falling away. And those
who fall away give evidence that they never did receive Christ. True saints
persevere.


John 8:31: Jesus said to the people who believed in him,
“You are truly my disciples if you remain
faithful to my teachings. The word translated "truly" (Greek,
al[ma]ethos) means "genuine" or "real."


(7) That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today
when you hear his voice,


(8) don’t harden your hearts
as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness.


   Using the example of the wilderness wonderings, Paul applies
the example to Jews who have heard the Gospel, but refuse to commit
to Christ. Israel after being delivered from Egyptian slavery by the
plagues on Egypt, was led through the Red Sea, by “the Cloud” (Exodus
14). The “Cloud” contained the “Presence” of the Lord.
The armies of Egypt pursued Israel, through the Red Sea and drowned as the Sea
collapsed on them after the last Israelite crossed. Israel witnessed these events
and God’s deliverance. God also provided and spoke to Israel; the bitter
waters of the wilderness were made sweet (Exodus 15), providing water to a thirsty
nation, bread (Manna) came down from Heaven (Exodus 16), and water came from
the Rock (Exodus 17). The Lord appeared in glory on Mt. Sinai, and spoke to
the nation that they would fear Him (Exodus 19-20). Moses at the request of
the people, because of their fear, of the Lord, went to meet with the Lord.
While Moses was on Mt. Sinai, Israel rebelled and made a “Golden Calf”
to lead them back to Egypt. Moses in a rage returns and smashes the 10 commandments,
the Lord was about to destroy Israel, but Moses then intercedes and God spares
the nation, and renews the covenant (Exodus 34). Finally, after the numerous
miracles and deliverances, Israel refuses to enter the Promised Land. Ten of
the twelve spies who entered gave negative report and the people refused to
take the land promised by God, because they did not believe God could deliver
the land to them. Only Joshua and Caleb urged Israel to take the land. God punished
Israel for their unbelief, those 20 years and older, except for Joshua and Caleb,
would wander the wilderness of Sinai for 40 years until the generation died
off. Their children would enter the land, along with Joshua and Caleb and Joshua
would replace Moses as leader of Israel (Numbers 13-14).


Exodus 16:1-3: Then the whole community of Israel set
out from Elim and journeyed into the wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Mount
Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month, one month
after leaving the land of Egypt. There, too, the whole community of
Israel complained about Moses and Aaron. “If only the Lord had
killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we
sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you
have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.”


Exodus 17:2-7: So once more the people complained
against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded.
“Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me?
And why are you testing the Lord?” But tormented by thirst, they continued
to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying
to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst? ”Then Moses cried
out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to
stone me!” The Lord said to Moses, “Walk out in front of the people.
Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and
call some of the elders of Israel to join you. I will stand before you on the
rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then
the people will be able to drink.” So Moses struck the rock as he was
told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on Moses named the place
Massah (which means “test”) and Meribah (which means “arguing”)
because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying,
“Is the Lord here with us or not?”


Numbers 14:10-12,20-25,29-37: But the whole community
began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of
the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle. And the Lord said
to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they
never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?
I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into
a nation greater and mightier than they are!” ... Then the Lord said,
“I will pardon them as you have requested. But as surely as I live, and
as surely as the earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, not one
of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious
presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness,
but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. They
will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None
of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it. But my
servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has
remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants
will possess their full share of that land. Now turn around, and don’t
go on toward the land where the Amalekites and Canaanites live. Tomorrow
you must set out for the wilderness in the direction of the
Red Sea. ... You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because
you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old
or older and was included in the registration will die. You will not
enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will
be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. “‘You
said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them
safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. But as for
you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. And your children
will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years.
In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies
dead in the wilderness. Because your men explored the land for forty days, you
must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering
the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have
me for an enemy.’ I, the Lord, have spoken! I will certainly do these
things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will
be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!” The ten
men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion
against the Lord with their bad report— were struck dead with a plague
before the Lord. Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb
remained alive.


1 Corinthians 10:10-13: And don’t grumble as
some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things
happened to them as examples for us. They were written down
to warn us who live at the end of the age. If you think you
are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are
no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow
the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will
show you a way out so that you can endure.


Philippians 2:14: Do everything without complaining and
arguing


(9) There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years.


(10) So I was angry with them, and I said,
‘Their hearts always *turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’


*hearts always turn away from me: Greek they are wandering
in the heart.


(11) So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”


Psalm 95:7-11: for he is our God. We are the people he
watches over, the flock under his care. If only you would listen to his voice
today! The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel
did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness. For there your ancestors
tested and tried my patience, even though they saw everything I did. For forty
years I was angry with them, and I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts
turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ So in my anger
I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”

Psalm 95 was central to synagogue worship and engraved into the memory of every
Jew.


(12) Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters.
Make sure that your own hearts are not *evil and **unbelieving, *** turning
you away from the ****living God.


   Don’t be like the generation that perished in the wilderness!


*evil: The Greek word here is a strong one denoting not passive
but positive and active evil.


**unbelieving: “Unbelief is not inability to understand,
but unwillingness to trust. One can truly believe God, yet
be occasionally troubled by doubts. Unbelief isn’t weakness of
faith; it sets itself in opposition to faith.


***turning you away: The Greek word is the
one from which we get the word apostasy.


****living God: The phrase ‘living God’ is popular
with the writer (9:14; 10:31; 12:22) and emphasizes the character of God. Among
other things, it draws attention to His awareness of, and living presence among,
men, and His active interest and concern. It reveals Him as One Who is there
to act, and is indeed acting on behalf of His own, but also, in warning, as
One ready if necessary also to bring judgment on men. It shows Him as One intimately
concerned with world affairs, in contrast with dead idols. To fall away from
Him is not to reject an absent landlord, but to spurn a present Friend and Guide.


(13) You must warn each other every day, while
it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by
sin and hardened against God.


   It is a reminder that while time exists we must ever be on
our guard. There can never be a let up in the battle against sin. And we therefore
need to ‘encourage and strengthen’ one another


(14) For if we are
*faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first
believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.


*faithful: The main point is that since Jesus was FAITHFUL
just as Moses was FAITHFUL as told in verse 2, then the readers are to also
be FAITHFUL! True faithfulness manifests itself most clearly in an endurance
all the way to the end of the path that God has laid out for us - our
faith is strengthened and proven when we go through our trials.


(15) Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”


(16) And who was it who rebelled against God,
even though they heard his voice? Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt?


   The majority can be wrong! It was not a small minority who
provoked God, but the vast majority - nearly all of them.


(17) And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness?


(18) And to whom was God speaking when he took
an oath that they would never enter his *rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed
him?


*rest: 11 times in Hebrews chapters 3 and 4, Hebrews speaks
of entering rest. That rest will be deeply detailed in the next chapter. But
here, the key to entering rest is revealed: belief.


(19) So we see that because of their
unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.


   Paul is now urging his readers to urgently (today)
examine themselves if they are truly in the faith. Why? Because,
the great trial of their faith is coming very soon - the Roman persecution.
Unbelief is to take up a position exactly the opposite of that of Jesus and
Moses who were faithful (verse 2). So, we should test ourselves to see whether
our hearts are remaining true to Jesus Christ, or whether some interest, or
pleasure, or temptation, or emphasis, is causing a barrier between Him and us.


2 Corinthians 13:5 : Examine yourselves to
see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves.
Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you (in you); if not, you
have failed the test of genuine faith.

 Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone who calls out to
me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who
actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.


   Note the sequence. They provoked (verse
16), they sinned (verse 17), they were disobedient (verse 18), they were guilty
of unbelief (verse 19). Their hearts became harder and harder. And thus they
could not enter into God’s rest. To enter God’s rest was to be settled
in the land and delivered from surrounding enemies.


   So the lessons up to this point are on (1) the danger of
being entrapped by sin and allowing it to develop within, (2) the danger of
assuming that the majority is always right, (3) the danger of disobedience and
unbelief and (4) the danger of turning away from God’s appointed deliverer;
all of which in Israel’s case had resulted in God’s judgment. All
these will cause us to fail to enter into His rest, a rest obtained by becoming
partakers in Christ.


   When the apostle Paul related some of the same experiences
of Israel in the wilderness, he wrote These things happened to them as examples
for us. They were written down to warn us who live
at the end of the age. (1 Corinthians 10:11). As a result of the many counterfeit
professions and the false Christianity the potential of falling short of promised
rest is just as much a reality as it proved to be for the Israelites in the
wilderness.


   Persistent sin in the face of God's mercy is a sign
of unbelief. Yes, the people were embittered because of God's testing
them (verse 8); yes, they sinned (verse 17); but beneath all that was
the root problem: they didn't believe God, that is, they didn't trust
his goodness -- to lead and protect and provide and satisfy. Even though they
saw the waters of the Red Sea divide and they walked over on dry ground, the
moment they got thirsty, they did not trust him to take care of them. They cried
out against him and said that life in Egypt was better.


   That is what this book is written to prevent.
Many professing Christians make a start with God. They hear that their sins
can be forgiven and that they can go to heaven. And they say: what have I got
to lose, I'll believe. But then, sooner or later, the test comes - a lost job,
retirement, a sick or dying child, a failed marriage, failed health, a ruined
career, a dying loved parent, money problems - the list goes on and on.


   Our goal as we approach the end of our lives
should be to say with Paul in 2 Timothy 4:7: I
have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.




Bibliography/Works Cited:


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