“Greater than Moses” – Part I
THE THEME OF HEBREWS, WE HAVE SAID, IS THE SUPERIORITY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. In chapter 1, vv. 1-4, we saw that Jesus is superior to the O.T. prophets. In vv. 5-14 in chapter 1, as well as from our recent studies in chapter 2, we saw that Jesus was superior to the angels. This week we will see that Jesus is superior to Moses…
NAS Hebrews 3:1-6 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.
JESUS CHRIST IS GREATER THAN MOSES…
“NEXT TO ABRAHAM, MOSES WAS UNDOUBTEDLY THE MAN MOST GREATLY REVERED BY THE JEWISH PEOPLE. Remember that the book of Hebrews was most likely written to Jewish Christians; Jews who were steeped in the customs and traditions of the Old Testament; Jews who were evidently tempted to go back to the O.T. way of worshipping God, to the O.T. law. To go back to the law meant to go back to Moses and the old covenant, going back and not going forward. It was important that the writer convince his readers that Jesus Christ is greater than Moses, for the entire system of Jewish religion came through Moses.” – Warren Wiersbe/TAR
SOME SCHOLARS HAVE POINTED OUT THAT THIS PASSAGE CONTAINS one of the most direct references to the prominent question of the security of believers. One Reformed/Calvinistic scholar went further: “Nowhere in the New Testament more than here do we find such repeated insistence on the fact that continuance in the Christian life is the test of reality. The doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints has as its corollary the salutary teaching that the saints are the people who persevere to the end.” – F.F. Bruce
LOOK AT THIS PASSAGE FROM THE GOSPEL OF MARK THAT, ACCORDING TO REFORMED THEOLOGY, CLEARLY TEACHES this fundamental doctrine…
ESV Mark 4:1-25 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.” 13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while. Then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.
25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
IT IS EASY TO SEE FROM THIS PARABLE THAT NOT ALL HEARTS RECEIVE THE WORD OF GOD THE SAME. and not all hearts who receive the Word do the same things with it. Some hear the Word and the Word has no effect on them. Others hear the word and allow the cares of the world to choke off any life it may have engendered. And some, of course, humble, repentant hearts, receive the Word and believe it and act upon and see that implanted Word bearing much fruit.
HEBREWS 3:1-6 IS A TIGHTLY CONSTRUCTED UNIT OF EXPOSITION (teaching, or preaching – TAR) which finds its point of departure in Jesus’ faithfulness as a high priest in the service of God (for the direct benefit of you and me – TAR) – point taken from Lane
NAS Hebrews 2:17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
“GREATER THAN MOSES”…
NAS Hebrews 3:1-2 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house.
LET US NOTE AT THE BEGINNING THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE BELIEVERS. The term “holy brethren,” which, of course, includes all believers, men and women, could only be applied to believers. There can be no argument that the writer is addressing the church, the body of Christ, Christians.
“HOLY” MEANS “SET APART.” Christians are called out of the world unto salvation. They are separated from the world to do the work of God. They are sanctified by the Holy Spirit…
NAS 2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
GENERALLY SPEAKING, SANCTIFICATION MAY BE DESCRIBED AS BOTH AN EVENT AND A PROCESS LEADING TO THE HOLINESS OF BELIEVERS
THE WORD “PARTAKERS” IN THE NAS MEANS “PARTNERS.” Christians are those who share together in the heavenly calling of salvation. It was not Moses who did this. Moses did not provide salvation. Only Christ.
CHRISTIANS HAVE A HEAVENLY CALLING. Therefore, we have a heavenly responsibility. We should always be living in such a manner that is consistent with our high calling.
NAS Ephesians 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
THE WRITER HERE IN HEBREWS 3 IS COMPARING MOSES AND JESUS. He will convincingly show that Jesus is the greater. But in vs. 1-2 we see more a likeness than a comparison.
JESUS CHRIST IS GREATER THAN MOSES IN PERSON, BUT, in vs. 1-2 we do not see this as evident. What we see in the first two verses of chapter 3 is the similarity of Jesus and Moses. First, both were faithful. Jesus was faithful to the appointment He had been given by God just as Moses was faith to the ministry he had been given…
NAS Numbers 12:7-8 “Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant, against Moses?”
THE “HOUSEHOLD” REFERRED TO HERE, AND THE “HOUSE” referred to in Numbers 12:7 are speaking of the O.T. tabernacle. This house is the O.T. nation of Israel; it was dependent upon the law. Moses was faithful in that house…
“THE TABERNACLE IS CALLED “THE HOUSE OF GOD” at least six different times in the O.T., and its successor, the temple, is so designated 43 times. Moses is especially connected with the tabernacle as the one who received its design on Mount Sinai and oversaw its building and ritual. If the tabernacle was the symbol of the dwelling place of God in the midst of His people, as will be seen more fully in v. 6, then we may view the phrase God’s house as referring both to Israel and the building itself, each standing for the other.” – Ray Steadman
JESUS IS REFERRED TO IN OUR PASSAGE AS “THE APOSTLE AND HIGH PRIEST of our confession.” Maybe you never knew that Jesus is called an “apostle,” a specialized term always referring to humans in Scripture, but He is. Here in v. 1 is the only time in all of Scripture where we read that Jesus was an apostle. An apostle is one who is sent with a message. Jesus, God the Son, was sent by God the Father with the message of salvation. Jesus is not only a special Apostle, not to be compared with the original 12 apostles Jesus chose to minister with Him during His earthly incarnation, but He is also the High Priest. An apostle has the authority to speak for the one who sent him. Moses was an apostle; he was sent on a mission by God to bring the people out of slavery in Egypt…
NAS Exodus 3:10 “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh (an apostle is one sent on a mission – TR), so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
JESUS WAS THE FIRST APOSTLE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. He then chose 12 men to be His apostles in His earthly ministry. As an Apostle He represented God to humanity; as High Priest He represents, even now, saved human beings to God in heaven. Isn’t that a beautiful image, a beautiful way to look at Jesus?
THE PRIESTLY SYSTEM IN ANCIENT ISRAEL BEGAN WITH MOSES. While we may trace elements of the priestly system all the way back to Adam and Abraham, the actual Jewish priesthood was not firmly established until Moses. God chose the tribe of Levi to be the priestly tribe out of the twelve tribes that comprised the Jewish nation. Aaron, Moses’ brother was the first earthly high priest. He performed his priestly duties under the authority of Moses…
KJV Exodus 28:1 (God to Moses:) And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
THE HIGH PRIEST IN THE JEWISH STRUCTURE OF WORSHIP WAS UNIQUE. The high priest was the only one permitted by God to enter into the holy of holies. The holy of holies was that special place in the interior of the tabernacle and the temple where only the high priest entered and only on the Day of Atonement. “Whenever ‘high priest’ occurs in Hebrews, the Day of Atonement stands in the background.” – Lane
THE HOLY OF HOLIES WAS THE PLACE WHERE GOD’S PRESENCE DWELT. It was the closest man could get to God. It was so holy that the Jews feared no one could survive, that being that near the glory of God would result in death. God instructed them to make special provision should the priest be overcome…
NAS Exodus 28:35 “And it (the special priestly robe with golden bells sewn into its hem – TR) shall be on Aaron when he ministers; and its tinkling (that is, the bells – TR) may be heard when he enters and leaves the holy place before the LORD, that he may not die.
IF THE PEOPLE DID NOT HEAR THE TINKLING OF THE BELLS, indicating the high priest was still alive, they were to pull him out of the curtained holy of holies by a rope attached to his ankle. No one other than the high priest was allowed to go in. If someone else went in, God would strike him dead. All this was to underscore the holiness of God.
THE ANCIENT PRIESTS OF THE TABERNACLE AND THEN the temple were busy men. They had to constantly offer sacrifices for the people’s sins. The sacrifices were only temporary, lasting only until another sin was committed. But Jesus was different…
NAS Hebrews 10:9 then He (Jesus) said, “Behold, I have come to do Thy will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second (Jesus fulfilled the O.T. law and superseded the O.T. priestly system). By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every (O.T.) priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,
WE’LL HAVE MUCH MORE TO SAY ABOUT THIS PASSAGE in chapter 10 when we get there… in 2025… (just kidding J).
I’D LIKE TO LOOK AGAIN AT VERSE 1 AND TWO WORDS…
NAS Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.
“CONSIDER JESUS.” I love that expression; it’s a heavy idea. There is nothing heavier. To consider is to think seriously about something with the intention of making a decision based upon your deliberations and, from a biblical perspective, to act upon that decision. Because Jesus is faithful; because He is superior to the prophets and the angels, we are commanded to fix our attention upon Him, to put our eyes and our minds upon Him and never allow our gaze to falter.
IF WE ARE EXPERIENCING DIFFICULTY TODAY, IN OUR TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS, WE DO WELL, I THINK YOU’LL AGREE, TO ASK OURSELVES, ARE WE CONSIDERING JESUS? Are our hearts focused on Him, or have we allowed ourselves to be consumed by circumstances, circumstances that have caused us to take our eyes away from Him? Are we considering Jesus in our daily circumstances? Are we fixing our attention on Him, thinking seriously about Him.
WE MUST TRUST THIS ONE WHO IS SUPERIOR to the prophets and the angels and greater than Moses. He is the faithful One. He is trustworthy. Therefore, we should trust Him; trust that He has a purpose in our suffering.
LASTLY, FOR THIS WEEK’S STUDY, “OUR CONFESSION.” “Confession” in Scripture means simply to say the same thing. When we confess our faith we are together, as partners of the heavenly calling, acknowledging our obligation and commitment as Christians.
“THE REASON SO MANY CHRISTIANS ARE WEAK AND WORRIED IS THAT THEY DO NOT KEEP CONSIDERING CHRIST, and so His full strength and comfort and guidance are not theirs. The Holy Spirit continually says to ever believer, ‘Consider Jesus.’ When life gets rough and problems seems to have no solution and everything goes bad and disappointment and depression become ‘normal’ and temptations seem impossible to resist – put your gaze on Jesus and keep it there intently until He begins to unfold before your very eyes in all His glorious power.”
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
