Greater than Moses – Part II
HEBREWS 3:1-6
“MOSES WAS ESTEEMED BY THE JEWS FAR ABOVE ANY OTHER JEW WHO EVER LIVED. God had miraculously protected him as a baby and personally provided for his burial. Between those two points in his life are miracle after miracle after miracle. He was the man to whom God spoke face to face. He had seen the very glory of God and, in fact, even had the glory reflected in his own face for a brief while. After he came down from Sinai, ‘The skin of his face shown because of his speaking with Him’ (Ex. 34:29). He was the one who led Israel out of Egypt. As Paul stresses in Romans 2, Jews had great confidence in the law. The Old Testament commandments and rituals were their supreme priorities, and to them Moses and the law were synonymous. The New Testament often refers to the commands of God as the ‘law of Moses” (Luke 2:22; Acts 13:39; and others). Moses not only brought the Ten Commandments but he also wrote the entire Pentateuch, which lays out the Levitical and other laws that governed everything the Jews did. Moses gave the plans for the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. Some Jews believed that Moses was greater than angels. God spoke to the prophets in visions, but to Moses He spoke to him out of heaven. He spoke to him on Sinai and wrote the commandments with a finger of fire. He was, above all others, God’s man. Yet, in this passage of Hebrews the Holy Spirit calls on Jewish readers, especially, to look at Jesus. MOSES WAS INDEED GREAT; BUT JESUS IS FAR GREATER. Jesus is shown to be superior to Moses in office, in work, and in person. In His office, He is the Apostle and High Priest, In His work, He is the Builder of the house. In His Person, He is the Son.” – MacArthur
NAS Hebrews 3:3-4 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.
THESE VERSES ARE YET ANOTHER PROOF THAT JESUS IS GOD. It is Jesus, the Son of God, who is being compared to Moses. The comparison focused on the word “house.” The writer of Hebrews is telling us that Jesus built that house. He goes on then to tell us that the builder of all things – including the house in view – is God. That is a direct connection of Jesus and God. Jesus is God!
MOSES WAS FAITHFUL, BUT MOSES WAS ONLY PART OF GOD’S HOUSE in the O.T.; Jesus, who is God, made the house. This illustrates clearly the difference in Moses – or any other believer, for that matter – and Jesus. Moses was only a part of God’s house; Jesus is the builder.
“HOUSE” HERE REFERS NOT TO A BUILDING BUT TO PEOPLE, BELIEVERS. Moses’ house was the tabernacle and the legalistic, works-based system it represented. But when the reference is Jesus, the house must be seen from a different perspective. Here “house” refers to the believers themselves and not to a religious system symbolized by a building. Just as “church” in the N.T. does not refer to a building but to Christians; in other words, the church.
IT WILL BECOME READILY APPARENT IN CHAPTER 9 THAT the reality which the tabernacle pictures (and which harmonizes the two peoples of God, Israel and the Church), are human beings themselves. The writer declares, “We are His house! It is redeemed humanity who is to be the dwelling place of God (1 Cor 6:19; Eph 2:22; Rev 21:3).” – Ray Steadman
JUST AS MOSES AND CHRIST ARE DIFFERENT, SO IS THE O.T. HOUSE AND THE N.T. CHURCH. There are similarities with Moses and Christ, and there are similarities between the O.T. house of believers and the N.T. house of believers, but to say that there is no difference, that the nation of Israel is the same as the church, is incorrect. Moses is not Jesus; the O.T. house is not the N.T. house.
HERE WE SEE THE SIMILARITIES OF MOSES TO CHRIST becoming a direct comparison with Jesus, and with Jesus being declared greater.
IN ORDER TO REALLY APPRECIATE THIS GREAT STATEMENT OF THE WRITER OF HEBREWS, WE MUST KEEP IN MIND THE WRITER’S ARGUMENT OF CHAPTER 1 THAT BEGAN WITH V. 1. Remember what we have learned from our previous studies: Christ is superior to the prophets; He is superior to the angels; now He is shown superior to Moses. The prophets, the angels, and Moses: this was the very heart of Judaism. The readers were Jews who had become Christians, but they were tempted to revert to the Jewish religious system and neglect their Christian salvation. The writer shows them clearly that to fall away from Christ is foolishness. Christ is superior to every element of Judaism.
NOW, WITH ALL THAT IN MIND, LOOK AGAIN VS. 3-4…
NAS Hebrews 3:3-4 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.
AND THIS GREAT VERSE FROM COLOSSIANS 1:16…
NAS Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created by Him and for Him.
WHEN HEBREWS 3:3-4 IS PROPERLY SEEN IN CONNECTION WITH THE preacher of Hebrews’ argument, the conclusion can only be that Jesus is God. “We may legitimately read this statement as follows: ‘He that built all things – that is, Christ – is God. ‘Unless we do read it this way, it makes no sense, for it would reduce to a statement that ‘God created all things.’ This would be true, of course, but wholly irrelevant to the argument.” – Edgar Andrews
NOW LET US CONCLUDE OUR PASSAGE FOR THIS WEEK…
NAS Hebrews 3:5-6 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.
BECAUSE THAT LAST PART OF V. 6 IS SO IMPORTANT, SO controversial, I want us to look at it in five different translation so that we might catch the full sense of what is being said…
KJV Hebrews 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
NAS Hebrews 3:6 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.
NET Hebrews 3:6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. We are of his house, if in fact we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope we take pride in.
NIV Hebrews 3:6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
ESV Hebrews 3:6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
THE WRITER OF HEBREWS IS NOT TALKING ABOUT LOSING ONE’S SALVATION. He is talking about completing one’s salvation, perfecting one’s salvation, maturing in your faith. “The end of salvation is the primary concern of this early preacher. He sees Christians, whom he addresses, as dwelling too much on their Jewish heritage and refusing to move on to their eschatological calling.” – Broadman Commentary
IF THIS CENTRAL FACT IS IGNORED, the text does then sound at first as if he is saying that it is possible to lose one’ salvation…
“WE CAN NEITHER SAVE OURSELVES NOR KEEP OURSELVES SAVED. The meaning (in this verse) is simply that continuance is the proof of reality. We can tell if we are really the house of God because we stay there. The one who falls away never belonged in the first place.” – John MacArthur
BECAUSE V. 6 CONTAINS AN “IF,” THUS MAKING IT CONDITIONAL (although Ray Steadman believes the statement is more likely descriptive rather than conditional) this statement has been taken by some to signify that it is possible for a believer to lose his salvation through failing to “hold fast” to his faith because of sin or carelessness. We will have much more to say about this in blogs to come. Consider these wise words…
“THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT perseverance is the result of genuine faith, and that the believer’s good works stem from (and demonstrate the reality of) his security in Christ. The saving work of Christ is the cause of our salvation, and nothing we do (or fail to do) can negate that work. Our continuation in Christ, and the service we render, are alike the consequences of a saving relationship to Christ. If we confuse cause with consequence we shall fall into bondage and condemnation. Why, then, does the writer bother to warn his readers? He wants them to give attention to the danger of apostasy, in which men believe themselves to be truly saved when they are not. The consequence is that eventually they fall away, in spite of once having made a fair profession of faith in Christ. Such people need to be warned of their condition while they are still receptive toward spiritual things, so that they might turn to Christ in true repentance and faith before it is too late.” – Edgar Andrews
WHAT THIS STATEMENT IS SAYING IS THAT CONTINUANCE IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS THE TEST OF THE REALITY OF OUR FAITH. If our faith is real – and it is – then we will demonstrate that reality through persevering. “(This statement) tells us that courage or boldness, and the demonstration of hope in word and deed is the continuing mark of those who belong to Christ. It does not rule out periods of weak faith and struggle.” – Steadman
THIS DOESN’T MEAN WE CAN LOSE OUR SALVATION; this means we must be on guard that our faith not waver.
HEBREWS WAS WRITTEN TO BELIEVERS AS A REMINDER AND A WARNING. The reminder is that Jesus is superior over everything and everyone, and that includes our present circumstances. The warning is, don’t let this great salvation slip away from you through neglect.
MAY WE TODAY BE LIKEWISE REMINDED AND WARNED.
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
