Hebrews 3

Hebrews 3:1

In his first two chapters, the writer of the Book of Hebrews argues that, although for a season Jesus was made lower than the angels in order to relate to us and die for us, in reality, He is greater than any angel. Yet there would be those who would have said, “Well, maybe Jesus is greater than angels, but He can’t be greater than the great lawgiver, Moses.” Consequently, chapter 3 addresses this question… The word “house” means either “a place to live” or “a people.” In 2 Samuel 7, David prayed, “I want to build You a house, a temple.” “No, David,” God replied through the prophet Nathan. “You can’t build Me a house because you’re a man of war. But I’m going to build you a house, a family from which will come Messiah.” Thus, we see in the Scriptures “house” used both ways. Here we read Moses was faithful in his housethat is, to the people to whom he ministered. It’s Not About You! A Topical Study of Heb_3:1-2 The longer I walk with the Lord, the more at rest I am in the Lord. But rather than lead me into a lethargic kind of apathy, the rest of which I speak causes me to step out in victory and to walk with my Father confidently. To this end, I want to share a truth with you that is simple, but I believe profoundly so. Keep in mind that the Book of Hebrews was written to Christians who had come out of a Hebrew, or Jewish, culture. They were believers in Christ; they were converted to Christ; they recognized Jesus as Messiahbut as the years went on, these Hebrew Christians were being drawn back to Judaism. After all, there in Jerusalem they could see the temple. They could hear the trumpets. They could smell the incense. And the pull of tradition, nostalgia, and memories is a strong one. “Don’t go back,” writes the author of this book. “Even though it’s tempting, even though traditions have a powerful pull, keep the foundation of your faith basic. Keep it focused. Keep it simple. It’s Jesusnothing more, nothing less, nothing else.” That is why he says in chapter 3, “Consider the Apostle of our profession.” The word “apostle” meaning “sent one,” upon reading this, the mind of the Jewish reader would immediately race to the Apostle of Israel, the one sent to deliver them from the bondage of Egypt… After baking bricks in the blistering Egyptian sun for four hundred years, the people of Israel finally came to their wits’ end and cried to the Lord to send a deliverer. Therefore, sent by the Lord on a mission for the Lord, Moses was an apostle in the truest sense of the word. “Thus saith the Lord, Let My people go,” he declared to Pharaoh. And you know the story. This apostle, this leader, Moses, led a congregation of perhaps three million Jews to the Land of Promise. Notice they are told to consider not only the apostle, but the High Priest of their profession. Upon reading this, the Jewish mind would think of the first high priest, Moses’ older brother, Aaron. So beginning in chapter 5, the author reminds his audience that not only did Moses fail to enter the Promised Land but also that Aaron failed to enter in as well… In Numbers 20, the children of Israel were once again murmuring against Moses and Aaron, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?

And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.Num_20:3 (b), Num_20:4, Num_20:6-12 With this passage in mind, if you came from a Jewish background and are told to consider the Apostle and High Priest of your confession, the implication might trouble you because you would say, “Uh-oh. I know our national history. We were given a fine apostle and a wonderful high priest, two of the best of men. But we drove them crazy. I wonder, therefore, if I will do the same thing to this great Apostle and High Priest, Jesus Christ.” The fact is, one need not be a Jew to feel this way. I’ve been a Christian for almost fifty years, and as I watch my life unfold year after year, as I hear myself murmuring, as I see my lousy attitudes, as I succumb to sin and carnality, my tendency is to say, “At fifty years old in the faith, I should be a lot further along than I am. No doubt I’m frustrating my Great High Priest and Apostle Jesus Christ much more than the children of Israel frustrated Moses and Aaron. Any day now, He’s bound to say, “Jon, how long will it take for you to get it right? I’m out of here.” But such is not the case, for look at our text… Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.Heb_3:2 To whom is our High Priest faithful? Not to you, not to me, not to your congregation. He is faithful to the One who appointed Him. He is faithful to the Father. The overwhelming majority of Christians think that God the Father was holy and awesome and powerful. But He was understandably angry. So Jesus shed His blood on the Cross, went to heaven, and said, “Take it easy, Father. Here’s My blood. It’s okay now.” Truly, the basic understanding of most people is that, because God was frustrated with mankind, Jesus came on the scene to calm Him down. But such is not true biblical theology. Jesus came to earth not primarily for you or me. He came to do the will of His Father. And it was the Father’s will to save you. Biblical Christianity is not about us, gang. It’s not about our prayer. It’s not about our devotion. It’s not about whether we’re good or bad, obedient or disobedient. It’s not about how much we pray or how little we pray. It’s not about where we go or don’t go, what we do or don’t do. It’s about Jesus’ faithfulness to His Father. And our failures only make His ministry to the Father that much more impressive. “If that’s true,” you say, “if my relationship with God is not about my prayer life, my worship, my anointing, my ministry, then how do I fit in at all? Am I just a pawn, just a piece of the puzzle in this demonstration of the faithfulness of the Son to the Father?” For the answer, turn to John 17… I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.Joh_17:23 What if we believed this? What if we really believed that the Father loves us as much as He loves His own Son? We would pray with confidence. We wouldn’t have to prove anything to Him or to ourselves. We would be at peace. The repercussions? We would pray more. We would study the Word more. We would worship morenot to earn spiritual brownie points, but just to enjoy our Father. Our Apostle and High Priest, Jesus Christ, will not failno matter how many times we dobecause His ministry is to the Father. And the Father will never frustrate Him.

Hebrews 3:3

Truly, Moses was without peer as a servant in the house. But the Son is the Builder of the house and therefore deserves more honor than Moses. Where does the Lord choose to dwell? In us. Amazing. In other words, we are His house if we hold on to the confidence of the hope of the gospel. But if we return to traditionalism, rules, regulations, or our own efforts at spirituality, there’s no guarantee.

Hebrews 3:7

Quoting Psa_95:7-11, a key passage in Scripture, the writer alludes to the account found in Numbers 13… The spies returned from the Land of Promise, saying, “It’s a fabulous landa land flowing with milk and honey. But there’s a huge problem. There are giants there and we look like grasshoppers to them.” “Oh no,” the people said. “We’re toast.” And although Joshua and Caleb said, “If God is with us, it won’t be a problem,” the ten other spies convinced the congregation they couldn’t simply believe that God would give them the Land. “Because you don’t believe the simple word I gave you,” God said, “you’re not going in.” And the longest death march in world history ensued as the Israelites wandered around for thirty-eight years until an entire generation diedincluding Moses.

Hebrews 3:12

Watch out, warns the writer of Hebrews, that you don’t make the mistake your fathers made at Kadesh Barnea when they looked to their inadequacy rather than at God’s inerrancy. How were the children of Israel delivered from Egypt? By blood and waterthe blood that they applied to the doorposts before Passover and the water of the Red Sea which drowned the chariots pursuing them. So, too, we are delivered from “Egypt"from damnation and destructionby the blood and water that flowed from Jesus’ side on the Cross of Calvary. Yet, like the children of Israel, although they are delivered from Egypt, too many Christians spend their whole lives wandering between Egypt and the land of abundance. Year after year, they trudge through life, thinking, Well, this is as good as it can get until I die and go to the Promised Land of heaven. That’s not what God intended for us, gang. He intended to take us out of Egypt, through the wilderness quickly, and into the Promised Land of the Spirit-filled, abundant life. You see, the Promised Land in Bible typology is not a picture of heaven. It’s a picture of life in the Spirit. How do I know? Because while there are neither giants nor battles in heaven, the Spirit-filled life is filled with many a giant to wrestle and many a battle to wage. Only Joshua and Caleb realized that giants, battles, wars notwithstanding, God would, indeed, give them the Promised Land. And thus, they did not provoke God.

Hebrews 3:17

To whom did God say, “You shall not enter into the rest, the Promised Land, the abundance of milk and honey”? I would have thought it would have been to those who worshiped idols or to those who didn’t have morning devotions. I would have thought it would have been to immoral men or to those who didn’t offer sacrifices. Yet, in reality, the only thing that kept the children of Israel from the Promised Land was their lack of faith. This is critically important theology, for the singular sin that kept them from blessing was simply thinking God’s promise was just too good to be true. Precious people, you can live the abundant, Spirit-filled, successful, exciting, thrilling Christian life if, instead of thinking that God can’t bless you because you haven’t been to Bible study, because you’ve been yelling at your husband, or because you haven’t had morning devotions regularly, you say, “I’m a spiritual grasshopper, Lord. But if You want to bring me into this great land of blessing, I’ll gladly go in!” The sin of Hebrews 3 is singular. It’s not fornication, as destructive as that sin may be. It’s not idolatry, as sad as that sin is. Rather, it’s simply not believing how good God is. When he came home from Bible School, my son Peter-John shared with me how passionate he and his friends were about seeing their generation brought into the kingdom. “So I get up early in the morning and pray and spend time in the Word. I do so well for about three or four days,” he said. “But then I get tired. I sleep in. I miss my devotional time. And I don’t go to prayer meeting.” With tears running down his cheeks, this football-playing son of mine said, “Dad, I want to do so well. But I’m not.” “Peter,” I said, “when you learn the lesson that took me years and years to understand, you’ll be on your way. And that lesson is simply this: Blessing, anointing, ministry, fruitfulness, and victory are not about you. It’s not about the work you do for the Lord; it’s about the work He did for you. It’s not about your prayer to the Lord; it’s about His intercession for you. It’s not about your faith in the Lord; it’s about His being faithful when you falter. It’s all about Him being the hero, the prayer warrior, the victor, the friend, the faithful One.” The key not only to ministry but to every area of spirituality is found in John 10… Of John the Baptist, Jesus said, “This is the greatest man who ever lived.” Yet Scripture also records John did no mighty miracles (Joh_10:41). So what made John the greatest man who ever lived? One thing: He didn’t preach on power in prayer. He didn’t propagate victory through discipline. He simply said, “Behold the Lamb. Check Him out. Follow Him.” Happy is the day when a woman grasps the fact that spiritual life has nothing to do with her and everything to do with God. Happy the day when a man finally realizes all he has to say is, “I don’t know why You put up with a grasshopper like me, but, Lord, if You want to allow me to be in ministry, if You want to give me a family, if You want to bless me in countless waysthat’s okay with me!” Don’t let anyone sell you a bill of goods, saying, “The reason I’m so successful is because I pray night and day. And the reason you will never be part of the chosen few is because you don’t.” Any man or woman can leave here tonight to be used mightily and blessed exceedingly beyond anything they could ask or even think if they would just learn to say, “I believe You, Lord.” Contrary to many sermons, the deceitfulness of sin is one thing. It’s saying, “I’ve got to do more. I’ve got to be bigger, stronger, better in my spiritual walk so that I can battle the giants ahead of me.” God says that’s the very sin that will keep you out. Dear saint, it’s all about God’s work for you, not your work for Him. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Be blown away by Him. Behold the Lamb!