Christ, Greater Than Moses
Hebrews Chapter 3
There are many good reasons to study the Book of Hebrews after a study of the five Books of Moses. We can better understand the Old Testament if we think of it as the Word of God written to "a redeemed people" rather than written "to redeem a people".
God had rescued Israel from the bondage of Egypt. This nation of freed slaves should have recognized the power of God and submitted to His Laws.
A saved people should display their faith by willfully living in the submission to God's Word!
When we fail to obey God's Word then we are saying that we do not belong to God or we are saying we just do not care to know if there is a real God!
Israel had obtained the land of Palestine because of the covenant God made to Abraham!
God had told Abraham that before his descendants could live on that covenant land they would spend 400 years in bondage!
God reached down to a simple shepherd in the wilderness named Moses and caused him to be a redeemer of his own true people.
Moses delivered this people from a "physical" bondage and led them through the wilderness.
Moses was set apart from the other Israelites as a judge and as a ruler, and as the lawgiver.
We have seen that Moses was in fact a "type" of Christ!
God had set down a pattern of what His true redeemer would fulfill!
God had given The Law which was to be the foundation of Israel's daily life!
These laws revealed the kind of life God expected of a redeemed people "if they were to live in fellowship with Him"!
Those Laws were to rule every aspect of all those God had redeemed from the bondage of the "iron furnace" of Egypt.
That "iron furnace" is in "type" a picture of Hell!
Because of all of this Moses was held in the highest esteem of the people of Israel!
But we also saw that the children of Israel often-ed murmured and rebelled against Moses.
Now, We have already seen that Christ is superior to all the prophets of God!
We have already seen that Christ is superior to any and every angel!
We will see today that Christ Jesus is superior to Moses!
We should consider these things as we see that the Holy Spirit has given this writer of the Book of Hebrews, who I personally believe to be the Apostle Paul, these words that tell us of Our Savior who is much greater than any human being.
*****Our Text:
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
When we see the word "wherefore" we are cautioned to look both ways". We are to look back to what was written in previous verses and forward to what is written after the passage we are reading.
The phrase "holy brethren" makes it clear that this was written to a saved people, of the family of God. We are brothers and sisters in that same family of God and should show it by loving each other as God loves us.
We can know this is true by the phrase "partakers of [the] heavenly calling"!
To be a "partaker of the heavenly calling" is to be filled with the Holy Ghost!
The Apostle Paul said:
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15 Let us therefore, [as many as be perfect, be thus minded]: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Paul wrote in another place:
Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, [seek those things which are above], where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
To be a Christian is then to not only "share a heavenly calling" but it is also to "share the Lord Jesus Christ"!
Through the Holy Spirit we are members of His Body, and therefore the Body of Christ!
Again Paul wrote:
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
If we are ashamed of these things then we cannot call ourselves Christians!
Again Paul wrote:
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Jesus Christ "as the Apostle" spoke from God to men. The word Apostle means "sent from God". Jesus is the "One Son" sent from God!
Jesus Christ represents the "Sender" of all the Apostles that He has chosen!
Jesus said in the Book of Matthew:
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, [All power] is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
That word "all" can only mean one thing, JESUS HAS "ALL" POWER!
THERE IS NOT ONE THING THAT HAS MORE POWER THAN OUR LORD JESUS!
As the only High Priests of our profession, He is the Head of the Church!
Without His intercession we could never be accepted of God!
You see it was necessary to remind these early Jewish Christians who had such a high respect of Moses that it is not possible to mix Their Law with the absolute "Grace" of God!
Jesus Christ as the Son was greater than Moses and therefore the Words of Jesus were final and His sacrifice was sufficient. Nothing to be added and nothing to be taken away!
*****Heb 3:2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
When God chose Moses, He used him to lead His people out of the bondage of Egypt. God insured that Moses wrote down things that we all now know as the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.
God made sure that Moses even wrote down where he had failed for us all to see. You see Moses was just a man and like all men Moses failed God many times.
But at the time of Moses, in this new Jewish nation, Moses was the most faithful to God!
Our Savior is also the most faithful, but He is the most faithful in all the House of God, which is the Church.
Jesus Christ is the most faithful to the Lord God of the Holy Trinity than any man!
Just as Christ was faithful to Father God, then we should all be faithful!
The Apostle Peter preached:
Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Act 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Act 2:24 [Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it].
It is not ever possible for this world to hold onto a child of the living God!
*****Heb 3:3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
Moses was faithful in God's House, BUT, It is the Lord Jesus Christ who built the House!
Jesus is the Creator!
Moses like any other man is just the creature!
Just as all the prophets!
And, Just as all the Angels!
We read:
Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us [into the kingdom of his dear Son]:
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Col 1:15 [Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature]:
*****Heb 3:4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
We never read in the Pentateuch where Mose made this claim of himself.
Moses wrote about things to come, But if God built all things and Jesus Christ built God's House, then Jesus must be God!
*****Heb 3:5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
Heb 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.
It is a great honor to be a servant of God and we can see that Moses has a written record in the Bible that he was a true servant of the Living God!
Moses was never called the Son of God!
There is a great difference in "the servant of the house" and "the son of the house"!
Christ is the "Creator" and He is also the Son in what we know as the Holy Trinity, "The Father, The Son, And The Holy Spirit"!
What are the conditions for remaining in God's House, we might ask?
We must hold fast to our confidence, which is our faith!
And we must maintain our joy of salvation in the hope given to us from our God!
The Bible tells us what this hope is all about!
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
and again:
Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Our hope is in the Word of God and we should appreciate all these things that He has written down for us!
We can relate our "confidence" to our freedom of speech!
We are free to speak, when we have no fear of our beliefs!
We should have no fear in speaking out the written Word of God!
These Words of God are not intended to cause hatred to any one and are only intended to show the world the truth!
A believer that speaks in boldness is only responding to his confidence in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Our hope comes from the fact that we are truly "Born Again" [and have no shame] of the Word of God!
1.) Knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior is more than just repeating some prayer!
2.) Knowing Christ, but ignoring the responsibility to obey Him will cause you to forfeit any blessings!
It may be possible to live as a carnal, uncommitted Christian but this should not be something to be desired!
It will not be a very good life and certainly not a joy filled life!
God has been warning us that there is great danger in drifting away from His Word!
*****Heb 3:7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Again the word "wherefore". We need to look back on what we have just read and look forward to what is about to be said.
In other words, since the words spoken by the angels and the words of Moses are held in such a high regard, how much greater should be the importance of the words of Jesus, The Son of God.
We need to be very careful not to doubt the words of Jesus!
God will not accept any excuse for failure to obey His Word.
1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
*****Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: Heb 3:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
God is teaching these new Hebrew believers a valuable lesson using the Old Testament.
In the Exodus journey, God working through Moses, had brought Israel safely to the entrance of Canaan Land. They had insisted on sending out the 12 spies which was unnecessary!
They were doubting the Word of God!
God had said:
Deu 1:21 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: [go up and possess it], as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
It is that act of disobedience that caused the children of Israel to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until those that did not believe died off.
Remember, this book was written to early Christians and is a warning to be obedient not only to God's Word but to pay close attention and obey especially the Words of His Son!
It was not God's will for Israel to remain in Egypt or in that wilderness!
His desire was for them to enter in that land of promise!
They made the choice to follow their own way and ignore the Word of God!
When we ignore the Word of God, we are going to travel in the wilderness of this world and if God's Word is totally ignored there will be no entrance into the promised place of Heaven!
We have the promise of the Holy Spirit and also a warning to the Church:
Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Canaan land is a "type" of our spiritual inheritance in Jesus Christ!
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, [who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places] in Christ:
Eph 1:11 [In whom also we have obtained an inheritance], being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Now these early Christian believers could not loose the rest they would have when they got to Heaven and nor can any believer but if they and we also, ignore the Word of God, we will not live in the peace and the rest of salvation while we are still living' and our lives will be in continuous turmoil.
It is "the peace of God" that brings peace to every believer!
AND, The only way to stay close to God is to stay close to His Word!
AND, The only way to enjoy the fruits of this world is to stay close to God's Word!
It takes a close personal relationship with Our Lord to find "the rest" that brings peace to our souls while we are still alive.
*****Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Now we see the end of the "wherefore" of verse 7.
Notice it does not say that God was angry with their sin for we are all still sinners!
God was angry because "they did not believe" His written Word!
It is possible to fall out of fellowship with the living God, without loosing your salvation!
AND, Not every saved individual is a true Christian!
The title Christian still means to be like Jesus Christ!
*****Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
God is saying that sin can be so deceitful that we can be lured in thinking our lives are satisfactory to Him, though we are actually living in the wilderness of this world.
We become complacent about abortion, when we should hate this sin but still love the sinner.
We become complacent about the gay life style though we should hate this sin but still love the sinner.
We become complacent about murder, thievery, and all other sin as long as it does not affect us.
God says we are just as deep in sin, if not more, because we have ignored His Word and feel like we are safe in our own little world.
We are suppose to condemn all sin just as God's Word teaches and we are supposed to love each other and our enemies just as the Word of God teaches!
We are to exhort each other daily and teach every brother and sister to do the same!
If we become hardened by our own sin, we will not condemn our own actions and we will allow "the sin of ignoring God's Word" to rule in our own lives!
***** Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Heb 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
A partaker with Jesus Christ is one who shares His heritage!
We are in the family of Christ and share each other by the Holy Spirit. We are members of His house!
There is "rest" for the soul for all those that hold these thoughts to the end of our physical life!
In other words we not only to trust the Lord Jesus for our salvation, we are also to trust Him for our day by day living.
Jesus said to pray:
Mat 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
If we do not hold the confidence of our salvation and be a complete partaker in Jesus Christ, we will live a miserable Christian life!
We cannot loose our salvation but we will not have the fruit of the Holy Spirit:
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
We will not be of much use as a disciple of God without the fruit of the Spirit!
When we do not believe not only that Our God can save, BUT also believe that He is Lord of this universe then we cannot commit our lives to Him completely!
We must turn everything over to Him!
That's not only our own lives but we must give Him control of our families!
How can we pray for safe traveling mercy when we are on the road if we were not sure that God is in control of this universe?
This the "rest" that comes when we give ourselves totally to Him!
This the "rest" we lose when we do not give ourselves totally to Him and we will live in misery and doubt caused by unbelief!
We need the power of Christ not only for salvation but also for our daily living!
BUT We need His great wisdom in our time of need and His strength to live our daily lives:
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: [for without me ye can do nothing].
Jesus would not have said this if it were not true!
*****Heb 3:16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
This word "provoke" means God was highly displeased with them because they heard the Word of God, they saw the miracles of God yet they still could not or would not believe.
They had faith enough to come out of Egypt but they failed in their faith along the journey.
They were still redeemed but they lived in misery and doubt!
*****Heb 3:17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
The greatest sin we have before God is the sin of unbelief!
The next greatest sin we have, is doubting God's Word!
After we are saved, this is the greatest sin of the believer!
When we doubt the Word of God, it will lead to even greater sin!
A great many believers still walk in the ways of the world because they do not really know what it is to truly trust Jesus Christ with all their lives!
These partial believers, will travel in the wilderness of this world all the days of their lives!
Even the lost will seem to have greater joy than these that know salvation but do not know the real power of God while still on this Earth!
*****Heb 3:18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
When God takes an oath, you can know that He really means what He says!
These scriptures have shown us how we can learn from the Old Testament in our walk with God.
God does not change. We absolutely cannot please God if we do not place our our trust in Him:
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
We can be saved AND still miss out on rewards in Heaven but we will also miss out on a rewarding Christian life while we are still here and living.
*****Heb 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
When God pulls out that Heavenly Hickory because of our sin, the pain is real! Believers who doubt the Word of God and rebel against Him do not miss out on Heaven, but they do miss out on the blessings that are available while we are still living and must suffer the chastening of that Hickory Switch of God!
This is the truth of this Chapter of Hebrews and the truth of the living God!
Moses was a servant to the living God!
Christ Jesus is the Son of the Living God, we must believe without doubt on the Lord Jesus Christ!
God truly wants us to be blessed!
Questions.
Let's Pray!
Hebrews Chapter 3
There are many good reasons to study the Book of Hebrews after a study of the five Books of Moses. We can better understand the Old Testament if we think of it as the Word of God written to "a redeemed people" rather than written "to redeem a people".
God had rescued Israel from the bondage of Egypt. This nation of freed slaves should have recognized the power of God and submitted to His Laws.
A saved people should display their faith by willfully living in the submission to God's Word!
When we fail to obey God's Word then we are saying that we do not belong to God or we are saying we just do not care to know if there is a real God!
Israel had obtained the land of Palestine because of the covenant God made to Abraham!
God had told Abraham that before his descendants could live on that covenant land they would spend 400 years in bondage!
God reached down to a simple shepherd in the wilderness named Moses and caused him to be a redeemer of his own true people.
Moses delivered this people from a "physical" bondage and led them through the wilderness.
Moses was set apart from the other Israelites as a judge and as a ruler, and as the lawgiver.
We have seen that Moses was in fact a "type" of Christ!
God had set down a pattern of what His true redeemer would fulfill!
God had given The Law which was to be the foundation of Israel's daily life!
These laws revealed the kind of life God expected of a redeemed people "if they were to live in fellowship with Him"!
Those Laws were to rule every aspect of all those God had redeemed from the bondage of the "iron furnace" of Egypt.
That "iron furnace" is in "type" a picture of Hell!
Because of all of this Moses was held in the highest esteem of the people of Israel!
But we also saw that the children of Israel often-ed murmured and rebelled against Moses.
Now, We have already seen that Christ is superior to all the prophets of God!
We have already seen that Christ is superior to any and every angel!
We will see today that Christ Jesus is superior to Moses!
We should consider these things as we see that the Holy Spirit has given this writer of the Book of Hebrews, who I personally believe to be the Apostle Paul, these words that tell us of Our Savior who is much greater than any human being.
*****Our Text:
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
When we see the word "wherefore" we are cautioned to look both ways". We are to look back to what was written in previous verses and forward to what is written after the passage we are reading.
The phrase "holy brethren" makes it clear that this was written to a saved people, of the family of God. We are brothers and sisters in that same family of God and should show it by loving each other as God loves us.
We can know this is true by the phrase "partakers of [the] heavenly calling"!
To be a "partaker of the heavenly calling" is to be filled with the Holy Ghost!
The Apostle Paul said:
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15 Let us therefore, [as many as be perfect, be thus minded]: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Paul wrote in another place:
Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, [seek those things which are above], where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
To be a Christian is then to not only "share a heavenly calling" but it is also to "share the Lord Jesus Christ"!
Through the Holy Spirit we are members of His Body, and therefore the Body of Christ!
Again Paul wrote:
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
If we are ashamed of these things then we cannot call ourselves Christians!
Again Paul wrote:
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Jesus Christ "as the Apostle" spoke from God to men. The word Apostle means "sent from God". Jesus is the "One Son" sent from God!
Jesus Christ represents the "Sender" of all the Apostles that He has chosen!
Jesus said in the Book of Matthew:
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, [All power] is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
That word "all" can only mean one thing, JESUS HAS "ALL" POWER!
THERE IS NOT ONE THING THAT HAS MORE POWER THAN OUR LORD JESUS!
As the only High Priests of our profession, He is the Head of the Church!
Without His intercession we could never be accepted of God!
You see it was necessary to remind these early Jewish Christians who had such a high respect of Moses that it is not possible to mix Their Law with the absolute "Grace" of God!
Jesus Christ as the Son was greater than Moses and therefore the Words of Jesus were final and His sacrifice was sufficient. Nothing to be added and nothing to be taken away!
*****Heb 3:2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
When God chose Moses, He used him to lead His people out of the bondage of Egypt. God insured that Moses wrote down things that we all now know as the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.
God made sure that Moses even wrote down where he had failed for us all to see. You see Moses was just a man and like all men Moses failed God many times.
But at the time of Moses, in this new Jewish nation, Moses was the most faithful to God!
Our Savior is also the most faithful, but He is the most faithful in all the House of God, which is the Church.
Jesus Christ is the most faithful to the Lord God of the Holy Trinity than any man!
Just as Christ was faithful to Father God, then we should all be faithful!
The Apostle Peter preached:
Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Act 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Act 2:24 [Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it].
It is not ever possible for this world to hold onto a child of the living God!
*****Heb 3:3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
Moses was faithful in God's House, BUT, It is the Lord Jesus Christ who built the House!
Jesus is the Creator!
Moses like any other man is just the creature!
Just as all the prophets!
And, Just as all the Angels!
We read:
Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us [into the kingdom of his dear Son]:
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Col 1:15 [Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature]:
*****Heb 3:4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
We never read in the Pentateuch where Mose made this claim of himself.
Moses wrote about things to come, But if God built all things and Jesus Christ built God's House, then Jesus must be God!
*****Heb 3:5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
Heb 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.
It is a great honor to be a servant of God and we can see that Moses has a written record in the Bible that he was a true servant of the Living God!
Moses was never called the Son of God!
There is a great difference in "the servant of the house" and "the son of the house"!
Christ is the "Creator" and He is also the Son in what we know as the Holy Trinity, "The Father, The Son, And The Holy Spirit"!
What are the conditions for remaining in God's House, we might ask?
We must hold fast to our confidence, which is our faith!
And we must maintain our joy of salvation in the hope given to us from our God!
The Bible tells us what this hope is all about!
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
and again:
Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Our hope is in the Word of God and we should appreciate all these things that He has written down for us!
We can relate our "confidence" to our freedom of speech!
We are free to speak, when we have no fear of our beliefs!
We should have no fear in speaking out the written Word of God!
These Words of God are not intended to cause hatred to any one and are only intended to show the world the truth!
A believer that speaks in boldness is only responding to his confidence in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Our hope comes from the fact that we are truly "Born Again" [and have no shame] of the Word of God!
1.) Knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior is more than just repeating some prayer!
2.) Knowing Christ, but ignoring the responsibility to obey Him will cause you to forfeit any blessings!
It may be possible to live as a carnal, uncommitted Christian but this should not be something to be desired!
It will not be a very good life and certainly not a joy filled life!
God has been warning us that there is great danger in drifting away from His Word!
*****Heb 3:7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Again the word "wherefore". We need to look back on what we have just read and look forward to what is about to be said.
In other words, since the words spoken by the angels and the words of Moses are held in such a high regard, how much greater should be the importance of the words of Jesus, The Son of God.
We need to be very careful not to doubt the words of Jesus!
God will not accept any excuse for failure to obey His Word.
1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
*****Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: Heb 3:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
God is teaching these new Hebrew believers a valuable lesson using the Old Testament.
In the Exodus journey, God working through Moses, had brought Israel safely to the entrance of Canaan Land. They had insisted on sending out the 12 spies which was unnecessary!
They were doubting the Word of God!
God had said:
Deu 1:21 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: [go up and possess it], as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
It is that act of disobedience that caused the children of Israel to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until those that did not believe died off.
Remember, this book was written to early Christians and is a warning to be obedient not only to God's Word but to pay close attention and obey especially the Words of His Son!
It was not God's will for Israel to remain in Egypt or in that wilderness!
His desire was for them to enter in that land of promise!
They made the choice to follow their own way and ignore the Word of God!
When we ignore the Word of God, we are going to travel in the wilderness of this world and if God's Word is totally ignored there will be no entrance into the promised place of Heaven!
We have the promise of the Holy Spirit and also a warning to the Church:
Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Canaan land is a "type" of our spiritual inheritance in Jesus Christ!
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, [who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places] in Christ:
Eph 1:11 [In whom also we have obtained an inheritance], being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Now these early Christian believers could not loose the rest they would have when they got to Heaven and nor can any believer but if they and we also, ignore the Word of God, we will not live in the peace and the rest of salvation while we are still living' and our lives will be in continuous turmoil.
It is "the peace of God" that brings peace to every believer!
AND, The only way to stay close to God is to stay close to His Word!
AND, The only way to enjoy the fruits of this world is to stay close to God's Word!
It takes a close personal relationship with Our Lord to find "the rest" that brings peace to our souls while we are still alive.
*****Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Now we see the end of the "wherefore" of verse 7.
Notice it does not say that God was angry with their sin for we are all still sinners!
God was angry because "they did not believe" His written Word!
It is possible to fall out of fellowship with the living God, without loosing your salvation!
AND, Not every saved individual is a true Christian!
The title Christian still means to be like Jesus Christ!
*****Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
God is saying that sin can be so deceitful that we can be lured in thinking our lives are satisfactory to Him, though we are actually living in the wilderness of this world.
We become complacent about abortion, when we should hate this sin but still love the sinner.
We become complacent about the gay life style though we should hate this sin but still love the sinner.
We become complacent about murder, thievery, and all other sin as long as it does not affect us.
God says we are just as deep in sin, if not more, because we have ignored His Word and feel like we are safe in our own little world.
We are suppose to condemn all sin just as God's Word teaches and we are supposed to love each other and our enemies just as the Word of God teaches!
We are to exhort each other daily and teach every brother and sister to do the same!
If we become hardened by our own sin, we will not condemn our own actions and we will allow "the sin of ignoring God's Word" to rule in our own lives!
***** Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Heb 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
A partaker with Jesus Christ is one who shares His heritage!
We are in the family of Christ and share each other by the Holy Spirit. We are members of His house!
There is "rest" for the soul for all those that hold these thoughts to the end of our physical life!
In other words we not only to trust the Lord Jesus for our salvation, we are also to trust Him for our day by day living.
Jesus said to pray:
Mat 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
If we do not hold the confidence of our salvation and be a complete partaker in Jesus Christ, we will live a miserable Christian life!
We cannot loose our salvation but we will not have the fruit of the Holy Spirit:
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
We will not be of much use as a disciple of God without the fruit of the Spirit!
When we do not believe not only that Our God can save, BUT also believe that He is Lord of this universe then we cannot commit our lives to Him completely!
We must turn everything over to Him!
That's not only our own lives but we must give Him control of our families!
How can we pray for safe traveling mercy when we are on the road if we were not sure that God is in control of this universe?
This the "rest" that comes when we give ourselves totally to Him!
This the "rest" we lose when we do not give ourselves totally to Him and we will live in misery and doubt caused by unbelief!
We need the power of Christ not only for salvation but also for our daily living!
BUT We need His great wisdom in our time of need and His strength to live our daily lives:
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: [for without me ye can do nothing].
Jesus would not have said this if it were not true!
*****Heb 3:16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
This word "provoke" means God was highly displeased with them because they heard the Word of God, they saw the miracles of God yet they still could not or would not believe.
They had faith enough to come out of Egypt but they failed in their faith along the journey.
They were still redeemed but they lived in misery and doubt!
*****Heb 3:17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
The greatest sin we have before God is the sin of unbelief!
The next greatest sin we have, is doubting God's Word!
After we are saved, this is the greatest sin of the believer!
When we doubt the Word of God, it will lead to even greater sin!
A great many believers still walk in the ways of the world because they do not really know what it is to truly trust Jesus Christ with all their lives!
These partial believers, will travel in the wilderness of this world all the days of their lives!
Even the lost will seem to have greater joy than these that know salvation but do not know the real power of God while still on this Earth!
*****Heb 3:18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
When God takes an oath, you can know that He really means what He says!
These scriptures have shown us how we can learn from the Old Testament in our walk with God.
God does not change. We absolutely cannot please God if we do not place our our trust in Him:
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
We can be saved AND still miss out on rewards in Heaven but we will also miss out on a rewarding Christian life while we are still here and living.
*****Heb 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
When God pulls out that Heavenly Hickory because of our sin, the pain is real! Believers who doubt the Word of God and rebel against Him do not miss out on Heaven, but they do miss out on the blessings that are available while we are still living and must suffer the chastening of that Hickory Switch of God!
This is the truth of this Chapter of Hebrews and the truth of the living God!
Moses was a servant to the living God!
Christ Jesus is the Son of the Living God, we must believe without doubt on the Lord Jesus Christ!
God truly wants us to be blessed!
Questions.
Let's Pray!
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