Welcome to Day 2234 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Hebrews-4 Moses, Messiah, and Me – Daily Wisdom

Putnam Church Message – 05/07/2023 “Messiah, Moses, and Me”  Hebrews 3:1-6 Last, we continued our extended series through the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. We focused on Jesus: the “Pioneer of Our Perfection,” and learned three essential principles to have hope in suffering. Today in Hebrews 3:1-6 we will explore how the Messiah (Jesus) is greater than Moses. To fully understand the importance of this passage, we must take on the mindset of a first-century Christian Jew facing hardship and persecution. Let’s begin by reading today’s passage. Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. Though the very words of the book of Hebrews are “God-breathed”—the inspired and inerrant Word of God—the chapter and verse numbers are not. They are artificial insertions to make citations and cross-referencing easier. Nevertheless, I’m not sure what we’d do without them. The chapter and verse additions are certainly helpful, but sometimes, they give the impression that the inspired author intended a hard break from one chapter to the next. When we step across the threshold into Hebrews 3, we shouldn’t imagine a door separating this passage from what precedes. Instead, the author ties together Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 with an essential logical connector—“therefore”—which indicates continuity. We may be stepping from one thought to another, but we’re stepping through an open doorway. The author expects us to take along everything he has been discussing up to this point. In the previous chapters, the author continued to develop the theme that Christ is superior in His person and work. Not only is He superior to the prophets and angels (Chapters 1–2), but having persevered through temptation, pain, and death, He is also superior to temptation, sin, and suffering. As such, His help is available to us right now, whenever we find ourselves threatened by rising floods or raging storms. In addition, Jesus is always there to help us in trials or temptations—faithful to come to our aid (2:16–18). With this basic understanding of Christ as our superior prophet, priest, and king, the author of Hebrews is ready to hit his Jewish Christian readers where this truth would likely hurt the most: the ministry of Moses. 3:1 Hebrews 3 opens with a powerful appeal to those who have placed their faith in the Messiah. The author calls them “holy brothers and sisters who share in the heavenly calling” by the blood of Christ, forgiven, set apart, and indwelled by the Holy Spirit. They are part of the family of God and are brothers and sisters of one another. They are heaven-bound, where Christ has already made way for them. The word translated “therefore” indicates a deduction from a previous discussion, “the basis for an action.” Because Jesus is superior to prophets and angels, faithful to God, merciful to us, and willing and able to help us—in light of all these weighty facts in chapters 1 and 2—we ought to “fix your thoughts on Jesus” (3:1). The Greek word behind this English translation (katanoeō) for fix your thoughts means “observe carefully” or “pay attention to”—not simply to think about, but to contemplate deeply. In essence, the author says, “You Jewish believers in the Messiah: because of the superiority of His person and work, you’d better think very carefully about Him. Don’t just give Him a fleeting glance or knowing nod. Observe Him. Pay attention to Him. Get to know Him.” What do we see when we take time to focus on Jesus? He’s the “Apostle and High Priest of our confession.” The Greek word translated as “apostle” means “one sent forth.” This is the only place in the New Testament where the term “apostle” refers to Christ. It’s usually used for those Jesus Himself sent into the world. This notion fits well with Jesus’ words in John 17:18, “Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.” The author was likely drawing again on his assertion that Jesus was superior to the prophets and angels, both of whom were sent by God to carry His message. The author used the verb form of “apostle,” apostellō, in Hebrews 1:14 to refer to angels “sent out to render service” to believers. This rare title of Christ underscores His heavenly origin and thus strengthens the reality of our “heavenly calling” (3:1). Besides the fact that Christ serves as the supreme Apostle, He also functions as the supreme “High Priest” (3:1). He is the perfect Mediator between God and humanity (1 Tim. 2:5). As our great High Priest, Christ satisfies the desperate spiritual need and deep longing for a bridge-builder between God and humanity, between heaven and earth—a longing expressed movingly in the words of Job millennia ago: “God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial. If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together.” (Job 9:32–33) Christ alone is that mediator. He is the High Priest who can stand on our behalf between earth and heaven, because He is the divine Apostle, sent from on high to lead us heavenward. 3:2–6a Prophets…angels…high priests…kings…In the minds of the Jewish readers, a significant figure was still missing from the author’s argument for the superiority of Christ’s person and work: Moses. He, too, was sent by God. He, too, stood between God and the nation of Israel as their mediator. No other figure in the Old Testament would have been as highly esteemed by the Jewish people. Had the author of Hebrews been interested in flattering his readers rather than exalting Christ, he would have avoided the subject of Moses altogether. Instead, he pressed on to broach the delicate matter of the superiority of Jesus even to Moses. Moses, of course, had spoken face-to-face with God. Deuteronomy 34:10 makes a big deal out of this fact, in contrast to the other prophets: There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. Moses had received the Law and passed it on to the nation of Israel. He had led the Hebrews out of the bondage of slavery in Egypt and through the Red Sea. He had revealed the plans for constructing the Tabernacle—the forerunner of the temple—where sacrifices and offerings were to take place. The Jewish mind could not imagine a person on earth equal to Moses. And the thought of one who was superior to Moses would have shocked their senses. Yet this is precisely what the author of Hebrews asserted. Therefore, Jesus is superior even to Moses! God appointed Moses and the Messiah as mediators of His message; both served Him faithfully, and therefore both deserved honor and glory (Heb. 3:2–3). Notice that the author doesn’t disparage Moses in any way. However, the Messiah is even “worthy of greater honor than Moses” (3:3). The honor properly due to Moses as a great servant of God pales compared to the honor due to the glorious Messiah. Why? First, the Messiah is more glorious than Moses because He is the builder of God’s house (Heb. 3:3–4). The term “house,” in Greek, oikos, is used metaphorically seven times in Hebrews 3:2–6 to refer not to a physical structure (a sanctuary, temple, or church building) but to the people of God. Even in ancient Greek usage, the term could refer figuratively to a family or “household.” Before the birth of the church at Pentecost, “house” could refer figuratively to Israel (Hos. 1:4; Matt. 10:6; Heb. 3:2), but afterward, it would also be used to refer to the church (1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:6). Moses was a member of God’s household of the Old Testament—the people of Israel. Though he served as their leader during the time of the Exodus from Egypt, he, too, was a member of the nation and a part of the “house” (3:3). Yet Christ is the “builder of the house” (3:3). A surprising statement in 3:4 spells out the reason Christ, as the builder of God’s spiritual house, deserves greater honor than Moses: “God is the builder of everything.” In subtle, simple terms, the author of Hebrews again attributes to Jesus the works of God, as Jesus is not only the builder of the church but also the craftsman of all things (1:2). Second, the Messiah is more glorious than Moses because He is the fulfillment of Moses’ testimony (Heb. 3:5). Though Moses faithfully carried out his duties as a servant in God’s house, his task was to bear witness “bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future” (3:5). In other words, Moses’ ministry was a foreshadowing of Jesus’. It pointed to Him and anticipated His coming. Jesus demonstrated this after His resurrection when He said (Luke 24:44), <span style="color: #0000ff;">“Then he said, ‘When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.’” Jesus explained to some of His followers how the Scriptures pointed to Him, “beginning with Moses and with all the prophets” (Luke 24:27). Clearly, the one to whom Moses was pointing is worthy of more glory than Moses himself. Third, the Messiah is more glorious than Moses because He is the Ruler of God’s house (Heb. 3:6). Not only is Christ the builder of God’s spiritual people (3:3–4), But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. (6) This means Christ is the heir of the household of God—the one who inherits the right to rule, as if He were a firstborn child in a human household. The author of Hebrews already used this image of “firstborn” in 1:6, and Paul uses the same idea in Colossians 1:15, where Jesus is described metaphorically as the “firstborn over all creation.” Yet this is a different emphasis. Colossians focuses on Christ as the recipient of authority over heaven and earth. Hebrews 3:6 zooms in on Christ’s headship over the people of God—the church. Colossians 1:18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. Ephesians 1:22 pulls both ideas together: God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. Moses was never exalted to such a position of supreme authority as Christ—the Son, firstborn, and head of all things. The author isn’t trying to disparage Moses by comparing Moses and the Messiah. Instead, he’s demonstrating that Jesus is beyond comparison with even the most significant figure in biblical history. Jesus Christ is superior to all things—and people—in His person and work. 3:6b The superiority of Jesus will do us no good if we don’t place Him as superior in our lives. This was the problem facing these Jewish Christians. They were tempted to abandon their Messiah and go back to Moses. This would have been a disaster, a step backward to an inferior ministry. Never forgetting his purpose in writing, the author of Hebrews emphasizes, in the second part of Hebrews 3:6, his readers’ response to the superiority of Jesus. He reminds them, first, “We are his house” (3:6). However, the author seems to place a conditional element on this promise: If indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. At first blush, this verse seems to say that if we fail to hold on to our faith and hope in Christ, we could somehow be kicked out of God’s household, disowned, or disinherited. Does this mean our salvation is contingent on our subsequent faithfulness? Absolutely not. Remember in our series “What Does God Want?” We affirmed, “That salvation could never be gained by moral perfection; it cannot be lost by moral imperfection.” The conditional construction, indicated by “if,” has different meanings. Sometimes, it does indicate a conditional relationship, as in the phrase, “If you eat your broccoli, then you can have dessert.” The implication is: If you don’t eat up, no dessert for you! This is how the author is using the term here. He’s saying that the continuance of faith and hope proves the reality of a person’s authentic membership in the family of God. Remember the phrase we learned for this is “Believing Loyalty.” We shouldn’t obsess over a little segment of a person’s life in which they go astray, have a lapse, or fall and struggle to get up. We all have dips and rises on the bumpy ride of spiritual growth. However, we can look at life as a whole, see how a person’s life ends, and observe the evidences of true Christianity. That’s proof that there’s a reality that backs up the claim. And if a person who claims to be a Christian appears to have fallen entirely away and failed to endure in faith and hope until the end of their life, then perhaps that person had never been a member of the family of God in the beginning, has subsequently rejected God. Those who are genuinely in the household of faith live under the Father’s roof and the Son’s watchful eye. However, they are not immune to stumbling, tripping, and even falling flat on their faces. We never cease to be frail, fallen, and vulnerable people, saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. But those who are true believers—and therefore members of the household of faith—have Christ as their high priest. He ministers like no one else can. He can catch us when we stumble, steady us when we trip, and pick us up when we fall. He strengthens us in our frailty, forgives us when we fail, and comforts us in our weaknesses. If we endure in this faith and hope—with Christ at our side—to the end, then it will be manifest to all that we indeed are members of His household. This message was something the Hebrew believers desperately needed to hear. Some had fallen; others were teetering; others may have been reaching out for something to steady their tottering faith. The author points them to Christ—superior to all others, even superior to Moses. All they needed to do was reassert their faith and hope, their confidence in Him—not good works, not spiritual disciplines, not striving to make themselves more worthy in God’s eyes, but confidence in Christ. Behind this hopeful message was the hint of a warning. If they didn’t endure in their faith, but instead abandoned their Messiah and ran back to Moses, their claims to be members of God’s household would be suspect. Only by getting right with Christ would their identity as God’s children be assured. Application: Hebrews 3:1–6 Like the first-century Hebrew believers, each of us today has a decision to make: Moses or Messiah? You’d think it would be an easy decision, especially after reading a passage like Hebrews 3. If the Messiah is God in the flesh, the center of biblical prophecy and human history, and the Savior of sinners—including Moses—then why would anybody choose to follow Moses instead? The apostle John made the contrast equally clear: <span style="color: #0000ff;">“For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ,” (John 1:17). Yet I’m constantly astonished at how many Christians tend to exchange the grace of Jesus Christ for the Law of Moses! Some do this blatantly, others more subtly. Many give the Ten Commandments priority in their lives, as if avoiding those “top ten” sins will keep them out of hell … or at least keep them on God’s good side. Others make their lists of “dos and don’ts”—do eat this, don’t drink that, do shop here, don’t support that, do vote for this person, don’t talk to that person. Sometimes, the list of unwritten “laws” seems to rival Moses’! In our study of Hebrews, as we consider a group of people wavering between Moses and Messiah, Law and grace, old covenant and new covenant, we’ll have many opportunities to revisit this dilemma. But as we seek to plant our feet firmly upon Christ and His grace, consider focusing on some key passages of Scripture that highlight the believer’s proper relationship to the Law, grace, and faith. (Bulletin) Study the following passages from the book of Galatians. Mull them over in your mind. Commit them to memory. Talk about them with your family or friends. Soak them in. Doing so will keep you from straying from your devotion to the new life of liberty in the Messiah and swerving toward the old life of bondage to the Law.

• Galatians 2:16–21
• Galatians 5:1–6
• Galatians 5:18–23

Next Sunday, we will continue our series on our adventure through the book of Hebrews. The first section will last seven weeks and is about “Christ Is Superior in His Person.” Next, the message title is “Beware of a Hard Heart.” So please read Hebrews 3:7-19 for next week’s message. Thank you for joining me on this leg of our Wisdom-Trek. I hope these verses have inspired you to actively embrace wisdom’s call and make her a daily presence in your journey. As we continue our journey, may we navigate life’s challenges with wisdom and grace. If you found this podcast insightful, subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. As we take this trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you next time for more wisdom from God’s Word!