Transcript The Letter to the Hebrews - Fairfax Church of Christ

The Letter to the
Hebrews
Chapter 3
Jan-Apr 2014 FXCC
Hebrews 3
• Continues the theme of Jesus’ superiority, but
this time compared to Moses
• Includes another warning
• Need to encourage each other in order to get
thru this
Warnings
• On bottom side: “Keep Upright”
• Warning: May cause drowsiness on “Nytol Sleep Aid”
• Warning: May contain traces of nuts on “Hershey’s
Almond Bar”
• Some assembly required on a 500-piece puzzle
• Before installing fanbelt, be sure you shut off the
engine as it may cause irreversible injury
• “WARNING – May cause cancer in California on the
product ”Roll-A-Hose”
Hebrews 3:1-6
•
1
Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, partners
in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the
apostle and high priest whom we confess, 2
who is faithful to the one who appointed him,
as Moses was also in God’s house. 3 For he has
come to deserve greater glory than Moses,
just as the builder of a house deserves greater
honor than the house itself!
Hebrews 3:1-6
•
4
For every house is built by someone, but the
builder of all things is God. 5 Now Moses was
faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to
testify to the things that would be spoken. 6
But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s
8 house. We are of his house, if in fact we
hold firmly to our confidence and the hope we
take pride in.
Hebrews 3:1-6
• Therefore! Already shown
– Jesus is greater than angels
– Jesus is High Priest
• They are called “brothers”
– Remember how chapter 2 ended
– We are God’s children, Jesus is our brother, we are
“brothers” to each other
Hebrews 3:1-6
• Apostle
– God’s representative to/before people
• High Priest
– People’s representative to/before God
Hebrews 3:1-6
• Now the writer is going to “take on Moses”
– Jews hold Moses in “HIGH” esteem!
– The writer is treading dangerous ground
– You do NOT “dis” Moses!
• Both Moses and Jesus were found faithful
• Both were tested and remained faithful
Hebrews 3:1-6
• The writer approaches this topic not by
comparing their characters, but their roles
• Moses was the best steward/servant of the
house
• Jesus is the Son of the Owner
– Therefore Jesus is over the entire household
– The house is the believers
Hebrews 3:1-6
•
•
•
•
We (Christians) are members of His house
IF
We hold firmly to our confidence
Faithfulness is required, i.e.
– Don’t give up
– Don’t quit
– Don’t lose hope
– Clearly they could lose their salvation
Hebrews 3:7-11
•
7
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Oh, that
today you would listen as he speaks! 8 “Do not
harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the
day of testing in the wilderness. 9 “There your
fathers tested me and tried me, and they saw
my works for forty years. 10 “Therefore, I
became provoked at that generation and said,
‘Their hearts are always wandering and they
have not known my ways.’ 11 “As I swore in my
anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’”
Hebrews 3:7-11
• Here begins the real warning!
• The writer uses what example?
– The Exodus and the 40 years wanderings
• What happened?
– Tested, tried
– Hearts wandered
– Did not know God’s ways
Hebrews 3:7-11
• How had God proved Himself by the time they
were at Sinai?
– Plagues
– Red Sea
– Manna
– Water from rock
– Quail
– Gifts of craftsmenship
Hebrews 3:7-11
• What was Israel’s response?
– Testing
– Trying
– Wandering hearts
• God’s response?
– 40 years of wandering
– Where they could witness more of God’s work
– They could not enter the promised land!
Hebrews 3:7-11
• The writer quotes Psalm 95:7b-11
– 7…Today, if only you would obey him! 8 He says, “Do not be
stubborn like they were at Meribah, like they were that day
at Massah in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors
challenged my authority, and tried my patience, even
though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I was
continually disgusted with that generation, and I said,
‘These people desire to go astray; they do not obey my
commands.’ 11 So I made a vow in my anger, ‘They will
never enter into the resting place I had set aside for
them.’”
Psalm Reference
• Psalm 95:1-7a is an invitation to worship God
– “Come let us…” 95:1,2,6
– Sing, shout, music, bowing, kneeling, etc
– Proclaim God is Lord and creator
• Jesus is worshipped by the angels, because He
is God’s Son
• 7b-11 invite the people to “hear” God (listen
and obey)
Psalm Reference
• Do not reject or harden your hearts
– Meribah means “quarreling”
– Massah means “testing”
– Two sites where Israel rebelled btwn the sea and
Sinai
– These events are Exodus 17
• Vs 10 of the Psalm looks back to Num 14
– Here the people did not trust God’s promises to
take the land
Psalm Reference
• How long did Israel wander, because of their
sin?
• Remember this letter was probably written
shortly before 70 AD
• When did Jesus die?
• So the writer and/or the readers might see
some connection
Hebrews 3:12-15
•
12
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of
you has an evil, unbelieving heart that
forsakes the living God. 13 But exhort one
another each day, as long as it is called
“Today,” that none of you may become
hardened by sin’s deception. 14 For we have
become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold
our initial confidence firm until the end. 15 As
it says, “O, that today you would listen as he
speaks! Do not harden your hearts as in the
Hebrews 3:12-15
•
•
•
•
Warns against unbelief and hard hearts
Urges them to encourage each other
They need to persevere, continue to the end
As with the angels, it was IMPORTANT to listen
to Moses
• BUT it is MUCH more IMPORTANT to listen to
Jesus NOW
Hebrews 3:12-15
• Daily they are to encourage each other
• Can we encourage each other if we never see
each other?
– You are here so I am talking to the choir
• Israel failed to enter the Promised Land
• If we fail to remain faithful, the result is much
worse
• We will miss out on Heaven!
Hebrews 3:12-15
•
•
•
•
•
The church was designed to be a community
NOT a hermitage
God did not intend for us to “go it alone”
We are supposed to support each other
The NT is full of “one another” passages
Hebrews 3:16-19
•
16
For which ones heard and rebelled? Was it
not all who came out of Egypt under Moses’
leadership? 17 And against whom was God
provoked for forty years? Was it not those
who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the
wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear they
would never enter into his rest, except those
who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they
could not enter because of unbelief.
Hebrews 3:16-19
• The amazing thing is that those who rebelled
where the very ones who had witnessed all
the miracles!
• Who was God mad at?
– The ones who sinned
– Their bodies were buried in the desert
• Who could not enter the promised land?
– Those who doubted, did not believe, rebelled
Hebrews 3:16-19
• Even tho it is not noted here in Hebrews
• These were also the people who SWORE to
follow God
• God used the wilderness as a training ground
– They were supposed to learn to trust Him
– Learn to believe Him
– Learn to obey Him
– W/out God they all would have died there!
Hebrews 3:16-19
• The reference is to Numbers 14
• Clearly this passage is equating Israel’s
promised land, with heaven for us
• Doubt, disobey, rebel
– Don’t expect to be in heaven
• Their unbelief, lack of faith, refused to believe
God’s promises, did not trust God
– Resulted in REBELLION!
Hebrews 3:16-19
• Doubting God’s promise that was relayed to
them by Moses, carried a severe punishment
• How much worse the punishment if we doubt
(don’t trust) God’s promise to us given
through His Son?
Doubt
• Doubt!
• We all doubt (sometime, frequently,
whatever)
• Doubt in this text is not short term/temporary
• The problem arises when we allow doubts to
destroy our belief in God, then we have a real
problem
Conclusions
• Learn from Israel’s past failures
• Follow Jesus
• Trust Him
– He has a proven track record
– The Bible shows us that track record
• Israel failed, you/we can succeed if we just
trust Jesus
References
• F.F. Bruce, “The Epistle to the Hebrews”, The
New International Commentary on the New
Testament, Eerdmans, 1967
• Edward Fudge, “Our Man in Heaven: An
Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews”,,
Baker, 1974
– Available on-line for free
– http://www.edwardfudge.com/written/omihtext.
html
References
• Edward Fudge, “Hebrews: Ancient
Encouragement for Believers Today”,
Leafwood Publishers, 2009
• John Mark Hicks, Hebrews, Word Doc
– http://johnmarkhicks.com/wpcontent/uploads/sites/10/2009/03/hebrewsedited.doc
References
• Referenced in John Mark Hicks, Hebrews, Word Doc
are the sites for a sermon series (Strength for the
Journey) by Rubel Shelly and John York on Hebrews
– http://www.rubelshelly.com/content.asp?lShow=20&ListS
G=316&Start=121&SortAlpha=
– http://www.rubelshelly.com/content.asp?lShow=20&ListS
G=316&Start=101&SortAlpha=
– http://www.johnyork.org/content.asp?lShow=20&ListSG=2
60&Start=161
– http://www.johnyork.org/content.asp?lShow=20&ListSG=2
60&Start=141
References
• Bobby Valentine’s “Stoned-Campbell Disciple”
blog
– http://stonedcampbelldisciple.com/2013/08/20/p
aul-and-the-unquestioned-authority-of-the-oldtestament/