Hebrews 3:1
Paul calls these folks holy brothers. Believers are all holy brothers and sisters in Christ and we are brothers and sisters with the Lord. Together, we partake in the heavenly calling. This heavenly calling is the salvation offered by Christ.
The word 'apostle' means messenger or ambassador. He brought the message of forgiveness of sins. But He didn't just bring a message, He was the message, He is the word of God made flesh. He is the High Priest. In the days of the temple, the high priest ministered to the people on behalf of God and ministered to God on behalf of the people.
The Hebrews this letter was written to were used to having a high priest. They were used to having someone deal with God on their behalf. They needed to hear that Jesus was now that person. He is the High Priest that came to earth as a man to represent us before the father.
The writer says to consider Jesus. The word for 'consider' is not a quick glance at Jesus and a nod of agreement. This is a deep and thorough examination on our part, held to understand Him fully and respond according.
We need to consider this apostle and High priest......
Hebrews 3:2
Moses was a great man in the eyes of the Hebrew; even greater than the angels. Abraham might have been the only man even close to being as great as Moses in their eyes. The writer knows this and is careful not to criticize Moses or put him down in any way. If he did, he would have a fight on his hands. The Jews looked at the life of Moses and how God used him and they saw that he was faithful to all that God called him to. They elevate him for this.
Hebrews 3:3
Why is Jesus worthy of more glory than Moses? The 'house of God' is the collective people of God. And Moses, the man of God, one of great faith was a servant in that house. Jesus was not only a greater servant in the house of God, He built the house. Jesus built the house and then served in it to redeem it, sanctify it and glorify it. Because He is the builder, He is counted worthy of more honor.
Hebrews 3:4
How do you know there is a builder? We know because there is a house. No house is without a builder. Who built God's house? He did.
Hebrews 3:5
Again, the writer deals delicately with Moses. Moses was a great servant of God, serving faithfully. However, his service was a forerunner for something greater. The very purpose of the faith of Moses and all his life was to point to that word that would be spoken after his life. That word is Jesus Christ. All that Moses did and said was done to bring light to Jesus Christ. Moses was a sign that said, "This way to Jesus, the savior and redeemer. So Moses did great things as a servant in the house, pointing forward in time to the messiah.
Hebrews 3:6
The writer of Hebrews wants us to consider this. Consider Jesus and make sure you really understand who He is before you turn away. Consider Jesus before you throw off you faith and belief because of persecution. Consider Jesus before you run back to the law. The Hebrews needed to consider this; to turn away from Jesus was reversing course. It was going from freedom to bondage, from rest to the burden of work; from grace to the law.
To turn from Jesus to embrace Moses and the law wouldn't be any different than an Israelite walking the dry bed of the Red Sea then, the first you get thirsty, grumbling and longing for the good ole days of bondage in Egypt. It makes no sense at all. We should consider this. In our walk as a Christ follower, life happens and we feel the pain. We feel the suffering. The world can no longer beat Jesus and spit on him and nail him to a cross. The world will settle for the next best thing, His followers. The bible says we will share in it, it's an honorable and holy thing. It affirms our discipleship.
When this happens our response is, God where are you? You need to bail me out of this mess. And when we don't get immediate relief, we start longing for the good ole days of bondage; thinking we were happy in our old life; thinking it was somehow better being lost in our sin and without hope. What we are really saying is, it was all about me then, now I must deny myself. At times, we can sound just like the Israelites in the wilderness. Jesus is the builder of this house. And as saints, we are in His house
Ephesians 2 says this:
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
You are part of a great building. Playing an important part, nestled in along side the cornerstone.
1 Peter 2
4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
We are being built up in this house. The saints are the dwelling place of God. Jesus is the cornerstone and we are the bricks in the wall. We were nothing, of no spiritual value, but he made us something and is building us up. The strong brick was worthless clay until it went through the fire. In the fire it was made strong and useful. A strong and useful brick would be used to build the house. What brick would complain and say, I want to go back to being worthless clay. Only a confused brick. In the same way, a born-again believer that is in the house of God, living in faith and belief won't turn back when the fire or persecution comes.
Then the writer says something very provocative in verse 6, Whose house we are if.... If we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. This is a big "if" and it throws many people for a loop. Some would say this proves that you can lose your salvation. They'd say, if we don't hold firm to the end in our confidence and hope, then we lose our salvation. This makes it sound as though we have to work to maintain our salvation and that's not the case. I think this does show you can throw your salvation away. I don't believe anyone can accidentally lose their salvation or they can unwittingly error in some way where it cost us eternity. But I do think we can turn away. That fits the context of this letter. These men were considering returning to their laws and temple sacrifice and turning away from Jesus. Those who really know Jesus, those who have considered who He really is, who have a relationship with Him, who not only call Him Lord but live their lives that way will be confident in that hope. They will rejoice in that hope all the way to the end of their race. When Christ is considered fully, a confident hope is the fruit of that consideration.
The writer gives all this information to these Hebrews and said, consider this! You'll be in this house if you track all the way. You can't stop and turn away. That is turning your back on what you know to be true. It's turning your back on the source of your courage & hope. There's no such thing as a reluctant brick in this house. We hold fast to Jesus to the end. We trust Him, our confidence is in Him. We bet our lives on Him.
Our confidence doesn't save us but it's a witness to our faith. Our confidence doesn't maintain our salvation, it shows an active trust and faith that is alive. It says, I'm a brick in this house.
Confidence & hope are born out of Jesus Christ. He is the cornerstone; He is the beginning of that house we want to be part of. The writer calls for these saints with questions to hold fast to the end. True commitment to Jesus is demonstrated over the long term. Philippians says, He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
It's a confused brick that that doesn't want to be built into the house of God but longs for the days of being useless clay. You are clay, God gives strength and purpose. The fires of persecution don't break us they make us stronger; they bond us tighter. And in this house we each hold fast individually. But like all the other bricks hold the one in place, we also hold each other firm to the end.
Verse 7 starts with another 'therefore'. We continue to build the case for the superiority of Christ. As we do, the evidence becomes more irrefutable.
Hebrews 3:7-11
The writer here is quoting Psalm 95. The Psalmist cautioned not to harden their hearts. The Israelites were told of the Living God. They saw the plagues that brought Egypt to its knees. They saw His deliverance at the Red Sea. They saw Him shake the mountain of God. They saw the prophet and leader Moses bring them to the Promised Land. And in all that, God didn't make them believe. Moses couldn't make them have faith. They could choose to turn away. And they did, they hardened their hearts continually.
You can read of Israel's refusal to enter the Promised Land in Numbers 13. You can read of the day of trial in Numbers 20. The writer is using the instruction of Psalm 95 to speak to these Hebrews. Don't harden your hearts. Don't be rebellious, trust in the plan He has for you. God was angry with unbelief and disobedience. The penalty for the Israelites was not being allowed to enter the Promised Land. The writer of Hebrews is applying that same penalty to these Hebrews should they not hold fast.
Hebrews 3:12
Departing means turning away, become faithless; to stand away from. Even in a believer there can be an evil heart that leads you away from God.
Hebrews 3:13-14
Through the Word, the prophets and Jesus himself we are led to the Truth of God. Yet, none of those can make us understand and keep us from hardening our hearts. A heart of unbelief comes from departing from the Living God. Departing from God happens by the deceitfulness of sin. People don't just wake up one day and say, I no longer believe. They are deceived and enticed. They begin to believe in other things that push God out. Our hearts become hard. This can all be avoided by exhorting one another. This means to encourage each other. This is a picture of each brick holding the other bricks in the wall. This is a call for believers to come together, to share our lives with each other. As we do that, we cheer each other on. That means we laugh together, we cry together, we feel affliction together, we suffer together. You must be among other believers to be exhorted. And the appropriate time for exhortation is today. As long as there is a today, it's a good time to exhort another believer.
There is an urgency in this call to act today. This needs to be considered today. It needs to be acted on today and every day after. If you harden your heart today, sin begins its work. It breeds deceitfulness. We begin to think we don't need exhortation. We don't need other believers. We think we can control those sins in our life. Sin begins to separate us and unbelief grows in our heart.
Hebrews 3:16
All those Israelites saw and heard what God did but they rebelled anyway. They weren't immune to unbelief. Everyone rebelled but Joshua and Caleb.
Hebrews 3:17
Yes, in unbelief they died in the wilderness instead of the Promised Land. God wouldn't look the other way at their unbelief. He couldn't just say, well they walked all that way, I'll let them go on in. They were close, they were right there being urged to enter the promise but they didn't trust God enough. And God was angry at their unbelief.
Hebrews 3:18
It doesn't seem possible, yet this was the very people God brought out of Egypt. He showed them many miracles and by Divine providence they were rescued from their bondage. Yet, they disobeyed. They rebelled against Him. These Israelites were God's chosen people but they didn't get to enter into his rest because of unbelief.
The writer is holding this story up in front of these Hebrews saying, what you're doing is no different. The Israelites were afraid of giants in the land and they thought God was not big enough to deal with that. These Hebrews who would read this letter were being persecuted and they thought, God is not big enough to deal with their situation. And the Holy Spirit brings this same word to us; so we don't disobey, so we don't turn away, so we don't die in the wilderness. Do you believe? Are we any different than the Israelites that came out of bondage or the Hebrews who were considering turning their back on Jesus? Do you allow your fears to grow into unbelief? Do you believe that God can deliver you from your bondage? Do you believe that same God can deliver you into the rest that can be found in this life by entering into His fullness? Do you believe God can deliver you through your life to glory, no matter what?
Most of us would say yes to all those questions, yet, we each find our selves at times doubting and becoming discouraged and not believing. Not holding fast to the rest that is found in Christ. We seem more capable of giving power over our life to a weak enemy than to an all-powerful God. When we focus on the enemy instead of the Lord doubt and fear becomes a powerful force in our life that leads to unbelief. Unbelief leads to rebellion and disobedience.
God gave us the faith to believe. He saved us and He can keep us. The writer said to hold onto that faith that saved us, all the way to the end. That's not a burden, it's a freedom. It doesn't rely on our faithfulness but on God's. That's the way I like it, I trust God more than I trust me.
Even when we enter the promise of God, there will still be struggles and battles just as the Israelites had when the next generation finally entered the Promised Land. They faced the enemies of God and the Lord gave them victory. They entered together, exhorting each other, trusting God in His promises. This walk of faith and belief is possible through others walking with you; pushing you at times, carrying you at other times, even kicking and screaming at times. We cheer each other on. We drag the weak. We carry the lame. We shepherd those that begin to stray away. Run the race with perseverance all the way to the end. And together we will live in the will and providence of a loving and merciful God.
God wants us to come into the fullness of his riches. And we do that through belief that leads to obedience; a belief that transforms our mind into the mind of Christ; a belief that forms our thoughts, guides our steps, and guards our words; a belief that encourages others; a belief that is an example, and a belief that doesn't cower to fear of any giant or any fear of an unknown.
Consider this, so you don't become a reluctant brick.
©2011 Doug Ford
Updated & revised 2019
Facebook