Jesus is Greater Than Moses
And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messenger and High Priest. For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God’s entire house. But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself. For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God. Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.
Hebrews 3:1-6
Israel Rebelled and Missed Entering Their Rest
That is why the Holy Spirit says,
“Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years. So I was angry with them, and I said, ‘Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’” Psalm 95:7-11
Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.
Remember what it says:
“Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”
And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice?
Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt? And who made God angry for forty years?
Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness?
And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him?
So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.
Hebrews 3:7-19
Don’t Miss Out On God’s Rest Like Israel
4 God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said, “In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,’” even though this rest has been ready since he made the world.
We know it is ready because of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day:
“On the seventh day God rested from all his work.” Genesis 2:2
But in the other passage God said, “They will never enter my place of rest.” Psalm 95:11
So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted:
“Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.” Psalm 95:7-8
Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come. So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labours, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.
Hebrews 4:1-13
Jesus is Our Great High Priest
So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
5. Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins. And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs. And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honour. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was.
That is why Christ did not honour himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.” Psalm 2:7
And in another passage God said to him, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” Psalm 110:4
While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 4:14-5:10
Grow Up and Mature
There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognise the difference between right and wrong. . .
Hebrews 5:11-14
Section Headings Across Four Different Bibles
NLT (E-Sword 8.0.1 – 2021) | NIV | NLT (1996) | KJV |
Jesus Greater Than Moses (Heb 3:1-6) | Jesus Greater Than Moses (Heb 3:1-6) | Jesus is Greater than Moses (Heb 3:1-19) | Christ Superior to Moses (Heb 3:1-11) |
A Rest for the People of God (Heb 3:7-4:13) | Warning Against Unbelief (Heb 3:7-19) | Promised Rest for the People of God (Heb 4:1-13) | The Disobedient Generation (Heb 3:12-19) |
Jesus the Great High Priest (Heb 4:14-5:10) | A Sabbath Rest for the People of God (Heb 4:1-13) | Christ is Our High Priest (Heb 4:14-5:10) | The Promise of Rest (Heb 4:1-13) |
Warning Against Apostasy (Heb 5:11-6:12) | Jesus the Great High Priest (Heb 4:14-5:10) | A Call to Spiritual Growth (Heb 5:11-6:12) | Christ the Way to God (Heb 4:14-5:10) |
Warning Against Falling Away (Heb 5:11-6:12) | Warning Against Apostasy (Heb 5:11-6:8) |
No one attempted the exercise for themselves; one person told me that I had not given enough time for you all to tackle such a hard task. Touché! I should have given you more time given the fact the first day was a public holiday here in New Zealand and many didn’t get to read the Gem until the evening. I agree with him regarding the time; I don’t agree that it was a hard task. It doesn’t take too long to read the passage and make divisions. What does take the time is working on the text and making your cuts in order to present it as I have above. You will notice I have changed the Old Testament quotes to capital letters despite the fact the readings are from the NTL and not the NASB. I have done that to make the OT readings clearer.
A glance at the table above shows some interesting things:
- The variation between versions on the basis of the divisions and titles of each pericope.
- The appearance of the New Living Translation in the comparison table twice, indicating there is variation within Bible versions between editions.
- In fact there are not even two versions which are in agreement on the division and naming of pericope.
- I’m sure you have noticed that pericope often span across chapter boundaries – mmm, that’s interesting.
In adding my version there are now five variations but only because I clipped the selection at the end of chapter five. You may have noticed that I left three dots (. . . ) at the end of our block passage to indicate there is more to come when we reach that point. Are we to conclude that there is no right or wrong answer, that we are free to subdivide the text as we choose? Hardly, the author had a particular division in mind, much like when we section our paragraphs. What would be fascinating would be to get the author of Hebrews to look at the above table and tell us which version of the division into pericope is the closest match to what was in his mind. You may feel free enough now to send me your version of dividing the text, if it differs from the above options, including mine. I would love to know your reasoning. I hasten to add I did not look at any of the versions to note the choice of pericope division they made. I simply took the large block of text and divided it where I thought most appropriate and gave each section what I thought was the best title without looking at the other alternatives. However, I did read the block of text over a number of times and had read the whole of the letter over multiple times before I started the Gems on Hebrews.
I will begin working through each of these pericope in turn over the following Gems starting with:
Jesus is Greater Than Moses
And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messenger and High Priest. For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God’s entire house. But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself. For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God. Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.
Hebrews 3:1-6
Notice the way the writer now moves from his comparison of Jesus being greater than angels to Jesus being greater than Moses. We have now left the angels behind, only they haven’t left us. Take time yourself to reflect on this first section and come up with your own questions about the text in order to understand it better. Share them with me if you wish or ask God Himself; He doesn’t mind you asking.
No human alive or dead has ever had the last word on the Bible; it is just not possible.
Ian
Worship does not satisfy our hunger for God – it whets our appetite.
Eugene Peterson
When I worship, I would rather my heart be without words than my words be without heart.
Lamar Boschman
Seeing new puzzles or questions about the text of the Bible only opens our eyes to the depth and majesty therein.
Ian
Your value is fixed to His worth not yours.
Lanny Pohan
Is it correct that there are two versions which agree on the division and the naming of the text, yes there is NLT and NIV with Hebrews 3:1-6
Yes, that is true Ross if you look just at the first block (3:1-6), but the point I was making covered the whole section from 3:1 to 5:14 and beyond. After all we are looking at division of this whole section, not just the first part.