3:1This verse would have been especially meaningful to Jewish Christians. For Jews, the highest human authority was the high priest. For Christians, the highest human authorities were God’s messengers, the apostles. Jesus, God's messenger and High Priest, is the ultimate authority in the church.
Life Application Study BibleHebrewsChapter 3
Hebrews 3
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 2091, 2092
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
3Hebrews 3
1But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself. 4For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God. SMoses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. 6But 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.*
77 That is why the Holy Spirit says,“Today when you hear his voice,8 don’t harden your heartsas Israel did when they rebelled,when they tested me in the wilderness.
9There your ancestors tested and tried my patience,even though they saw my miracles for forty years.
10So I was angry with them, and I said,‘Their hearts always turn away from me.They refuse to do what I tell them.’
11So in my anger I took an oath:‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”"*
12Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters.* Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. 13You 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.
14For 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. 4Remember what it says:“Today when you hear his voice,don’t harden your heartsas Israel did when they rebelled.”*
16And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn't it the people Moses led out of Egypt? 17And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn't it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? 18And 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? 19So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.
Textual footnotes
- 3:1a Greek And so, holy brothers who.
- 3:1b Greek God's apostle.
- 3:2 Some manuscripts omit entire.
- 3:6 Some manuscripts add to the end.
Life Application Notes 3 notes
3:1The writer says to “think carefully about this Jesus,” to fix our minds, ponder carefully, and focus on the true significance of Jesus. How much do we do that? In our age of sound bites, fast food, and quick-fix solutions, very few people take time to think about anything or anyone. In Jesus we have one to whom we should listen (God's messenger), through whom we come to the Father (High Priest), and to whom we give obedience (he is entrusted with God’s entire house). When you think about the significance and superiority of Jesus, how does it affect your life today? Your decisions? Your actions?
3:2,3To the Jewish people, Moses was a great hero; he had led their ancestors, the Israelites, from Egyptian bondage to the border of the Promised Land. He also had written the first five
Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages
Study feature · page 2091
3:7-11 Ps 95:7-11.
3:12 Greek brothers.
3:15 Ps 95:7-8.
books of the Old Testament, and he was the prophet through whom God had given the law; therefore, Moses was the greatest prophet in the Scriptures. But Jesus is worthy of greater honor as the central figure of faith than Moses, who was merely a human servant. Jesus is more than human; he is God himself (1:3). As Moses led ‘the people of Israe! out of Egyptian bondage, so Christ leads us out of sin’s slavery. Why settle for Moses, the author of Hebrews asks, when you can have Jesus Christ, who appointed Moses? 3:5 Moses was faithful to God’s calling not only to deliver Israel but also to prepare the way for the Messiah (“his work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later”). Alt the Old Testament believers also served to prepare the way. Thus, knowing the Old Testament is the best foundation for understanding the New Testament. in reading the Old Testament, we see (1) how God used people to accomplish his purposes, (2) how God used events and personalities to illustrate important truths, (3) how, through prophets, God announced the Messiah, and (4) how, through the System of sacrifices, God prepared people to understand the Messiah's work. If you include the Old Testament in your regular Bible reading, the New Testament will grow clearer and more Meaningful to you. 8:6 Because Christ lives in us as believers, we can remain coura- Qeous and hopeful to the end. We are not saved by being steadfast and firm in our faith, but our courage and hope do reveal that our faith is real. Without this enduring faithfulness, we could easily be blown away by the winds of temptation, false teaching, or perse- Cution (see also 3:14). 3:7-15 This passage refers to the Israelites who had hardened their hearts in the wilderness. A hardened heart is as useless as a hardened lump of clay or a hardened loaf of bread. Nothing can Festore it and make it useful. The writer of Psalm 95 warns against hardening our hearts as Israel did in the wilderness by continuing fo resist God’s will (Exodus 17:7; Numbers 13; 14: 20). The people
were so convinced that God couldn’t deliver them that they simply Jost their faith in him. People with hardened hearts are so stubbornly set in their ways that they cannot turn to God. This does not happen suddenly or all at once; it is the result of a series of choices to disregard God’s will. Let people know that those who resist God!ong enough, God will toss aside like hardened bread, useless and worthless. 3:11 God’s resthas several meanings in Scripture: (1) the seventh day of creation and the weekly Sabbath commemorating it (Genesis 2:2; Hebrews 4:4-9); (2) the Promised Land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 12:8-12; Psalm 95); (3) peace with God now because of our relationship with Christ through faith (Matthew 11:28; Hebrews 4:1, 3, 8-11); and (4) our future eternal life with Christ (Hebrews 4:8- 11). All of these meanings were probably familiar to the Jewish Christian readers of Hebrews. We can apply the verses as a warning about God’s anger in the face of human rebellion against his Kingdom. By rejecting God’s provision (Christ) and not enduring in our faith, we miss the opportunity for spiritual rest. 3:12-14 Our hearts turn away from the living God when we stubbornly refuse to believe him. If we persist in our unbelief, God will eventually leave us alone in our sin. But God can give us new hearts, new desires, and new spirits (Ezekiel 36:22-27). To prevent having an unbelieving heart, stay in fellowship with other believers, talk daily about your mutual faith, be aware of the deceitfulness of sin (it attracts but also destroys), and encourage each other with tove and concern. 3:15-19 The Israelites failed to enter the Promised Land because they did not believe in God’s protection, and they did not believe that God would help them conquer the giants in the land (see Numbers 14-15). So God sent them into the wilderness to wander for 40 years. This was an unhappy alternative to the wonderful gift he had planned for them. Lack of trust in God always prevents us from receiving his best.