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Jesus Is Greater Than Moses

So all of you, holy brothers, should think about Jesus. You were all called by God. God sent Jesus to us, and he is the high priest of our faith. And Jesus was faithful to God as Moses was. Moses did everything God wanted him to do in God’s family. A man who is the head of a family receives more honor than others in the family. It is the same with Jesus. Jesus should have more honor than Moses. Every family has its head, but God is the head of everything. Moses was faithful in God’s family as a servant. He told what God would say in the future. But Christ is faithful as a Son who is the head of God’s family. And we are God’s family if we hold on to our faith and are proud of the great hope we have.

We Must Continue to Follow God

So it is as the Holy Spirit says:

“Today listen to what he says.
    Do not be stubborn as in the past
    when you turned against God.
There you tested God in the desert.
    For 40 years in the desert your ancestors saw the things I did.
    But they tested me and my patience.
10 I was angry with them.
    I said, ‘They are not loyal to me.
    They have not understood my ways.’
11 So I was angry and made a promise.
    ‘They will never enter my land of rest.’”[a] Psalm 95:7-11

12 So brothers, be careful that none of you has an evil, unbelieving heart. This will stop you from following the living God. 13 But encourage each other every day. Do this while it is “today.”[b] Help each other so that none of you will become hardened because of sin and its tricks. 14 We all share in Christ. This is true if we keep till the end the sure faith we had in the beginning. 15 This is what the Scripture says:

“Today listen to what he says.
    Do not be stubborn as in the past
    when you turned against God.” Psalm 95:7-8

16 Who heard God’s voice and was against him? It was all those people Moses led out of Egypt. 17 And whom was God angry with for 40 years? He was angry with those who sinned, who died in the desert. 18 And whom was God talking to when he promised that they would never enter and have his rest? He was talking to those who did not obey him. 19 So we see that they were not allowed to enter and have God’s rest because they did not believe.

Footnotes

  1. 3:11 rest A place of rest God promised to give his people.
  2. 3:13 “today” This word is taken from verse 7. It means that it is important to do these things now.

Jesus Greater Than Moses

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters,(A) who share in the heavenly calling,(B) fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge(C) as our apostle and high priest.(D) He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.(E) Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses,(F) 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.(G) “Moses was faithful as a servant(H) in all God’s house,”[a](I) bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son(J) over God’s house. And we are his house,(K) if indeed we hold firmly(L) to our confidence and the hope(M) in which we glory.

Warning Against Unbelief

So, as the Holy Spirit says:(N)

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts(O)
as you did in the rebellion,
    during the time of testing in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested and tried me,
    though for forty years they saw what I did.(P)
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,(Q)
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ (R)[b](S)

12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.(T) 13 But encourage one another daily,(U) as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.(V) 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold(W) our original conviction firmly to the very end.(X) 15 As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts
    as you did in the rebellion.”[c](Y)

16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?(Z) 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?(AA) 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest(AB) if not to those who disobeyed?(AC) 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.(AD)

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 3:5 Num. 12:7
  2. Hebrews 3:11 Psalm 95:7-11
  3. Hebrews 3:15 Psalm 95:7,8