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The Book of Hebrews Part 17

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3:3 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God.

“This man” is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, whom the writer has asked us to consider in the first verse of this chapter. The writer has already shown Him to have more glory than the angels, now he says that He has more glory than Moses. Using the illustration of a house (which can also mean a household or family), he does this in two ways. Firstly, he shows that Christ has greater glory as the builder of the house compared to the house itself. Then, in verses 5 and 6, he goes on to show that Christ has greater glory as the Son in the household compared to a servant.

The writer does not in any way seek to detract from the glory of Moses. He does not suggest that the Jews are wrong to give Moses the honour that they do, or that Moses is unworthy of that honour. He simply states that Christ has greater glory and is worthy of greater honour.

There are many beautiful buildings in the world that people greatly admire – from the ancient pyramids and Colosseum to modern architectural marvels like the Eiffel Tower and Sydney Opera House. Each, however, was designed and built by someone. Not one of them built itself, or came together simply by chance. Nor is any of them given credit for its beauty or function. Each is only a reflection of the intelligence and ability of the one who designed it.

The house here in verse 3 may be Moses himself. Moses had a place of great honour among the Jews. At the time when he came down from receiving the Law from the hand of the Lord on Mt Sinai, he was so saturated with the glory of God that it was necessary to put a veil over his face. Yet for all that, his honour and glory was only second-hand. Had it not been for the hand of God upon his life, Moses would have grown up as just another downtrodden slave among all the slaves of Egypt – that is, if he had survived Pharoah’s decree that all the baby boys be thrown in the Nile. The only reason for Moses’ glory and honour was God, who both created him in the first place and “made” him as the deliverer and leader of Israel.

It is also possible that the house refers to the nation of Israel as constituted under Moses, its earthly head. Israel was a great nation, and could point to many glorious victories in battle. More than that, they were the chosen people of God, the place where He had chosen to dwell on earth. This pride in their position was the very thing that led many Jews, even after they had found the Messiah, to shun the gentiles. Yet Israel, too, was both created and made by God. It was God who gave His promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, and God who fulfilled that promise with the miraculous birth of Isaac. It was God who had brought the slave people out of Egypt and molded them into a nation under Moses. Without God, they would have been just a scattered handful of tribes among all the other tribes of the day. The only source of Israel’s glory and honour was God.

Christ, on the other hand, was glorious in Himself, and honoured for and as Himself. He was not created, nor had anyone “made” Him as Saviour and Lord. More than that, it was He who had “built” both Moses and Israel.

Here again the writer emphasises the divinity of Christ. Everything and everyone is created by somebody. The house is created by the architect and builder. But the architect and builder are in turn created beings. At the beginning of the line of creation stands God. By presenting Christ as the builder who has greater honour than the house – whether we see the house as being Moses himself or the nation of Israel under Moses – the writer is clearly saying that Christ is God. As God, the creator of all things, He obviously has far greater glory, and is worthy of far higher honour, than any of His creation, including Moses.

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The Book of Hebrews Part 16

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THE BOOK OF HEBREWS – PART 16

3:2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also Moses was in all his house.

The writer here is quoting from Numbers 12:7, “My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all My house.”

The context of the quoted verse is particularly interesting and relevant to our study. Miriam and Aaron had rebelled against Moses, suggesting that they should get “equal billing” as far as the leadership of Israel was concerned, because God had spoken to them as well as to Moses. God tells them that, whilst His normal means of communicating with His prophets is through dreams and visions, He treats Moses differently. With Moses He speaks face to face, and verse 7 suggests that the reason for this is Moses’ faithfulness.

Moses’ position is based on his relationship with God. Because of that relationship, God has entrusted him with leadership within his “house” (ie the people of God.) Moses has been faithful in that leadership, discharging all his duties without wavering, and even going beyond what was required (as when he suggested that God should blot his name out of the book of life rather than destroy Israel for the sin with the golden calf – Ex 32:32). That faithfulness has led to God bringing him into an even more intimate relationship with Himself, and entrusting him with even more “state secrets.”

With that background, the writer lines up the faithfulness of Christ against the faithfulness of Moses. Moses was faithful over a small section of God’s “house” – the Nation of Israel. Christ was faithful over the far greater house, the whole of mankind and ultimately the whole of the universe. For all his faithfulness, Moses had to initially be prodded to accept the job, and a number of times stood at the point of quitting, though never actually giving up. Christ willingly embraced the Father’s plan of salvation for man and restoration of the Kingdom, and even at His darkest moment declared “not My will but Yours.” Moses was privy to some of God’s secrets – certainly more than any other prophet of his day; Christ was the Word of God, the One through whom those aspects of God’s character and works that could not be seen in the creation were revealed. Moses was willing to give his life for the people, but his life could never have been a sufficient atonement for their sin. Jesus did give His life for the world, and His life was totally sufficient. Moses had been faithful, Christ was infinitely more so.

… to him who appointed him …

Faithfulness in itself is only half the story. Faithfulness misplaced can be worse than useless. We have all heard of people who have been utterly faithful to a company – or perhaps even a church or a denomination – only to find that, when the crunch comes and the organization’s “bottom line” is better served without them, they have been dropped like a hot potato. We have known people who have been faithful to friends, family or spouses, only to find that the other party has found greener pastures on the other side of the fence. Perhaps we have even personally experienced such betrayals of our faithfulness.

On the other hand, some have faithfully laboured at a job or pursued a vision, only to find at the end of the day that they come up empty-handed, and realize that they should have been doing something else. As someone once said, there is no point in struggling to get to the top of the mountain only to get there and find that we are on the wrong mountain! It is vital that our faithfulness be to the right person, and to the right vision, or it counts for nothing.

Christ’s faithfulness was to “Him that appointed Him” – God the Father. He had come to save man, but He was not faithful to man: if He had been, He would have followed Peter’s admonition to avoid the Cross. He had come as Israel’s Messiah, but He was not faithful to Israel: if He had been, He would have obeyed all the laws of the Pharisees. His faithfulness was fixed on the Father, and on the Father’s will. Had it not been so, He could have been distracted by any of a thousand different voices, and in faithfully following them become unfaithful to the One who called Him and the task to which He was called.

This in turn meant that Christ’s faithfulness was effective, because He was faithful to the Faithful One. God the Father would never back down from His commitment to and through His Son.

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The Book of Hebrews Part 3

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1:4 having become as much better than the angels as the more excellent name he has inherited is better theirs.

This verse begins the writer’s argument as to the superiority of Christ over the angels. This is very important, for several reasons:

Firstly, the Jews believed that the Law had been given through the mediation of angels (Acts 7:53) as well as the human mediation of Moses. By demonstrating that Christ is superior to both of these, he will set the stage to later demonstrate that the covenant enacted through Christ is greater than the old Covenant.

Secondly, the culture of the day, both Jewish and Gentile, saw angels as having a central and vital role in spiritual life. Some of the Jewish rabbis even taught that when God, in Genesis 1:26, said, “Let us make man in our own image,” He was consulting with the angelic council, and that they were part of the creation process. The pagan religions conferred upon angels a kind of demi-god status.

Thirdly, at least some level of worship of angels was considered acceptable, even among the Jews (although they would only be worshiped as messengers and representatives of God, not in their own right.) Paul warns against this in Colossians 2:18. It was clearly understood, however, that the angels themselves worshiped only God. Thus, by establishing that Christ receives the worship of angels, the writer is subtly establishing the divinity of Christ.

The word “better” used at the beginning of this verse is not talking about moral excellence, but about Christ’s position – He who once was made ” a little lower than the angels” (see 2:7 and Psalm 8:5) has now been exalted far above them.

Of course, this does not in any way negate the fact that, in His pre-incarnate state, He was eternally higher than the angels. However, Hebrews is not just about the essential divinity of Christ, but about His work as man and the effects of that work. In verse 3, it was as a result of His effective dealing with sin that He was exalted to the right hand of the Father. It is in this exaltation that He has been placed far above every angel.

Although the writer does not make the point here, we can understand that this includes the fallen angels as well as the holy angels. In fact, if Christ is exalted above those angels who have maintained a holy state, how much more is He above those who have fallen! When we face the attacks of the enemy, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by his power. At those times we need to remember that Christ is exalted above him.

The second “better” in this verse, referring to the Name that Christ has received, is a different Greek word, and means “more excellent”. Not only has He been given a higher position than any angel, He has been given a more excellent name.

In ancient times, a name was far more than a “handle.” A person’s name embodied all that person was, his character and destiny, and also carried the authority of the person himself. Thus, in many places through Scripture, we see God change the name of an individual to more accurately reflect his potential and destiny. In saying that Christ’s name is more excellent than that of angels, the writer is saying that everything about Christ’s character is more excellent, and that His authority is greater.

There is a parallel here with Philippians 2:9-11, and as in those verses the writer does not spell out what the “Name” is. It cannot be simply Jesus, for then and now many people in the world are called by that name. In fact, even Barabbas, the terrorist who was set free rather than Christ at the time of the crucifixion, bore the first name Jesus. Neither can it be Christ, for Jesus Himself said that many false Christs would rise up. Whilst there is a good case for the full title of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Name given for the use of believers, the writer here seems to have something different in mind. Here the Name is not about His relationship with His followers, but about that with His Father. Here, the Name above all names is “Son.”

A word needs to be said about the term “inheritance.” In the Greek, this does not imply simply something received after the death of a benefactor, but something obtained from another rather than taken for oneself.

v. 5. For to which of the angels did he say at any time, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father?” and again, “I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?”

Unfortunately, some of the cults have picked up on this verse and tried to use it to say that Jesus was not the eternal Son of God, but only became God’s Son at a particular time in His ministry (some say at His baptism, some at His resurrection.) Thus they relegate Him to the position of an adopted son, and vastly inferior to the Father.

The writer, however, has made it abundantly clear in the preceding verses that Christ is in every way equal to the Father, sharing fully His nature and His power. He has for all eternity been God the Son.

Yet there was a point at which God the Son had to become the Son of God. In ancient times, when a king was appointing his son as his heir and therefore as ruler over the kingdom, a ceremony would take place in which the heir apparent was publicly declared as the true son of the king and rightful heir of the kingdom. (See 1 Kings 1:7-40).

Both the Old Testament passages quoted here refer to this. The first is from Psalm 2:7. Although the rabbis at times interpreted the “son” here as Aaron, David or even the nation of Israel, as we read this Psalm in the light of the New Testament it is clearly messianic. Verse 6, immediately before the verse quoted in Hebrews, says, “I have installed My king on Zion, My holy hill.” The Father has declared Christ as Son, and appointed Him as King over the kingdom.

The second quotation in the verse comes from two Old Testament passages, 2 Samuel 7:11-16 and 1Chronicles 17:10-14. Both record the word of the Lord to David, telling him that he was not the one to build a house for the Lord, but that the Lord would build him a “house” through his son. There is a very interesting difference between the two passages. The first clearly refers to David’s immediate, natural son, Solomon. It speaks of God punishing him if he does wrong. The second, however, is obviously messianic. It makes no mention of sin and punishment, but rather declares that “I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever. His throne will be established forever.” Obviously, such a promise could not be applied to any earthly king! Here again, because of his relationship with the father, the son is established as legitimate ruler over the kingdom.

The Bible does at times refer to both angels and people as “sons” of God. Nowhere, however, does it confer upon any individual apart from Christ this unique form of sonship, which is about both relationship and inheritance. Christ alone is God the Son, and in this unique sense Christ alone is the Son of God.

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