Hebrews 3

1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of [the] heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus,

2 who is faithful to him that has constituted him, as Moses also in all his house.

3 For *he* has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, by how much he that has built it has more honour than the house.

4 For every house is built by some one; but he who has built all things [is] God.

5 And Moses indeed [was] faithful in all his house, as a ministering servant, for a testimony of the things to be spoken after;

6 but Christ, as Son over his house, whose house are *we*, if indeed we hold fast the boldness and the boast of hope firm to the end.

7 Wherefore, even as says the Holy Spirit, To-day if ye will hear his voice,

8 harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness;

9 where your fathers tempted [me], by proving [me], and saw my works forty years.

10 Wherefore I was wroth with this generation, and said, They always err in heart; and *they* have not known my ways;

11 so I swore in my wrath, If they shall enter into my rest.

12 See, brethren, lest there be in any one of you a wicked heart of unbelief, in turning away from [the] living God.

13 But encourage yourselves each day, as long as it is called To-day, that none of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

14 For we are become companions of the Christ if indeed we hold the beginning of the assurance firm to the end;

15 in that it is said, To-day if ye will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation;

16 (for who was it, who, having heard, provoked? but [was it] not all who came out of Egypt by Moses?

17 And with whom was he wroth forty years? [Was it] not with those who had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to those who had not hearkened to the word?

19 And we see that they could not enter in on account of unbelief;)

Hebrews 3 Commentary

Chapter 3

The superior worth and dignity of Christ above Moses is shown. (1-6) The Hebrews are warned of the sin and danger of unbelief. (7-13) And of necessity of faith in Christ, and of stedfastly following him. (14-19)

Verses 1-6 Christ is to be considered as the Apostle of our profession, the Messenger sent by God to men, the great Revealer of that faith which we profess to hold, and of that hope which we profess to have. As Christ, the Messiah, anointed for the office both of Apostle and High Priest. As Jesus, our Saviour, our Healer, the great Physician of souls. Consider him thus. Consider what he is in himself, what he is to us, and what he will be to us hereafter and for ever. Close and serious thoughts of Christ bring us to know more of him. The Jews had a high opinion of the faithfulness of Moses, yet his faithfulness was but a type of Christ's. Christ was the Master of this house, of his church, his people, as well as their Maker. Moses was a faithful servant; Christ, as the eternal Son of God, is rightful Owner and Sovereign Ruler of the Church. There must not only be setting out well in the ways of Christ, but stedfastness and perseverance therein to the end. Every meditation on his person and his salvation, will suggest more wisdom, new motives to love, confidence, and obedience.

Verses 7-13 Days of temptation are often days of provocation. But to provoke God, when he is letting us see that we entirely depend and live upon him, is a provocation indeed. The hardening of the heart is the spring of all other sins. The sins of others, especially of our relations, should be warnings to us. All sin, especially sin committed by God's professing, privileged people, not only provokes God, but it grieves him. God is loth to destroy any in, or for their sin; he waits long to be gracious to them. But sin, long persisted in, will make God's wrath discover itself in destroying the impenitent; there is no resting under the wrath of God. "Take heed:" all who would get safe to heaven must look about them; if once we allow ourselves to distrust God, we may soon desert him. Let those that think they stand, take heed lest they fall. Since to-morrow is not ours, we must make the best improvement of this day. And there are none, even the strongest of the flock, who do not need help of other Christians. Neither are there any so low and despised, but the care of their standing in the faith, and of their safety, belongs to all. Sin has so many ways and colours, that we need more eyes than ours own. Sin appears fair, but is vile; it appears pleasant, but is destructive; it promises much, but performs nothing. The deceitfulness of sin hardens the soul; one sin allowed makes way for another; and every act of sin confirms the habit. Let every one beware of sin.

Verses 14-19 The saints' privilege is, they are made partakers of Christ, that is, of the Spirit, the nature, graces, righteousness, and life of Christ; they are interested in all Christ is, in all he has done, or will do. The same spirit with which Christians set out in the ways of God, they should maintain unto the end. Perseverance in faith is the best evidence of the sincerity of our faith. Hearing the word often is a means of salvation, yet, if not hearkened to, it will expose more to the Divine wrath. The happiness of being partakers of Christ and his complete salvation, and the fear of God's wrath and eternal misery, should stir us up to persevere in the life of obedient faith. Let us beware of trusting to outward privileges or professions, and pray to be numbered with the true believers who enter heaven, when all others fail because of unbelief. As our obedience follows according to the power of our faith, so our sins and want of care are according to the prevailing of unbelief in us.

Footnotes

• [a]. Here metochos, who have been made, called to be, partakers of it. They had been koinonoi of Israel's rights. See ch. 2.14.
• [b]. See Num. 12.7.
• [c]. That is, God's house, in which Moses was faithful as a ministering servant. The contrast is with 'Moses as a servant in,' and 'Christ as a Son over.' The Father is not brought in as such at all, but the Son is over the house as Son. The connection with its being God's house is evident, because he (Christ) has built the house, ver. 3, and he who built all things is God; but he is over it as Son.
• [d]. See Ps. 95.7-11.
• [e]. A Hebraism involving a strong negative. Compare Num. 14.23; Mark 8.12.
• [f]. Metochos, as ch. 1.9 (quoting Ps. 45.7), to which it alludes. It is not 'partakers of Christ.'
• [g]. I have no doubt, in spite of objections, that 16-19 is a parenthesis.
• [h]. Or 'was it not indeed.'
• [i]. Lit. 'limbs:' often used for a carcase. Some suppose the idea of the body falling to pieces.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO HEBREWS 3

The apostle having discoursed, in the preceding chapters, concerning the dignity of Christ's person, and his wondrous grace in the assumption of human nature, and suffering in the room and stead of his people, exhorts the Hebrews in this to a serious consideration of him, attention to him, and faith in him, and constancy in it; the arguments he uses to engage them to these things are taken from the grace and benefit they themselves were partakers of through him, from the office in which he was, and his faithfulness to his Father in the discharge of it, Heb 3:1,2 which is illustrated in the case of Moses, who was faithful in the house of God, and whom Christ excelled, and therefore was worthy of more honour; partly, because he is the builder of the house; and partly, because he is a Son in it, when Moses was only a servant; which house is Christ's own, and consists of true and steadfast believers in him, Heb 3:2-6, wherefore the exhortation to regard him is renewed, enforced, and expressed in the words of the Holy Ghost, Heb 3:7-11 which are taken out of Ps 95:7-11 and applied to the present case: hence the apostle cautions against unbelief, as being a great evil in itself, and bad in its consequence, causing persons to depart from the living God, Heb 3:12, in order to prevent which he advises to a daily exhortation of each other to their duty, that so they might not be hardened in sin through the deceitfulness of it, Heb 3:13 and the rather it became them to be concerned to hold fast their faith in Christ to the end, since this is the grand evidence of being a partaker of him, Heb 3:14. And then the exhortation in the above passage of Scripture is recited, Heb 3:15 to show, that though not all the persons spoken of, yet some did provoke the Lord by their unbelief, and unbecoming carriage, Heb 3:16 wherefore, by the example of punishment being inflicted on such, of which instances are given in the forefathers of these people, such as their carcasses falling in the wilderness, and their not entering into the land of Canaan, which they could not, because God swore they should not, being grieved and provoked by them, and because of their unbelief, they are dissuaded from the same evils, lest they should be punished in like manner, Heb 3:17-19.