Hebrews 3:7

7 So it is as the Holy Spirit says: "Today listen to what he says.

Hebrews 3:7 Meaning and Commentary

Hebrews 3:7

Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith
In ( Psalms 95:7 )

today if you will hear his voice;
either the precepts of Christ, to hear which is to obey them; and this is an acknowledgment to Christ as King of saints, and is a testimony of love to him, and is wellpleasing in his sight; and in which the saints find pleasure themselves, and profit also: or the Gospel of Christ, which is a voice of love, grace, and mercy; of peace and reconciliation; of pardon and righteousness; of liberty, redemption, and salvation by Christ; and to hear it, is not only to hear it externally, but internally, so as to understand it, and distinguish it from the voice of a stranger, and to approve of it, and believe it, and put in practice what is heard: and "today" may intend some festival day in David's time, when, and on account of which, this psalm was penned; as the feast of tabernacles, which was a type of Christ tabernacling in human nature; or it may regard the time of man's life, while it is day, or the present instant of life: or rather the whole Gospel dispensation. The psalm from whence these and some following words are taken, belongs to the Messiah; for the person the subject of it, is called the rock of our salvation; and every thing in it is applicable to him; as the ascription of deity, and divine worship; the creation and preservation of the universe; yea, he is represented as a shepherd, and the saints as his sheep; which plainly points at the office of Christ; and these very words are often made use of by the Jews, and applied to the Messiah, showing that if the Jews would repent but one day, or keep the sabbath but one day, the son of David, the Messiah, would come; since it is said, "today if you will hear his voice" F4; which the Chaldee paraphrase renders (hyrmym) , "his Word", his essential Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 98. 1. Shemot Rabba, sect. 25. fol. 109. 3. & Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 19. 3.

Hebrews 3:7 In-Context

5 Moses was faithful in God's family as a servant, and he told what God would say in the future.
6 But Christ is faithful as a Son over God's house. And we are God's house if we keep on being very sure about our great hope.
7 So it is as the Holy Spirit says: "Today listen to what he says.
8 Do not be stubborn as in the past when you turned against God, when you tested God in the desert.
9 There your ancestors tried me and tested me and saw the things I did for forty years.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.