HebrewsPersevere in Jesus

LESSON VII

REVIEW

• Survey– I Clement – the Epistle of Clement

to the Corinthians—AD 95, cites Hebrews in a Scriptural manner

– AND, there is no mention of the Fall of Jerusalem

REVIEW• God, who at various times and in various ways spoke

in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. (Hebrews 1:1-4 NKJ)

REVIEW Vv. 1-3• Most recently, God reveals Himself to us,

– not by a the scattered witness of the Prophets

– but by the fullness of His Son– Who is Alpha and Omega,

• through Whom all was created• Who is heir of all things

– Who is the wisdom and Word of God– Who is radiance of His glory– Who represents Him perfectly – Who sustains all things– Who atones for sins– Who is honored at the Right Hand of

Majesty

Concerning Angels• Angels are ministers working powerful acts for God

throughout the Scriptuers. – They worship Him forever.

• Jesus Christ is greater than the Angels:– Greater in His exalted divinity– Greater through His humiliated humanity– Greater in His work for, and direct effect upon our salvation

• in destroying death and the adversary• in freeing the enslaved• in setting the example of true love

• Proceeding down the Jewish authoritative ladder. – God sent the angel– the angel appointed Moses (St.

Stephen’s speech)– Jesus is greater than angels, – Jesus is greater than Moses

• The house. The Author uses the language of construction:– 9:2, 6; 11:7– and the idea of a family

• The author will deepen the sense of – HOLD FAST

for the next section

NKJ Hebrews 3:2-6 as Moses also was faithful in all His house. 3 For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as 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. 5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, 6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

Moses

--This is similar to when God builds David a house (a family), after telling him through Nathan the prophet that David would not be the one to build God a house (temple), but his son--and Christ is the Son.

...but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. 7

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said,`They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.' 11 So I swore in My wrath,`They shall not enter My rest.'" 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion." 16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17

Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:6-19 NKJ)

How to Hold Fast with Confidence• What is the conent to which the Writer wants his readers (and the Holy

Spirit wants us) to hold fast?– Not Moses and the Torah– Not the appointment of angels– But, again, to what “we have heard”

• The Writer is building on the previous exhortations.

• At the discussion of Jesus and Moses, the writer showed– that, of course, Jesus is greater than Moses– but also that, Moses is like Jesus in that both are faithful in all God’s house.

• only in different capacities: Moses as servant, Jesus as Son.

• NOW, the Author applies the desert wandering to the readers.– Stretches out the metaphor to inculde us: – Jesus is the new Moses, and we are wandering through the desert.

• There are three basic parts to this Psalm:– Do certain things

• Sing to God• Shout Joyfully to Him• Come before Him thankfully• Worship Him and bow down• Kneel before Him

– because He is certain things• the Rock of our salvation• a great God• a King• the mighty Maker• the Shepherd

– Do NOT do certain things• harden your hearts• ignore His ways• test Him• rebell

NKJ Psalm 95 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 3 For the LORD is the great God, And the great King above all gods. 4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. 5 The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. 7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: 8 "Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. 10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said,`It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.' 11 So I swore in My wrath,`They shall not enter My rest.'"

Another Psalm Quoted

• The word translated “harden” is an interesting one:– Nearly a third of it’s uses (14 of 44)

occur in Exodus: • 13 of those refer to Pharaoh’s heart.

– We know the results:• Egypt was destroyed

– its gods– its dynasty– its army– its cattle– its crops– its gold and silver

• St. Paul:– 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom

He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. (Rom 9:18 NKJ)

• The Word of God is so much less clear to a hard heart.

NKJ Heb 3:12-15 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15

while it is said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."

Hard Hearts

• 5 Questions in 6 parts:– Question/rhetorical question

(answer).• Therefore—3 Answers:

1. Those who Moses led out rebelled.

2. Those who sinned died in the wilderness

3. He swore that those who did not obey would not enter His rest.

• The word of “Corpses:”– Special uses in the Scriptures

• Lev. 26:30• 1 Sam. 17:46• Isa. 66:24

NKJ Hebrews 3:16-19 16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

The Bodies of Rebels

For Us• We will continue this theme next week in chapter 4.

• But here’s the point so far, that loops back to where we started today:– 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

– We are to Hold fast to the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to end (v. 6b) and NOT harden our hearts.

– Just like in Psalm 95: we are to bow, kneel, worship, and bring thanksgiving with joy to presence of our God,

• This is the opposite of hardness, this is the beginning of rest.

• It is for God to test us, not for us to test Him. – In the desert of this life, we’re going to see lots of strange and wicked things. – We’re in this desert because our first father, Adam, sinned.– God’s going to judge and lead history and us in it the way He sees fit.– He’s left us signs of His presence, compassion, and salvation (the Sciptures, Sacraments, and Church, and His

Holy Spirit)– The question is, then, will we believe Him through it all?

Homework

Read Chapters 3 & 4 two more times.Review Chapters 1 & 2

Check a couple different translations if you can