Hebrews 3

Hebrews Chapter 3

All scriptures used in this teaching will be from The Revised English Version unless otherwise noted . Note that the first word is Therefore which is an adverb. An adverb is defined as:

noun

noun adverb plural noun adverbs

1. a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree, etc. (e.g., <i>gently</i>, <i>quite</i>, <i>then</i>, <i>there</i> )

The Greek word is hothen It means for this reason. So you must know what came before to understand what comes after this word.

So it is referring to something that came before chapters 1 and 2. To understand that which follows you need to understand that which came before.

Don’t confuse being an heir with being saved. All joint heirs with Christ are saved, you have to be saved to achieve the position of joint heirs. You must already be saved to be an heir. So anytime it says anything about inheriting something it is not talking about salvation.

In chapter 1 vs 6 when it talks about the angels worshipping Jesus that does not mean back in Luke when he was born but when he was born again when God raised him from the dead in Luke 2 it said they praised (worshipped) God.

In chapter 1:8 when it talks about Christ the word god has a lower case g which is correct

There are many quotes from the Hebrew scriptures and they must be understood in that light.

At the end of chapter 1 it is speaking of the missions of angels.

Chapter two is in the middle of a context and should be seen that way.

In chapter 2 verse 4 when it speaks of gifts it is not the so called gifts of 1 Corinthians 12:1 which are not gifts at all the word gifts is not in any Greek text, it was added by the translators

There is more and it can be found in My blog The new Man In Christ.

1 Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, think carefully (katanoeō) about Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest whom we confess,

The word partakers is used 6 times in the word of God 5 times in Hebrews and once in Luke.

Here is the NIV translation of verse 1:

1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly  calling, fix your thoughts (katanoeō) on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.

Most translations render the Greek Word katanoeō as consider, both the NIV and the REV I believe have a truer sense of the meaning.

Now Bullinger has an interesting translation.  

From the Appendixes of The Companion Bible katanoeo = to perceive with the senses, referring to the object of observation rather than to the act of getting to know (as with ginosko, Ap. 132. I. ii).  It has regard to the conscious action of the mind in getting to see or understand.

He translates this verse as "calling, and come to understand the Apostle and High Priest of our profession... Jesus. We are to come to understand a slightly more modern way of saying this is we get to know Jesus. Just like anyone else we have to hangout with the lord and talk to him. You also have to read the word that tells us  a large amount about the lord but you still need to apply what the word says about him then get to know him even better share your heart with him. After all he is the head of the church.

From the NIV 1 Corinthians 15:26The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

Why shouldn’t we talk to Jesus our brother and lord(Acts 2:36) and head of the church. He wants only the best for us and he is head of the church. He wants only the best for us. God has put all things under his feet. He is in charge like back in Genesis with Joseph and Pharaoh

Hebrews 3:2who was faithful to Him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all His house.

Commentary for: Hebrews 3:2    who was faithful to Him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all His house.a a[2] “Him” and “His” refer to God; capitalized for clarity. “appointed.” The Greek word is poieō (#4160 ποιέω), to make or to do, in this context, God “made” Christ the high priest, so “appoint” is clearer than simply “made.” Lenski has “made him (what he is),” which would be a way to go if you wanted to keep the word “made” and still retain the meaning in the passage.  “in all His house.” Moses was faithful in all of God’s house. In this context, the “his” refers to God.

http://www.revisedenglishversion.com/Hebrews/chapter3/2

3For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, just as he who built the house has more honor than the house.

Commentary for: Hebrews 3:3
  
For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, just as he who built the house has more honor than the house.
“Moses.” Sometimes things that God has in His Word are not immediately apparent to us, even though they would have been immediately apparent to people living in the biblical culture at the time the Scripture was written. This is such a case. We may not know why God compared Moses to the Messiah here in Hebrews, but at the time Hebrews was written, it was not uncommon among the Jews to think of Jesus as a second Moses. This passage makes it clear that the Messiah was not a “second Moses,” but much Commentary for: Hebrews 3:3

http://www.revisedenglishversion.com/Hebrews/chapter3/3

4For every house is built by someone, but the one who built all things is God. 5And Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things that were to be said later, 6but Christ is faithful as a son over His house, and we are His house if we hold on firmly to our confidence and our boasting in the hope, to the end.

Moses was a faithful servant did what God wanted him to do for the most part. Jesus was a faithful servant carrying out the instruction of God to the letter. How about you? Are you endeavoring to do that which God is asking of you? Do you see why Jesus can’t be God. If Jesus is our example as well as God,there is no way he could have gotten it wrong. According to Romans Jesus is the second Adam who could get it wrong. There is no way he can be both. It is up to you to decide are you going to work for God or are you going to ignore him. That was the same decision Jesus had to make.

7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you hear his voice, 8do not harden your hearts, as they did in the rebellion, as in the day of the trial in the desert,

“if you hear his voice.” The verb “hear” is second person, plural, subjunctive. It may be that God will not speak to us and therefore we will not hear His voice. But if He does speak to us, then we should not harden our hearts as the Israelites did in the desert.

How many times did Israel go whoring after other gods? How many evil kings did they have?

9 where your fathers put me to the test by trying me out, and saw my works for forty years.10 Therefore, I was disgusted with  It that generation, and said, “They always go astray in their heart.” Moreover, they did not know my ways, 11so I swore in my wrath, “They will never enter into my rest!”  

Starting in verse 9 and ending in verse 11 we have a figure of speech called a gnome. It just means it is a quote from the Hebrew scriptures. It is quoting Psalm 95:9,10. It breaks it up differently.

12 See to it, brothers, lest there will be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, so long as it is still called “today,” lest any one of you is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15As it is said, Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

Again we have another gnome. Psalm 95:7 and 8

16For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all those who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17And with whom was he displeased forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose carcasses lay where they fell in the desert? 18And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19And we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief.

I like the NIV translation of verse 16.

Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?

Bullinger in his notes and appendix says the word who means certain ones. He doesn’t translate it that way he still translates it some.

The word rebelled is the Greek word parapikrainó  This is the only place it is used in the Greek scriptures but it is used often in the Septuagint. For those who may never heard it is the Greek Old Testament. For more info you can check here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint

It then it asks an important question

These ones who rebelled were they not the same ones who saw all the miracles in Egypt and saw the Red Sea parted? One wonders how could you see all that and then rebel? If it happened to them it can happen to us so guard your hearts against rebellion against God.

They are told not to be rebellious we should do the same. Sometimes it isn’t easy but no one promised you an easy time. In fact we were told by Christ himself the have hated me expect them to hate you as well. There is a great line from a song I Never Promised you A Rose Garden that applies here but for all that if we stand through it we will be rewarded.

These people never entered the promised land because of their unbelief. Let us endeavor to stay faithful to God and Jesus Christ so we can receive our full reward.