Hebrews 3 - Obeying = Believing
This world is full of distraction, but it's critical that you keep your thoughts focused on Christ.
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Hebrews 3 (ESV)
1 Therefore, holy brothers,
you who share in a heavenly calling,
consider Jesus,
the apostle and high priest of our confession,
2 who
was faithful to him who appointed him,
just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house.
3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—
as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.
4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.)
5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant,
to testify to the things that were to be spoken later,
6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.
And we are his house,
if indeed we hold fast
our confidence
and our boasting in our hope.
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said,
‘They always go astray in their heart;
they have not known my ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ ”
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
13 But exhort one another every day,
as long as it is called “today,”
that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we have come to share in Christ,
if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled?
Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?
17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years?
Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest,
but to those who were disobedient?
19 So we see that
they were unable to enter
because of unbelief.
Hebrews 3 Summary
The theme of the Book of Hebrews is that Jesus exceeds the people and things which previously pointed people to God, and the focus of chapter three is that Jesus exceeds even Moses.
Moses led God's people from slavery to the Promised Land by keeping their eyes fixed on God, who at the time was represented by a pillar of fire. In the same way, we are to fix our thoughts on Jesus (NIV v1).
Even in a day when people heard God's booming voice, saw the miracles and witnessed the pillar of fire leading them, there were still some who hardened their hearts in rebellion (v8, 15 - both of which are a quotation from Psalm 95).
Hebrews 3 is a warning for Christians not to make that same mistake and miss out on the rest that God has promised those who persevere in Christ.
Dig Deeper
The final two verses of chapter 3 make an interesting logical leap:
And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
We often equate disobedience with not obeying specific commandments of God. We understand that even simple commands like what are given in the ten commandments have broad implications covering every facet of life. This is why reading God's law often helps us see our sin and drives us to the cross for forgiveness.
But verses 18-19 help illustrate that root from which disobedience stems: unbelief. Ultimately, when we disobey we are putting our trust in our own instinct rather than believing that God's prescribed ways are best for us.
When you disobey / disbelieve God, you're not just missing out on your best life now, you're putting eternity at risk. Therefore, make the advice given a the beginning of Hebrews 3 a priority, and keep your thoughts fixed on Jesus.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father's voice calls all people to salvation (v8, 15)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the strength to keep your thoughts fixed on Christ (v1)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
