Not Taken, But Received

And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee”; just as He says also in another passage, “Thou art a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrew 5:4-6

Back in Hebrews 3:1 the inspired writer is moved to exhort the church to “consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession”. The church is to consider Jesus in these offices in juxtaposition to Moses, the Old Testament giant of faith. As the apostle of God, involved in the physical delivery of the nation out of slavery, he also functioned in a quasi high priestly position, by his admittance into the presence of Yahweh and intercessor of the nation of Israel. These were roles normally reserved for the high priest.

We Who Believe Enter The Eternal Rest

For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day, “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.”   Hebrews 4:3-5

The inspired writer of the Hebrew letter is still working on the principle of faithfulness, of holding “fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end” (Heb. 3:6) by heeding the voice of the appointed, ascended Son over the house of God, Jesus Christ.

Moses and Jesus, Comparatively Speaking (PT 2)

“Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, And saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with this generation, And said, “They always go astray in their heart; And they did not know My ways”; As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest.’ ” Heb 3:7-11

In chapter three, the inspired writer of the Hebrew letter has moved from Jesus’ superiority over the angels to the superiority of Jesus to Moses, and in particular in the context, His superiority over Moses as “the Apostle and High Priest of our confession” (Heb. 3:1b). The Holy Spirit specifically through the writer tells us to “consider Jesus” in those roles.

Moses and Jesus, Comparatively Speaking (Pt 1)

“Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, And saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with this generation, And said, “They always go astray in their heart; And they did not know My ways”; As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest.’ ” Heb 3:7-11

Having established Jesus’ superiority to the angels in the first two chapters, here, in chapter three, the Spirit through the writer begins to work on Jesus as superior to Moses. In reference to that, the Holy Spirit calls us to consider Jesus in two ways in comparison to Moses. As The Apostle; and as the High Priest of our confession. It is in this context that the writer is moved to quote from Psalm 95:7b-11. “Today, if you would hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness; when your fathers tested Me, they tried Me, though they had seen My work. For forty years I loathed that generation, and said they are a people who err in their heart, and they do not know My ways. Therefore I swore in My anger, truly they shall not enter into My rest.” NAS

The Given Children Trust In Him

And again,”I will put My trust in Him.” And again,”Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.” Hebrews 2:13

Isaiah’s sign-faithful disciples

In our text for today, the writer of Hebrews continues to build upon the theme of brotherhood and family as the Holy Spirit had moved him to introduce, and we had considered in last week’s quote of the Old Testament passage from Psalm 22 as contained in Hebrews 2:11-12. The penman is now moved to quote from Isaiah eight concerning the faithful disciples who would be a sign to the disobedient houses of Israel and Judah of the LORD’s ability to bring about what has been prophesied, and as a type of the church. In the NASB it reads, “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.” (Isa. 8:16-18)

Sorrow, Suffering and Satisfied Sanctification

For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, “I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise.” Hebrews 2:11-12 (NAS)

Having established that Jesus Christ is superior to the Old Testament prophets and to angels, the divinely directed writer of Hebrews moves to speak of the superior benefits derived by the saints through Jesus coming in the flesh for “a little while lower than the angels.” This takes us to our next Old Testament passage cited by the writer of Hebrews for our edification, Psalms 22:22. “I will tell of Thy name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise Thee.” (NAS)

The Father’s Crowning Achievement

But one has testified somewhere, saying, “What is man, that Thou rememberest him? Or the son of man, that Thou art concerned about him? Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, and hast appointed him over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.” Hebrews 2:6-8 (NAS)

After demonstrating that Jesus occupies the power position at the right hand of the father in the eternal domain of heaven exercising authority, the inspired penman in the opening verses of Hebrews chapter two, issues the first warning to believers not to neglect the message of God spoken to them through the Son. Those who had heard it, consequently passed the message on and confirmed its legitimacy by performing signs, wonders, and various miracles. The warning supplemented with the reminder that the words spoken through angels were unalterable, then certainly the words of He who brought salvation and sits at the right hand of the majesty on high are deserving of “closer attention”!

Jesus’ Designation, Domain and Dominion

But to which of the angels has He ever said, “Sit at My right hand, Until I make Thine enemies A footstool for Thy feet”? Hebrews 1:13 (NAS)

How appropriate that today, Resurrection Lord’s Day 2010, the next Old Testament citation by the inspired writer of the book of Hebrews to help clinch Christ’s superiority to the angels is from one of the most often quoted and/or alluded to passages from the Old Testament, Psalm 110:1. Here is the verse’s complete rendering as contained in the Old Testament: ‘The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet.” ’ (NASB)

Thou Art The Same

And, “Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands; They will perish, but Thou remainest; and they all will become old as a garment, and as a mantle Thou wilt roll them up; as a garment they will also be changed. but Thou art the same, and Thy years will not come to an end.” Hebrews 1:10-12

The inspired writer of the Hebrew letter, continuing to build his case of the superiority of Christ Jesus to the angels, quotes from the Septuagint translation of Psalm 102, verses 25-27. The NASB translation of these verses reads: “Of old Thou didst found the earth; And the heavens are the work of Thy hands. Even they will perish, but Thou dost endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing Thou wilt change them, and they will be changed. But Thou art the same, And Thy years will not come to an end.”

God Hath Anointed Thee Above Thy Companions

But of the Son He says, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.”Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee With the oil of gladness above Thy companions.”   Hebrews 1:8-9

The purpose of the book of Hebrews is to help the reader understand the things seen with the physical eye are temporal, the things seen with the eyes of the spirit, those are the eternal. To the logical mind then, the eternal things bear more weight and value than the temporal. Thus the superiority of Christ, and likewise, the church and the New Covenant, compared to angels, Moses, physical Israel, and the Old Covenant Law.