Jesus, Greater than Moses

¹And so, dear brothers and sisters, you are now made holy, and each of you is invited to the feast of your heavenly calling. So fasten your thoughts fully onto Jesus, whom we embrace as our Apostle and King-Priest.[#3:1 Or “sharers of the feast.”; #3:1 Or “you participate as partners in the heavenly calling.” The Greek phrase, “heavenly calling” implies an invitation to a celestial feast. It could also be translated “you are called to share the life of heaven.” This calling originates in heaven and draws us into heaven. However, in the Aramaic this phrase can be translated “called with a calling [from heaven],” which is the Aramaic title of the third book of the Torah, Leviticus, and refers to the calling of the Levites as priests.; #3:1 Or “you have discovered this Jesus.” The Aramaic can be translated “Jesus, the Messiah.”; #3:1 Or “with whom is our legally binding agreement.”; #3:1 God joins the apostolic and priestly ministries together in Christ. An apostle will always release God’s people into their priestly calling of entering into the holy of holies without going through a system, a church or a person. The word “King-Priest” is from the Aramaic, which uses a word for a priest not of the Levitical order. Jesus could not be a “High Priest” for he was not born in the tribe of Levi, or a descendant of Aaron, but was of the tribe of Judah. So the word here for priest is not cohen , but the Aramaic word kumrea , the word used for Jethro and Melchizedek. See Gen. 14:18; Ex. 2:16; 3:1; 18:1.]

²For he was faithful to the Father who appointed him, in the same way that Moses was a model of faithfulness in what was entrusted to him.[#3:2 Or “who was faithful in all his house.” See Num. 12:7.]

³But Jesus is worthy to receive a much greater glory than Moses, for the one who builds a house deserves to be honored more than the house he builds.

⁴Every house is built by someone, but God is the Designer and Builder of all things.

⁵Indeed, Moses served God faithfully in all he gave him to do. His work prophetically illustrates things that would later be spoken and fulfilled.[#3:5 Or “in all God’s house.”; #3:5 Or “to testify.” The Aramaic can be translated “he believed all the evidence in the house” (or “tabernacle”). That is, Moses saw and believed that the tabernacle and all its furnishings were an illustration of something greater that God would unveil later on.; #3:5 Or “to give testimony to things that would be spoken.”]

⁶But Christ is more than a Servant, he was faithful as the Son in charge of God’s house. And now we are part of his house if we continue courageously to hold firmly to our bold confidence and our victorious hope.[#3:6 As translated from the Aramaic. The Greek is “the pride [rejoicing] of our hope.”]

Secrets from Psalm 95

⁷This is why the Holy Spirit says,[#3:7 See Ps. 95:7–11. Notice the truth that the Bible is the Holy Spirit of God speaking to us.]

“If only you would listen to his voice this day!

⁸Don’t make him angry by hardening your hearts,[#3:8 As translated from the Aramaic.]

like your ancestors did during the days of their rebellion,

when they were tested in the wilderness.

⁹There your fathers tested me and tried my patience[#3:9 This refers to incidents that took place at Massah [testing] and Meribah [strife]. See Ex. 17:7; Num. 20:13. The Septuagint, instead of transliterating those names, translates their meanings and includes them here in the text. A Hebrew reader would have no difficulty in understanding the obvious inference of the rebellion that took place in the desert.]

even though they saw my miracles for forty years

they still doubted me !

¹⁰This ignited my anger with that generation

and I said about them, ‘They wander in their hearts

just like they do with their feet,

and they refuse to learn my ways.’

¹¹My heart grieved over them so I decreed:[#3:11 The Greek word orge is used for any emotion of extreme passion, usually anger.]

‘They will not enter into my rest!’ ”

¹²So search your hearts every day, my brothers and sisters, and make sure that none of you has evil or unbelief hiding within you. For it will lead you astray, and make you unresponsive to the living God.[#3:12 As translated from the Aramaic. The Greek is “Take care.”; #3:12 Or “rebel against.”]

¹³This is the time to encourage each other to never be stubborn or hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.[#3:13 Or “warn.”; #3:13 The Aramaic can be translated “the sin of the deceiver.” The deceiver could be referring to the devil, or to our own ability to be self-deceived.]

¹⁴For we are mingled with the Messiah, if we will continue unshaken in this confident assurance from the beginning until the end.[#3:14 Or “We are all business partners of Christ.” The Aramaic can be translated “We are all sewn [together] with Christ.”; #3:14 The Aramaic can be translated “we are joined [leavened] in the resurrection through him.”]

¹⁵For again, the Scriptures say,[#3:15 See Ps. 95:7–8.]

If only today you would listen to his voice.

Don’t make him angry by hardening your hearts,

as you did in the wilderness rebellion.

¹⁶The same people who were delivered from bondage and brought out of Egypt by Moses, were the ones who heard and still rebelled.

¹⁷They grieved God for forty years by sinning in their unbelief, until they dropped dead in the desert.[#3:17 See Num. 14:33–34.]

¹⁸So God swore an oath that they would never enter into his calming place of rest all because they disobeyed him.

¹⁹It is clear that they could not enter into their inheritance because they wrapped their hearts in unbelief.