Frameworks:
Hebrews 3 & 4
(The
objective of these ‘Frameworks' is to provide an easy-to-read
layout of the text in order then to use these individual verses
for verse-by-verse study or meditation. To focus each
verse we have also added in italic a simple comment of what is
happening)
GO
TO Ch.4
FRAMEWORKS:
Hebrews
3: Gospel greater than Law
v.1-6
Jesus Greater Than Moses
v.7-14
Beware Hard-hearted Unbelief
v.15-19
Remember the Example of Israel
v.1-6
Jesus Greater Than Moses
v.1
(focus on Jesus)
Therefore, holy brothers and sisters,
who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus,
whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.
v.2
(he, like Moses,
was faithful to his task) He
was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful
in all God's house.
v.3-5
(but Jesus has
more honour than Moses) Jesus
has been found worthy of greater honour than Moses, just as the
builder of a house has greater honour than the house itself. For
every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.
“Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house,” [Num
12:7] bearing witness to what
would be spoken by God in the future.
v.6
(Jesus was faithful
in bringing us to God) But Christ
is faithful as the Son over God's house. And we are his house,
if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which
we glory.
v.7-14
Beware Hard-hearted Unbelief
v.7-9
(so don't follow
Israel's example of unbelief) So,
as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not
harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during
the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested
and tried me, though
for forty years they saw what I did.
v.10
(… who were
chided by God) That is why I
was angry with that generation;
I
said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and
they have not known my ways.'
v.11
(so God promised
they would not enter His rest) So
I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They
shall never enter my rest.' ” [Psa
95:7-11]
v.12
(beware having
an unbelieving heart) See to
it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving
heart that turns away from the living God.
v.13
(but exhort
& encourage one another continually) But
encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,”
so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
v.14
(our sharing
in Christ is only meaningful if we hold to the end) We
have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction
firmly to the very end.
v.15-19
Remember the Example of Israel
v.15-17
Israel's disobedience meant they didn't enter the Land (the rest)
v.15
(the warning
against hard-heartedness is clear) As
has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice,
do
not harden your hearts
as
you did in the rebellion.” [Psa
95:7,8]
v.16
(and these were
the ones who knew miraculous deliverance from Egypt) Who
were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses
led out of Egypt?
v.17
(and yet that
generation died in the wilderness) And
with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those
who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?
v.18,19
So disobedience prevents us receiving his rest
v.18
(so it was to
them that God forbade their entry) And
to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if
not to those who disobeyed?
v.19
(the lesson
is very clear: disobedience = non-entry) So
we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
[Comment:
The Flow of Writing: Our focus as New Testament believers
is to be Jesus, not Moses because, as great a shepherd as Moses
was, he was still only a servant in God's dealings with Israel
while Jesus, the Son of God, is over all. References to Israel
remind us that the nation miraculously delivered out of Egypt,
failed to follow through and so allowed their unbelief to disqualify
them from entering the Land. With that warning in mind, in the
next chapter the writer equates entering the Promised Land with
entering a place of rest. When God ‘rested' on the seventh day,
it was because He had completed the work of creation and there
was nothing more to do. Similarly IF (original, older generation)
Israel had entered the Land, there was just a life of taking fuller
occupation of it. For us, entering into our salvation means there
is nothing more we can do; we can't make ourselves more saved,
more holy, more children of God. The work has been completed by
Christ.]
FRAMEWORKS:
Hebrews
4: Sabbath Rest
v.1-13
A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God
v.14-16
So let's come to God through Jesus the Great High Priest
v.1-13
A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God
v.1
(the promise
still stands but we could fail to receive it) Therefore,
since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be
careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.
v.2
v.2
(the gospel
has come to us but they failed to inherit their good news; what
a warning) For we also have
had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the
message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not
share the faith of those who obeyed.
v.3
(believers enter
that ‘rest' but unbelievers won't) Now
we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So
I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They
shall never enter my rest.'” [Psa
95:11] And yet his works have
been finished since the creation of the world.
v.4
(God's example
– He rested on the 7th day) For
somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words:
“On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” [Gen.
2:2]
v.5
(yet the warning
is still there) And again in
the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”
v.6
(so not everyone
enters His rest, hearing the gospel is not enough, obedience is
essential) Therefore since it
still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who
formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because
of their disobedience,
v.7
(it still remains
available but so too does the warning ) God
again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when
a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already
quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice,
do
not harden your hearts.” [Psa
95:7,8]
v.8
(Joshua taking
the Land was only for them, there was ‘another day' of rest spoken
of by David) For if Joshua had
given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another
day.
v.9,10
(it's a rest
still offered to all, to enter into the rest from ‘work' that
Gpd offers) There remains, then,
a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's
rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.
v.11
(so let's do
all we can to enter it) Let
us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no
one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
v.12
(let God's word
have its effect) For the word
of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword,
it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow;
it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
v.13
(every one and
every thing is visible to God- He knows the truth!) Nothing
in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered
and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
v.14-16
So let's come to God through Jesus the Great High Priest
v.14
(remember Jesus
our high priest is on heaven on our behalf ) Therefore,
since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
v.15
(he understands
us, was our example of one tempted but not falling ) For
we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our
weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way,
just as we are—yet he did not sin.
v.16
(so have confidence)
Let us then approach God's throne
of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find
grace to help us in our time of need.
[Comment:
The Flow of Writing: As we indicated previously, the
writer equates entering the Promised Land with entering a place
of rest. When God ‘rested' on the seventh day, it was because
He had completed the work of creation and there was nothing more
to do. Similarly IF (original, older generation) Israel had entered
the Land, there was just a life of taking fuller occupation of
it. For us, entering into our salvation means there is nothing
more we can do; we can't make ourselves more saved, more holy,
more children of God. The work has been completed by Christ. We
now just rest in who we are. This has been achieved by Jesus who
acted as a high priest on our behalf – the writer will work this
out in more detail in the chapters to come. For the moment, the
writer simply points out that Jesus coming in human form meant
he experienced what we experience but triumphed
in it.]
(CONTINUE
to CHAPTER 5)