The Book of HebrewsSample

Moses’ Authority: Hebrews 3:1-4:13

In Hebrews 3:1-4:13, he responded to challenges about Moses’ authority. No human being was as greatly honored in Israel as Moses.

Because of the honor given to Moses, we really shouldn’t be surprised by these local Jewish teachings. They challenged the audience of Hebrews to obey all that God had revealed through Moses, but without regard to Christ. As we’ll see in this division, the author of Hebrews honored Moses as well. But even though Moses was God’s faithful servant, Jesus was even greater because he was God’s royal high priest of the last days. 

This portion of the book divides into three main sections, each of which has at least one exhortation to hold Jesus’ authority above the authority of Moses. The first section, in Hebrews 3:1-6, explicitly calls Hebrews’ audience to honor Jesus above Moses. This section points out that Moses built God’s house, the tabernacle. But as God’s royal Son, Jesus rules over God’s house, the church.

Consider Hebrews 3:1-3 where the author exhorted his audience saying: 

Fix your thoughts on Jesus … [who] has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses.

The author insisted that Jesus was faithful to God, like Moses, but Jesus was “worthy of greater honor.” 

Following these verses, in 3:7-19, the author warned his audience to avoid hardness of heart and rebellion like the Israelites who rebelled against Moses. The author supported this exhortation by pointing out that most of those who followed Moses didn’t enter the Promised Land because they rebelled against God. In much the same way, those who follow Christ will share in Christ only if they hold their original conviction firmly to the end. Unbelief kept Israelites out of the Promised Land; unbelief will do the same in Christ.

In Hebrews 4:1-13, the author elaborated on his comparison between following Christ and following Moses. He exhorted his audience to make every effort to enter God’s rest. Using the Old Testament, he explained that entering God’s rest was still in the future. So they should take to heart how God’s word lays everything bare before him. It’s God to whom they must give an account. And they should strive to enter his rest and not imitate Israel in the wilderness.