V. 1 – Therefore – because of everything that has been argued so far. This entire book is almost like a legal treatise inspired by the Holy Spirit. Chapter 2-12 all start with words like, therefore, now, or for – it is a consistently building argument.

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Holy brothers – he is calling them by their identity, not necessarily the way they were currently behaving. He called them by their name, not their struggle. This is also a good reminder that the book is written to believers, not a mixed audience.

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Share in a heavenly calling – we partake in this calling with one another, but also with Moses and all of the saints who have gone before us. It is God’s divine call to salvation and sanctification. That is his calling for us. There are a lot of little details along the way, but the baseline calling for every believer is salvation/sanctification.

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Consider Jesus – stop, think about, look clearly – but also to discover or perceive. This is not passive observation. It calls you to compare one against the other. One of the root words for this word (which is katanoeo) is noieo which literally has the idea of to exercise the mind and understand. It is closely associated with knowledge and the further root word of noieo is nous. Nous is tied to the concept of our will. So, this two-word instruction to “consider Jesus” is so complex. With all of your will and mind exercise your intellect and choice and deliberately look at him. See his life in the Word. What are his commands? What does he want from us? This project will take time and it will engage every faculty at our disposal. It is a choice, not something that will happen casually. Every day, we decide what we will consider – what we will give our time and effort to. If we are considering our circumstances, we may not behave as if we have a heavenly calling or like we are saints. Our focus and perspective have a tremendous impact on how we live and behave.

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The apostle and high priest – the messenger/delegate/ambassador and advocate/facilitator/one who provides access to God. It is also important to note that Moses was a prophet and he was an apostle in a sense. However, he was not the high priest. God was very deliberate in restricting his role. He communed directly with God far more often than Aaron did, but he was not the one chosen to make atonement. Jesus fulfilled all of these roles. He fulfilled all of those Old Testament archetypes, prophet, priest, king, deliverer, etc.

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Of our confession (or profession) – our belief/calling/doctrine

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V. 2 – Faithful – to the Father – notice that he was faithful to a person and that is also how we will be faithful. It is about a relationship to a person we love, not a legal requirement we need to drum up the desire for. This word for faithful also has the idea of being trustworthy. He has done what he was called to do/appointed to so he has proved that he can be trusted/believed. It is also important to note that this statement "was faithful," in the Greek has the idea of continuous action. He continues to be faithful. It is not a onetime action.

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Moses – there is arguably no one who was closer to God. He walked with God, communicated with God consistently and stayed in God’s presence as often as possible. The author has talked about why Jesus is better than the angels and now he is going to tackle the man that Israel probably revered more than any other. Moses and Abraham were at the top of the list. However, Moses was a deliverer. He led Israel out of slavery, just as Jesus led us out of spiritual bondage. Spiritually, it would be difficult to pinpoint someone who loomed larger.

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Notice, Moses was faithful in the house. This is a picture of a steward who was caring for someone else’s home. This word, house is going to come up a lot over the next several verses. It has the idea of a household/family structure/place of dwelling. It can even carry the idea of a temple. Now, we know that Moses did sin and ultimately, didn’t actually go into the promised land. However, the author of Hebrews takes what we might think of as relatively generous perspective on the Old Testament believers (thankfully God makes those determinations not us). Lot is mentioned as faithful in chapter 11 even though he clearly struggled with his life choices. Still, in terms of Israel’s perspective on Moses, he was faithful. In terms of his stewardship of Israel to God, he was faithful.

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V. 3-4 – Jesus has been counted worthy – he has been considered/evaluated as more deserving of more glory. Moses’ face would glow after he left the tabernacle, but it glowed because he had been in the presence of God. The author had to want to knock his head against the wall with these Hebrew believers. They had the one who was the source of whatever glory Moses had. Yet, religious tradition valued Moses as better than Jesus because those religious figures did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Moses was not meant to receive glory. Just like the angels, his glory/reputation was derived based on the eternal and unlimited source of power.

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The builder has more glory than the house. Now, this is an interesting statement because we can all name buildings that are incredibly famous – the Statue of Liberty, the Chrysler Tower, Buckingham palace, Biltmore, etc. You probably can’t name most of the architects of those buildings. However, no one looks at them and says what a nice building to have spontaneously assembled itself – it must have happened by accident. No, those people who go up to the top of those really tall buildings are trusting that the architect did their due diligence and that it won’t collapse on them. We look at the structures and appreciate the mind that created them. This is the idea of distinguishing the idea of the created vs. creator. We can admire what is created, but we still operate with the understanding that the mind of the creator deserves more glory/honor since the design that we marvel at came from them. Just as the architect is honored, so God is worthy of the most honor because he is the architect of even the minds of the builders. He promised that he would build his church (Matt. 16:18). He is not taking consultations or needing extra help. He established Israel as his chosen possession/people and then he established his church as a living household of faith.

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V. 5 – Moses was faithful in God’s house – this is a quote from Numbers 12:7. This is really interesting because it is the section where Aaron and Miriam oppose Moses’ leadership and God comes to Moses’ defense. He says that unlike the prophets that I speak to in a vision, I talk to Moses mouth to mouth, face to face – he saw God. God rebuked them for questioning his choice of a leader and yet Jesus was greater than Moses. Again, note that it says he was faithful in God’s house as a servant or a steward. It is important to note that this is not the word for bondservant – this is not "doulos." This is the word "therapon." It has the idea of a steward or cherished servant. This was a person who was devoted to the interests of their master/employer. The most notable steward in Scripture was probably Eliezer who was Abraham’s steward. Jesus addressed the role several times in parables. The servant's responsibility was to take the master’s property, money, and interests and multiply them or safeguard them. It was a more advanced role on some levels. Sometimes the steward was actually a distant family member. They could be a bondservant but could also just be someone who served in the interests of the family. They prospered if the master prospered.

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However, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and definitely doesn’t need money. So, what was Moses stewarding? He was stewarding God's people and the testimony of what God imparted to him. You would be hard pressed to find someone that God talked to more. You think about the first several books of Scripture. So many are based on revelation/commands given to Moses. He had to be faithful to steward this truth so that it would be imparted correctly to those who came after him. What would have happened if he messed up the instructions for the Tabernacle or forgot which animal needed to be sacrificed for the sin offering? He was faithful to admonish and proclaim the truth he received. Just as Moses was called to an enormous, almost overwhelming stewardship, we have been called to stewardship as well. The people and things entrusted to us – especially the people.

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V. 6 – But Christ – that is always a moment worth pausing over. This thing that came before was awesome…but Christ – nothing beats him or is superior to him. He is not faithful in the house – he is faithful over the house. He is not running the house for someone else; he is running the whole operation. He is supervising, founding, preparing – he is the builder.  He is the heir. It all belongs to him. Now, it is really important to understand that the idea of a son carried very specific connotations for Israel. Land rights/inheritance rights were as close to inviolable in Israel as you can get. Now, occasionally, a father might decide to let a younger son inherit the primary inheritance normally reserved for the oldest child, but simply disinheriting a child was incredibly rare because it was tied to the land which had been allocated by Joshua. It couldn’t go to just any random person. Jesus is the only Son and therefore the only heir. He is also the firstborn which means he got the blessing and the double portion.

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We are his house – we are his family – his creation if we are baptized by his blood into salvation. It is important to read this in context. He has built the house. He has founded his church/people. We did nothing to contribute to building the house or to redemption, as we discussed last week. That is true apart from anything we do.

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The second half of this verse seems a little strange/complicated at first so let’s dissect it.

Hold fast our confidence – the idea of demonstrating our faith and outspoken boldness. We did nothing to be placed into his family and we can do nothing to be removed. This word “if” has been a source of discussion over the last couple of days. I asked my Dad (a pastor as many of you know) for his opinion and he talked to my Uncle (who teaches Greek) since I was having a really difficult time with the Greek tense here. When I was doing the research, it kept telling me that the “if” was uncertain. That wasn't helpful. None of the commentaries or concordances I read gave me an answer that I was satisfied with. So…the official explanation is that this “if” is in the aorist second subjunctive tense. Basically, the simple answer is that it is a way to say it is dependent on what comes before and based on a past action. So, you were placed into the house, and based on that truth, we will hold fast. We will demonstrate the truth of our identity by remaining faithful. Just as Moses was faithful in trials – when his own family turned against him (which is what many of these people were facing and so appropriate an example) – he was faithful. He wasn’t trying to defend himself. He let God speak for him. He let God deliver him.

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This is also leaving a question mark for these believers. If you are not holding fast, if you are not being faithful, are you in his house? Have you truly been redeemed? The uncertainty was actually in some measure on the author’s part. He was waiting, as were other believers facing intense persecution (i.e., Rome) to see if the mother church would stand firm. Can you imagine how much Satan wanted these people to fail - how much he didn’t want them to rejoice and remain faithful? The church that had sent out and commissioned all of the missionaries. The church that had hosted the Jerusalem Council. The church that had the founding apostles as teachers…they were thinking about walking away.

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Boasting in our hope – Instead of being unfaithful, rejoice – boast in the hope that is assured. Because who is our hope? He has a name. We are not boasting in anything we can do, we boast and rejoice in Christ’s finished work on the cross. That is how we know this isn’t a conditional promise – or a threat that we will lose our salvation. Rather, his work is finished and that is where our confidence comes from. It is intimidating sometimes to boast/proclaim loudly our confidence. However, we have been delivered/rescued. We have been translated to the kingdom of his dear Son.

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Firm to the end (depending on which translation you read this statement is not always included) – This is not actually tied to the idea of death, but actually from until it comes to pass – to fruition. Until faith becomes sight – be confident and bold. This is not the idea of holding on until we die and hoping it is enough. It is about rejoicing and an abundant life while we are here. If we are in Christ – then we will be faithful. This doesn’t mean we don’t stumble. Moses faltered, he struggled at times. However, his life testimony as a whole was one of faithfulness and rejoicing/trusting that God would be his defender. He would be the deliverer because Moses could not do it on his own – I can’t talk God…I’m not eloquent…they won’t listen…but I AM has sent us. I AM has indwelt us and I AM is the one who will keep us secure until we see him face to face.