Hebrews 2:10--4:16
2:10 For it was fitting for him, for whom and through whom all things exist,
in bringing many sons to glory, to make the pioneer
of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
2:11 For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy all have the same origin,
and so
he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,
2:12 saying, “
I will proclaim your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.”
2:13 Again he says,
“I will be confident in him,” and again, “
Here I am, with the children God has given me.”
2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in
their humanity,
so that through death he could destroy
the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil),
2:15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.
2:16 For surely his concern is not for angels, but he is concerned for Abraham’s descendants.
2:17 Therefore he had
to be made like his brothers and sisters
in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement
for the sins of the people.
2:18 For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
Jesus and Moses
3:1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess,
3:2 who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God’s house.
3:3 For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself!
3:4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
3:5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken.
3:6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. We are of his house, if in fact we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope we take pride in.
Exposition of Psalm 95: Hearing God’s Word in Faith
3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks!
3:8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.
3:9 “There your fathers tested me and tried me, and they saw my works for forty years.
3:10 “Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering and they have not known my ways.’
3:11 “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’”
3:12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes the living God.
3:13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception.
3:14 For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence firm until the end.
3:15 As it says, “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
3:16 For which ones heard and rebelled? Was it not all who came out of Egypt under Moses’ leadership?
3:17 And against whom was God provoked for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness?
3:18 And to whom did he swear they would never enter into his rest, except those who were disobedient?
3:19 So we see that they could not enter because of unbelief.
God’s Promised Rest
4:1 Therefore we must be wary that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.
4:2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in with those who heard it in faith.
4:3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” And yet God’s works were accomplished from the foundation of the world.
4:4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,”
4:5 but to repeat the text cited earlier: “They will never enter my rest!”
4:6 Therefore it remains for some to enter it, yet those to whom it was previously proclaimed did not enter because of disobedience.
4:7 So God again ordains a certain day, “Today,” speaking through David after so long a time, as in the words quoted before, “O, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts.”
4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken afterward about another day.
4:9 Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God.
4:10 For the one who enters God’s rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works.
4:11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.
4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart.
4:13 And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.
Jesus Our Compassionate High Priest
4:14 Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.
4:15 For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin.
4:16 Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.