God, were faithful to their calling, were deliverers of their people, established covenants, were suffering servants, and had face-to-face dealings with God, the ministry of Jesus was superior because he is Son, while Moses was but a servant within the household of God. The confession of the church centers in Jesus, who is God’s superior messenger (“apostle”) and the perfect representative of the needy people (“high priest”). In both instances of service, Jesus acts on behalf of others. Thus, however great others have been in their service for God, Jesus is worthy of greater honor. Problems abound when Jesus is not properly “considered,” when his personhood and ministry are not kept in proper focus. As Son, Jesus presides over the “house[hold] of God” (3:5–6). The belonging is conditional: it happens through faith and steady “confidence and pride in our hope.” A right pride in belonging stimulates faithfulness to the family name and leadership.
2. Exhortation Based on the Contrast (3:7–19)
3:7–19 The second warning section of the letter begins at 3:7–4:2. This section recalls Israel’s failure in the wilderness, and the sad consequences of that failure by a people called by God to live as his nation.
The writer quotes Psalm 95:7–11 as he reported God’s displeasure with the generation that provoked him by its waywardness and sin. It was a generation that lacked a listening ear for God’s word. That generation was united in a shared sin, and its members fell in a shared fate. God let them succeed at sinning, but the gains were fleshly and destructive. The gains of sin are always deadly, making the disobedient losers. God had offered them “rest,” but their sinning blocked the benefits of the offer.
3. The “Rest of God” Explained (4:1–10)
4:1–10 The privilege God offered the earlier generation still remains open. The promise God originally made still holds: one can “enter God’s rest.” Our period of time does not make us “come short” (Gk. husterekenai, “arrive too late”) of it because the promise about “rest” involved something more than settling peacefully in the geographical spot called Canaan. The “good news” about rest involves more than a promised land; it involves a promised life in the will of God. The levels of fulfillment in the promise begin to be experienced when the promise meets with “faith in [on the part of] the hearer.” Israel first heard the promise, which included cessation of warfare after victory over the enemies blocking their entrance into Canaan, but that generation did not even enter Canaan “because of unbelief” (3:19). God was not obligated to bless those who resisted his terms, but neither was he so displeased that he withdrew the offer of rest. A future realization was implied in the promise, and at the highest level of fulfillment. Possessing Canaan was not all that God had in mind for ancient Israel, and salvation here and now is not all that God has planned for believers now, the writer explains. The people of God will enjoy a coming “Sabbath Rest” at the dawning of “another day” (4:8b), the reference here being to the ultimate life with God.
4. Exhortation to Full Obedience (4:11–13)
4:11–13 “Let us be eagerly diligent (Gk. spoudazo, “concentrate with eager interest to succeed”), therefore, to enter into that rest.”
A full striving will mean staying open toward God in heart and mind, with eagerness to hear his word in order to know and do his will. The reference in 4:12–13 to “the word of God” as a confronting sword no doubt recalls the encounter Joshua experienced with the angelic commander of the Lord’s forces just before his attack upon Jericho (Josh 5:13–15). When Joshua realized that he was confronted by the Lord’s angelic messenger, he fell submissively before him, listening for instructions. The writer here appeals to his readers to take the listening posture before the word of God. Openness to that word keeps one on good terms with God, to whom all are unavoidably accountable.
II. Jesus the Great High Priest (4:14—10:39)
A. The Priesthood of Jesus Introduced (4:14–16)
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