Глава III

An exhortation to faith in Christ as greater than Moses (1–6). A warning against disbelief in the words of the Psalm and the lessons of the past (7-19). Hebrews 3:1. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus Christ, “Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling” (cf. above Heb. 2:11; Rom. 8:29, 30). - “Our confession,” that is, faith (1 Tim. 6:12,13). – “A messenger, an apostle of our faith, sent from God the Father” – (cf. John 17:3, 8, 18, 20:21; Gal.4:4, etc.). If, on the part of God, Christ was a messenger to people, bringing the grace and truth of God to people, then on the part of people, He was a high priest, a constant intercessor before God for humanity. Thus, He combined in himself two titles that in the Old Testament were divided between Moses and Aaron. Hebrews 3:2. Who is faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses was in all His house. Wed. Numbers 12:7. - “In all His house,” the house of God, in the Old Testament church. Moses was a faithful servant of the Lord not over only part of His house, fulfilling a separate assignment in his kingdom, like Samuel, Elijah and other prophets, but he was entrusted with the management of the entire house; this is his similarity to Christ. Hebrews 3:3. For He is worthy of greater glory before Moses, in proportion as he who built it has more honor than the house, The word house here means not only the building, but also all its furnishings, for example its servants. Therefore, the Greek text designates the “dispensation” of this house with the word κατασκευάσας, and not οικοδομήσας. Hence the idea of ​​the verse is as follows; Moses, as a servant, belonged to the Old Testament house: the founder of the Old Testament house-building was Christ. But just as the founder of a dispensation is superior to the one who belongs to that dispensation, so Christ is superior to Moses. Hebrews 3:4. for every house is built by someone; and the one who arranged everything is God. Usually the Old Testament Church was called the house of Jehovah. Therefore, having given it a new name in Hebrews 3:4 as the house of Christ, the apostle explains the correctness of this name as well. The meaning of this explanation is this: every household has a founder and builder - a person, although God, the Creator of everything, must be recognized as the original creator of every house. So it is in relation to the House of Israel or the Church of the Old Testament: of course, God is its first author, but this does not exclude that Christ could be recognized as its builder (κατασκευάσας), because He, as the Son of God, as the eternal Word, is the One by whom all things were created, therefore, the Old Testament Church. With this understanding, “creator” will be the predicate, and “God” will be the subject. Another interpretation, recognizing as the subject “the creator of all things” (about δέ πάντα κατασκευασας) and meaning Christ by this, “God” is recognized as the predicate, as a result of which the meaning of the entire phrase is as follows: “the one who created everything, namely Christ, is God (hence, incomparably higher than Moses).” Hebrews 3:5. And Moses was faithful in all His house, as a minister, to testify to what was to be declared; The superiority of Christ over Moses continues to be clarified. Moses, according to Numbers 12:7, is a servant; Christ is the Son. Moses is in (εν) the house, therefore, as a part, belongs to the house; Christ is above (ενί) the house, therefore, he is the head of the house that belongs to Him as the Son. - “To testify to what was to be announced...” - a designation of what Moses’ official activity consisted of; here of course it is precisely the proclamation of the Divine Law and the prophetic predictions of Moses. Hebrews 3:6. and Christ is like a Son in His house; But we are His house, if only we hold fast the boldness and hope in which we boast. “And Christ is like a Son in His house,” that is, faithful. - “In His house...” έπι τόν οίκον αυτοϋ. Επί – above – in contrast to έν – see Hebrews 3:5. The Apostle Paul often calls the Christian Church “the house of God” (cf. 1 Tim 3:15; 1 Cor 3:9, 16). Here he calls it the house of Christ, because Christ dwells in the hearts of those who believe in Him (cf. Eph 2:20, 22, 3:17; Rev 3:20) and constitutes the foundation of the entire building of the Church. - “Boldness” - πχρρησία - confidence given by Christian hope in Christ. - “The hope in which we boast...” τό καύχημα της έλπίδος - glory. more precisely, “the praise of hope”—the outward joy of Christian hope (cf. 2 Cor. 5:12). - “To the end” - that is, to the goal (μέχρι τέλους), - until faith turns into vision and hope into possession. Hebrews 3:7. Why, as the Holy Spirit says, now, when you hear His voice, “Why” is a connecting particle with a further exhorting call - see (Heb. 3:12). The remaining words of Hebrews 3:7–11 form a kind of introductory sentence, justifying the need for the exhortation being made. – “As the Holy Spirit says” – as the main Author of Scripture, which has significance for all times (Heb. 4:12). The quotation is borrowed from Ps.94:7-11, having undergone some modification, namely: in the psalm we read: “Oh, that you would now hear His voice: you will not harden...”, etc. Thus, in the psalm the words “do not harden,” etc. are given as the words of the voice of God, which must be obeyed. In the apostle, the words “do not harden,” apparently, are given only as an admonishing saying of the Psalmist to obedience to other words of God, with Heb. 3:9 reproduced directly from the Person of God. What other words these are is shown by the addition now, interpreted as applying the New Testament revelation to the present time (cf. Heb. 3:15 and Heb. 4:7). However, it seems that the apostle does not take away from the expression “do not harden” the meaning of the words of God, if we separate this expression from the previous one not with a comma, but with two dots, reading like this: “now, when you hear His voice: do not harden... etc. Be careful lest... you fall away” (Heb. 3:12), etc.). Hebrews 3:8. do not harden your hearts, as in the time of murmuring, in the day of temptation in the wilderness, This refers to the story told in Exodus 17:1–7. Hebrews 3:9. where your fathers tempted Me, tested Me, and saw My works for forty years. “To tempt” God – πείραζαν – to show daring confidence, calling on God’s power and goodness for a miracle when things could have been done without it. – “To test – δοκιμάζει ν – to show distrust and demand confirmation for faith when such is quite sufficient for it. Both are based on a lack of living faith - not guilt on the part of God, but because of man’s bitterness, which is why he is punished: “They saw My works, that is, punishing Divine actions, for forty years...” Hebrews 3:10. Therefore I was indignant at this generation and said: they continually err in heart, they have not known My ways; "My Ways". The ways of God in Holy Scripture are spoken of in two ways: or these are the ways in which God Himself walks, that is, the works of the greatness, truth and goodness of God (Ps 24:10). Or these are the paths along which He leads people. It is in the latter sense that they are mentioned in this case. Hebrews 3:11. therefore I have sworn in My wrath that they should not enter My rest. About the oaths of God (cf. Num. 14:21, etc., Num. 32:10, etc.; Deut. 1:34, etc.). - “My Rest” - calmness and safe possession of the Promised Land, cf. Deut.12:9. In a figurative sense - peace in God, given to us through Christ. Hebrews 3:12. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil and unfaithful heart, lest you depart from the living God. The Apostle exhorts and warns against “unbelief” and the source of unbelief – the “evil heart.” The latter comes first, for an evil heart, corrupted by sin, is the main cause and source of unbelief (cf. Rom 1:21). Unbelief entails, as a further consequence, a complete “falling away from the living God.” The name of God “living” means here, firstly, that His word, previously spoken, never loses its power and is at any time ready to carry out its threats; secondly, the name living makes it clear that falling away from this God is tantamount to death and complete destruction, for outside of God there can be nothing alive and prosperous. Hebrews 3:13. But instruct one another every day, as long as you can say, “Today,” lest any of you become hardened by being deceived by sin. Sin is strong in its seductive pleasantness, and counteracting it will require not only the personal efforts of everyone to be vigilant and careful, but also general unity in the fight against it, which is why it is proposed to “educate” each other, to console (παρακαλείτε εαυτούς), “as long as we can say: now,” i.e., as long as the time of grace continues. Hebrews 3:14. For we have become partakers of Christ, if only we hold fast the life we have begun to the end, “Life begun...” – Greek. τήν αρχήν τής υποστάσεως, glor.: “the firstfruits of the composition,” that is, the beginning of union with Him, the beginning of union, the beginning of His life in us and ours in Him. Hebrews 3:15. until it is said: “Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the time of murmuring.” Hebrews 3:16. For some of those who heard began to murmur; but not all who came out of Egypt were with Moses. Hebrews 3:17. With whom was He indignant for forty years? Is it not on those who sinned, whose bones fell in the wilderness? Hebrews 3:18. Against whom did he swear that they would not enter His rest, if not against the disobedient? Hebrews 3:19. So we see that they could not enter because of unbelief. “As long as it is said…” is a more common definition of the preceding expression “until the end.” However, another interpretation of further verses is possible, one that seems more consistent with the apostle’s thought. It should be noted that “until”, 15 art. according to the Greek text, it has a different expression than “until” Hebrews 3:13: there (in v. 13) we read άχρις ού (glorified “dondezhe”), and here (v. 15) – εν τ, glorified. "every time"). Then - γάρ of the 16th verse is related, apparently, not to the previous one only τίνες, but to this entire series of verses, starting from the 15th; therefore, the apostle’s thought takes on the following connotation: “See to it that... you do not retreat...” (Heb. 3:12), because (γαρ) or: after all, at that time (εν τω) when the above words were spoken (v. 15), some... grumbled (v. 16). However, (even then) not all” Cf. Numbers 14:28–30). - “Whose bones fell” - instead of: who died. The expression reproduces the above passage from the book. Number Having proved from the history of the Jewish people that unbelief caused the death of many in the wilderness and did not allow them to rest in the Promised Land, the apostle in further reasoning (Heb. 4) tries to show that the same fate threatens our unbelief. You might be interested in: