THE HIGH PRIEST in Israel, and to the Jew, was a most important person. He was the ruler of all religious services and doings. He had more authority in the religious life of the people than did the king; for even the king and ruler must heed the admonition of the high priest. It was on this basis that Paul began to present Jesus to the Hebrew people.
Hebrews 2:17,
informs us that Jesus was “made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful
and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God.” Paul
used a very tactful approach. He called them the Hebrew
Christians “holy brethren.” As he had done before, again he
was identifying
himself
with them. Paul was accepting them as
being with him. This
was a close fellowship. Paul told them
they were “partakers of the
heavenly calling.” Here we
have reference to a
particular phase of the lives of the
Hebrews with which they were
acquainted, the calling from the God of heaven of many of their former patriarchs.
After showing that God was now speaking through His son Jesus, and that Jesus had tasted “death
for every man,” Paul was presenting Jesus as the Apostle and High Priest of our profession. Apostle means “one sent.” Here was the one sent who had also become the High Priest. Paul approached the holy brethren in a persuasive manner by using the word “consider.” By this approach the Hebrews could use their own understanding to compare the happenings of
the past to their own time. They could sec the words of the
prophets being unfolded
before their eyes.
This “High Priest of our profession,” whom Paul said was Jesus,
was “faithful to him that appointed him” (vs. 2).
There was no doubt in this fact. Anyone who knew the life of Jesus from his birth to his crucifixion and resurrection could testify that he had kept every commandment and word of the prophets. He had obeyed the word of His Father, Yehovah - God, in every detail. Whether or not the Hebrews had any doubts as to
the
identity of Jesus, they could not argue against his life of faithfulness.
To show the importance of the matter of faith, Paul brought in another important figure of
Israel, Moses. Moses had been known as a faithful man both to
God and to his people, but Moses was never a high priest. Yet, Jesus was “counted worthy of more glory than Moses. Moses as a
servant
was “faithful in all his house. But the Messiah as a son over his own house; whose house are we” was the one to be honoured and accepted.
Further to emphasize the prominence of Jesus in the plan of Yehovah - God, Paul stated, “He that
built all
things is God” (vs. 14). Keep
in mind that Paul was convincing a people
who had known Yehovah - God for centuries. They needed no proof of God or of His greatness or that He was their God. So, time after time in this treatise on Jesus, the new and living way, Paul affirms that God is the
Supervisor.
We need to consider the importance o: the phrase “whose house
are we.” This was pointed directly to the Hebrew believers. They could not claim any family
inheritance in Aaronic priesthood or
in the tribe of the Levites.
It is possible that a small percentage
of them might have been of either family. Now each and every one who claimed Jesus as the High Priest of our profession could be counted in the house
of Jesus. In
Ephesians
2:19. Paul refers to this family:
believers, followers, the “body of
the Messiah;” as the “household of God."
Verses 7 through 11 are quoted from Psalm 95:7-11. The word
“rest” represents the promises of God. One great promise is the establishing or the Kingdom
which there will
be
no sorrow or sadness, no crying or
death. This would be a “rest" from the troubles of this
life. The Hebrews had such a hope and it was expressed by the apostles when they asked Jesus this question. “Lord, will you at
this time restore again the
kingdom to Israel?” (Acts
1:6). The direct application of this
quotation from Psalm 95 at this time
was to remind the Hebrew brethren of the time when their forefathers
had died in the wilderness and had not entered the
land of promise. (See Numbers 14:22-24.)
To further convince them of their lack of faith, Paul wrote, “Take
heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an
evil heart of unbelief, in
departing from the living God”
(v. 12). Again, he pointed
out that all could be “partakers
of Christ, if we hold the
beginning of our confidence
steadfast unto the end” (vs.14).
It was necessary that Paul bring to memory the
incident of the unbelieving
Israelites who died in the wilderness, that these
to whom he was writing might compare themselves.
It was unbelief that brought death upon thousands of Israelites who, according to Paul, had been “baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor. 10:2). The confidence steadfast unto the end” (vs. 14). It was necessary that Paul bring to memory the
incident
of the unbelieving Israelites who died in the wilderness, that these to whom he was
writing might compare themselves. It
I was unbelief that brought death upon thousands of Israelites who,
according to Paul, had been “baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea” [Corinthians10:2]. The Israelites had been brought out of
sin (Egypt) and had
been cleansed by the Lord
God through this process of baptism
“in the cloud and in the sea,” but this did not
guarantee
eternal inheritance! This was the persuasion of Paul in revealing to the Hebrew Christians that
they, too, were following
their forefathers’ footsteps if they refused the
Apostle
and High Priest Jesus.
The problem of unbelief is still major in our religion. We have many who have been baptized in the
name of Jesus and
have
been cleansed by the Lord God through the
sacrifice of Jesus. Yet they fail to
continue to be faithful. God is no different in our generation than He was in that of Joshua. Each person will be rewarded according to that
which he has done.
Written by Francis E. Burnett and edited and
added to by Bruce Lyon
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