let's let's ask the Lord for help and to inspire us. Father, we come to you because we have nowhere else to go. Apart from you, we are just sinners, beggars in darkness. And Lord, because you've given us light, we can come to you and find life and even nourishment every time we come to your word, Lord. And we pray that you would do that this morning. and in the service and in the Vesper, Lord, that you would feed your people with heavenly manna and that we would, that we would receive what you have to say to your people. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. So we're gonna read Hebrews 3, one through six, which is our precipe today. Nothing. I like how this passage is like as a book ended and it starts with holy brothers, and then it gives an gives an exhortation to us at the end with the information about Moses and Jesus in the middle. So let's read verse one. Therefore, holy brothers. You who share in a heavenly calling consider Jesus the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses. As much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later. But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting and our hope. Look at this. We're gonna look at Exodus 32. I think it's gonna be our first passage to look at, which won't be hard to find. So what's the big deal about Moses? Moses, Moses, Moses. You Hebrews all wanna reference Moses. Moses said this. Moses gave us the law. What's the big deal? We're gonna take a long look at Moses before we get to the rest of our We're going to look at the role he played in the nation of Israel, which when you say, when you think of nation of Israel, think Jacob, right? Think Jacob, think of the family, think of the continuing. Also, we're going to look at his character displayed as his ministry played out. And then lastly, we're going to compare Moses to Jesus in contrast. So I want to ask you, is Moses a very big deal to you? You're a New Testament Christian, he's Old Testament, you're not of the nation of Israel physically, does he have much in your heart or do you just quickly move by and say, nope, I'm New Testament, I don't need that? Our main idea is consider Jesus by comparing Moses to Jesus so that you might become more confident in Jesus. And so now we're going to look at Moses highlights of his life in history. So. First of all, God's arrangement of Moses' circumstances. And we know that Moses was born in a time when Pharaoh was trying to remove all the children of Israel. They had gotten too strong, and so he ends up in a basket, and Pharaoh's daughter picks him up in a basket, and he plucks him out of death, and he gets raised in Pharaoh's house. And so he begins some training, doesn't he? He begins an education in the house of Pharaoh. and he rises high in that household. And then Moses comes to a point where he chooses his people over the fleeting pleasures of sin referenced in Hebrews 11.25. So he murders an Egyptian, and Pharaoh's after him now, and so he flees to Midian, right? Which is an interesting circumstance, considering what was going to happen in his life later. And so now Moses marries Zipporah, And he probably said, that's it, I'm a shepherd now. I mean, 40 years, really. 40 years in Midian, I guess I'm a shepherd for the rest of my life, right? Because now, he fled when he was 40, and now, you know, the years go on, the years go on, and he's 80 years old before he comes to the burning bush. So this is where he's called to ministry, right? Moses is called and then he's sent by God. By definition, that's how you define apostle, a sent one, right? So he becomes an apostle. And here's Exodus 3.8, I have come down, this is God speaking to Moses, I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So who has come down to deliver them? God has, but Moses is his instrument. And Moses is used mightily. Our passage calls him a servant in the household of God, which there's different ways you could look at servant, and this way is, it's not domestic or a bond servant, but an attendant. So it's a higher honor than a bond servant. So he rescues the people of God from Egypt. He defeats Pharaoh's army. He leads the defeat. God does it. And he's truly endeared to the people. And that's what I'm trying to emphasize is the endearing of Moses to the people of God. Right. He gave the law, they call it the law of Moses, right? When Jesus is confronted by Pharisees, they said the law of Moses says, and they always say the law of Moses, the law of Moses. Everything was going according to plan, right? They rescue, they get through the Red Sea, they head out to the mount and receive the law, and now it's time to cross over and enter the promised land. Probably would have taken a couple of months, right? And that would be going slow. But surprise, idolatry. Moses was doing everything the Lord asks. He's doing the heavy lifting. He's declaring, establishing the law in the community. There's epic battles that take place. He works tirelessly for the Lord. He literally turns his back briefly and the calf shows up. Exodus 32, starting in verse 10, gives a little commentary on this. So after this happens, right? This is Moses' cry. First, I'm going to read verses 10 through 14. Now, Moses says to God, let me alone. Now, wait a minute. God says to Moses, now let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them and I might consume them in order that I may make a great nation of you. But Moses implored the Lord. See, that doesn't even work out, does it? Does that does that really fit God's promise if he were to do this? But Moses implored the Lord, his God, and said, Oh, Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say with evil intent did he bring them out to kill them in the mountains and consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self and said to them, I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as all this land that I have promised, I will give to your offspring and they shall inherit it. And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken. bringing on his people. And so Moses gives us an example how to pray, right? We remind God of his promises. And I ask the question of myself, did God really plan on relenting on his promise, or was he working on Moses' heart in this process? This is who Moses has become. beloved of Israel, the leader, mediator, intercessor, and a man of monumental faithfulness, bringing the law, the tabernacle, and all that went into the establishing of the tabernacle, the accuracy that they brought in the worship. And this tabernacle became Israel's center of worship. And so just think about the love of Moses the people of Israel, the Hebrews, have. And so now they end up in the wilderness ministry. After many acts of distrust and rebellion by the nation, I find it interesting the comparison with our passage that tells us that we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and boasting in our hope. Well, Israel did not hold fast their confidence and their boasting in their hope. and the promise. And so God would declare that the children will go, but they will not. The thing that you feared the most is not going to happen. Your children will be fine, but you won't go. I know that none of this history is new to you, but I just want to set it up that we could look at Moses' character. So 40 years again in the wilderness, 40 years in Midian, 40 years in Egypt, 40 years in Midian. Now we're looking at 40 years in the wilderness. One year for every day the spies were in the land. And so can you imagine Moses' disappointment of his faithfulness? And this is the ministry he has. He has a ministry over the dying of the adults in Israel. Now he's just stuck waiting for them. You want to talk about patience. When the people oppose God, they oppose Moses oftentimes, but sometimes God directly. And so let's look at some of these interesting instances. In Numbers chapter 11, I want to read about four of these. Numbers 11. Verse 10 through 14. Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans. Everyone at the door of his tent and the anger of the Lord blazed hotly and Moses was displeased. Notice I'm pointing this out to show his humanity. Moses said to the Lord, why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth that you should say to me, carry them in your bosom and as a nurse, carry as a nursing child to the land that you swore to give their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give all this people? For they weep before me and say, give us meat that we may eat. I'm not able to carry all this people alone. The burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once. If I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness. And so he was ready to die. It was so difficult, right, dealing with this. So there's this humanity. Now in Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron. Miriam and Aaron, that's why she got the leprosy, spoke against Moses because the Cushite woman whom he had married, because of the Cushite woman, for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also? And the Lord heard it. And now the man, Moses, was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and to Miriam, come out, you three, to the tent of meeting. And the three of them came out and the Lord came down in the pillar of a cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both came forward and he said, Hear my words, if there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make myself known to him in a vision. I speak with him in a dream, not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth clearly and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled. against them and he departed and we know that Miriam ends up with leprosy and What is Moses response? When when they came against him What is his response after Miriam gets leprosy what we hear it in verse 13 of numbers 12? Moses cried to the Lord. Please heal her, please This is his response What kind of man is the Lord making out of Moses that he prays so fervently for someone who spoke against him? Well, now there's a bad report in Numbers 14. I'm gonna read verses one through four. Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night, and all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, would that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would that we had died in this wilderness, why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to one another, let us choose a leader to go back to Egypt. In verse five, Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. So their response then after this challenge was to fall on their faces before the Lord as the people are going against. And then there's this beautiful prayer starting in verse 13. It's like, to me, a model prayer. Moses said to the Lord, and the Egyptians will hear of it for you brought up this people in your might from among them and they will tell the inhabitants of this land and they have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people for you, O Lord, are seen face to face and your cloud stands over them and you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Now, if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say it is because the Lord was not able to bring this people. So he's thinking about the honor of the Lord, isn't he? into the land, and he swore to give them, and that he has killed them in the wilderness. And now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, as you have promised, saying, the Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers of the children and the third and fourth generation. Please pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love Just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt until now One more because core is rebellion and we're looking at Moses reaction to chorus rebellion Number 16 The people of Korah, they're telling Moses, you've gone too far. And it's verse 22. This is Moses' response. And they fell on their faces and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin and you will be angry with all the congregation? Verse 45. Get away from the midst of this congregation, the Lord says, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell on their faces again. And Moses said to Aaron, take your censer and put fire in it and from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them. For the wrath has gone out from the Lord. The plague has begun. Again, in chapter 20, they said, the Lord brought us to die here. They didn't have water, right? In the waters of Meribah. And Moses and Aaron again went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting. Chapter 20, verse 6, and they fell on their faces. And so, Again, this is how Moses is endeared. Not only did he lead them, not only was he so faithful to the Lord, but he cared about them. He cared about the nation of Israel, and he carried them on his shoulders, basically, as he continued to pray and ask the Lord to forgive them, and they moved another step forward. No man is more endeared to the nation than Moses. Even the dividing of the land. Just think, just think that in Jesus day, how long had it been since the law was given and the community was established and this worship system was established for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years continued. He loved Moses, who was faithful in all his house. And I want to read us some definitions of faithful or faithfulness. Keeping faith, maintain allegiance, loyal, committed. marked by or showing a strong sense of duty or responsibility, reliable, exact reproduction, persevering, steadfast, firm, enduring, dependable, trustworthy, unswerving, unwavering. Moses was a faithful servant. Moses was also patient, wasn't he? 40 years, 40 years, 40 years. Accusers always at his heel. He never saw revival. I would suppose the revival would be under Joshua, but waiting 40 years. I love this quote. Fewer things are more telling than a man who is patient. I've just been thinking about that lately, especially as I'm driving. We can really practice patience when we're driving, because there's always somebody knuckleheading in front of us. I saw somebody make a left turn in traffic. They didn't even have a green left turn arrow, and it was really strange to see that, and I was just reminded that people do crazy things. Moses was patient. Moses was weak. Moses was humble. He was all about God's glory and the success of God's people. And I think the reason that Moses could be so patient, and this is really important, is that he rested in the sovereignty of God. He just rested in it. He saw these circumstances and he said, this is of the Lord, this is of the Lord, this is of the Lord. Where does this character come from? Knowing the Lord is in full control and I can trust him. Just think if we really viewed all things through that lens, how content we would be. How old was Moses when he died? 120, he was 120, 40, 40, 40. How does Moses respond to the Lord when he tells him he cannot enter the promised land because he struck the rock? Well, we read that in Numbers 27, verse 16. What did Moses care about when the Lord told him, you don't get to go into the promised land? And he took him up to the top of Mount Pisgah and he showed it to him. And Moses, I'm sure, I'm sure he wept. But what was Moses concerned about? He said, That's what he cared about. He didn't care about legacy. He didn't care about gain. He cared about finishing faithfully, even though it didn't go the way he hoped it would go. So Moses was a very good man, with faults, right? He killed an Egyptian. He didn't circumcise his children right away. He struck the rock when he was told to speak to the rock. But notice how the writer of Hebrews doesn't even mention that. He just says he was faithful in all God's house. So we should greatly admire him and we should seek to emulate his character. If Moses had failed, Israel was ready to go back to Egypt. Now, we believe in the sovereignty of God, and we know Israel was going to Egypt, and there was nothing that was going to stop them. And I read somebody said, if Moses had failed, Israel would have gone back to Egypt. They were ready to go back. But Moses' work was transitory, right? He pointed to a future and higher revelation. He takes us very far, but not to the finish line. You think Moses, you think law. You think law, you think death. 2 Corinthians 3, 7 through 11 gives us a commentary Now, if the ministry of death, it's called, carved in letters of stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all. That dispensation has ended because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will that which is permanent have glory. So do you hear that, you Essenes, you Hebrews waiting for the reestablishment of a righteous worship system? Don't be looking for that. And yeah, with all your culture, it's over. John 117, for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And so the Jews were to concentrate and focus on Jesus being better than Moses. They were to master the mystery, but it really rubbed them culturally, right? Can you imagine a culture of successive generation after generation after generation? Now, let's sweep it away. This is what the New Testament, the gospel is telling you, the new covenant is telling you. Can you even imagine having to process something like that? We have an assignment as well to query whether we have any cultural norms which keep us from seeing that Jesus is greater. So consider Jesus compared to Moses. Our passage calls him an apostle. We're at verse 1 of Hebrews 3. Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus the apostle. What does an apostle do? The apostle represents God to man, right? He brings God's message to man. He is the authorized person to do so. He's the sent one, and this is an official mission. The apostle has the authority and power of the one who sent him. And so Moses was sent by God to deliver from Egyptian bondage and to the foot of the promised inheritance. Jesus is sent by the Father to reveal God to us and redeem our souls. Souls are better than land. There are many passages that talk about Jesus being sent. John 638, I'm gonna choose that. John chapter 10 has a ton of them. But 638 says, for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. So this is Jesus, the apostle. Moses stood before Pharaoh and said, let my people go. Jesus stood before Satan and said, let my people go. If Christ had failed in his mission, we would have no salvation. Jesus is also the high priest. This verse one talks about. And the high priest is the one who represents the people to God. So the apostle represents God to the people, the priest represents the people to God. Moses' law perpetuated the sacrifice which could never atone, Hebrews 10, 4. Jesus brought his own blood into the Holy of Holies once for all. Moses lifted up the serpent which typified Christ. The scapegoat typified Christ. The unblemished lamb typified Christ. Do you know why Jesus stood without giving a defense? You ever think about that? They mocked his kingship with the crown of thorns. They mocked him being a prophet by blindfolding him and say, prophecy, who hit you? They mocked, they mocked, they mocked the very things that he truly was. Jesus was the unblemished scapegoat. But why was he silent? It's because he had no defense. You know why he had no defense? Because he stood in your place. You have no defense. That's why he couldn't say anything, because he was representing you. He's also the builder. So an architect designs a house and contractors build it. Who gets the glory when you say that the building is beautiful, right? Is it the bricklayer or is it the guy who designed it or the person who designed it? And what is this house? What is this house he's speaking of? It says, Moses was faithful in all of God's house. It's like a continuing house, isn't it? It's the house in Moses' day, but it also says in verse six, we are his house. There's a continuing house of being built, right? It's simply defined as it's the whole people of God. That's the house. This is a building. You are the house. So old and new, and I wanted to read Romans 9, 6 through 8, which so brilliantly explains that. Did I say 9? Yeah. Verse six, but it is not as though the word of God has failed, for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but through Isaac shall your offspring be named. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. That's how we understand why did all the adults in the nation of Israel drop in the wilderness, right? Because they were not the offspring. They were not the spiritual offspring. They were not the true house of God. So Moses was a faithful minister in his time in the house. Moses doesn't make children of God. Jesus does. That's how he builds his house, right? He makes children of God. He made you a child of Christ. Jesus is the maker of all things, including the house. John won, Colossians won. No one less than God could build the church. And so Jesus calls his sheep and he brings them into the fold. He builds his house and he will lose not one of them. Well, the Lord made the world out of nothing he made, or makes the church out of materials unfit for such a building. That's you and me, right? When he called us, were we fit? He makes us fit, he made us fit, he makes us fit. 2nd Corinthians 3 18 he transforms us and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being Transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit Jesus said I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it in Matthew 16 18 and So God calls it a house because he is determined to dwell with his people Jesus is also the son over the house. Moses was the servant, faithful in all the house, but Jesus was not in the house, but over the house. And that's verse six. But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And so in any house, a son has more honor than a servant, right? That's easy to understand. And that's why the offense was so great when Jesus' explanation of the parable of the tenant. And I'm just going to read a couple of verses of it. Matthew 21, 33 and 34. Here, another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it. and dug a wine press in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants. And who are these tenants? They're servants, right? They're servants in the house. They're supposed to have a job to do when the sun comes. And the master went into another country, and when the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the fruit is to believe on Christ. We know that. And so, by the way, you Hebrews, to go back to the temple is to reject the entire end game of the kingdom. John 5, 46, 47, there is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom you have set your hope, for if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. And now, so we have some application in this passage. You are called holy brethren in verse one. Your calling has made you holy, and we're to walk holy. We're to live holy. And you and I are part of this great house, first called Israel, now called the church. And some people get hung up with that, with the dispensations of the Old Testament and the New Testament, but there's only one people of God. And it is those who trust in Christ, Old Testament, New Testament. There's only one people of God. So we can easily call Israel, the believers of the Old Testament, the church. And you can call the church Israel. If you hold fast your confidence in boasting, if. Have you ever given up hope in something? We all have, in one thing or another, we've given up. And the Israelite adults, they did. And they, who turned, they didn't enter. But it sounds like we have to hang on tight. Otherwise, we're lost if we don't hang on. Because it says if you continue your confidence and boasting. But that would be like going back to performance of the law, wouldn't it? the ministry of death, the author is simply stating a fact. This is what you will do if you are a member of the house of God. This is what you will do. And so, but we do need to take heed here. The exhortation is to hold fast. That's what we're doing. We're holding fast together. holding fast our confidence, our trust, and our reliance, and we're holding fast our boasting. The perseverance of the saints is often better referred to as the preservation of the saints or the preservation of the Lord over his house. We are clinging to the one who holds us fast. You see that analogy? We're clinging, but he's holding us. I want to take you off to another good commentary, Ephesians 2.19-22. Looks like I'm going to finish a little early. So this is an interesting passage because I don't know if we've always read it with this Old Testament church, New Testament church in mind. Ephesians chapter two in the verse one, we remember this very well. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. And it's going to go on to talk about Israel, right? because I'm gonna back up to, I'm gonna back up to verse 11. Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, so that's what the Hebrews called you, which is made in the flesh by hands. Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ. You were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. You were strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken. Do you see the language broken down in the flesh, the dividing wall of hostility? Do you see the mixing of, Old covenant, new covenant here. You were once outside the covenant, outside the promise, and now you're brought near. Verse 15, by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body. So that's the Old Testament believers, reconcile us both in the New Testament believers. Reconciles both in one body through the cross thereby killing the hostility And he came and preached peace to you who were once who were far off and peace to those who were near For through him we both have access in one spirit to the father so then you Gentiles, believer, so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ himself, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure is being joined, the builder. grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. It was always Jesus building his church. So Moses was faithful in his day. He was faithful to his calling to the house. He was a type pointing forward to Christ, as was John the Baptist. I think if Moses would have been around in Jesus' day, not just on the mount, I believe he too would have said, he must increase, I must decrease. And this is our mission, to point to Christ by your life. Holy Brethren. First Peter two, five says, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture, behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. Jesus took our shame. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the example of Moses and so many traits in his character that we can emulate. How he prayed for those who opposed him, how he prayed for those who opposed themselves. And his concern was your glory, and his concern was who would lead your people. And Father, let us take heed what we see in Moses' life. And let us also remember monumentally that Jesus is greater than Moses in every way and be even more thankful for all that he has done for us and all that he has done through time for our salvation. And we thank you in his name. Amen. So if anybody has a