Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks
3 Therefore, brothers whom God has set apart, who share in the call from heaven, think carefully about Yeshua, whom we acknowledge publicly as God’s emissary and as cohen gadol. 2 He was faithful to God, who appointed him; just as
“Moshe was faithful in all God’s house.”[a]
3 But Yeshua deserves more honor than Moshe, just as the builder of the house deserves more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but the one who built everything is God.
5 Also, Moshe was faithful in all God’s house, as a servant giving witness to things God would divulge later. 6 But the Messiah, as Son, was faithful over God’s house. And we are that house of his, provided we hold firmly to the courage and confidence inspired by what we hope for.
7 Therefore, as the Ruach HaKodesh says,
“Today, if you hear God’s voice,
8 don’t harden your hearts, as you did in the Bitter Quarrel
on that day in the Wilderness when you put God to the test.
9 Yes, your fathers put me to the test;
they challenged me, and they saw my work for forty years!
10 Therefore, I was disgusted with that generation —
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
they have not understood how I do things’;
11 in my anger, I swore
that they would not enter my rest.”[b]
12 Watch out, brothers, so that there will not be in any one of you an evil heart lacking trust, which could lead you to apostatize from the living God! 13 Instead, keep exhorting each other every day, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you will become hardened by the deceit of sin. 14 For we have become sharers in the Messiah, provided, however, that we hold firmly to the conviction we began with, right through until the goal is reached.
15 Now where it says,
“Today, if you hear God’s voice,
don’t harden your hearts, as you did in the Bitter Quarrel,” [c]
16 who were the people who, after they heard, quarreled so bitterly? All those whom Moshe brought out of Egypt. 17 And with whom was God disgusted for forty years? Those who sinned — yes, they fell dead in the Wilderness! 18 And to whom was it that he swore that they would not enter his rest? Those who were disobedient. 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of lack of trust.
4 Therefore, let us be terrified of the possibility that, even though the promise of entering his rest remains, any one of you might be judged to have fallen short of it; 2 for Good News has also been proclaimed to us, just as it was to them. But the message they heard didn’t do them any good, because those who heard it did not combine it with trust. 3 For it is we who have trusted who enter the rest.
It is just as he said,
“And in my anger, I swore
that they would not enter my rest.”[d]
He swore this even though his works have been in existence since the founding of the universe. 4 For there is a place where it is said, concerning the seventh day,
“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”[e]
5 And once more, our present text says,
“They will not enter my rest.”[f]
6 Therefore, since it still remains for some to enter it, and those who received the Good News earlier did not enter, 7 he again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David, so long afterwards, in the text already given,
“Today, if you hear God’s voice, don’t harden your hearts.”[g]
8 For if Y’hoshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later of another “day.”
9 So there remains a Shabbat-keeping for God’s people. 10 For the one who has entered God’s rest has also rested from his own works, as God did from his. 11 Therefore, let us do our best to enter that rest; so that no one will fall short because of the same kind of disobedience.
12 See, the Word of God is alive! It is at work and is sharper than any double-edged sword — it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart. 13 Before God, nothing created is hidden, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.
14 Therefore, since we have a great cohen gadol who has passed through to the highest heaven, Yeshua, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we acknowledge as true. 15 For we do not have a cohen gadol unable to empathize with our weaknesses; since in every respect he was tempted just as we are, the only difference being that he did not sin. 16 Therefore, let us confidently approach the throne from which God gives grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need.
5 For every cohen gadol taken from among men is appointed to act on people’s behalf with regard to things concerning God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and with those who go astray, since he too is subject to weakness. 3 Also, because of this weakness, he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as those of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor upon himself, rather, he is called by God, just as Aharon was.
5 So neither did the Messiah glorify himself to become cohen gadol; rather, it was the One who said to him,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.”[h]
6 Also, as he says in another place,
“You are a cohen forever,
to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.”[i]
7 During Yeshua’s life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions, crying aloud and shedding tears, to the One who had the power to deliver him from death; and he was heard because of his godliness. 8 Even though he was the Son, he learned obedience through his sufferings. 9 And after he had been brought to the goal, he became the source of eternal deliverance to all who obey him, 10 since he had been proclaimed by God as a cohen gadol to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.
11 We have much to say about this subject, but it is hard to explain, because you have become sluggish in understanding. 12 For although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the very first principles of God’s Word all over again! You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who has to drink milk is still a baby, without experience in applying the Word about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by continuous exercise to distinguish good from evil.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.