Hebrews 3: Keep Your Focus on Jesus
Welcome back, everyone! We're three weeks into Hebrews now, and I hope you're starting to see the pattern this book follows. It's like a drumbeat that keeps pounding:
Week 1: "Jesus is better than angels."
Week 2: "Therefore, don't drift—and look at what Jesus has done for you!"
Week 3 (today): "Jesus is better than Moses."
See the rhythm? The author establishes Jesus' supremacy, then warns us not to neglect Him, then shows us more of Jesus' glory, then warns us again.
It's theology, then urgency. Truth, then application. Who Jesus is, then how we must respond.
And that makes sense, right? Because the size of your view of Jesus determines the strength of your grip on Jesus.
If Jesus is just a good teacher or a helpful spiritual guide, then when life gets hard, you'll let go of Him. But if Jesus is who Hebrews says He is—the Creator, the Sustainer, the exact imprint of God's nature, your Brother, your High Priest—then you'll hold on for dear life. So today, we're going to see Jesus compared to one of the most revered figures in all of Jewish history: Moses.
So I’ll start by asking, “are you so busy that you don’t have time for Jesus?” Because life has a way of crowding out what matters most. We get busy. We get distracted. We get tired. And slowly, almost imperceptibly, our focus shifts from Jesus to... everything else.
Hebrews 3 is going to warn us about that drift, but this time the warning is going to be wrapped in one of the most sobering stories in the Bible.
Setting Up the Comparison
Before we read, I need to set the stage for you. Because if you're not Jewish, you might not fully appreciate how shocking this comparison is.
To a first-century Jew, Moses was the guy. He was the lawgiver, the prophet, the leader who brought Israel out of Egypt. When rabbis in Jesus' day wanted to describe someone as great, they'd say things like, "He's almost as great as Moses." Moses was the ceiling.
In fact, ancient Jewish tradition taught that Moses was greater than the angels. That's how highly he was esteemed. According to one early Jewish tradition, Moses was considered superior to the angels, having higher rank and privilege than the ministering angels.
Here are six ways Moses was unparalleled:
First, Moses was divinely chosen. His life was miraculously preserved when Pharaoh's daughter plucked him from the bulrushes. God seated him when He called and ordained him at the burning bush.
Second, Moses became the incomparable deliverer of his people through an unparalleled display of power. The ten plagues. The Red Sea parting. The pillar of cloud and fire. Moses' staff became the instrument of God's power.
Third, he served as Israel's greatest prophet. God spoke directly to Moses—face to face, mouth to mouth, clearly and not in riddles. Numbers 12:6-8 makes this distinction clear.
Fourth, Moses was the lawgiver. To the Jew, the Law was the greatest thing in all the world. Everything in their religion recalled Moses' name. "For all came from Moses."
Fifth, Moses was Israel's great historian. Under divine inspiration, he authored the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible—Genesis through Deuteronomy.
Sixth, he was "very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:3). Remarkable! He was the greatest, but it had not gone to his head. Why? Because his head had been permanently "sized" on the back side of the desert during the second forty years of his life.
So when the author of Hebrews says, "Let me tell you why Jesus is greater than Moses," he's about to elevate Jesus above the most honored human figure in Jewish history.
And the author does it brilliantly. Not by tearing down Moses, but by showing that Moses, as great as he was, was still a servant in God's house. Jesus, on the other hand, is the Son over the house. Moses worked in the building. Jesus owns the building.
But before we get to that comparison, look at how the chapter opens. Verse 1.
Let me read just that verse:
"Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession."
Four things I want you to notice right away:
First: "Therefore." There's that word again. That tells us that everything in chapter 3 builds on chapters 1 and 2. Jesus is the Son who's better than angels. Jesus is the Brother who became like us to save us. Jesus is the High Priest who made propitiation for our sins. Therefore, based on all of that, here's what you need to do.
Second: "Holy brothers... who share in a heavenly calling." This is how the author addresses his readers. Not "you miserable sinners" (though we are, apart from grace). Not "you failures" (though we fail daily). He calls them, and us, holy brothers who share in a heavenly calling.
If you're in Christ, that's your identity. You're holy (set apart, made clean by Jesus' blood). You're family (brothers and sisters with Jesus and each other). And you have a heavenly calling (you're not just drifting through life, you've been called by God Himself for a purpose that transcends this world).
Never forget who you are in Christ.
Third: "Consider Jesus." That's the main verb. That's the command. And it's going to be the theme of the entire chapter.
The Greek word here is katanoēsate (κατανοήσατε). It's a compound word. Kata means "down" or "thoroughly," and noeō means "to perceive or think." Put them together and you get: to think deeply about, to fix your attention on, to observe closely.
This isn't a casual "Oh yeah, Jesus. Cool." This is: Stop. Focus. Think deeply. Consider every aspect of who Jesus is.
One scholar explains what this word demands: It means to apply one's mind diligently, to fix one's attention in such a way that the significance of the thing is learned. In Luke 12:24, Jesus uses the same word when He says, "Consider the ravens," that is, set your mind on how they live so you can learn from them.
Here in Hebrews, we must incarnate Jesus and what He's being, the sent one and intercessor; keep on applying your mind to it unceasingly, and apply it to your life.
It's like when you're looking at a painting in a museum and you don't just glance at it. You step close. You study the brushstrokes. You notice the details. You let it sink in.
That's what we're called to do with Jesus. Consider Him. Fix your mind on Him. Observe Him thoroughly.
Why? Because what you behold, you become. What you focus on shapes you.
If you focus on your problems, you'll become anxious. If you focus on your failures, you'll become defeated. But if you focus on Jesus—His glory, His faithfulness, His power, His love—you'll be transformed.
Fourth: The call to consider requires three things.
One commentator breaks it down like this:
How does one "consider" in this way? It begins with desire. David, the psalmist, did this because he really wanted to see the Lord: "One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple" (Psalm 27:4).
Along with desire, fixing the mind calls for concentration. There's a story about the brilliant mathematician Norbert Wiener. He was walking across the campus of MIT, so absorbed in his own thought that he failed to respond to greetings. But after a few steps he turned around and said, "Pardon me, could you tell me which way I came from?" The student pointed and answered, "That way, sir!" "Thanks," said the prof. "Now I know I've had lunch!"
This is extreme, to be sure, but no one's thoughts can be said to be fixed without concentration. And no one can focus on Christ without paying attention.
Lastly, fixing our thoughts on Jesus requires time, for true reflection cannot happen with a glance. It is only when we sit still and gaze that the landscape fills our souls.
So considering Jesus demands desire, concentration, discipline, and time. Are you willing to give that?
Alright, let's read the first section. Hebrews 3, verses 1 through 6.
Jesus the Apostle and High Priest
“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 in our hope.”
Okay, did you catch that description in verse 1? Jesus is called "the apostle and high priest of our confession."
That's a loaded phrase. Let's unpack it.
"The Apostle"
This is the only place in the entire Bible where Jesus is explicitly called "the Apostle." It's a unique title.
The Greek word apostolos (ἀπόστολος) means "one who is sent." It's someone commissioned and sent out with authority to represent the sender.
So when Jesus is called the Apostle, it means He is God's ultimate messenger sent from heaven to earth. He's the supreme ambassador. He's God's final Word made flesh.
"The High Priest"
We've already seen this title in chapter 2. The high priest represents the people before God. He offers sacrifices, makes intercession, mediates the covenant.
Jesus is our perfect High Priest who offered Himself as the final sacrifice.
Now, here's why this combination is brilliant:
In the Old Covenant, these roles were split. Moses was the prophet, the messenger who brought God's word to the people. Aaron was the high priest, the one who represented the people before God.
But in Jesus, both roles are perfectly united. He's God's message to us (Apostle) and our mediator to God (High Priest). He brings God to us and brings us to God.
This is what the titles introduce about Jesus' superiority to Moses. Significantly, Jesus is referred to by the terms apostle and high priest only in the Book of Hebrews: "apostle" this once and "high priest" twelve times. The word used here is literally "the apostle," with the definite article—He is THE sent one par excellence. Jesus repeatedly describes Himself as being sent by the Father into the world. His apostleship is prior to all apostleship and is the foundation of all that would follow. His apostleship meant "mission accomplished."
And of course, Jesus is also "the high priest" par excellence. Because He was perfectly human and perfectly divine, He knows both man and God. Thus He is able to speak to men for God and to intercede to God for men. He is the one person through whom man comes to God and God to man.
Moses was faithful in the house. Jesus is faithful over the house.
Verse 2 says both Jesus and Moses were "faithful." That's important. The author isn't trashing Moses. He's honoring Moses' faithfulness.
The Greek word pistos (πιστός) means faithful, reliable, trustworthy. Moses was absolutely faithful to God's calling. He led Israel for 40 years. He endured their complaints, their rebellion, their stubbornness. He interceded for them repeatedly. He faithfully delivered God's Law.
So why is Jesus greater?
Look at verses 3-6. The comparison is genius.
Moses was faithful in God's house. Jesus is faithful over God's house.
Moses was a servant in the household. Jesus is the Son over the household.
Moses was part of the building. Jesus built the building.
Think about it this way: Imagine you walk into a beautiful mansion. You're amazed by the architecture, the craftsmanship, the design. And you meet the butler. The butler is excellent at his job—faithful, diligent, trustworthy. You respect him.
But then you meet the owner—the one who designed the house, built it, and owns it. Who gets more honor? The butler or the owner?
That's the comparison. Moses is the faithful servant. Jesus is the Son and Owner.
It was commonly held in ancient thought that an architect is greater than what he builds. So the central point here is that Jesus is superior to Moses because Jesus is the builder, and Moses is part of the house/household.
Verse 4 even hints at Jesus' divinity: "For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God."
Translation: Jesus built the house. And the builder of all things is God. Therefore, Jesus is God. In fact, God the Father has made everything in the universe through his Son, Jesus (1:2).
Now here's something beautiful about Moses that points to Jesus. Verse 5 tells us Moses' work was especially significant as a prophet; he testified "to the things that were to be spoken later," that is, in the time of Jesus Christ.
Moses' work and message spoke of things to come. Moses was a servant whose work furthered the house-building project of God's Son and heir. Indeed, everything in the Mosaic administration points forward to Jesus Christ. The tabernacle spoke of God dwelling with man, which is what Christ did. The year of Jubilee, in which slaves were released and land was returned to its original owners, spoke of the great day of deliverance that was to come in Christ.
We are His house—if we hold fast.
Now, verse 6 is where this gets personal:
"And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope."
There's that condition again. "If indeed we hold fast."
We saw this in chapter 2 with the warning about drifting. Now we see it again. True belonging to Christ's household is evidenced by perseverance.
The phrase "hold fast" in Greek is katechō (κατέχω)—to hold down, to hold firmly, to retain. It's not a white-knuckle, terrified grip. It's a confident, steady grip.
And what are we holding fast? "Our confidence and our boasting in our hope."
Confidence (parrēsia - παρρησία) means boldness, freedom of speech, assurance. It's not arrogance. It's the settled assurance that Jesus is who He says He is and will do what He promised.
Hope (elpis - ἐλπίς) in the Bible isn't wishful thinking. It's confident expectation of what God has promised.
So here's what the verse is saying: You are part of Christ's household if your faith in Him endures. And enduring faith is marked by confidence and hope.
Listen to this important insight: There is a conflict between the teaching that all true believers will persevere to the end, holding fast to their original confidence, and the teaching that Christians must persevere through hardship to the end, holding fast and trusting Jesus Christ for our salvation. The author says this again in his summary in verse 14: "For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end."
The point? Perseverance is the test of real faith. "The doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints has as its corollary the salutary teaching that the saints are the people who persevere to the end."
Let me say it this way: It's wonderful to make a good start, but how you finish is even more important.
Anybody can get excited about Jesus for a week. Anybody can have a mountaintop spiritual experience and feel on fire for God. But what about six months from now? What about when life gets hard? What about when following Jesus costs you something?
True faith doesn't just spark. It burns.
And the way you keep that flame burning is by continually focusing on Jesus—considering Him, fixing your mind on Him, marveling at His greatness.
Alright, so Jesus is greater than Moses. That's established. Now, the author is about to give us one of the most urgent warnings in all of Scripture. And he's going to do it by telling a story.
Let's read verses 7 through 11.
The Warning from Israel's History
“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
where your fathers put me to the test
and saw my works for forty years.
Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
they have not known my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’””
Okay, so the author just quoted Psalm 95. And Psalm 95 is looking back at one of the darkest chapters in Israel's history—the wilderness rebellion.
But before we get into the story, notice something crucial about how this quote is introduced.
Look at verse 7: "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says..."
Not "said." "Says." Present tense.
This is hugely important. The writer grounds his view of Scripture on direct claims to the divine authorship of the Bible. He acknowledges human instrumentation, but emphasizes divine authorship. Now, in Hebrews 3:7, he writes, "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says." This is consistent with the broader biblical testimony that the Bible is the product of the Holy Spirit who has taken the things of God and given them to man through human writers.
The classic statement to this effect occurs in 2 Peter 1:21: "No prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." The Holy Spirit speaking through Scripture now speaks to us by applying that Word to our hearts.
Furthermore, Hebrews 3:7-8 illustrates the abiding relevance and authority of the Scriptures: "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.'" To show that God's exhortation was valid not only then but is also relevant "today."
In the Scriptures, He says, the Holy Spirit of God "speaks"—and we should note the present tense of this verb. The events described in this passage took place during the exodus. Many generations have shown its applicability to the life of every time, probably a thousand years later. The writer of Hebrews picks up the same message, showing that God spoke through David "today" to his own time a thousand years later, and equally relevant, because it was from God, who never changes.
So, too, do these same words apply to us two thousand years after the Book of Hebrews was written: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." Such are the timelessness and authority of this book, which bears to us the very voice of God.
Now let me tell you the story, because if you don't know it, this warning won't hit you the way it should.
The Exodus Generation
Picture this: You're an Israelite slave in Egypt. You've been oppressed for 400 years. Your people are crying out to God for deliverance.
And then—boom. God shows up in power. Ten plagues. The Red Sea parts. You walk through on dry ground and watch your enemies drown. You're free.
God leads you with a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. He feeds you with manna from heaven every morning. He gives you water from a rock. He speaks to you from Mount Sinai in thunder and lightning.
You have the most spectacular start to a relationship with God that any nation has ever had.
And you have Moses—the greatest leader, the man who talks with God face to face—guiding you.
The Promised Land is right there. Eleven days away from Sinai to Canaan (Deuteronomy 1:2).
God says, "Go in. I'm giving you this land. Trust me."
And what happens?
The scenario recalled here is described in the Book of Exodus. The people of Israel had been delivered from their bondage in Egypt with a great display of God's power. Pharaoh had pursued them, but the Lord made a passage for them through the Red Sea, which then swallowed up the Egyptian army. All this is related in Exodus 13 and 14. In chapter 16, the people arrived in the desert and immediately began complaining: "The whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, 'Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger'" (Ex. 16:2-3).
This is an expression of ingratitude and unbelief that we may find hard to fathom, until we realize that we demonstrate a similar attitude on far less pretense than starvation and thirst in a desert wilderness. Instead of trusting the Lord to supply their needs, something He had shown Himself both willing and able to do, the Israelites complained against Him.
Exodus 17 begins, "All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD." The writer in Hebrews points out that it was in verse 2 of this chapter that one of testing began. God had delivered His people and now was testing their allegiance to Him with these difficult travels in the desert. We see how miserably the Israelites failed.
They send twelve spies to scout it out. Ten come back and say, "The people there are giants. We can't do this. We're like grasshoppers compared to them."
Only two—Joshua and Caleb—say, "God is with us. We can take the land. Let's go."
And the people? They side with the ten. They refuse to go in. They accuse God of bringing them out to the wilderness to kill them. They even talk about choosing a new leader and going back to Egypt.
Numbers 14:2-4 records their complaint: "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?... Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
Can you believe that? God had just done miracle after miracle. And they're saying, "We'd rather go back to slavery."
That's the rebellion. That's the hardened heart.
And God's response? He swears an oath: "As I live, declares the LORD... not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb... and Joshua... But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in... But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness" (Numbers 14:28-32).
That entire generation—everyone 20 years and older—was condemned to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until they died. Out of over 600,000 men, only two made it into the Promised Land.
Even Moses himself, because of one act of disobedience later, was not allowed to enter (Deuteronomy 34:4).
"Today, if you hear His voice..."
Now, look at how Hebrews quotes this story. Notice the first word of the quote in verse 7:
"Today..."
That word appears three times in this passage (verses 7, 13, 15). And it's the key to understanding the urgency of the warning.
"Today" means now. This moment. Not tomorrow. Not when you feel like it. Today.
The Holy Spirit is speaking through Scripture, and He's saying: The time to respond to God is always now.
You don't get to say, "I'll deal with this later." You don't get to say, "I'll get serious about my faith when life calms down."
The Israelites kept putting off obedience. "We'll trust God tomorrow." "We'll deal with this next time." But tomorrow never came.
And eventually, their hearts became so hard that they couldn't respond anymore. God's patience ran out, and they died in the wilderness.
Hardened Hearts
Let's talk about that phrase: "Do not harden your hearts."
The Greek word is sklērunō (σκληρύνω). It means to make hard, to make stubborn, to make calloused.
Think about what happens to your hands when you do manual labor. At first, your hands are soft, and blisters form easily. But if you keep working, calluses develop. Your skin gets hard. You lose sensitivity.
That's what happens to your heart spiritually when you persistently ignore God's voice.
Two key words in these verses help us understand what it means to harden one's heart. They are the words "rebellion" and "testing" in verse 8. The renderings here come from the Greek Septuagint, but the original Hebrew behind the word "rebellion" is meribah, and behind "testing" is massah. Check Psalm 95:7, 8, as it is rendered in your Bible, and you will read: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness."
These words point us directly to Exodus 17, where early in their wilderness experience Israel was camped at Rephidim by Mount Sinai and ran out of water and began to quarrel with Moses. There "Moses said to them, 'Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?'" (Exodus 17:2).
The first time you sin, your conscience screams. The second time, it's a little quieter. The tenth time? You barely notice.
The first time you skip church, you feel guilty. The tenth time? It doesn't bother you.
The first time you neglect prayer, it's uncomfortable. The hundredth time? You don't even think about it.
That's a hardened heart. You lose spiritual sensitivity. You become calloused to God's voice.
And here's the scariest part: You don't wake up one day and decide to have a hard heart. It happens gradually, almost imperceptibly, through repeated small choices to ignore God.
The Israelites didn't have one big moment of rebellion. They had a thousand small rebellions. They tested God again and again. They complained, they grumbled, they doubted, they disobeyed—over and over for 40 years.
And each time, their hearts got a little harder. Until finally, God said, "Enough. They will not enter my rest."
Let me give you this insight: What we deduce from these accounts in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20 is that the hardening that took place in the wilderness was rooted in unbelief. Many of those, perhaps most, who left in the exodus had an inadequate faith in God. But as soon as the initial glow wore off, they outrageously cried, "Is the LORD among us or not?" (Exodus 17:7). It was a fair-weather, herd-instinct faith—good until the first trial, when it dissolved in unbelief.
The depth of their defective belief produced one other subsidiary characteristic—contempt/irreverence. Hence all the railing against the faithful servants. Thus we understand that the pathology of a hard heart that originates in unbelief that spawns a hardened contempt and, as we shall see, a hardness that works out in sinful disobedience.
God's Rest
What is this "rest" that God talks about?
On the surface level, it's the Promised Land—Canaan. A place where they would have rest from their enemies and from their wandering.
But Hebrews is going to show us (in chapter 4) that the rest is something deeper. It's the rest of salvation, the rest of faith, the rest of ceasing from your own works and trusting in God's finished work.
Ultimately, it's the rest of being in right relationship with God—peace with Him, assurance of His favor, freedom from guilt and fear.
And the Israelites? They forfeited that rest. Not because they weren't religious. Not because they didn't know about God. But because they refused to trust Him.
The Danger for Us
Now, here's why this matters to us.
Look at verse 7 again: "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says..."
Present tense. The Holy Spirit says. Not "said" back in Moses' day. He's saying this now, to us, today.
The warning isn't just for ancient Israel. It's for us.
We can have incredible spiritual experiences. We can start strong. We can see God work in amazing ways. And still, if we don't persevere in faith, we can miss God's rest.
A good start doesn't guarantee a good finish.
The Israelites saw the Red Sea part. They ate manna from heaven. They saw God's glory on the mountain. But they died in the wilderness because they stopped trusting God.
Don't be like them.
Alright, let's keep reading. Verses 12-15.
Exhort One Another Daily
“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.””
Now the author shifts from the story to direct application. And this is one of the most practical sections in the entire book.
"Take care... lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart"
First, notice how seriously unbelief is treated here. It's not just intellectual doubt. It's called "an evil, unbelieving heart."
Why "evil"? Because unbelief is essentially calling God a liar. It's saying, "I don't trust You. I don't believe Your promises. I think I know better than You."
That's not a neutral position. That's rebellion.
The Greek word for unbelief here is apistia (ἀπιστία). It's the opposite of pistis (faith). It's a refusal to trust, a deliberate turning away.
And notice what unbelief leads to: "falling away from the living God."
Not falling away from church. Not falling away from religion. Falling away from the living God Himself.
That's what's at stake. This isn't about missing a few church services. This is about your eternal relationship with God.
Here's an important insight: There is an important insight here, namely, that unbelief is at the root of all sin. Specific sins are like rotten fruit hanging on a bad tree. But this is not the real problem; it is not the disease, but just the symptom. If we are greedy or hateful or selfish or dishonest, that is just evidence of dead and rotten things deeper inside. Bad fruit grows on a bad tree, just as sin grows from our sinful, corrupt nature. But deeper still, there is a root system to every tree; that is most important of all. Unbelief is the root system that feeds the whole rotten tree of sin.
By contrast, it is believing God that causes us to obey him. Noah is a good example. He believed when God foretold the flood, and it was because of his belief that he built the ark. On the other hand, because the Israelites had never come to know God and had not believed his promises, they rebelled against him and sinned in the desert. The issue of faith versus unbelief is at the core of every spiritual issue.
So how do we guard against this? Verse 13 gives us the answer:
"But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."
This is huge. Let me break it down.
"Exhort one another"
The Greek word is parakaleō (παρακαλέω). It means to call alongside, to encourage, to comfort, to urge, to admonish.
The Greek word for "exhort" is parakaleō. The prefix para means "to come alongside," and the verb kaleō means "to call out." The picture, then, is that we are to come alongside one another daily, exhorting one another in the practice of Christian faith.
It's not just casual "Hey, how are you?" conversation. It's intentional, Spirit-led encouragement where we speak truth into each other's lives.
It's saying things like:
"Hey, I noticed you haven't been at church. Is everything okay? How can I pray for you?"
"I see you're struggling. Let me remind you of what God says about you."
"Brother, I'm worried about you. I've seen some patterns that concern me. Can we talk?"
This isn't being judgmental or nosy. This is being your brother's keeper. This is loving each other enough to speak truth.
"Every day"
Not just on Sundays. Not just when there's a crisis. Every day.
Why? Because sin is working every day to deceive you. The world is bombarding you every day with lies. Your flesh is tempting you every day to compromise.
You need daily encouragement. Daily reminders of truth. Daily accountability.
"That none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin"
Here's the phrase I want you to hold onto: "Sin never advertises its true cost."
Sin is a liar. It promises pleasure but delivers pain. It promises freedom but brings bondage. It promises life but leads to death.
The Greek word for "deceitfulness" is apatē (ἀπάτη). It's where we get the word "apathy." It means deception, delusion, being led astray.
Sin advertises pleasure but delivers pain. The problem is that our hearts are so willing to be deceived. Combine this with the fact that sin is deceitful in its very nature, and we are in great need of godly fellowship and exhortation, and of warning at the very first stages of temptation.
Sin doesn't come to you and say, "Hey, follow me and I'll destroy your marriage, ruin your reputation, and separate you from God." That would be honest, and nobody would follow.
Instead, sin says, "It's just this once. It won't hurt anybody. You deserve this. God wants you to be happy, right?"
Sin lies. And if you believe the lies long enough, your heart hardens.
That's why we need each other. We need people who will speak truth when we're being deceived. We need people who will call us back when we're drifting.
Here's more insight: But it gets worse, for the Bible goes on to say that our very hearts are deceitful. Jeremiah 17:9 is the most famous verse to this effect: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" In Ephesians 4:22, Paul tells us that our very human nature, apart from God's saving work, is "corrupt through deceitful desires." That gets quite a bit closer to home—I cannot even trust my heart, the Bible says. My desires are not trustworthy. And the wise man comes to realize that this is so—that the things we long for are often foolish and vain, if not outright idolatrous—and therefore he seeks the scrutiny and exhortation of brothers and sisters in the Lord.
The Community Safeguard
Verse 13 is saying: Perseverance in faith is not a solo endeavor. It's a community project.
You cannot make it alone. I cannot make it alone. We need each other.
One commentator explains: Christianity is not an individual but a team endeavor. So if we do not know the nature of our fellow believers' struggles, and if we do not share ours with them, then we will never be able to follow through with this command. The result, in that case, will be that people among us will fall prey to sin. Therefore we are commanded to be watchful for just these things in the body of Christ, always assuring that our faith is alive, because today—that is, in the present age of testing, with opportunities and dangers like the ones the Israelites faced—we must watch out and exhort one another about the things that plague believers everywhere.
Hebrews 10:24-25 will say it even more directly: "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
If you isolate yourself from the body of Christ, you are in grave danger. Satan loves isolated Christians. They're easy targets.
But when you're in community—really in community, not just showing up on Sundays but doing life together—you have protection. You have accountability. You have encouragement.
Let me ask you: Do you have someone in your life who can speak truth to you? Someone who has permission to ask you hard questions? Someone who will call you out if you're drifting?
If not, you need to find that person. Or that small group. Or that community.
And flip it around: Are you that person for someone else?
Are you paying attention to your brothers and sisters? Are you exhorting them? Are you speaking life and truth into their lives?
This is what it means to be the church.
"If indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end"
Verse 14 echoes what we saw in verse 6. Again, the condition: "if indeed we hold... firm to the end."
The word "hold" here is katechō (κατέχω) again—hold fast, hold down, retain.
And notice it says "our original confidence." The faith you had when you first came to Christ—that excitement, that assurance, that confidence in Jesus—that needs to endure.
Not perfectly. You'll have ups and downs. But the trajectory of your life should be: I started with Jesus, and I'm still with Jesus.
And one of the primary ways that happens is through the daily, mutual encouragement of the community of faith.
Alright, let's read the final section. Verses 16-19.
The Tragic Example
“For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”
The chapter ends with a series of rhetorical questions that drive home the point.
"Who were those who heard and yet rebelled?"
Answer: The Exodus generation. The ones who walked through the Red Sea. The ones who saw the miracles.
They heard God's voice. They saw His works. And they still rebelled.
"With whom was he provoked for forty years?"
Answer: The same people. For forty years, they tested God's patience. And finally, He said, "Enough."
"To whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest?"
Answer: Those who were disobedient. Those who refused to trust.
And then verse 19 gives us the final diagnosis:
"So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief."
Unable. Not because of external enemies. Not because the land was too hard to conquer. Not because they weren't strong enough.
They were unable to enter because of unbelief.
Unbelief is the root sin behind all other sins.
They disobeyed because they didn't trust. They rebelled because they didn't believe.
And here's the connection the author is making: In verse 18, he says they didn't enter because of disobedience. In verse 19, he says they didn't enter because of unbelief.
Disobedience and unbelief are two sides of the same coin.
You disobey because you don't really believe God's way is best. You sin because you don't really believe God's promises are true.
Listen to this: We see, then, that such a heart is called evil or sinful in verse 12, for it turns away from the living God. In verse 17 those who would not believe are described as "those who sinned," and in verse 18 we are told that they disobeyed. This shows that sin is disobedience; it is failure to listen to and obey God's Word. In the accounts of this generation in Exodus and Numbers, we read of one sin after another that the writer of Hebrews focuses on is the sin of unbelief.
Conversely, when you truly believe God, obedience follows naturally.
If you truly believe God's promise to provide, you won't be consumed by greed. If you truly believe God's design for sexuality is good, you won't compromise. If you truly believe God is with you, you won't be paralyzed by fear.
Faith produces obedience. Unbelief produces disobedience.
The Shocking Tragedy
Let me paint the picture one more time so you feel the weight of this.
Over 600,000 men left Egypt, plus women and children. Probably over two million people total.
Of that entire generation—the adults who left Egypt—only two made it into the Promised Land. Joshua and Caleb.
That's it. Two.
Everyone else died in the wilderness over the course of 40 years. Their bodies fell in the desert.
They had the greatest spiritual privileges of any generation up to that point:
They were eyewitnesses to God's power (the plagues, the Red Sea)
They were personally led by Moses
They saw daily miracles (manna, water from rocks)
They heard God's voice at Sinai
They had the Law written down for them
And they still missed God's rest because they refused to believe.
Privilege is no substitute for perseverance.
Let that sink in. You can grow up in a Christian home. You can know the Bible inside and out. You can have incredible spiritual experiences. You can see God work in amazing ways.
And you can still miss God's rest if you don't endure in faith.
Starting well doesn't guarantee finishing well.
Let me give you this sobering reality from one commentary: It all began so well—but ended so poorly. Of the six hundred thousand men (the million-plus Israelites who began so well), only two over the age of twenty ever got to the promised land—and that was forty years later. The rest fell, disappointed corpses in the desert. The grand and terrible lesson of Israel's history is that it is possible to begin well and end poorly. In fact, this tragic human tendency dominates much human spiritual experience.
It is this concern that haunts the writer of the book of Hebrews, as we have repeatedly seen. His fear is that the doleful fate of the generation of the exodus will be repeated in the experience of the Jewish Christians in their storm-tossed little church. He undoubtedly personally knew this little flock. Many of their spiritual exoduses had been beautiful, even dramatic. But now that they were undergoing hardship, would they finish well? Not if they made the same errors as the Israelites did when troubles came.
Keep Your Focus, Fight for Your Heart
Alright, so what do we do with this?
Let me give you three action steps, and then we'll close.
1. Consider Jesus Daily
Go back to verse 1: "Consider Jesus."
This is your starting point. This is your anchor. This is your lifeline.
You cannot keep your heart soft toward God if you're not regularly beholding Jesus.
What you focus on shapes you. If you focus on Jesus—His glory, His love, His faithfulness, His power—you'll be transformed.
But if you neglect Him, if you're too busy for Him, if you stop thinking about Him... your heart will harden.
Listen to this wisdom: As we have seen, we must continually "consider" him—always—perpetually. We must desire to gaze on him with all our heart, and then we must utilize our powers of concentration and must discipline ourselves to spend time doing so. By God's grace we must lift our eyes away from the troubles and distractions around us and focus on Christ.
So here's your challenge: Every day, take at least five minutes to "consider Jesus."
Read a passage about Him. Meditate on one of His attributes. Thank Him for what He's done. Marvel at who He is.
Don't just speed-read your Bible. Don't just check the box. Actually think about Jesus. Fix your mind on Him.
And when you do, you'll find that your confidence grows. Your hope strengthens. Your love deepens.
Think about Napoleon. It is well documented that the great commanders of history inspired terrific bravery by their simple presence, just by letting their soldiers set their eyes upon them. Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Patton—all had this aura of invincibility that produced undaunted courage in the hearts of those who saw them amidst the fray.
This is what the eyes of our faith see when we fix them upon Jesus Christ, who is the captain of our salvation. Napoleon, probably military history's greatest conqueror, used to have his generals come into his tent and look into his eyes before they went out to lead the troops in battle; likewise our faith must behold the eyes of Christ, and the life and life now with the lamb's wrath of heaven. Napoleon, like most of the other great conquerors of this world, was ultimately defeated. Even those who never lost a battle in life, like Alexander the Great, nonetheless were defeated by death. But Christ is victor over every foe. When he went into the grave, even death became his captive. Now he lives, giving power to every enemy under his feet to fix our eyes on him, then, and we will find strength for every battle, hope for every trial.
2. Respond to God Today
Remember that word "Today"? It appears three times in this chapter for a reason.
The time to respond to God is always now.
Is there an area where you know God is speaking to you? An area where you're resisting? An area where you've been saying, "I'll deal with that later"?
Deal with it today.
Maybe it's a sin you need to confess and repent of. Maybe it's a relationship you need to reconcile. Maybe it's a step of obedience you've been putting off. Maybe it's a pattern of neglect—prayer, Scripture, worship—that you need to address.
Whatever it is, don't wait. Today is the day.
Because here's what I know: The longer you put off obedience, the harder your heart becomes. And eventually, you might not hear God's voice anymore.
That's terrifying. But it's also motivating. Today matters. This moment matters.
3. Get in Community and Exhort One Another
Verse 13 is crystal clear: "Exhort one another every day."
You can't do this Christian life alone. And you shouldn't try.
So here's your action step: This week, reach out to at least one person and have a real conversation about your spiritual life.
Not surface-level. Not "How are you?" "Fine." Real.
Ask them: "How's your walk with Jesus? Where are you struggling? How can I pray for you?"
And let them ask you the same.
Be vulnerable. Be honest. Be willing to receive encouragement—and give it.
And if you don't have that kind of community, start praying for it. Ask God to connect you with people who will speak truth into your life.
Because here's the reality: You're either being encouraged forward in faith, or you're drifting backward in unbelief. There's no neutral.
And the best defense against drift is a community of believers who love you enough to tell you the truth.
One more thing from the commentary: In his great allegory of the Christian life, The Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan shows his understanding of the importance of godly fellowship. At one point in the journey to the Celestial City, Bunyan's hero—a man named Christian—finds companionship with a fellow believer named Hopeful. Bunyan writes, "They entered a brotherly covenant and agreed to be companions."
What a wonderful statement! It is reminiscent of the description of the godly men of King Asa's generation, as told in 2 Chronicles 15:12, "They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul."
In such fashion Christian and Hopeful journeyed together, and their companionship was very profitable. Soon they came across another traveler. Pooling their discernment, Christian and Hopeful realized this was a man to avoid. Next they encountered a group led by Mr. Hold-the-world, who tried to tempt them into seeking dishonest gain, and together they reproved him. Next came Demas who called to them to depart from the way, promising a place filled with riches of the world. This time, Hopeful was deceived and wanted to go take a look. But Christian warned him, "I have heard of this place... The treasure is a snare to those that seek it." He exhorted Hopeful, "Let us not go a step closer. Let us keep on our way," and the two companions went forward safely on the pilgrimage.
Later, they came to Doubting Castle, where they were captured into a terrible dungeon. Here it was Hopeful who kept his faith, recalling God's commandments. With his help, Christian found the key, called Promise, that opened the door to let them escape Doubting Castle. Thus in the two of them, the author Bunyan teaches the strength and faith of our brother, each helping the other in turn so that together we may endure.
The Warning and the Hope
Let me close with this thought.
Hebrews 3 gives us one of the most sobering warnings in Scripture. It shows us a generation that had everything going for them—and still perished in unbelief.
But here's the hope: Jesus is not Moses. The rest Jesus offers is greater than Canaan. And the salvation Jesus accomplished is infinitely more secure than the Exodus.
Moses led Israel out of slavery to Egypt. Jesus leads us out of slavery to sin and death.
Moses brought Israel to the border of the Promised Land. Jesus brings us all the way into God's presence—not just to the border, but into the Holy of Holies.
Moses was a faithful servant. Jesus is the faithful Son.
And because Jesus is who He is—because He's the Builder of the house, the Creator of all things, the Son over God's household—those who trust in Him will enter God's rest.
The Israelites failed. But Jesus didn't.
They hardened their hearts. But Jesus calls out to you: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
So keep your focus on Jesus. Respond to Him today. Encourage one another daily. And trust that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6).
Because here's the truth: Jesus doesn't just start strong. He finishes strong. And if you're holding onto Him, He's holding onto you.
Let's pray.
Father, thank You for the warning of Hebrews 3. It's sobering, but we need it. We don't want to be like the Israelites who hardened their hearts and missed Your rest. So we ask: soften our hearts. Open our ears to Your voice. Help us to respond to You today—not tomorrow, not "someday," but today. Help us to consider Jesus daily—to fix our minds on Him, to marvel at His glory, to trust in His faithfulness. And help us to be a community that exhorts one another, that speaks truth in love, that fights together against the deceitfulness of sin. We know we can't do this alone. So knit our hearts together. Make us truly family. And keep us faithful to the end. In Jesus' name—the name of the One who is greater than Moses, the faithful Son over God's house—Amen.
