Jesus And Moses Were Faithful

He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house.
–Hebrews 3:2

Hebrews 3:1 tells us that Jesus Christ is our High Priest. That word “priest” is the word “pontifex,” meaning bridge builder, mediator, go-between. The Bible says there is only “one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus is the only one who can span the gulf between God and us. Only He offered the acceptable sacrifice to God. He is also our High Priest in Heaven who represents us before God. He is the One to whom we can go in times of trouble, knowing that He hears and understands us. The writer of Hebrews said if you abandon Jesus in your season of suffering, to whom else are you going to turn? Somebody in the Jewish audience asked, “What about Moses? Wouldn’t he be a substitute for Jesus? I could go back to Judaism, and Moses could fulfill everything Jesus did for me.”

Moses was the national hero of the Jewish people. The Jews revered Moses. In a sense, Moses was an apostle from God. He went up onto the mountain to receive God’s laws and came back and spoke God’s laws to the people. Moses was God’s representative to the Israelites. In a sense, he was also a mediator between the Israelites and God. When God was so angry with the Israelites He was going to wipe them off the face of the earth, Moses prayed, “God, please do not do that. You promised to keep this people as Your people forever.” Moses was the go-between. It was natural for Jewish people to think they could substitute the worship of Moses for the worship of Jesus Christ. So the writer showed that Jesus is superior to Moses.

First, the writer showed how Jesus and Moses were similar. “He [Jesus] was faithful to Him [God] who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house” (Hebrews 3:2). Both Jesus and Moses were faithful. You know, God never asked you to be successful. He never asked you to be well-known. The Bible says there is one thing required of a steward and that is that he be faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2). Faithfulness means simply doing what God has asked you to do.

Here are four questions to ask yourself about your own faithfulness:

1. Are you being faithful in your marriage? Are you faithfully keeping your marriage vows? Are you centering your attention and affection on the spouse God has given you?
2. Are you being faithful with your children? Are you passing down your faith to them? Are you teaching them how to live not just by what you say, but by your example?
3. Are you being faithful in your work? Are you just trying to get by at your job? Or are you doing your job every day, as Colossians 3:23-24 says, as if God is your employer?
4. Are you being faithful in your relationship with God? Do you read the Bible and pray, knowing your relationship with God is the most important relationship in your life?

Moses was faithful. Jesus was faithful. And God requires of us that we are faithful.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “A Savior For All Seasons” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2018.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.