Hebrews 3:2
2 March 2025
...who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house.
So as we come to this point in Hebrews chapter three, if you remember, a few weeks back when we started in this chapter, we established that a new argument is being built: This is the latest contrast between Jesus and someone. Here it is Moses. But as we also noted, the beginning of chapter three is establishing what will be an eight-chapter-long comprehensive argument about why Jesus is greater and how Jesus has fulfilled the Mosaic Law in a way by which the readers, from a Jewish background, as professing Christians, needed to heed and understand.
Now, in this immediate section here in Hebrews chapter 3, verses 1 to 6, it is contrasting the Lord Jesus Christ and Moses. But it's not until verse 3, down to verse 6 at the beginning, that we see the contrast of Christ's superiority being established. Now, if we were to ask the question to any professing Christian, and maybe to anyone who knows something of the Bible, who is superior, Jesus or Moses, we would all be able to answer. My children would be able to answer, "Jesus is superior."
So we know and we understand this upon the authority of the Word of God, what is being established verse after verse in the Book of Hebrews. But the whole purpose of this book is to provide a deep and comprehensive argument as to why and how Jesus is superior. So we're getting into the solid food, the spiritual meat of understanding these doctrines that we would be able to articulate maybe in the simplest and most clear terms. We're going into the depths of what this actually means and how it is unpacked throughout all of Scripture.
And so today, as we look at verse 2, we have Jesus and Moses both appearing in the verse, but it's not dealing with the subject of Jesus being superior to Moses. Yet the groundwork for that argument is being laid here in verse 2. As we've noted, it's not until verse 3 where two arguments are going to be established as to why Jesus is counted worthy of more glory. Verse 3, namely, that Jesus is the builder of the house and Jesus is the Son in the context of this house.
But here today we have a statement being made about the Lord Jesus and a statement being made about Moses, which is the same in terms of what's written, because verse 2 says of Jesus, "Who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house."
So we're going to consider how Jesus is faithful, how Moses was faithful, and we're also going to briefly consider the challenge of whether we are faithful. So that's the key focus of the verse dealing with this word "faithful."
Now, faithfulness is something that we see constantly throughout the Word of God. First of all, it is an attribute of the Living God, and it is one of the communicable attributes, which means that it is also an attribute that can be displayed in man, but to a much lesser degree. It is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22. So it is a very significant word in the Word of God. And it basically means to be steadfast, unwavering, and dependable. So to be faithful is to be steadfast, unwavering, and dependable. This is what we see Christ being described as when He was on this earth. He is faithful. It is also what Moses is described as, and it is also what we are called to be as His disciples. This is a very high, weighty calling.
Proverbs 20 verse 6 says, "Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find." Are we steadfast, unwavering, and dependable, brothers and sisters? We know how shallow and fickle we are. We know how easy and how quick we are to turn one way or the other, depending on where and how it may suit.
And so this is why, page after page in the book of Hebrews, chapter after chapter, verse after verse, sermon after sermon, to take you to Christ can be like the manna was in the desert to the Israelites. When we come to a subject like faithfulness, is it not just highlighting your desperate need of Christ?
As we read, even before we get to the declaration of Him being faithful, in verse 1, the exhortation, the second in the book, is to consider Jesus, who is the One, who is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. Because Jesus, as we noted in verse 1, is the Word from God, and He is the Way to God. That's who Jesus is. And that's what we unpacked in verse 1.
And now as we come to verse 2 and consider and unpack more of the teaching of who the Lord Jesus Christ is, it now comes to say that Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, "Who was faithful to Him who appointed Him." So, Jesus was faithful to Him who appointed Him. So again the emphasis, the focus continues on the humanity of Christ, in Christ coming to this earth.
And we've spent already so much time in chapter two, considering how significant this is. So what does it mean then specifically for Jesus to be faithful?
Well, Revelation 19:11 says, "Then I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse. The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war." Note this at the end of the Scriptures, this picture, this glorious lofty picture in the book of Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is called Faithful and True because Jesus Christ is faithful by His very nature.
He is faithful because, as we've already even seen in the book of Hebrews, He is God and He never changes. He is faithful because, as we even see here in Revelation 19:11, He is also Truth. Brothers and sisters, if the one true living God is not faithful entirely, absolutely, always, even once He is not faithful, then He is not God. That's how serious and how important this is.
But we know that Jesus is God and that this God, the God of the impossible, the God of all glory, the God whose word endures forever, whose purposes and plan comes to pass exactly as He decrees. This is what it means to declare that the Lord is faithful. And it's why in 1 Kings 8:56 it says, "Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that He promised, not one word, not one word has failed. Of all his good promise which He spoke by Moses his servant, not one word of what God proclaims falls to the ground. Not one word fails."
Because what we see in the faithfulness of our God is that the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, the God who makes covenant promises, keeps and fulfils His covenant promises because He is faithful. This is why throughout the Psalms, what do we see the psalmists repeatedly crying of God, crying of His faithfulness? And this is why we know, brothers and sisters, that all the types and shadows are fulfilled from the old in the new, Jesus Christ. Everything finds their "Yes", 2nd Corinthians 1 in Jesus Christ because He is faithful.
Now, dealing specifically with the wording here in Hebrews 3:2 and we've got a slight problem that we can quickly address, but we need to identify what it is. It says, "who was faithful to Him, who appointed Him." Now the ESV have gone for this word appointed because this helps us to understand a bit more clearly what is meant. But a more literal word into the English would be made so it could read "who was faithful to Him, who made Him."
Now as soon as we hear language like that, we might be wondering, well, hang on a second, Jesus cannot be made because He is God. Well, yes, absolutely. And we've already considered in Hebrews chapter one that He is eternally begotten of the Father. The Son comes to this earth not as one who is created. He is eternally God. And we've seen enough already in the book of Hebrews to know clearly and emphatically as we see throughout the Word of God, that Jesus is God. And all of the attributes, including His faithfulness, we can see and delight in in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But also, we need to identify that in this being made, in this being appointed, this language is very clearly inferring what it means for Jesus to have been sent, to have been commissioned by the Father in coming to this earth. And so when we look to the Lord Jesus on this earth, having been sent and commissioned with a specific calling and purpose, we know that Jesus was faithful to the One who sent Him.
So what does this mean? It means that when Jesus was on this earth, He was faithful to God the Father. Now is this what we see when we look at the Scriptures, Jesus being faithful to the One who appointed Him His Father? Let's consider several Scripture verses. You can look them up if you have time, or you can make note.
First of all, even in the time when Jesus was a boy, what does He say in Luke 2:49? Well, He says to Mary, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father's house?" So already we begin to see a picture that Jesus was faithful to his Father, the One who, as we see here in Hebrews 3:2, appointed. Who sent Him?
In John 8:29, it says, "And He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." This is why the Lord Jesus declares in John 8:50 that He seeks not His own glory. And even, as we've already seen in the Book of Hebrews, going to the Gospels at the time of greatest anguish at Gethsemane our Lord cries "Not My will, but Yours be done." Because Jesus is the one chosen and set apart. He is the Anointed One. And this means that it all rests in Him, namely the plans, the purposes, the promises of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, of the God who is faithful, it now rests in the one to whom all authority has been given.
Now do we understand this? The attributes of God, the attribute of God's faithfulness, it now rests in Jesus, in Him coming to this earth, in what He is going to do. So this matters fundamentally and eternally. And this is why, as we've already seen in Hebrews 3:1, He is the one, the Lord Jesus, who is discharged as a faithful apostle, a faithful high priest, the one who would declare the whole counsel of God, the one who would fulfil all of these plans, promises and purposes of God, that is Jesus Christ.
And this is why it now takes us to the very heart of the Gospel. It takes us to the very heart of what Jesus Christ came to do in who He is as the one who is truly God and who became man, clothing Himself in human flesh. He spoke with an authority that wasn't simply an authority that was of Himself, because He is God. And this was the eternal secret counsel of the Lord's will, which is revealed through the coming of Jesus Christ, the second Person of the triune God. He was faithful to His Father, and this is why He is faithful to what He declares and the promises that He makes.
So He promises that all authority would be given to those who believe. Mark 11:23 He promises the Holy Spirit, John 14:26. He promises salvation to those who He came to suffer, bleed and die for these things that He promises on his time here in this earth. Is Jesus faithful to what He says, to what He says He will do to the things that He promises? Because there's even the promise that we have in John 13:1, “Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” Namely, He is faithful to those whom He loves.
Now, this is important when we imagine the necessity we would place upon relationships that are dear to us. Maybe husband, wife, children, parents, even people within the church family. This faithfulness, being steadfast, being dependable, is something that we would consider to be of fundamental importance in these relationships. But again, we know how much and how often we cannot depend upon one another, how much we do let one another down. When we look to the Lord Jesus and these lofty declarations, the promises that He makes, all that rests upon him, if any of this, if any of this doesn't work out, if any of this doesn't go to plan, if Jesus messes up in any way, then everything of Christianity is a lie.
This is what we are dealing with when we come to this declaration. Jesus was faithful to Him who appointed Him. Everything that Jesus came to do was fulfilled perfectly. Everything He has said comes to pass. And this, brothers and sisters, tonight is why we have the assurance of our salvation. It's why you can sit here tonight as a Christian, proclaiming the name of the living God as your Heavenly Father. It's why you can stand here tonight singing praises to God.
It's why you can come together as the church of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus is faithful, faithful to and for wretched people like you. Because this is why He came. He didn't come aimlessly. He didn't come with a vague sense of, well, there might be a group of people here, there and everywhere who might make a decision. I don't really know. No, He came with a specific and precious purpose. And that was the purpose of those whom God has sovereignly and mercifully decreed would be rescued and redeemed.
And how would such people be rescued and redeemed? How could any of us be rescued and redeemed? Being rescued from our sin, which cuts us off from the living God. To be redeemed means to be bought back by the living God. This could only happen by the one who is Faithful, that is Jesus Christ.
And this takes us to the very cross on which Christ would suffer and die on, and the very blood which would be shed, blood which would be shed for His people. And this is why there is a new covenant sealed by His blood. This is the mighty valour and kingly authority of Jesus Christ, who would lay down His life as a sacrificial lamb for sinners like us.
And that's the gospel. And that's your hope, that's your assurance of salvation. And it is cast iron, certain, solid, because Jesus is faithful. He is faithful to you and to me. We don't deserve it. What could we possibly say before the one true living God? As if, well, I'm owed this and that. We're owed nothing except the eternal punishment in hell.
But this is what Christ faced. He was faithful even to be crushed at Calvary for us, because this was the plan and purpose of the living God, which would be fulfilled by Christ on the cross. And He did it for a vile wretch like you and me. And that's the gospel. That's why you're here this evening. That is the only reason that we can sit here this evening, because the Lord Jesus Christ has done this, because of declarations like Hebrews 3:2, that Jesus is faithful.
And oh, may this stir the hearts of the people of God to know how unworthy and undeserving we are, and how it would take the only one who fulfils this attribute of faithfulness perfectly, who is also the only one who could be the perfect substitute in our place. As we were considering this morning, this is what Christ has done. And this is why we can rejoice in taking time to unpack more and more of the rich and wonderful doctrine that we see in the book of Hebrews, of the superiority of the glory of Jesus Christ.
Now, as we come to the next part of this verse, this, this is the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus. We come then to a comparison, a similarity, where it goes on to say, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. Now, a couple of things to mention here. Jesus is always central in the book of Hebrews, but in different sections there are other key words or key individuals or key themes that, that we need to be aware of. And both of them are found here in this half a sentence in Hebrews 3:2, namely, Moses and house.
Now, before we deal with Moses, let's just quickly touch on this house language because it's going to be relevant as we deal with verses three to the beginning of six next week. And as we finish off in verse six, the following week. So what do we mean by this word house? Because it's saying Moses was faithful in all God's house. Well, it means the family household. If we were to kind of widen the translation and in Scripture this is referring to God's family household. And often there is language in Scripture of this very thing.
So I'll just give you a few that you can note down. So the words the house of God is referenced, for example, in Ecclesiastes 5:1. There's also mention of the house of Israel in Jeremiah 3:18, referring to God's covenant with His firstborn son. There's also mention of the house of Aaron in Psalm 115:10, referring to the priests of God. We've also got the House of David, 2nd Chronicles 21:7, referring to the descendants of David as part of God's covenant promise. And all of these terms are talking about the household, the family of God, God's people, His house, His household, His people. That's what we should have in mind.
Now, that's not going to be of such explicit relevance to what we're dealing with today, but it's good to introduce this because that's going to be something that will be unpacked in the argument established from next week. But right now we should have in our minds that this household of God, this is God's family, this is God's people. And the verse is saying that Moses was faithful in all God's house.
Now, you'll notice that in verse five, the same thing is repeated where it begins. Now, Moses was faithful in all God's house. And it adds, as a servant. So we will be revisiting this declaration next week in the context of the argument that the Lord Jesus establishes. But this week we're just going to take time to think about, well, how. How was Moses faithful in all God's house? That seems like quite a big statement. Is that maybe a bit over the top? Well, it can't be, because it's in the Word of God. And it also can't be even more because God Himself says this.
So if you can just turn with me to Numbers, chapter 12 for a moment. Numbers 12:6, “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?
Here we have it. The very declaration of God that Moses is faithful in all his house. Now, in the Lord's providence. Because we've already taken time to work through the book of Exodus. This should already be familiar to us. But let's just very briefly consider what we've seen in the time of Moses, life on this earth, and how He was faithful in all God's house.
Because remember that Moses was called in a crucial and fundamental time, in the time of the Old Testament, in the time when the Law would be given, in a time when the people of Israel were enslaved, having been so for hundreds of years. And it was God's appointed time that this people would be rescued and redeemed. And it would be through the calling of this man, Moses.
This man who, even when, as a baby, was miraculously rescued from a wicked edict by one of the pharaohs. The leader of Egypt, when his own mother had the intuition to put him in a basket and float him along the River Nile, and none other than the princess of Egypt found him and then handed him back to his own mother to raise him, initially until he was weaned, and then he would be brought up like a prince in the palace. And we would have been thinking that this would be the means by which God would use Moses mightily. But no, this was not the means by which he would be faithful.
In Egypt's context, no, we see that he rashly caused an enemy, not simply with his own people, but also with the people of Egypt, when he struck down one of the Egyptian soldiers. And he spent decades far, far away from anyone in Egypt, from any of his own people. He settled down, got married and had children in Midian, lived and served as a shepherd, working for his father-in-law. And it was there, decades later, that the LORD would call him from a burning bush, call him to go back to Egypt, to call the very leader of Egypt Pharaoh, to let the people of Israel go.
What would we see of Moses then? He was faithful to his calling. He was faithful in taking his staff and raising it with plague after plague that would strike against the Egyptians. He was faithful to every word that God would call him, to proclaim at that point, even on the night when the Israelites would be set free from slavery, when the destroyer would come to strike down the firstborn of Egypt, the firstborn of Israel were protected because Moses was faithful. And he communicated and proclaimed the word of God.
And it didn't stop there as they were going through the wilderness. God was faithful in obeying the living God when He raised up his staff and the Red Sea parted, when the manna was provided, when the water turned from bitter to sweet, when the Amalekites were defeated, and even when they stopped moving and they stood at the bottom of Mount Sinai. This was the time when God would give Moses the Ten Commandments and the holy law. Moses was faithful again and again, despite the ridicule and the rejection even sometimes of his own people.
Even when He was up at the top of the mountain and the people down below were erecting a golden calf. Moses didn't go the way of pragmatism. He was faithful to his God. He was faithful as their leader, he was faithful as their intercessor, even interceding for them when they did not deserve it in their sinfulness and folly. And he was faithful so much so that even the glory of the Lord shone upon his face when he came down from the mountain. This is a man who proved himself to be faithful in all God's house.
Now, brothers and sisters, at the same time, we do need to recognise that though it described Moses as faithful, the contrast between the Lord Jesus and Moses is stark. Moses was still a sinful man, as we consider in Exodus 2 when he killed the Egyptian soldier in Exodus 3 when he doubts and argues with God, when even in numbers 20 he strikes the rock in disobedience to God, we see instances of the wickedness and the sinfulness of Moses.
But in his life, in his ministry, in his leadership, in all that he was called to do, the Word of God declares that he was faithful in all God's house. Deuteronomy 34:10-12, “And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.” The LORD declared in the Old Testament that Moses is faithful.
And certainly for the readers to whom the book of Hebrews is being written, they would have very much had a picture of Moses being the great leader in the time of the Old Testament. They would have been having in their minds nobody can compare to Moses. So as soon as the author mentions Moses, the reader would be perking up and thinking, Moses, yes, who can compare to Moses. Well, at this point, the author isn't writing well, hang on. Moses isn't really that big a deal. He's not downplaying Moses to try to big up Jesus.
That's never what is being done in the book of Hebrews, as we've seen with the celestial beings. What we saw of the doctrine of angels in Hebrews chapter one is rich and glorious. What we see of the faithfulness of Moses is something that is so incredible to behold, and yet who can compare to the Lord Jesus Christ? And that is the argument that is being established here at the beginning of Hebrews chapter three. My brothers and sisters, as we consider this word faithful, to be dependable, to be steadfast, unwavering.
Where we see that perfectly in Christ. Where we see the example of that in men like Moses. How we consider here this evening how prone we are to wander from God. To put our faith in the here and now, the desires of the flesh, the idols of this world. And we consider how easy it is to live our lives in this way. Instead of being steadfast, we are flaky and disloyal. Instead of being unwavering, we are indecisive, following every wind and wave of doctrine. Instead of being dependable, we are unreliable and we surely cannot be counted on.
This is the battles against the flesh. And why, as we noted at the start, as we focused on in the middle, as we'll end here this evening, we need Christ. Because even for great men like Moses, were it not for the grace of God at work in their lives, then what would such men amount to? Because we know the condition in which we are all in. And yet, by the grace of God, by the saving blood of Christ, by him being faithful to the One who appointed Him. This is a fruit of the Spirit that we are called to be and display.
It's why in First Corinthians 4, the apostle Paul calls stewards, leaders of the church as those who are to be found faithful. He commands Timothy for being a faithful child of God. And this is something we should consider not as the means of our salvation, but because of the salvation we have in the faithful one, Jesus Christ. Are we faithful to the Lord and Saviour in whom we trust and desire to live for?
Are we faithful in the times that we spend in prayer, prioritising, centring, how important this is in our daily lives, individually, corporately? Or is it just an afterthought, a fit in when we can? Are we faithful in our evangelism in being ready to give an account for the faith that we have in the faithful one, Jesus Christ, being ready and willing to go and proclaim the good news to the lost?
Are we faithful to our church family in seeking to serve our brothers and sisters with all grace and humility, not seeking to bite back and to fight against one another, but to grow in grace and unity? Are we faithful to the families that God has called us to be, leading as husbands, to be caring for, as wives, as fathers and mothers?
Are we faithful in seeking to raise our children in the way by which the word of God calls and commands us to do and to be? Are we faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word in the ways by which we are called as disciples of Jesus Christ on this earth?
Christianity and the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ should not be the excuse for us being flaky, disloyal and those who cannot be counted upon. That is not the fruit of Christianity; that is succumbing to the ways of the world. We are called by Christ, and we look to the one who is faithful in everything and in every way.
And we can also look to these giants of the faith in Scripture, like Moses, and see examples of faithfulness in their action, in their conduct, in their leadership, in their intercession. And may this be by the grace of God. What challenges us to be faithful in what the Lord has called us to be as Christ's disciples, in what He has called us to do for the sake of his kingdom and for his glory?
Well, we should take this with the utmost seriousness, because Christ is of the utmost seriousness in the lives that we live. And praise God that this is because He is faithful in everything that He did. He, Jesus Christ, is faithful to the One who appointed Him.