 |  |
OLD COVENANT -- MOSES.
NEW COVENANT -- CHRIST.
Letter killeth
Spirit giveth life
Glory done away
Rather glorious
Condemnation--glory
Righteousness--exceed in glory
No glory in this respect
By reason of the glory that excelleth
That done away is glorious
Much more that which remaineth is glorious
We are changed from glory
To glory
The face of Moses 3: 13
The face of Jesus Christ 4: 6
Veiled 3: 13, 14.
Unveiled 3: 18.
We know more or less how the apostle will proceed. He will go "from glory to
glory". He will honour the law, the types, the names of Moses and Aaron, but he will
faithfully point out where the Old Covenant failed and where the New succeeds. Christ
therefore according to II Cor. 3:, as well as Heb. 3:, has "more glory" than Moses.
In II Corinthians, this was because of the infinite superiority of the New Covenant, here,
in Hebrews, Paul has another purpose in view, although related, as we shall find later,
with this same New Covenant. Here he says that the greater glory of Christ over Moses,
is "inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For
every house is builded by some one; but He that built all things is God" (Heb. 3: 3, 4).
"This Man" (Heb. 3: 3). The apostle draws attention by the use of "this", "this man"
or "these", to prophets, priests and offerings in this epistle, setting the old over against the
new, and thereby magnifying the Son of God in all His mediatorial offices.
"God Who . . . . . spake in time past . . . . . by the
PROPHET
prophets, hath in THESE last days spoken unto us
by His Son" (Heb. 1: 1, 2).
"For THIS MAN was counted worthy of more
APOSTLE
glory than Moses" (Heb. 3: 3).
"For THOSE Priests were made without an oath;
KING
but this with an oath by Him that said unto Him, The
Lord sware . . . . . order of Melchisedec" (Heb. 7: 21).
"But THIS MAN, because He continueth ever,
PRIEST
hath an unchangeable priesthood" (Heb. 7: 24).
"For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and
PRIEST
sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that THIS MAN
OFFERING
have somewhat also to offer" (Heb. 8: 3).
&
"But THIS MAN, after He had offered one
SEATED
sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand
of God" (Heb. 10: 12).
While the word "house" in Heb. 3: 2-6 is the Greek oikos, the apostle avoids the use
of oikodomeo "to build" in Hebrews. There must be some reason for this, for oikodomeo
and its compounds are of frequent employment by Paul in his other epistles. If the reader
should call to mind the passage in Heb. 11:, where it says of the Heavenly City "Whose
builder and maker is God", he will find that the word translated "builder" is the Greek
word technites "artificer"; or if the words of Heb. 9: come into mind "not of this