Hebrews 3:16–19

¹⁶ For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? ¹⁷ Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? ¹⁹ So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Commentary

Vs. 16 In drawing it's warning for us all from the Israelite's whom Moses led out of Egypt, the Holy Scripture pulls no punches when describing them here. Notice then the tone of words that is used to describe them. Rebelled (vs. 16), sinned (vs. 17), disobedient (vs. 18), concluding with unbelief (vs. 19). Now their rebellion was not just against Moses, but their rebellion was directed against God Himself, for that is how the Holy Scripture views their actions (see Num. 14:11). And so just as they rejected the Lord, so He rejected and disinherited everyone of them, and thus He none of those who did so ever entered the Promised Land (see Num. 14:26-38; Psalm 119:118). Therefore in recalling what they did, and what happened to them when they did, the Holy Scripture is warning us all, so that no one who is now in the assembly of the Lord deceives themselves into thinking they can be justified by the cross of Christ if they likewise do so (consider Matt. 7:23). For as we are clearly warned, it is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming on the children of disobedience (Eph 3:5-7; Col 3:5-6). Therefore we are not to be partakers with anyone in anything that is rebellion against, or disobedience towards the Lord Jesus Christ and His commandments. For we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ have not only all our sins and transgressions atoned for and forgiven, (and thus thanksgiving and gratitude should now mark our persons), but we have also died with Christ, been buried with Christ, and risen to a new life with Jesus Christ as Lord of us all who believe in Him, and so whatever we once were we no longer are (2 Cor 5:17), and thus we are to live out this new life with Christ and each other in all grace and truth, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them (Rom 6; Eph. 5:11). For we are not even to eat with any person claiming faith in the Lord Jesus Christ yet who is knowingly sinning against the Lord (1 Cor 5:11-13). For those who know the truth and yet continue to do so are only showing themselves as to have hardened themselves to Lord and His will for us all, which is our individual, as well as our collective sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3-8). Therefore those who are now seeking too "normalize" homosexual depravity, which is and has always been an abomination in the eyes of the Lord (Lev. 18:22; Rom 1:18-32), have only aligned themselves with Satan and his agenda in trying to normalize it in the social conscience so as to pave the way for the rise of the antichrist, as sinners reach their fullness (Dan. 8:23; 11:37; 2 Thess. 2:5-12). Therefore the Gospel of God, and the grace of God that comes to us all who believe in God through it, does not change the moral standards of God. Therefore we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are sojourners and strangers in this world, and now too this world, (John 15:18-25), and so we are to reject all who claim faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and yet in their own rebellion against God are practicing and or justifying whatever forms of wickedness or ungodliness or licentiousness that they do (antithesis 1 Tim 1:12-17). Therefore we who believe in God through Christ Jesus the Lord are to uphold His commandments and live by them (Jude 3-4), and not follow the degenerating "morals" of this world (1 Thess. 4:3-7; Titus 3:10-11) which will keep lowering the bar until nothing is off limits. 

Vs. 17 "Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?"

Again God's anger fell on those who sinned, who in their rebellion against and rejection of the Word of the Lord spoken to them, not only sinned against it (by making the golden calf, then their practicing harlotry with Baal of Peor and the women of Moab, as well as their loathing of God's manna provisions for them, and of course their ongoing complaining and at times open rebellion against Moses leadership etc.) and so in their ongoing sin and rebellion against God they only became perceptual complainers and dissenters, and thus throughout their forty years in the wilderness some would be taken here and some there until that entire generation who initially refused to enter the Promised Land (except Joshua and Caleb) perished in the wilderness. 

Vs. 18 "And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?"

From their initial rebellion to their ongoing disobedience the wilderness wandering Israelite's were a people whom God Himself swore in His wrath that they would not enter his rest (Num. 14:26-35). 

Vs. 19 "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."

At the heart of their rebellion and sin and disobedience was their unbelief. Unbelief in refusing to believe that God could bring them into the Promised Land and later their unbelief that God could provide for them while they were there. They simply were a people who not believe God in spite of all the mighty signs and wonders and works that He did in delivering them from the Egyptians, as well as delivering them out of all their troubles in the Wilderness, and these He did right before their own eyes! Now they are not unique because there are people today in the assembly of the Lord who likewise will hear God's Word and see God's mighty works being done through His people around the world and yet they too will not believe! And that is something that we all need to beware of so that we do not let ourselves become hardened to the truth, or cynical, or disobedient, or unbelieving, for when that happens to anyone they too risk not entering Christ's Rest! For to begin a journey with Christ and not finish it is the greatest tragedy that can happen to anyone. And that is what the Holy Scripture is warning us all here, not to become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, or be overtaken by unbelief, or give in to voices of skepticism and doubt, but rather believe and live by faith day by day, everyday, until the Lord Jesus Christ comes and takes us all all home into the Promised Land.

Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Hebrews 3:7-15

⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, ⁸ Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, ⁹ Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. ¹⁰ Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ ¹¹ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ” ¹² Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; ¹³ but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, ¹⁵ while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Commentary

Vs 7-11 ⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, ⁸ Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, ⁹ Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. ¹⁰ Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ ¹¹ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

In recalling the Wilderness Israelite's failings to believe and obey God (Psalm 95:7-8). the Holy Spirit is now warning us all not to miss out on Christ's salvation for ourselves as they did, by saying, "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness ..."  For too harden ones heart as the O.T. Israelite's did in their rebellion in wilderness is now to only perish in ones own sins and transgressions separated forever from the Presence and thus the Salvation of the Lord. And so all that generation who did so, all perished in the wilderness, though they were the congregation of the Lord, yet they never entered the promised rest, because they hardened their hearts when God tested them in the wilderness, and by doing so they alienated themselves from the Lord, because they would not believe and obey the Lord. And so the Lord gave them up to forty years of wandering futility in the wilderness, until every last one of that generation perished from the presence of the Lord. This warning then of that rebellious generations end, should not be lost on any of us, because the Lord is the same today, yesterday, and forever (Heb. 13:8, also consider 1 Cor 10:1-13). And being in (or amongst) the congregation of the Lord is no guarantee that one is of the family (or people) of the Lord. For the Lord Jesus Christ Himself warns us all that 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matt 7:21-23

Vs. 12-15 ¹² Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; ¹³ but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, ¹⁵ while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Beware then brethren because no one is immune to having an evil heart of unbelief overtake them in this degenerating world, and thus have them depart from the living God (vs. 12). And so believers have to always be on guard against disappointments, distractions, doubters, dissenters and cynics etc., but specifically against the deceitfulness of sin, because nothing will harden ones heart more to the will of God than living in sin (vs. 13). Therefore while it is called "Today" that is the day or time of salvation for one and all who repent and believe, exhort one another to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in discipleship, in all faith and obedience to the will of the Lord. For as it states in verse 14, "we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end." Therefore the salvation of the Lord isn't just a one time confession of having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and then one goes back to living however they were living. Rather it is a complete transformation of our entire persons and lives, (and so one must ever look back to what God called them out of like Lots wife did, for she perished in her desire to return, see Gen. 19:15-26; Luke 17:32), but rather we who believe are now to go forward in faith pursuing the will of the Lord for us, which always begins with our own repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who by His own Crucifixion death and shed blood has not only atoned for all our sins and transgressions, but through that Holy Sacrifice of Himself the Lord Jesus Christ has also washed us clean in the sight of God, thereby making us fit to be recipients of His Spirit and His new life, and thus His everlasting salvation as He baptizes us into His own death, burial and Resurrection (Rom 6), by which we have all died (our old selves are dead), so that Jesus Christ by His Resurrection from the dead can bring us into a new and everlasting life with Himself as the Head of it all (2 Cor 5:17; Col 1:18). Therefore as the Holy Scripture says, “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” Do not then be like the Wilderness wandering Israelite's who though they saw the works of God and heard His Holy Word for forty years would not believe Him, and instead kept mumbling and grumbling and complaining against Him, wanting to return to the land of Egypt, the very place of oppression and bondage that He had brought them out of! And so instead of following in their footsteps hear the Lord Jesus Christ's voice Today and open your heart to Him and receive Him as your own Lord and Savior, so that He might not only cleanse you and save you from all your own sins and transgressions, but He also might regenerate you (and thus transform you) and bring everlasting life and all the fruits of His Spirit (see Gal 5:22-23) into you (and thus hope and life and love and peace and joy) and then He will work through you a Godly purposed filled life with Himself as the Lord of it all if you do. Therefore do not delay, receive the Lord Jesus Christ today! 

Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 7:21–23). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Hebrews 3:1-6

¹ Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, ² who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. ³ For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. ⁴ For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. ⁵ And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, ⁶ but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

Commentary

Vs. 1-2 ¹ Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, ² who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.

The Scriptures in declaring the Preeminence of Christ Jesus now point to His own faithfulness towards God in all things that were appointed to Him, just as Moses was faithful in all that God had appointed to him. Now the point is not to put Jesus' own Righteousness and Faithfulness on par with Moses (since Christ Jesus was without fault and blame before God our Father, Moses however like all men was not, nor could he or anyone else ever be, for then that would put him or anyone else who thinks as much about themselves or anyone else above the place of needing redemption from sin and death). And so the point is to show us that just as Moses was faithful in all of his house, that is faithful to God in what God had appointed for him to do in his house, that is in the house of Israel, so Christ Jesus has been faithful to God in doing all that He has assigned to Christ Jesus to do for us all. Now here Christ Jesus is called the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, not an apostle, but the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, that is our confession of faith in His Person and belief in His Gospel which brings remission of sins and everlasting life to everyone who repents and believes (Rom 10:9-10, 13). And so Christ Jesus stands alone in His Position and Preeminence as the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, thus there are no other apostle's or priests by which (or through) we draw near to God, for Christ Jesus the Lord is the First and He is the Last, the beginning and the End (see Rev. 22:13). Thus the incarnation of all faith in God begins and ends with Him, not Moses, or anyone else. Therefore all of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are holy brethren, because we have been saved by His blameless crusifixion death, washed by His sinless blood, and sanctified by His Holy Spirit. And so in this battle of flesh and Spirit let us all consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession Christ Jesus, who was faithful to God, (who appointed Him), just as Moses was faithful in all of His house (that is in the generation in which He was called). Because faithfulness towards God means that we will at times be (in the eyes of the world) an enemy of the world, that is of it's ungodly agenda, which is always antagonistic and hostile towards the Word of the Lord.

Vs. 3 "For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house."

Moses was an amazing man of God, yet even he himself transgressed against the Lord at Maribah Kadesh (Deut. 32:48-52), and so the Holy Scripture is making it clear that just as Jesus is exceedingly greater than the angels, so His glory and greatness as a Man excels even that of Moses. Now it is God who built the house, that is the household of faith of which we and Moses and Abraham and everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ belongs too. And thus it is Christ Jesus the Lord the Builder and the Head of the house (1 Cor 11:3), who has much more honor than the house. For the household was established and built by God so that He could glorify His Son as the Head of it all. 

Vs. 4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. 

God chose Abraham and through his seed He raised up both Moses and then the prophets, and Finally our Promised Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to redeem all the people He has chosen for Himself. All things then that pertain to our salvation, from it's origins to its end, have been designed and decreed and ultimately built and established by God. Thus Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior who is culmination of all of God's Work in redeeming sinful humanity from beginning to end is bestowed exceedingly far greater honor than those who are the inhabitants of His House. 

Vs. 5-6 ⁵ And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, ⁶ but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

Moses was faithful in all of His house as a servant (not a Savior), but a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward. And so just as with all the apostles and prophets who have always considered themselves only as servants of the Word of the Lord, so with Moses. (consider Num. 12:1-16). Now what Moses was appointed (and faithful too) was the Law of God, ministering to God and people through it. Yet the Law of God was not the end, but was given for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward. Thus the priesthood, the sacrifices, the ceremonial ordinances, the feast days etc., were all pointing to something and Someone Far Greater than Moses and the Law, and that is the the Lord Jesus Christ through whom you and I can have Gods glorious grace and eternal salvation by repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ through His Gospel. And so Christ Jesus as a Son, God's Son, was faithful to God over His own house, because He (like Moses) did all those things which God commanded of Him, and yet unlike Moses, Jesus was the objective of them all, to bring people to faith in and obedience towards God through Himself. Therefore the Scripture also says that we are apart of Christ's household if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. Now this holding fast the confidence is not confidence in or our own faithfulness or righteousness or goodness etc. which one thinks they have earned for themselves through the Law (consider Hab. 2:4; Phil. 3:7-9), but rather we are all too hold fast to our confidence in Christ Jesus the Lord who has fulfilled every righteous required of the Law for us all who believe in Him, and thus through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we are now both redeemed from sin and death, but we also now stand justified in the sight of God, because Christ Jesus has satisfied every righteous requirements of the Law for us all who believe in Him. Therefore holding fast ones confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ and and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end is what we who are of His Household must always do. For there is no salvation in any other, for there is no other name given under heaven amongst men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12; 1 Tim 2:5). 

Scripture Quotation
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Hebrews 2:10-18

¹⁰ For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ¹¹ For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, ¹² saying: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.” ¹³ And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And again: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.” ¹⁴ Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. ¹⁶ For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

Commentary
Vs. 10 "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."

In stating it was fitting for the Lord Jesus Christ to have suffered Crucifixion death, the Scripture is undoing any and all notions that going through such a trial of suffering and anguish for our redemption was unfitting for the Son of God. Since in bringing many sons to glory the Lord Jesus Christ suffering Crucifixion death was not for Himself, it was for us all. The most selfless act then is not a downgrading of God's Person, rather through it the Lord Jesus Christ's Person is exalted and is going to be exalted for all eternity, because it was God Himself who ordained that such things must occur, that is the implication being stated when the Scripture states, "for whom are all things and by whom are all things," because Lord Jesus Christ's Crucifixion was not an act of man done outside of or against the Will of God, but was done by sinful men in order to fulfill the Will and Word of God (Acts 4:27-28) so that God could redeem us all who believe in Him and glorify His Son through our Redemption (Phil 2:8-11; Eph. 1:18-23). For it is Jesus for whom are all things and it is through Him that are all things, for God created all things to ultimately glorify His Son. For whether by Redemption or by Judgment, God will glorify and exalt His Son through them. 
And so the Lord Jesus Christ as the captain (gr. ἀρχηγός, the Originator/Leader) of our salvation in bringing many sons to glory had to to be made perfect through sufferings. Perfect in the sense that unless the Lord Jesus Christ suffered Crucifixion death He could not have been perfected as the Captain of our Salvation because that element of His suffering Crucifixion death in our place as foretold in the Scriptures would not have then been fulfilled. And so when Jesus prayed in Gethsemane all of foretold redemption history was bound up in that intense moment of personal decision for Him, where He had to overcome His own fears and desires for self preservation and trust and obey God even to point of suffering Crucifixion death. For unless Jesus did so we ourselves in no way could've been redeemed from sin and death, and thus ultimately transformed into His glorious Image as the now Resurrected Son of Man; who is no longer subject to death, but now, Jesus having ascended back to God the Father in heaven lives forever in His Glorified state as our Glorified Lord and Savior. Thus Jesus as the Captain of our Salvation is the firstborn of the Resurrection of the dead of us all who believe in His Person and trust in His Name, for He is Lord of us all who by faith in His Person have been and will be saved (John 5:24; 11:25; Eph. 1:13-14). 

Vs. 11-13 ¹¹ For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, ¹² saying: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.” ¹³ And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And again: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”

And so Jesus as the captain of our salvation, in becoming a Man, obeying God in all things, and then in sanctifying us all who believe in Him (see Heb 10:14) is not ashamed to call us His brethren (11). Brethren here means the Lord Jesus Christ Himself now reckons us His brothers by birthright, and thus it is Jesus Himself who sees us all who believe in Him as sharing the same Father, His Father, God the Father who is in heaven (consider John 20:17). Therefore Psalm 22:22 (cited in vs. 12) now has the Lord Jesus Christ not only leading us in our praise and adoration and worship of God (BBC), but it is He Himself who is leading us in our trusting of God (Isaiah 8:17-18 cited in vs. 13).  

Vs. 14-15 ¹⁴ Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 

As the Captain of our Salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ didn't just come as the Son of God, He like us all put on human flesh, that is He became a full human being, a Man, the Son of Man, that He might destroy him who had power of death, that is, the devil. Thus Jesus as the Son of Man was subject to everything that we are subject to as mortal beings, including death, so that He might destroy him who had the power of death that is the devil. Now destroy here does not mean Jesus by suffering Crucifixion death has annihilated the devil, (for the devil is still alive and actively at work in this world) it means that Jesus Christ's death on the cross brought the end of Satan's rule and tenure of death, and ultimately anything in God's Creation. Thus with the Lord Jesus Christ having destroyed the devil's dominion and domain over death, He has now paved the way for us all now to have the resurrection from the dead, this is assured too us all who believe in Him by His own Resurrection from the dead. The Lord Jesus Christ's victory over death then is so complete and finial that Satan's negation to being made utterly nothing, along with his finial relegation to depths of hell is certain . Thus too speak of Jesus having destroyed the devil who had power of death then is a very accurate statement, since Satan can now hold back no one from attaining too the resurrection of dead, for the Lord Jesus Christ has ended his tenure of it (consider Isaiah 14:16-21; Ezekiel 28:16-19; Rev. 20:7-10). Now the other aspect in destroying the devil by His own death on the Cross is that Jesus has by doing so released us all who believe in Him from the fear the death by which we were throughout our lifetime subject to bondage. For one of greatest burdens that every human being carries in their own heart and soul is the fear of their own death, which means their eternal separation from God in hell if they die having not been reconciled to God. Now God often uses that very real fear to draw us to Himself, so that by our faith in His Son's Person He can reconcile us who believe in Christ back to Himself; restoring His life, love, peace and joy to us all who repent and believe in Him (Mark 1:15; 2 Cor 5:21). Having a fear of death then is not God's rejection or condemnation of you, rather it is God trying to reach you, so that you come home.

Vs. 16 "For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham."

Now in making sure that we all understand that God's highest concern and priority is for humanity, for our redemption from sin and death, the Scripture now declares that Jesus didn't come into the world to give aid to angels, instead He became a Man to give aid to us all, which has always been and will always be God's highest priority, our redemption from sin and death on the one hand, and our over all well being on other, because God created us all for Himself, and we are His image bearers, not angels. Therefore God does not give aid too angels (in the sense that he gives aid to us) for they are his spiritual servants, rather He gives aid to the seed of Abraham, that is every believer who thus is apart of the spiritual descendants of Abraham because we believe God's Word spoken to us just as Abraham did (consider Rom 4:9-25, vs. 11, 16, Gal. 3:7). And so it is that God provides aid to us all who believe in His Son so that we can remain in constant and eternal fellowship with Himself.

Vs. 17-18 ¹⁷ Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

Now in order for God to give aid to us all, the Lord Jesus Christ in all things had to made like His brethren, the implication being that Jesus had to learn and experience all that is to be human in a broken and sinful world. And so Jesus had to experience not only all of the physical limitations and emotions (both good and bad) that we are all subject too; but Jesus had to do so while remaining blameless before God, something which Job himself, a blameless man before God, yet when broken by his circumstances, could not do. And so in crying out to God about his own unexplainable plight one of Jobs main points was that God had no idea what it was like to be a mortal man in his very precarious place (consider Job 10:4-7, 15). And so again Jesus had to be made like us all in every aspect being subject to all of the temptations and emotions and physical limitations including death that we are all subject too. Just name an experience or temptation which we are all subject too as mortal beings living in a sinful and broken world and the Lord Jesus Christ has also experienced the same in the flesh, and yet He has overcome it all. Now this was done so that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in the things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. That is Jesus had too overcome all the ravages and temptations of sin from our mortal beings perspective, before He Himself offered Himself as the Sinless Sacrifice for us all; that is what propitiation means, by His own shed blood, Jesus Christ the Lord has provided the everlasting atonement for all of our sins before God. And so having complete knowledge of the human experience, and having overcome it all, and provided atonement for us all, Jesus can now not only intercede for us all as our High Priest before God, but He can also provide aid to us all so that we too can also learn to overcome whatever temptations and deprivations and circumstances and such that we will have to face as we also journey homeward.  

Scripture Quotations 
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Additional Resources Consulted
BBC: MacDonald, William. Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. Edited by Arthur Farstad. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995.

LN or Louw-Nida: Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. New York: United Bible Societies, 1996.

Hebrews 2:5-9

⁵ For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. ⁶ But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? ⁷ You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. ⁸ You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. ⁹ But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

Commentary

Vs. 5 "For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels."

The Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God is not only greater than the angels, but as the Son of Man He is restoring to man what Adam lost when he transgressed and sin entered the world. And so in Christ God has put the world (that is all of creation) into His subjection, not the angels, so that Jesus can restore the God created order in creation with mankind as it's head and as it's pinnacle. Now this Divine arrangement is seen in Psalm 8:4-6 which is cited next. 

Vs. 6-8 ⁶ But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? ⁷ You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. ⁸ You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. 

The question in verse six is not so much a question, but a marveling at the graciousness of God in making mankind a little lower than the angels, and then crowning him with glory and honor, placing him over all the works of His hands, and putting all things in subjection under his feet (vs. 7-8). That is the God created design for his creation that mankind whom He made to bear His Image would rule over it all. Now mankind lost both the glory and honor that God bestowed on him and that right of rule over creation when Adam the feudal head of humanity sinned and thus with sin entering the world God separated Himself from mankind, and so with that mankind died and sin infected all of creation and Satan took mankind's place as ruler in creation, and that is the condition of the world and the people within it that we currently see, and sadly daily experience. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is the key in all of this because it is through Him and Him alone that God has undone Satan's rule and has restored believing mankind back to Himself, because in becoming a Man, and being obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Phil 2:8-10), Jesus has restored to believing mankind what Adam lost as feudal head of mankind when he sinned against God and thus God separated Himself from him, and we being born of him were also relegated with him to that dead and separated state from God, which Christ has now undone by His own life, death, and resurrection and so He now brings us to Spirit life and restores us to God and His designs for us when we repent and believe in Him (Rom 5:18-19). And so now through Jesus Christ the Son of Man God has restored to mankind all that God intended for mankind to be and do and that is to bear His Image and too rule over all of His Creation, yet we do not see all that happening, yet, because there are still several historic events that need to take place before God ushers in His Kingdom and Rule when we rule with Him.  

Vs. 9 "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone." 

And so Jesus in order to restore to humanity all that Adam lost when he sinned, likewise had to take on flesh and be made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death; that is for the suffering of crucifixion death; so that by His own suffering and death, Jesus could make the Atonement for all our sins and transgressions and open the door our reconciliation back to God. And so Jesus when He came into world was crowned with the glory and honor that mankind once bore, "that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone." Now that Jesus has tasted death for everyone means that there is no one who is excluded from His salvation. For in tasting death for us all Jesus didn't remain dead in the grave, but three days later He rose from the dead, and so having tasted death for us all Jesus fifty days later ascended back to God the Father waiting till all His enemies are His footstool. And so from now until then is the day of salvation promised and prophesied about which is now freely extended to all who repent and believe in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who cleanses us of all our sins and transgressions and brings us to Spirit life uniting us with Himself and restoring us back God the Father forever the moment we do (Eph. 1:13-14). Therefore if you believe invite the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart and life to be your Lord and Savior (Luke 15:11-32; Rev. 3:20) and be reconciled to God today (2 Cor 5:21).

Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.