The second warning is found in 3:1-4:16. The opening words, “holy brethren,” link this chapter with the preceding chapter and with the concept of sanctification in 2:11. The author of Hebrews penned this chapter to warn professing believers who did not have their priorities straight. Having made a commitment to Christ, they were considering returning to the empty rituals of Judaism. They thought highly of Moses as the founding figure of Judaism. But Jesus was superior to Moses.

Verses 1–6 compare and contrast Jesus and Moses. Both had been faithful to God’s plan for them (3:1–2). Moses was presented as God’s servant working in God’s house for God’s people (3:5). Jesus had fulfilled a higher calling. As God’s Son, He stood over the house. Jesus was superior even to Moses, one of the greatest people in the history of Israel.

Next to Abraham, Moses was undoubtedly the man most greatly revered by the Jewish people. To go back to the Law meant to go back to Moses, and the recipients of this Letter to the Hebrews were sorely tempted to do just that. It was important that the writer convince their readers that Jesus Christ is greater than Moses, for the entire system of Jewish religion came through Moses.

A faithful representative does his/her job. Both Jesus and Moses were faithful (Num. 12:7; Heb. 2:17). For Moses, God’s house was the people of Israel. Moses fully carried out all God’s appointed duties with the chosen people. Jesus affirmed His own obedience in the task of representing God to human beings (John 17:4).