NOW MOSES WAS FAITHFUL IN ALL HIS HOUSE: kai Mouses men pistos en holo to oiko autou: (He 3:2; Numbers 12:7; Matthew 24:45; 25:21; Luke 12:42; 16:10, 11, 12; 1Corinthians 4:2; 1Timothy 1:12) (Click here for all 5 uses of "faithful" - pistos - in Hebrews)

Faithful (4103) (pistos from peítho = to persuade) is something or someone who is worthy of faith or keeps promises and is applied to God, humans, His Word, etc. In this context the basic idea is that of trustworthiness.

That is why Jesus said on one occasion,

“If you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46).

In His discourse with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus began at Moses and all the prophets, and

expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself (Luke 24:27).

Moses was a trustworthy steward in God's household, composed of the people of Israel. A steward does not own the house, but simply manages it for the owner. God owned the "house of Israel" and Moses was God's faithful steward for 40 years, dispensing those truths, commandments, promises, etc  that God had committed to his trust. Moses was a trustworthy steward.

AS A SERVANT: os therapon: (Exodus 14:31; Deuteronomy 3:24; 34:5; Joshua 1:2,7,15; 8:31,33; Nehemiah 9:14; Psalms 105:26)

Servant (2324) (therapon related to therapeúo = to voluntarily serve) denotes a faithful friend to a superior, who solicitously regards the superior’s interest or looks after his affairs, not a common or domestic servant (oiketes). Therapon is one who serves willingly regardless of whether he is a free man (eleútheros see in depth analysis of related verb eleutheroo) impelled by love or a slave (see either doulos or doulos) bound by duty. Thus the services of a therapon (Ex 14:31) were voluntary and higher than those of an ordinary doulos or slave. And so therapon denotes the willing service rendered as well as the relationship between the one serving and the one he serves. It also emphasizes an office which was honorable and dignified.

 Therapon is the Greek word used to translate the Hebrew word (in the Septuagint) "servant" (`ebed) in Numbers where God says that instead of speaking to Moses in a vision or dream...

"Not so, with My servant [therapon] Moses, he is faithful in all My household; with him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant [therapon] , against Moses?" (Nu 12:7-8)

Use of this Greek word therapon rather than "doulos" implies that Moses occupied a more confidential position, offered a freer service, and possessed a higher dignity than a doulos. Moses service more closely resembled that of an oikonomos (overseer) in God's house. It would have been helpful if the translation picked up on this nuance of an exceptional & honorable title given to Moses.

Therapon  is kin to the verb therapeuô = serve, heal, and therapeia = service Lu9:11 = a friend faithful to a superior; one who solicitously regards the superior’s interest or looks after his affairs, not a common or domestic servant. Therapon is  is a term of dignity and freedom, not of servility.

Wuest writes that...

Therapon lays the emphasis upon the fact that the person serving is a performer of present services, with no respect to the fact whether as a freeman or a slave he renders them, whether bound by duty or impelled by love. There goes habitually with the word the sense of one whose services are tenderer, nobler, freer than those of a doulos. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans)

Trench has a lengthy note writing that...

“The therapon… is the performer of present services, with no respect to the fact whether as a freeman or slave he renders them; as bound by duty, or impelled by love; and thus, as will necessarily follow, there goes habitually with the word the sense of one whose services are tenderer, nobler, freer than those of the doulos. Thus Achilles styles Patroclus his therapon … , one whose service was not constrained, but the officious ministration of love; very much like that of the squire or page of the Middle Ages. In the verb therapeuo (to serve, do service, to heal, cure, restore to health),… as distinguished from douleuo… , the nobler and tenderer character of the service comes still more strongly out. It may be used of the physician’s watchful tendance of the sick, man’s service to God, and is beautifully applied by Xenophon … to the care which the gods have of men. “It will follow that the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, calling Moses a therapon in the house of God (Heb 3:5), implies that he occupied a more confidential position, that a freer service, a higher dignity was his, than that merely of a doulos, approaching more closely to that of an oikonomos (the manager of a household, a steward, a superintendent) in God’s house; and, referring to Nu 12:6, 8, we find, confirming this view, that an exceptional dignity is there ascribed to Moses, lifting him above other doulos of God … It would have been well if our Translators had seen some way to indicate the exceptional and more honorable title given to him who ‘was faithful in all God’s house’.” (Trench, R. C. Synonyms of the New Testament. Hendrickson Publishers. 2000)

Kistemaker adds that the therapon  describes

"a person is in service to someone who is superior. Also, it connotes one who wishes to serve, in contrast to a slave who must serve." (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. New Testament Commentary Set, 12 Volumes. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House)

FOR A TESTIMONY OF THOSE THINGS WHICH WERE TO BE SPOKEN LATER: eis marturion ton lalethesomenon (FPPNPG): (He 8:5; 9:8-13,24; Deut 18:15, 16, 17, 18, 19; Luke 24:27,44; John 5:39,46,47; Acts 3:22,23; 7:37; 28:23; Ro 3:21; 1Pe 1:10, 11, 12)

BUT CHRIST WAS FAITHFUL AS A SON OVER HIS HOUSE: Christos de hos huios epi ton oikon autou: (Heb 4:14; Psalms 2:6,7,12; Isaiah 9:6,7; John 3:35,36; Revelation 2:18)

Remember that in the NASB, words in italics have been added by the translators (e.g., "was faithful" is not found in the original Greek text) usually to help the grammatical flow of the sentence.

Christ as a Son over His house is a truth that would have been revolutionary to most first century Jews. The writer of Hebrews seeks to lift his readers to views of themselves which they had heretofore only dimly grasped, if they had even grasped at all. And so this is the first time he uses "Christ", the Greek term for the Hebrew Messiah.

"But" contrasts Jesus with Moses' faithfulness as a servant. Jesus always perfectly carried out His Father’s will. He was the epitome of faithfulness. Furthermore, the contrast is between Moses a servant IN God’s house, with Christ a Son OVER God’s house, which echoes the writer's opening description of Jesus, in which he says that God...

"in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world." (see note Hebrews 1:2)

In psalm 2 God explained...

"But as for Me, I have installed My King (the Messiah) upon Zion, My holy mountain...and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Thy possession." (Psalms 2:6,8)

John the Baptist explained that

"The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand." (John 3:35)

WHOSE HOUSE WE ARE: hou oikos esmen (1PPAI) hêmeis: (He 3:2,3; Matthew 16:18; 1Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21,22; 1Timothy 3:15)

House is a metaphor frequently used in the NT to describe the redeemed of the Lord. For example, Peter describes believers...

"as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (see note 1 Peter 2:5)

IF WE HOLD FAST OUR CONFIDENCE: ean kataschômen (1PAAS)  ten parrhesian: (Perseverance; Steadfastness)  (He 3:14; 4:11; 6:11; 10:23,35,38,39; Gal 6:9; Colossians 1:23; Revelation 2:25; 3:11)

This note of contingency and doubt runs all through the Epistle.

Hold fast (2722) (katecho from katá = intensifies meaning + écho = have, hold) means to retain whether by avoiding the relinquishing of something.

Katecho gives a beautiful picture from its secular usage where as a nautical term katecho means to steer toward or land at. Luke uses katecho with this meaning in Acts writing that...

"casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders, and hoisting the foresail to the wind, they were heading for (katecho) the beach." (Acts 27:40) They were “holding theirs course toward beach"

By the grace of God we need to each keep our rudders firmly in hand and our faces fixed like flint toward Jerusalem so that our vessels are "headed for the beach" of God's Eternal Kingdom. Remember we are not home yet! Lord give us this seeking, holding fast heart please.

We "prove" we are God's house if we do not desert His way, His truth, His life. We can neither save ourselves nor keep ourselves saved. The meaning is simply that continuance is the proof of reality. We can tell if we are really the house of God because we stay there. The one who falls away never belonged in the first place. This is John's point in his first epistle where he writes that...

"They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us."  (1John 2:19).

As noted earlier this theme on perseverance of the true saint is woven throughout the New Testament.

Jesus warned His disciples...

"you will be hated by all on account of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved." (Matthew 10:22)

There are some who teach Jesus was not associating genuine belief with perseverance. For example, one evangelical author, Thomas Constable, commenting on Jesus' warning in Matthew 10:22 writes that

"this verse does not say that all genuine believers will inevitably persevere in their faith and good works. Rather it says that those who do during the Tribulation can expect God to deliver them at its end. Jesus was not speaking about eternal salvation but temporal deliverance. Temporal deliverance depended on faithful perseverance." (Thomas Constable) (Bolding added) (Ed note: In a similar manner Constable does not interpret Hebrews 3:6 as a reference to the perseverance of the saints.)

Others such as John MacArthur commenting on this same verse explains that...

"Endurance does not produce or protect salvation, which is totally the work of God’s grace. But endurance is evidence of salvation, proof that a person is truly redeemed and a child of God." (MacArthur, J. Matthew 8-15, Matthew 16-23, Matthew 24-28 or Logos) (Bolding added)

C H Spurgeon in his sermon Enduring to the End on (Matthew 10:22) writes that...

"Perseverance Is The Badge Of True Saints. It is their Scriptural mark. How am I to know a Christian? By his words? Well, to some degree, words betray the man; but a man’s speech is not always the copy of his heart, for with smooth language many are able to deceive. What doth our Lord say? “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” But how am I to know a man’s fruits? By watching him one day? I may, perhaps, form a guess of his character by being with him for a single hour, but I could not confidently pronounce upon a man’s true state even by being with him for a week. George Whitfield was asked what he thought of a certain person’s character. “I have never lived with him,” was his very proper answer. If we take the run of a man’s life, say for ten, twenty, or thirty years, and, if by carefully watching, we see that he brings forth the fruits of grace through the Holy Spirit, our conclusion may be drawn very safely. As the truly magnetized needle in the compass, with many deflections, yet does really and naturally point to the pole; so, if I can see that despite infirmities, my friend sincerely and constantly aims at holiness, then I may conclude with something like certainty, that he is a child of God. Although works do not justify a man before God, they do justify a luau’s profession before his fellows. I cannot tell whether you are justified in calling yourself a Christian except by your works; by your works, therefore, as James saith, shall ye be justified. You cannot by your words convince me that you are a Christian, much less by your experience, which I cannot see but must take on trust from you; but your actions will, unless you be an unmitigated hypocrite, speak the truth, and speak the truth loudly too. If your course is as the shining light which shineth more unto the perfect day, I know that yours is the path of the just. All other conclusions are only the judgment of charity such as we are bound to exercise; but this is as far as man can get it, the judgment of certainty when a man’s life has been consistent through out... A simple faith brings the soul to Christ, Christ keeps the faith alive; that faith enables the believer to persevere, and so he enters heaven. May that be you." (Click for entire sermon) (Bolding added)

Steadfast faith marks the elect. Jonathan Edwards once said that the sure proof of election is that one holds out to the end.

Persistence and hope characterize members of God's family.

William MacDonald commenting on this verse in Hebrews writes that...

"At first this might seem to imply that our salvation is dependent on our holding fast. In that case, salvation would be by our endurance rather than by Christ’s finished work on the cross. The true meaning is that we prove we are God’s house if we hold fast. Endurance is a proof of reality. Those who lose confidence in Christ and in His promises and return to rituals and ceremonies show that they were never born again. It is against such apostasy that the following warning is directed." (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson  or Logos)

J Vernon McGee comments that...

Paul had a way of using “ifs,” not as a condition but as a method of argument and of logic. We would understand him better if he had said, “Since we hold fast the confidence.” In other words, if we are sons of God and if we are partakers of the heavenly calling, we will be faithful and we will hold fast. This is the proof that we are of God’s house." (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary:  Thomas Nelson or Logos)(Bolding added)

Believer's Study Bible writes that...

"perseverance in the Christian life is the test of whether one’s Christian commitment is genuine." (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson  or Logos)

S Lewis Johnson has some interesting comments writing that...

Now the Christian, who has believed in the security of the believer, has always been troubled by the "If's of the Bible". I have heard, from very noble men, attempts to eliminate the "Ifs" of the Bible, but we can't do it. Whose house are we IF we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. You ARE in God's house IF YOU HOLD FAST. You ARE NOT in God's house IF you don't hold fast. What he is saying is simply this: continuance in the house of God, that is continuance in the faith, is the proof of the reality of our faith. If we continue, we have surely believed. If we do not continue, then we have not truly believed....I want to tell you that I have been a Christian for over 25 years and I have had the privilege of preaching to a lot of people. I have preached the word for over 20 years in North Dallas. Through the years I have seen some fall away for the pleasure of this world which choke the seed, and they fall by the wayside. And I have seen the seed fall on "good ground" and the fruit coming as 30 fold, 60 fold and 100 fold. Our Lord explains that some seed falls on rocky ground and, springing up, they wither and fall away, apostatize. They seem to be the reality. They seem to have responded, but there was no perseverance to the end. Our author says, "whose house we are IF we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. "I am grateful for that "if" because I have been buffeted a good bit in my Christian life, and will surely be buffeted in the future, but I know that in the final analysis that if I have eternal life within me, I have assurance that He will preserve me. He will hold me because I belong to Him." (Bolding added)

Donald Barnhouse once illustrated this principle of perseverance by asking...

"remember the child’s toy that’s a big vinyl doll with a heavy round weight of sand in the bottom? You punch it, it bounces right up again. Punch it again and it comes back to the upright position. Similarly those Christians in the early church kept bouncing back."

He is not saying you "become the house of God by holding fast" but if you are the house of God you will hold fast. If you do not hold fast you are not the house of God! He is telling us the end result of our salvation...perseverance to the end.

FF Bruce writes:

“Nowhere in the New Testament more than here do we find such repeated insistence on the fact that continuance in the Christian life is the test of reality”.  (Bolding added)

The life of a saint is the evidence of a new life in the saint. Someone has quipped that they have always believed that God has permitted the cults to come along to draw out of the churches those who are not really believers. The cults serve as God’s strainer. The proof that you are a child of God is that you hold to the faith.

If these Hebrews would hold their course in life steadfastly along the lines of their present profession, that would show that they were saved. If they veered away from that course, that would show that they never had been saved, but that their profession of Messiah had been, not one of the heart but of the head. Their perseverance did not save them but showed them to be truly saved. You can have truth and even speak truth and still be lost as Jesus taught about scribes and Pharisees declaring...

"therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things, and do not do them." (Matthew 23:3)

Confidence (confidence) (parrhesia from pas = all + rhesis = speech) literally means "all speech" and  thus refers to freedom of speech or an attitude of openness that stems from freedom and lack of fear. The result is a state of boldness and confidence. The Greeks used parrhesia to describe those with the right to speak openly in the assembly.

Parrhesia is a key word in the epistle to the Hebrews...the writer exhorts his readers...

"Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need." (see note Hebrews 4:16)

"Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." (see notes Hebrews 10:19; 10:20; 10:21; 10:22)

"For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward." (see notes Hebrews 10:34;  10:35)

When you are free to speak, then there is no fear and you have confidence. We should not have confidence in ourselves, because we are too prone to fail, but we should have confidence in Jesus Christ who never fails.

Those who lose confidence in Christ and in His promises and return to rituals and ceremonies show that they were never born again. It is against such apostasy that the following warning is directed.

Steven Cole writes...

Jesus has made us His house (3:6). “House” is used seven times in this paragraph. It is a metaphor for God’s people, in whom He dwells (Eph. 2:19, 22; 1Tim. 3:15; 1Pet. 2:4, 5). The Bible never calls a church building “God’s house.” God’s people are His house. They may gather in a barn or an open field or a house or a building constructed specifically for worship. But the building isn’t sacred; the people are sacred! We are to be built together into a holy temple of the Lord, a dwelling of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:21, 22). All of this is very comforting, but then the author throws in one of those uncomfortable warnings: “if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope.” (The phrase, “firm until the end” was probably not original and was inserted from He 3:14; Bruce Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament [United Bible Societies], second ed., p. 595). F. F. Bruce explains the “if” clause (Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews [Eerdmans], p. 59):

Nowhere in the New Testament more than [Hebrews] do we find such repeated insistence on the fact that continuance in the Christian life is the test of reality. The doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints has as its corollary the salutary teaching that the saints are the people who persevere to the end.”

He goes on to cite the parable of the sower, where the seed thrown on the rocky ground made a good showing at first, but then faded away in the hot sun, because it had no deep roots. Jesus interpreted this to refer to those who welcome the word with joy at first, but are only temporary, because “when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away” (Mark 4:17). As Bruce explains, this is precisely what the author of Hebrews fears will happen with his readers. Thus he emphasizes repeatedly the need for bold confidence and joyful hope.

Conclusion The Christian life is not a 100-yeard dash; it’s a marathon. That name comes from the decisive Battle of Marathon, where the Greeks fought the Persians. If the Persians had conquered, the glory that was Greece never would have been known. Against fearful odds, the Greeks won the battle. A Greek soldier ran all the way, day and night, to Athens with the news. He ran straight to the magistrates and gasped, “Rejoice, we have conquered!” Then he
dropped dead. He had completed his mission and done his work (William Barclay, The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon [Westminster Press], pp. 210-211). It is significant that when Paul wrote his final letter to Timothy, he did not report on how many he had won to Christ, how many churches he had planted, or how many evangelistic campaigns he had conducted. He said simply, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). He fought and he finished—he endured! If you want to join his ranks, take time often to consider Jesus.

THE BOAST (KJV = "rejoicing") OF OUR HOPE: kai to kauchema tes elpidos: (Ro 5:2; 12:12; 15:13; 1Thes 5:16; 2Thes 2:16; 1Pe 1:3, 4, 5, 6,8) (See in depth study on hope at elpis; elpis (2) Believer's Blessed Hope)

"Boast" (kauchaomai from a root word auchen = neck which vain persons are apt to carry in proud manner) means to boast over a privilege or possession. This word conveys the idea of triumphant, rejoicing and can include the feeling of joy or great delight. And so kauchaomai combines the ideas of jubilation and confidence into one word that we could sum up as "joyful confidence". Webster has a picturesque definition of boast as "to leap for joy", "be extremely joyful". Clearly boasting can be bad as exemplified by the basic attitude of many of the Jews who wee self-confident and seeking their glory before God's glory. And so we see that many Jews found their source of boasting in the law, Paul recording for example...

You who boast (kauchaomai) in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? (see note Romans 2:23).

Kauchaomai  expresses an unusually high degree of confidence in someone or something being exceptionally noteworthy. As used in the positive sense self-confidence is radically excluded and all self-boasting is abandoned. Faith in fact implies the surrender of all self-glorying. Thus Paul in explaining the effect of his having placed his faith in Christ wrote that ...

"we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence (kauchaomai) in the flesh," (see note Philippians 3:3).

Most human boasting issues from pride and is always warned against. But when God is the subject we are allowed to boast. And so Jehovah speaking through Jeremiah says...

"Let not a wise man boast (Lxx = kauchaomai is used 5 times in these 2 verse) of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

To boast in this sense is equivalent to rejoicing in the Lord.

In the present context boasting in one's "hope" has eschatological significance, as alluded to in Romans where Paul writes...

Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult (kauchaomai) in hope of the glory of God (i.e., the return of Christ Jesus, our "Blessed Hope", our gathering together to Him and our then being made like Him in glory!). And not only this, but we also exult (kauchaomai) in our tribulations (thlipsis = pressing circumstances. Thlipsis originally meant crushing beneath a weight!), knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character (dokime: see related word dokimon); and proven character, hope and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (see notes Romans 5:1; 5:2; 5:3; 5:4; 5:5)

Hope (1680) (elpis)  in Scripture is not the world's definition of "I hope so", with a few rare exceptions (e.g., Acts 27:20) but is is an absolute certainty of future good. Hope is defined as a desire for some future good with the expectation of obtaining it. Hope is confident expectancy. Hope is the looking forward to something with some reason for confidence respecting fulfillment. See related study on the Believer's Blessed Hope.

“a pathological belief in the occurrence of the impossible.”

“Abandon all hope, you who enter here!”

"looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus."  (see note Titus 2:13).

“But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1Cor 13:13; 1Th 1:3-note; 1Th 5:8-note; Gal 5:5, 6; Ep 1:15, 16, 17, 18-see notes Ep 1:15 16; 17; 18, Ep 4:2, 3, 4, 5- Ep 4:2; 4:3; 4:4; 4:5; Col 1:4, 5-note; He 10:22, 23, 24-note;1Pe 1:21, 22-note).

"God has not destined us for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1Th 5:8).

FIRM UNTIL THE END: mechri telous bebaian (Note that this phrase is found only in Greek Textus Receptus...so not in NASB):

Firm (949)(bebaios) from baino = to go, walk, step) describes that which is fixed, stable, sure, attested to and certified. It is something which is unwavering and persistent and thus can be relied on or depended on. It  can be relied not to cause disappointment for it is reliable and unshifting. It pertains to that which is known with certainty. It refers to something that has validity over a period of time (e.g., the promise made to Abraham remained valid to NT believers, see note Romans 4:16).  Figuratively bebaios refers to that upon which one may build, rely or trust. In practice, though not originally, bebaios is close to pistos  (4103) (trustworthy, dependable, reliable, faithful)

TDNT says that bebaios

Note that the same phrase is clearly genuine in verse 14.

To show his grave concern the author reminds them, in the second major warning passage of the letter, 3:7,13, of the possibility of that apostasy which left thousands of Israelites dead in the wilderness. And this had even been under the leadership of Moses.

Hughes sums up this section noting that...