Hebrews 3:7-9 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Wherefore, &c.— "We are the people of God, if we continue steadfast: wherefore, let me advise you, and exhort you, in the words of the inspired Psalmist, Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, and be not stubborn and disobedient, as were our fathers at Massah and Meribah in the wilderness; (Exodus 17:2-7.) when they tempted God, and tried how far his power and goodness would extend." The reasoning throughout this epistle is in general taken from the state of the children of Israel in the wilderness, and from what was done and said there; and the comparison is run between Christ and Moses; Christ and the high-priest;—the sacrifice of Christ, and the sacrifices then and there appointed;—the wilderness in which the Jews wandered, and the present life of Christians;—the land of Canaan, and the state of happiness or rest, to which we are called by Christ. The people of God are called out of the world, as the Israelites were out of Egypt: the people of God at present are going as it were through the wilderness, towards their rest in heaven, just as the children of Israel were marching through the wilderness to Canaan.—As this was the plan of the apostle, he speaks about the tabernacle, and the Jewish worship as at that time; and does not so much as mention the temple, except possibly in one place; or the state of things at the time when he was writing. His design was, to shew that the Lord Jesus Christ, and what he did, were infinitely more excellent, and infinitely more advantageous, than what Moses was and did. The superior dignity of the person of Christ was shewn in ch. 1. The reason of his condescension to become incarnate in ch. 2. His infinite superiority to Moses, in the present chapter: in further proof of which he proceeds to shew, that the rest promised by Christ to his people, is infinitely superior, and infinitely more excellent than that which Moses proposed to the children of Israel; whence this inference is as strong as possible, that the Hebrews ought to adhere steadfastly to the word preached by Christ, if they desired to obtain that more excellent and glorious rest. Mr. Peirce observes, that the wherefore, at the beginning of Hebrews 3:7 connects with the beginning of Hebrews 3:12. Wherefore, take heed, brethren, lest, &c. and that the citation from the 95th psalm, which comes between, is to be read in a parenthesis.—Having cited that psalm, the author dilates upon it, and applies it to his purpose, in the following part of this, and the beginning of the next chapter.