This chunk of Hebrews is one of those "stump the pastor" sections that, if not dealt with carefully, can cause some serious issues. For example, in 6:2, a number of good things to think about are blasted and in 6:4 there's a claim that it is impossible to return to faith once you fall away. So, what's the deal in these verses? While I can't find anyone who agrees with me, here are my thoughts.

First, we need to look at what was said both before and after this section. Both sides deal with Melchizedek and the priesthood of Christ. With this in mind, we see in verse 11 that the author, who's just introduced the topic of Christ's priesthood, wants to say a whole lot more about it, but the people aren't inclined to listen to what he has to say, rather, they want to move on to what they perceive to be more important issues.

While Hebrews 3:7-4:13 focused on what happens when we fail to head God's Word to us, 4:14-5:10 moves on to the positive side of the equation and the benefits of trusting God in faith, namely having an eternal high priest who stand before God on our behalf.

To make the point the author of Hebrews compares Jesus to the Old Testament priestly orders of Aaron and Melchizedek.

Christ is similar to both these orders in that, other priest were selected by God from among the people to be set apart as those who would stand before God and deal with sins on behalf of all the people. You get a taste of this in Exodus 28 & 29.

At the same time, there are some major differences between Christ and other priests. First, other priests would have to go through a long process of cleaning their own sins before they could stand before God on behalf of others. The best example of this would be the high priests preparation for Yom Kippur in Leviticus 16.

As verse 7 opens, the author of the Hebrews provides an example from Israel's past that describes what happens if God's people don't "hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope" from the end of verse 6.

He does this with a quote from Psalm 95 that again brings us back to Hebrews 1:1 and God speaking through the prophets and again through His Son. Psalm 95 links back to Exodus 17:1-7 where the people of Israel had witnessed God's actions and seen Him provide for them but they rebelled against God anyway. Psalm 95 and Hebrews 3:7-11 becomes an admonishment to not be like the people of Israel in those days.

With this setup of guarding the faith in mind, the author then exhorts those in the community to encourage one another in the faith. This is our first hint in Hebrews that community is central to the Christian faith.

After closing out chapters 1 and 2 with Jesus as being higher than the angels and like us in every way, the author of the Hebrews moves forward by identifying Jesus as the one who is above the greatest human in Jewish history, Moses.

Why was Moses the greatest? First, the first five books of the Old Testament, the foundation of all of Judaism, known together as the Torah, were also referred to simply as the books of Moses. In addition, in Deuteronomy 18:15-22, God outlines that He will send a new leader like Moses, a role filled by Jesus.

In fleshing out his argument as to why Christ is greater, the author of the Hebrews identifies Moses as one who was faithful in God's house (Numbers 12:1-9), while Christ is faithful over God's house. Moses was a servant, while Christ is the heir.

To add too this, the author argues that Moses being faithful was aimed at pointing people to the one who was greater, namely Christ.

Today marks the beginning of Lent, a season in the Church year that Christians have used for centuries to prepare their hearts for Easter.

In recent years, a popular way to engage in this preparation has been Lenten devotions. This year, I invite you to join me on an online Lenten journey at writingsfromthewilderness.com.

Together we'll explore wilderness themes like dust, hunger, heat, and thirst, linking these themes to our everyday lives and, ultimately Christ's death and resurrection for us.

Check out writingsfromthewilderness.com and let me know what you think.