Better Than Moses

By Gail Peo

Last week Kathy asked us: “Have you ever found yourself putting your hope and trust in things other than God?”

In our study of Hebrews this week (Hebrews 3:1-4:13), we considered the fact that Jesus is “Better than Moses.” Now, we don’t tend to worship Moses today, but the first readers of Hebrews revered him above all other leaders. Understandable, given his accomplishments:

1. Saved from infanticide by being placed in a reed basket on the river Nile, he was found by Pharaoh’s daughter who wanted to keep him. Because of this, Moses was raised with all the benefits of an Egyptian royal family member.
2. He was called to service for God’s people when God spoke to him through a burning bush.
3. He led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, walking across dry land in the middle of the Red Sea. When Pharaoh’s army tried to follow them, the waters closed over them and they drowned.
4. He led the Israelites as they wandered through wilderness areas without the security and comforts of “home.”
5. He directly received God’s law written on tablets of stone.
6. “He was faithful in all God’s house as a servant.”

For these reasons, and more, Moses was highly respected, and maybe even worshipped as a leader.

But he was not perfect. Numbers 20 tells us that Moses did not get to enter the Promised Land because of unbelief. While leading the Israelites in the wilderness, he got exasperated with them for their forgetfulness of God’s provision. He struck a rock to get water, instead of just speaking to it as instructed by the Lord.

In Hebrews, we learn that Jesus is better than Moses. Where Moses was merely a servant, “Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.” Moses was a created being, one portion of the house that God built. Christ is the Builder and perfect in every way.

Do you ever put godly people on a pedestal? So much, that you put your hope and trust in them, rather than God? We are warned not to do that (Hebrews 3:7-9, 15-16). We are encouraged to strive to enter his rest.