In this message we come to the third comparison found in the book of Hebrews—that Christ as the Apostle is superior to Moses. At the very beginning of this Epistle, we saw the comparison between our God and the God of the Jewish people. Then, in chapters one and two, we saw two aspects of the comparison between Christ and the angels. As both the Son of God and the Son of Man Christ is superior to the angels. The third boast of the Jewish religion is Moses, who was their most outstanding leader. As we shall see in another message, the fourth comparison, that between Christ and Aaron, shows us that Christ as the High Priest is superior to Aaron.
As the Apostle and High Priest, Christ is superior to both Moses and Aaron. We see these two titles of Christ in 3:1 where we are told to “consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus.” Jesus is our Apostle and our High Priest. As the Apostle, He was typified by Moses; as the High Priest, He was typified by Aaron. The Apostle is the One who was sent to us from God and with God (John 6:46; 8:16, 29). The High Priest was the One who went to God from and with us (Eph. 2:6). As the Apostle, Christ came to us with God to share God with us that we might partake of His divine life, nature, and fullness. As the High Priest, Christ went to God with us to present us to God that we and all our case might be fully cared for by Him. As the Apostle He was typified by Moses who came from God to serve the house of God (3:2-6), and as the High Priest He was typified by Aaron, who went to God with the house of Israel and their cases (4:14—7:28).
Although you might have known that Jesus is our High Priest, I doubt whether many of you reading this message have ever heard that Jesus is also the Apostle. Jesus was the first Apostle in the New Testament. This is why I say once again that the book of Hebrews is quite peculiar. Firstly, it tells us that the Lord Jesus has been appointed by God to be the Heir of all things (1:2). Then it tells us that He is even the Captain of salvation (2:10). Christ as the Heir of all things and as the Captain of salvation is not so clearly revealed as in this book. Even Christ as the High Priest cannot be found elsewhere in the New Testament. Now we see that Christ is the Apostle. The word apostle in Greek means a sent one, one who is sent by higher authority. Jesus is the One who was sent by God. God sent Him to us.
Moses was a type of Jesus as the Apostle, the sent one. When the children of Israel were suffering persecution under the tyranny of Pharaoh, God appeared to Moses and charged him to go to the children of Israel and to Pharaoh. Thus, Moses became an Old Testament apostle. Moses was God’s sent one, the apostle who was to take Israel out of Egypt and lead them through the wilderness for the purpose that they might be constituted as God’s house and to be formed into a habitation of God on earth. This habitation of God was symbolized by the tabernacle made by the children of Israel in the wilderness. That tabernacle was only a symbol; it was not the real habitation of God. At that time, God’s real habitation on earth was the children of Israel themselves. The children of Israel were formed and constituted into a house of God by Moses, God’s apostle. This portrait is very clear. When we read the Bible we need to have such a heavenly vision, a revelation in the spirit. Without this, we can never apprehend the true significance of all the stories in the Old Testament.
There is, however, a difference in degree between Moses and Christ. Regardless of how much Moses prefigured Christ, he was still only a part of the house, whereas Christ is the Builder of God’s house (3:3).
Moses, as God’s sent one to take care of God’s house, was faithful to God in all His house. This typifies that Christ, as the Apostle from God, for God’s house, is faithful to God who constituted Him (v. 2).
Chapter three, verse 5, says that Moses was “a servant for a testimony of the things to be spoken later.” Moses was a testimony. Here a testimony means that Moses was a photograph. Your photograph is your testimony. Suppose we have never seen a certain person but we have a photograph of him. His photograph is his testimony. Likewise, Moses was a testimony, a prefigure, a photograph, a type of the real, typical, and genuine Apostle sent from God.