Hebrews 3:2

Faithful. Reference here is to Jesus’ faithfulness throughout His mission to earth. At the incarnation He humbled Himself by relinquishing the prerogatives of Deity and taking human nature, He endured the privations and temptations that beset His life on earth, He pressed forward with determination and fortitude to the cross (see Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 2:14, 2:17; 12:2; Vol. V, pp. 917-919). In all things He was faithful to the plan that had been decided upon before the creation of this earth (see DA 147, 208).

Appointed. Gr. poieo, “to make,” “to do,” “to perform,” “to appoint” (see on Mark 3:14). Christ was loyal to the Father, coming to this earth as His representative (see on John 1:14). In the mysterious council of peace between Father and Son (see on Zech. 6:13), when the plan of salvation was formulated, Christ agreed to come to earth. In carrying out this plan He voluntarily surrendered to the Father certain of the prerogatives of Deity. He subordinated Himself to the Father for the duration of His life on earth, in order that He might live as a man among men and that His perfect life might provide them an example of the relationship they should sustain to their heavenly Father (see on Matt. 6:9; John 1:14; cf. Vol. V, p. 918). Thus the Father “appointed” Christ to His earthly mission (see on John 3:16), and in this subordinate role Christ proved “faithful.”

As also Moses. In vs. 1-6 Christ is compared with Moses, the great lawgiver (John 1:17; 7:19), and in a sense founder of the Hebrew nation. Paul wishes to prove that Christ is infinitely greater than Moses (Heb. 3:3). The high esteem in which Jews of NT times held Moses is evident from the pride they took in speaking of themselves as his “disciples” (John 9:28, 29). Christ has already been shown to be equal with the Father (Heb. 1:8) and superior to the angels (v. 4). Here He is shown as superior to Moses. He will later be shown to be superior to Abraham (ch. 7:2, 4; cf. v. 15), father of the nation (John 8:39; see on Matt. 1:1), to Levi (Heb. 7:9, 10), and to Aaron (v. 11) — and His priesthood superior to the Aaronic priesthood.

Moses did “according to all that the Lord commanded him” (Ex. 40:16); he was a reliable and trustworthy leader. Similarly, living as a man among men, Christ faithfully represented the Father on earth, saying and doing only those things that were in harmony with God’s will and were pleasing to Him (John 4:34; 6:38; 8:28, 29). At the close of His ministry on earth He reported to the Father, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (ch. 17:4).

His house. Moses is compared with a steward placed in charge of the affairs of his master’s household (cf. Gen. 15:2; Luke 12:42; 16:1, 2). Joseph once served in this capacity in the house of Potiphar (Gen. 39:1-6). The steward was custodian of his master’s property and administrator of the household. The “house” here referred to is God’s chosen people, through whom He purposed to work out the plan of salvation. In ancient times this house was the Hebrew nation, but now it is the Christian church (see Vol. IV, pp. 26, 35).

It is not clear whether the pronoun “his” refers to Moses, its natural antecedent, or to God, as may be inferred from v. 4. If “his” refers to Moses, the “house” over which he was appointed supervisor is considered from the viewpoint of its being his to supervise. If “his” refers to God, the house is considered from the point of view of being the property of God. For practical purposes the meaning is the same either way. It appears probable that the last part of v. 2 is based on Num. 12:7, where God acclaims Moses as “faithful” over His “house.”