The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

25 house as a servant," with the words "for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later . . . . " Moses' faithfulness in this comparison is defined in his mission of leaving a written record of revelation. Swetnam concurs: For it is not Moses as leader with whom Christ is compared, but Moses as law-giver. Moses is designated faithful in Nm 12,7 because he expressed faithfully what had been told him, and this is the thought of the author of Hebrews: Moses was "faithful" as a "servant" (0Epanwv ) "for witness to the things which shall be spoken" (d<; µapTupto v Twv 11a11ri8riaoµlvwv , Heb 3:5). Christ, then, by implication, is praised as "faithful" because he, like Moses, is one to whom God has spoken face to face and one who has transmitted this message exactly . " 40 Given this background, then, it appears that the contrast between Moses and Jesus is not simply one of faithfulness in general duties but rather faithfulness as bearers of revelation . In what sense could any man ever be compared to Jesus in his moral character and obedience? Lane adds : The comparison between Jesus and Moses was not simply a literary exercise that enabled the writer to speak of the excellence of Jesus or to exhibit his own exegetical skill. If that were the case, he could have stressed that Moses was not faithful (cf. um 20:12). 41 The point of the parenetic section (3:7-4:16) follows clo ely upon thi compan– son. The author encourages his readership to hold fast their confession becau e of the historical example (3:7-19) and of the eschatological hope (4: 1-16) . He cite the fate of th wilderne generation which did not trust in the revelation of Mo e a a warning to th e who would neglect the revelation in hri t (3: 7-19). The te timon from P alm 9 i ontent in H br w 1- 6," 7 . al . Hu h , Hebrew th t th Id d 1th , n Ill le; µapnJpto rw 1 ne H brei s, 80