Hebrews 6:13-20

v. xiii-xv:

Hebrews 6:13–15 NKJV

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

The word “For” connects to Hebrews 6:11–12 “11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” The author of Hebrews appeals to the Old Testament, as he has commonly throughout this book. He appeals to Abraham; more importantly, God’s promise to Abraham. Abraham is one of those who through faith and patience inherited God’s promises, and is an example to the Hebrews.

There are four things I want to highlight in God’s promise to Abraham:

The content: “blessing...multiplying”. God promises to bless us and multiply us through Abraham. We all desire the blessing and multiplication of God, just like Jacob when he said: “I will not let you leave unless you bless me.”

The certainty: “‘Surely’”. There is certainty in God’s promises that allows us to cling to them. If Abraham did not have certainty of God’s promises, He was hoping in vain. We have often seen in our schools how long we have to wait for the state to fix a machine; not so with God, who is unfailing. We have a living hope through God; specifically, through the resurrection of Christ, as 1 Peter 1:3 says.

The completion: “he obtained the promise”. Abraham obtained the promise in multiple ways: his son had survived the terrifying prospect of being sacrificed, and would behold the line of Israel, the line of the Messiah. In fact, Jesus Himself speaks of Abraham in John 8:56-59. Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus’ day; even before Jesus was incarnated, Abraham saw Jesus, because before Abraham was, Jesus IS. He quotes God when He states His name in Exodus 3: “ἐγὼ εἰμί”.

John 8:56–59 NKJV

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” 57 Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” 59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

The completer: “I will bless you…I will multiply you”. God promised blessing through Himself; He promised multiplication through Himself. Just like God, Jesus, is the completion to Abraham’s promise, God is the completer, the one who executes, this promise. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith, as we’ll see when we get to Hebrews 12:2. We ought to always remember that the One who promised is faithful, and because of that, we ought to hold on to the confession of our faith, as we will also see in Hebrews 10:23 “23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

Just like Abraham patiently endured to see the promise, we must patiently endure to see the glorious day when Christ will return to bless us and multiply us.

v. xvi-xviii

Hebrews 6:16–18 NKJV

16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

Here, God’s oaths are compared to the oaths we take in multiple aspects:

While we swear on something greater than ourselves (such as Bibles in courts), God has nothing greater than Himself to swear by, so He swears by Himself. This is not to say that we should swear on God, because when we fail to complete that oath,, we have taken God’s Holy Name in vain.

While we consider taking an oath to end disputes, God knows the hearts of men and knows that only God cannot lie.

The oaths of men are subject to change, but God’s oaths are immutable (unchanging).

Because of this, we can hold on to God’s promises, knowing they will happen (going back to Heb 10:23, He who promised is faithful.) In this passage, it’s shown that God communicates with us in a form we can understand (like oaths in this example). Even though God’s ways our higher than our ways (in Isaiah 55), he still speaks to us clearly, so that we’re without excuse if we reject His Word. This all gives us hope (“strong consolation”, as the text says), and we can live in a way where we don’t over-stress when things go out of control; are they really ever in *our* control? We’re not out of control, but we’re not in control; God is in control. We can make as many free decisions as we want, but God keeps holding us through it all. Many people are scared of living a life where God is in control, but don’t worry when they live a life controlled by their phones. We don’t worry when we let money control our life, but we’re sometimes terrified of the sheer existence of a God who holds us in love. We can’t handle the idea of an infinite God loving us so much that He speaks to us in a way we can understand, but we dedicate so much of our lives impressing those around us who, honestly, are just as insignificant as we are. We find our meaning in the wrong places. This God, for whom lying is impossible, has told us that we are insignificant, yet comparable to angels. We are made sons of God and brothers of Jesus; what an inconceivable privilege!

Sometimes, we don’t love that loving God, though. In fact, we act like the brothers of Jesus during His ministry, who thought He was crazy and didn’t know what He was talking about. We *ought* to act like the brothers of Jesus after His ministry, who were leaders in the church and even wrote some of the books of the Bible (James and Jude). We need to see how real God’s love is, and act on that fact by giving him our love (though incomparable to His) and glorify Him in every aspect of our lives. Think about it: does your “school life” glorify God as much as your “church life”? (pause) Is your “friend life” different than your “Christian life”? (pause) If so, why? (pause) Can God look at your life and see a person changed by the gospel? (pause) If not, why? (pause) Think about it for a second: Does the way you talk reflect the peace of a son of God? (pause) Do your thoughts and actions reflect the holiness of a true disciple of Jesus? (pause) Does your search history reflect the discipline of one filled with the Holy Spirit? (pause) “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.” (pause)

This isn’t just a problem for us; it was a problem for the Hebrews, which is why the author has been telling them at the beginning of chapter 6 to go on to perfection; in clearer words, to go on to maturity.

v. xix-xx

Hebrews 6:19–20 NKJV

19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

We now have this hope to hold our souls through trust in God. We no longer have to hide from God, like Adam did in the garden; we are welcome into His presence, since the veil was torn apart by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Now that Jesus has opened up the veil, now we can all freely enter into His presence. (We will talk about Melchizedek next time)