He Swore by Himself

So Far In Hebrews...

We have been studying the book of Hebrews

So far we are discovering that the writer of Hebrews is a great teacher and preacher

He is establishing doctrine / or teachings of truth by using what is familiar to the people

His audience consisted of a lot of Jewish people or people that had a working knowledge of Judaism

So far in:

Hebrews 1 - God revealed Himself most clearly through Jesus

Hebrews 2 - The message declared by angels and proclaimed by Jesus is the Gospel

Hebrews 3 - The writer compares Jesus to Moses and implores people to listen to the Spirit’s voice while it remains today

Hebrews 4 - We can find rest today through our High Priest Jesus Christ

Hebrews 5 and the first part of 6 - He tells the people that they have stalled out in their faith, they have ceased growing spiritually and have become dull; this is a warning to continually grow

Today the writer reminds us of just how sure the promise of God is

Because the writer references the promise God made to Abraham

Specifically how he makes that promise

We should look at that first

It is found in Genesis 15

We should read that

This event takes place right after Abraham has an encounter with Melchizedek who blesses him

Genesis 15 verse one begins...

English Standard Version Chapter 15

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

7 And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

God does something here that would be very significant to Abraham

He enters into a Suzerain / Vassal Treaty with Abraham

Suzerain / Vassal Treaty

These were common in that time

It would be an agreement between two equally powered kings where they would promise to respect one another’s physical boundaries, return run away slaves and establish trading between the two kingdoms

These treaties were also made amongst stronger and lesser or weaker kings

These treaties would be surrounded by ceremonies that were full of symbolism

The agreement or covenant or promise would go like this...

They would open with a preamble

The Suzerain and Vassal would be identified

The Suzerain the greater king, the Vassal the lesser king

Within families they would use terms like father and son

The Suzerain would spell out what He has done for the protection and lifting up of the Vassal

Then there would be stipulations placed on the covenant

These would be the expectations or requirements of the Vassal as he submitted to the Suzerain

There would be Blessings and Curses for following and not following the stipulations

If they are followed the Vassal will receive the blessings from the Suzerain

If they are not followed the Vassal will receive the curses from the Suzerain

Then the agreement would be ratified

Ceremony

Sacrifice

Cut the animals in half

Both parties, the Suzerain and Vassal, would walk side by side in between the animals that were cut in half

Each would vow to the other “may what has happened to these animals happen to me if I break this covenant with you

This is the event that is in the mind of the writer of Hebrews in our focus scripture today

He wants his listeners to remember this

He points out a couple things that should bring them, and us assurance of God’s promises

English Standard Version Chapter 6

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

People will often invoke a more trustworthy source when their word is not trusted

i.e. We require people to take an oath, swearing allegiance to the stipulations in the oath, we trust that they will keep their oath because they swore to God or on the Bible that they would

We like to think that carries some weight with it

For most, I would say it does

Notice it is always a higher, more trustworthy source

The writer of Hebrews exposes a profound thought

Its easy for us to swear by a higher more trustworthy source, cause we are not all that trust worthy, But what about God?

What being exists that God could swear by?

There is none

So God swore by Himself when he entered into a covenant with Abraham

Where was Abraham when the covenant was made?

He was where he couldn’t mess it up

He was sleeping

While it is impossible for God to lie, he added further assurance of His steadfast promise by participating in human culture and swearing an oath by Himself

If Abraham would have passed in-between the animals then the fulfillment of the promise of God would be contingent or depend on Abraham keeping his end of the agreement

Guess what he doesn’t

The writer of Hebrews is either being generous or humorous when he says that Abraham patiently waited for the fulfillment of God’s promise

No he didn’t

In the very next chapter Sarah has him sleeping with Hagar, her maid-servant and has a child named Ishmael

That was not patiently waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises

But good news for him and good news for us

The fulfillment of God’s promises do not depend on our ability to hold up to our end of the agreement

We won’t

We can’t

This ceremony where God passes in-between the sacrificed animals is very telling

It points to God fulfilling His own stipulations in His agreement with us

He Himself will live a perfect life

Jesus did that

He Himself will take the curses for our inability to hold to the stipulations

Jesus did that

That is the Good News church!

Think about it

The promise of God is full proof

Salvation is not dependent on our ability to live a sinless life

In fact God knew we would not be able to do that

Rather it is dependent on the finished work of the cross

His sacrifice allows us to live under the protection of the Suzerain

Jesus did all the work and we are able to live in His Kingdom

Under His protection

With His Blessings

With His Goodness

That is Awesome

Amen! Amen!