The Holy of Holies - Hebrews 6:13-20

Introduction:

We continue our journey through the book of Hebrews

We have worked our way to the central part of the book

We began with an introduction and a stage setting for the book

Jesus is Superior

Last week, the author took a side step and gave a warning before he continues on into the primary point of the book.

Today, he is going to open up a few concepts in preparation for the next handful of chapters.

We only have a few verses today, so I want to take some time and lay a good foundation for the main points this book has to offer.

Hebrews 6:13–20 NIV

When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Pray

As we dive into this book, I want to remind you of a few things.

First, this book is written to the Hebrews.

They were familiar with the OT text. It had been impressed upon their hearts and minds since childhood.

It was a part of their very culture.

Second, his book is a book of apologetics (of sorts).

It uses exclusively OT text to teach NT concepts.

In it we see the law, Moses, the priesthood, sacrifices, angels and everything else the Jewish people would have held to be core beliefs.

Third, we are not Jewish.

This will not hit us in the same way as it would have the audience of the Hebrews

Many of the points will be applicable

But one of the key things that I want to open up today is that when we focus on the NT exclusively, we lose some of the context of what is happening.

THE BOOK OF HEBREWS TEACHES US THE IMPORTANCE OF THE OT AND HOW IT FITS INTO NT LIVING.

Many of us need this introduction in our growth as believers.

So when this gets complex, don’t be afraid to leave a note on your card asking questions.

Don’t give up and say, “This is over my head”

It has tremendous value for us and I want to ensure that all of us have the tools to grow through this.

Topic

Today’s passage has one purpose. I want to read it to you to start.

Hebrews 6:18 (NIV)

God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.

Today’s passage is meant to encourage us.

It is my hope and prayer that today is an encouragement.

Because it is meant to be an encouragement

The path to finding the encouragement may be a little winding, but we will be encouraged.

What is our encouragement? How are we to be encouraged?

We are going to start in the first passages of our text today.

Context:

I want to tackle our context:

Two weeks ago, we looked at Chapter 5 and Chapter 7

The author pointed out a reality that Jesus had been appointed as a Priest like Melchizedek

He referenced the story of Melchizedek in Genesis, but highlighted the statement in Psalms 110:4

Psalm 110:4 NIV

The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

Before expanding on the meaning of this, the author gave a warning to the audience

Paraphrased: Before I tell you why this is important, you need to know that many of you have gotten lazy.

Your Spiritual self is sitting on the couch eating delicious ice cream.

You are arguing about stuff that doesn’t matter

You are learning things that translate into no life-change

You have gotten lazy.

One day, you may get so lazy on your couch that you cannot get off of it.

So get in shape, because the things I am about to tell you have to result in life change.

This is a very important warning at this time.

This gives us the indication that what we are about to hear is very important and should have direct application to our hearts, minds and actions.

Hebrews 6:13–15 NIV

When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

In preparation for the upcoming teaching, the author wants to encourage the audience.

He just hammered them with a very strong warning and public accountability.

They needed some encouragement. Not something to make them feel better. The admonishment was warranted.

But there was encouragement.

The author begins this encouragement by going backwards to looking at the story of Abraham.

This may not make very much sense to us about how it fits right away, but I want to highlight the key points of what he is talking about so we can attach it to his point.

God made a promise to Abraham

He swore by himself- We will cover this in a minute because the author explains that in the next couple of verses

God made a promise to Abraham and the promise was

Hebrews 6:14 NIV

saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”

The promise referenced here is from Genesis 22.

In Genesis 22, we see the story of God telling Abraham to go up to the mountain and sacrifice his one and only son.

Abraham responded in faith. Now, we may look at this as a confusing story, and it is!

The point of this story was not that God wanted Abraham to kill his son.

The point of the story is not a twisted view of parenting.

The point of this story was about Abraham’s faith.

As we have discussed in this book many times, a foundation of faith always builds a building of action upon it.

It was not enough for Abraham to possess the faith, but God allowed him the opportunity to put action to the depth of the faith he had.

Later in Hebrews we find that Abraham knew God did not want his son dead. He believed God would resurrect his son from the dead.

He knew his son was a part of God’s promise

But that is a whole separate sermon.

Following this moment, God speaks to Abraham:

Genesis 22:15–18 NIV

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

When God called Abraham, he had said this would happen, but now God has made an oath

God had made a promise, and he made an oath to keep the promise.

As a result:

Hebrews 6:15 NIV

And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

When God makes a promise, then doubles down on that promise and makes an oath to keep the promise, there is certainty that His word is true.

Now it may seem weird to us that God made an oath to keep his promise.

In normal circumstances, the promise and the oath seem like the same thing. But I want to highlight what is happening here.

Remember, this is going to end in an encouragement, but we have to dig into this text to find the encouragement

It may not be on the surface for us, because we are more unfamiliar with the teaching and understanding of how the OT fits into the NT world.

Hebrews 6:16 NIV

People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument.

The author makes this quick point so we understand what an oath is.

People swear by someone greater than themselves.

What this means is that the person swearing makes themselves accountable to someone to ensure that what was promised will be done.

An oath is an accountability measure

This is something we are familiar with in our world, but in a few different settings

In court, we are asked to place our hand on the Bible and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.

In this, we aren’t swearing upon the actual item of the Bible.

The Bible would have no means of accountability to us.

Rather, we are swearing on the God of the Bible, who we hold to be higher than us and bring us accountability.

Court Photo

There are other types of oaths in our culture as well.

I remember one time, we learned a lesson in the hard way. We needed some quick money and we got a title loan.

In the process, we needed to bring the title of our car to the loan place and write a promissory note saying we would pay back the loan with interest.

However, our promise was not enough. We had to make our promise accountable to them by a form of an oath.

We made ourselves accountable to them by giving them the car title to our 1984 Oldsmobile Toronado!

Toronado Photo

Little did they know the joke was on them.

We made our promise, but we added the accountability to fulfill our promise by making ourselves accountable by telling them they could take our car if we didn’t pay.

Sadly, we did pay and received the title of our car back.

So, God made a promise, and made an oath to uphold that promise.

God opened himself up for accountability to keep His word.

But who could God make his oath to?

Who would God submit himself to?

There is no one greater than God.

God had made his promise to Abraham.

But made himself accountable to Himself.

This is why it says:

Hebrews 6:13 NIV

When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself,

Why did God do this?

Hebrews 6:17 NIV

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.

God had made a promise to Abraham.

His purpose was to bless Abraham with many descendants and that through those descendants the whole world would be blessed.

God promised Abraham

God made himself accountable by oath to Himself

God made a promise to Abraham

God swore an oath on Himself

God did this so the unchanging nature of His purpose was very clear to those who he had made his promise

His purpose, his promise, his will would not change.

I want you to hold on to this word “unchanging”

If you were the people who received this promise, this should make you absolutely certain that God’s word was true.

There may be times that it didn’t make sense, but in the end, God was accountable for His word. He had made Himself accountable for His word.

This is not a lightly spoken word to Abraham.

It was absolute truth of God’s commitment to these people.

Our passage then makes a transition from talking about the OT example and moves on to talking to the NT audience.

There is a theme that you have seen and will continue to see in this book. The author exclusively uses OT references to highlight NT truths.

It is more than just giving a reference. He is showing that the truths of the NT were true in the OT as well.

This is a concept we will continue to uncover as we move forward. But this is seen very importantly here.

Hebrews 6:18 NIV

God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.

God did this

God did what?

He made a promise to Abraham

He swore an oath on Himself

All so Abraham would trust Him

God did these things with Abraham so that by two unchangeable things:

What two unchangeable things?

There is much discussion about this! But in reading through this passage, I believe the answer is in the text.

Remember I told you to hold on to the “unchanging” word?

Hebrews 6:17 (NIV)

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.

God’s unchanging purpose is aligned with God’s unchanging word

The word speaks the purpose and gives us security.

Hebrews 6:18 NIV

God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.

God did this with Abraham so we know that God’s unchanging purpose and God’s unchanging Word (It is impossible for God to lie).

This was done for us.

WE who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.

These things were done in the past so we would know who God is.

We would know what God’s purpose is and so we could trust Him.

We can have a great certainty and take great encouragement from this truth: God’s purpose has not changed. God’s word is true.

I love the descriptive language here.

We who have fled

Fled from what?

Fled to what?

We fled from a place of no hope.

We fled to a place of hope.

This hope is not a cheeseburger hope

It is a absolute certainty.

Now, we have unraveled a good portion of this. Now, we need to know, “What is the hope?”

The rest of our passage reveals this for us. Also, the rest of the passage opens the door to the hope we have in Christ through this for the next 4 chapters.

Hebrews 6:19–20 NIV

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Our hope does something for us.

It opens the door for us to enter into the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.

This may seem like foreign language to you, but I want to take us on one last journey so we can understand the value of what this is saying.

God’s promise to Abraham

This begins with God’s promise to Abraham.

Genesis 22:17–18 NIV

I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

We may look at this promise and say, “Wow, God is going to bless Abraham by giving him a TON of grand kids.

This is partly true, but it misses the point.

There is a point of truth that Abraham only had kids because God miraculously enabled him to do so.

But, God would grow a nation from these grand kids.

But I don’t believe God is in the business of simply doing things randomly.

Why didn’t God promise to give Abraham the finest breed of horse, so the world would have the best horses?

Something other than this?

There was something about God blessing the world through His offspring.

We then minimize this promise and say, “Well, that was pointing to Jesus. Through Abraham came Jesus. Through Jesus came salvation. End of story.”

That is a very Gentile (non-Jewish) way of looking at this.

Abraham gave birth to Isaac. Isaac gave birth to Jacob. Jacob gave birth to the 12 tribes of Israel.

Through these offspring developed the nation of Israel.

But deeper than this, through this generation came the means for people to access God.

The tribe of Levi were priests.

These priests stood before God on behalf of the people.

They would stand on behalf of the people offering sacrifice for sin.

Also, from the point of the Tabernacle, through the temple, there was a place for God to dwell among his people.

I don’t believe you can look at the promise God made to Abraham without seeing the blessing of God dwelling among his people and people having access to God.

The Tabernacle/Temple was set up like this

Show Temple Diagram

Outer Courts, Altar, Holy Place, Most Holy Place

The Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies) is where the presence of God rested.

A broken and sinful humanity had access to the pure and Holy God through the offspring of Abraham.

God had blessed the world through the offspring of Abraham.

He had blessed them with Himself.

Now, through Jesus, we have access to God the Father through Jesus.

Hebrews 6:19–20 NIV

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

God’s blessing is our hope.

I think we see our “hope” as simply Heaven.

Yes, Heaven is a piece of our hope.

But in a greater sense, look at what our hope does in this passage.

It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.

We enter into the presence of God the Father.

Jesus has entered on our behalf. And He has become a priest.

Not a sinful fully human priest like the Levitical OT priests

He is an eternal priest like Melchizedek

Melchizedek was a priest who had no beginning and no end.

Abraham offered a sacrifice to Melchizedek.

This was significant in showing that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham and his offspring Levi.

This passage says that our hope is firm and secure. It is an anchor.

This is because we know the nature of God, His purpose and His word

It is unchanging.

We know that we have access into the presence of God through Jesus Christ.

And here is where the rubber meets the road; we have access to God.

We preach the Trinity, we believe the trinity, but we don’t ever really live that out.

Jesus Christ has opened the door for us to be in the presence of God the Father.

John 14:6 NIV

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Our Father who is in Heaven

Conclusion

This is our hope if we have fled our old way to hold on to this truth.

In our world, it is a drifting moving landscape

There is nothing certain

But the promise of God to Abraham that the whole world would be blessed.

It was blessed through Jesus.

But not simply his presence on the earth

It is what Jesus did.

As a high priest, he made the sacrifice for our sin and opened the way for us to go past the curtain into the presence of God the Father.

Through Jesus, one day we will dwell with God the Father, but that is our security now.

This is not religious motion.

This is relational language

This translates to us loving others. Building one another up.

Drawing one another to the presence of the Father.