PERSONAL JOURNAL/MEDITATION AND REFLECTION: Hebrews 6:13-20

13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,

14 saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”

15 And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.

16 For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,

18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,

20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

“For when God made the promise to Abraham” in Genesis 12, God promised to bless and multiply him making him a great nation. He promised to make Abraham the father of a great nation even though Abraham had no children of his own. And since God “could swear by no one greater” than Himself, since He is the supreme of all things and above all things, He “swore by Himself.”

We need to take a few seconds to just step back from this and look at what the preacher has said. Let our hearts not pass over this without thinking deeply on the greatness of God he wishes to express. Here is a God that stepped down into the realm of earth to communicate with a man named Abraham and make promises to him for no purpose or reason outside of Himself. God did this out of His complete freedom. And He promised Abraham that He would make him a great nation. Abraham did not deserve this. Abraham was a pagan who was an enemy of the living God until the God of the universe called him. After He called him, God promised Abraham and swore to him by Himself since He can swear by no one greater because He is the greatest. The God who communicates to man and makes Himself known is the one and only living God who transcends above all creation.

“And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.” Abraham, though he had not received the promise when God made it, nor did he have a son to fulfill the promise given by God, he “patiently waited” and obtained the promise when God chose to fulfill it in His timing. Now, when a man wishes to end an argument he gives his word with an oath. By this the argument is ended because confirmation is given. “In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable of His purpose, interposed with an oath”. Not only has God given His word in a promise to bless Abraham, He gave an oath to show that the promise was unchangeable. “So that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.”

In Genesis 22:16 the angel of the Lord said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars in the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” God, having made the promise then chose to swear by Himself, making an oath, so that by two things that cannot be changed, the promise and oath, because God cannot lie make our confidence unshakeable. Therefore we who have taken refuge in this promise and oath have strong encouragement to take hold of, to cling to and trust in, because of the hope set before us that we are in the promise given to Abraham. The Abrahamic covenant is the source of our refuge and strength because we believe that God is faithful.

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” We can claim the Abrahamic covenant because we have Jesus who has entered in as a pioneer, our forerunner, for us. He entered within the veil, that is He has passed into the heavens and into the presence of God and has become our high priest interceding for us forever, never to be replaced, according to the order of Melchizedek. A new order that has replaced the old and one that is everlasting.

We continue to see the preacher of Hebrews stress the point that God is a God of communication; He is the God who spoke and continues to speak and desires to make Himself known. He has done this by making a promise and oath to Abraham and He continues to do this by speaking through His Son who has entered into the heavens and intercedes for us as our high priest forever. Because of this we should take strong encouragement. God made the promise to Abraham and has kept it fulfilling it in Christ by His death and resurrection. Why, after having such a great hope should we fall away? All praise to the God who has spoken and been faithful to the end, amen.