Hebrews 6:13-20
New Living Translation
God’s Promises Bring Hope
13 For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:
14 “I will certainly bless you,
and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.”[c]
15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.
16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. 17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. 18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
My thoughts and observations:
There is no one greater than God.
God promised Abraham many descendents and he kept that promise.
Jesus has become our eternal High Priest.
Teaching Points from https://studyhebrews.com/hebrews6-9-20.html
God made the promise to Abraham – In verse 12, the author introduced the idea of having faith in God’s promises. It would be an interesting study to go through the Bible and look at the various promises of God. There are many, stretching from God’s promise to Noah and his family, to Christ’s promise to return. Not all of these are easy to believe because many times there is no evidence that this promise will happen except the evidence of God’s character. God made several promises to Abraham including promises for descendants and giving him the land. The key promise to Abraham as listed here in verse 14 is that God would give him many descendants.
This was not an easy promise to believe. Abraham was old and Sarah was old. They had surely tried having children many times. Even when Sarah was young and should have been fertile she couldn’t have any kids. Then how could she have a child when she was 90 years old? From man’s perspective it seemed impossible. Sarah herself laughed at the possibility.
How long did Abraham have to wait to see this promise come true? The promise was made quite a while before Ishmael was born and Ishmael was 14 years older than Isaac. So let’s say a minimum of 15 years and perhaps as much as 30-40 years. There were times when Abraham doubted. His doubt led him to fall into sin with Hagar. Yet basically he took God at His word. He even took up his whole family and moved to a far away unknown country in obedience to God’s command and expectation that His promise would be fulfilled.
Verse 15 shows us that he waited patiently and finally obtained it. He didn’t obtain the ultimate fulfillment of receiving the land and seeing his descendants number as the stars of heaven during his lifetime (that in itself was obviously a “long-distance promise”). But he did have a son with Sarah, Isaac. A real life “miracle child.” He saw the most difficult part of God’s promise come true. How about you? Do you believe in God’s promises to you? Are there times when doubt? If so, what should you do? How can we learn to be patient? Is there something you have to learn to be patient about now? Perhaps marriage, job, career, children?
Verse 16-17 show that God is the highest power in the universe. Because He is the highest power He has nothing higher to swear by. So when He makes a promise, He does so from His own mouth, which is the ultimate authority in the universe.
Abraham’s faith was commendable, but the thrust of this passage is God’s faithfulness. He made an unchangeable promise. Verse 18 says that it is impossible for God to lie. (As a side note this shows that God cannot do everything. He cannot sin. This comes in handy when answering foolish questions such as “Can God make a rock so big He can’t lift it?”) See cross-references. If God says it, we can believe it. He is the source of truth. He never makes mistakes. His omniscience guarantees He won’t be surprised by some unforeseen circumstances. His omnipotence guarantees that He has the power to carry out all His plans. His omnipresence guarantees He is always there to carry out His purposes. Can you think of any examples in the Bible where people didn’t listen to or heed God’s stated plans and faced disaster because of it? Can you think of any examples where they did listen to God’s stated plans and were saved because of it? How should you respond to the knowledge that God’s promises are sure? The lesson is clear. Trust and obey.
Verse 18b gives the answer. We should take strong encouragement in this fact. The world may mock us for our beliefs. Our families may think we are out to lunch. It doesn’t matter. God is the judge. He is the one who holds us accountable for our actions. The promise is there. WE must take hold of it in faith. Set our hope completely on Christ. If He can rise from the dead and defeat death, He can do anything!
This hope is sure and steadfast – You don’t need to doubt. Nonetheless times of doubting may come. What should you do when you start to doubt? You could look through the Scriptures to see the many times God has been faithful to keep His promises. If He kept His promises the last 1000 times, He will do it again. Jesus Himself, upon whom we set our hope, has risen from the dead and sits at the right hand of God (within the veil could be a reference to the heavenly holy of holies).
Jesus is our forerunner – See cross-reference. Jesus rose from the dead, showing that God does have the power over death. He received His glorified body already. If Jesus rose from the dead, we will too.
Application: What is the key application you want to make based on the truth we have studied today?
Steve Holder 