FOR WHEN GOD MADE
THE PROMISE TO
ABRAHAM SINCE HE COULD SWEAR BY NO ONE GREATER: To gar Abraam epaggeilamenos
(AMPMSN) o theos epei kat oudenos eichen (3SIAI) meizonos omosai (AAN):
(Heb 6:16, 17, 18. Ge 22:15, 16, 17, 18. Ezek 32:13. Ps 105:9, 10. Is 45:23. Je 22:5.
49:13. Micah 7:20. Lk 1:73, 74)
Note:
Mouse over of underlined links
yields Scripture popups.
For or because = writer is now goes on to support and
explain what it means to be imitators of those who thru faith and patience
inherit the promises. What promises? The precious and magnificent promises
of
2 Peter 1:4 (note). God wants His
beloved to have strong encouragement.
Promise
(1860)
(epaggelia from epí = intensifies verbal meaning + aggéllo
= to tell, declare) originally referred to an announcement or declaration
(especially of a favorable message)
but in later Greek came to mean a declaration to do something with the
implication of obligation to carry out what is stated (thus a promise or
pledge). Epaggelia was primarily a legal term denoting summons, a
promise to do or give something,
but in the NT speaks primarily of the promises of God.
Epaggelia is used in Hebrews 14 times in 13 verses (27.4% of all 51
NT uses) (See notes
Hebrews 4:1,
Hebrews 6:12,
6:15, 6:17,
Hebrews 7:6,
Hebrews 8:6,
Hebrews 9:15,
Hebrews 10:36,
Hebrews 11:9,
11:13,
11:17,
11:33,
11:39)
TDNT summarizes this word group writing that it has the following
nuances...
a. The first sense is “to indicate,” “declare,” “declaration,”
“report.”
b. When the state declares something, it becomes an
“order.”
c. In law we find the senses “accusation” and “delivery of a
judgment.”
d. We then find the senses “to declare an achievement,”
“to show one's mastery,” “to profess a subject.”
e. Another sense is
“to offer,” “to promise,” “to vow.” As regards promises, tension between
word and deed is felt, so that promises are often seen as worthless.
f.
A special type of promise is the “promise of money,” and in this sense the
idea of a “subscription” or “donation” arises (state liturgies, gifts to
rulers at their accession, priests promising gifts in support of their
candidature).
g. In the Hellenistic period we also find a sacral use
for the “proclamation” of a festival. Among all the instances, only one
example has been found for the promise of a deity.
(Kittel,
G., Friedrich, G., and Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament. Eerdmans)
Examples of God swearing -
Genesis 22:16 (when he did not withheld Isaac his only son) Micah 7:20
(Israel was unfaithful and did not "deserve" to receive His promises, but He
had sworn to the patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - that He would keep the
Abrahamic Covenant - to wit, Israel would be restored to the promised land,
a promise yet to be fulfilled in the
Millennium); Lk 1:73
(Zechariah father of John the Baptist filled with the Spirit expressed his
faith in God's promise to Abraham to keep His covenant) Isaiah
45:23, Jer 22:5, 49:13)
God’s integrity and faithfulness are the real theme
of Heb 6:13-20. Abraham is simply an example of those who trust God's
faithfulness to His Word, His Promises - this truth alone makes our trust of
any value.
The Hebrew readers who recognized the truth of the gospel, who had seen
miracles performed by the apostles, were still afraid to let go of the
familiar old ways and rituals of Judaism.
They were hesitant to believe completely in the Messiah. As the writer has
exhorted (see note
Hebrews 6:11)
they needed to remain diligent. And so the writer spurs them on to
faith (cp faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of Christ - see
note
Romans 10:17) and patience
by emphasizing the immutable promise given to their forefather Abraham. Thus the writer addresses both man's
part in laying hold of the hope set before him and the Godward side of the
unchangeableness of God and His sure promises.
Swear (3660)
(omnuo) means to affirm the truth of a statement by
calling on a divine being to execute sanctions against a person if the
statement in question is not true (in the case of a deity taking an oath,
his divine being is regarded as validating the statement). In this case
God's Own Divine being is regarded as validating the statement.
Omnuo is repeated in this middle section of Hebrews...
Hebrews 3:11 (note)
As I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'"
Hebrews 3:18 (note)
And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those
who were disobedient?
Hebrews 4:3 (note)
For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, "As I swore
in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest," although His works were finished
from the foundation of the world.
Hebrews 6:13 (note)
For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one
greater, He swore by Himself,
Hebrews 6:16 (note)
For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as
confirmation is an end of every dispute.
Hebrews 7:21 (note)
(for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through
the One who said to Him, "The Lord has sworn And will not change His mind,
'Thou art a priest forever' ")
This verb is
used in the
Septuagint (LXX)
of God swearing to keep His covenant to bring Israel into the
land (Dt 1:8, 35, 2:14, 4:21, 31, 6:10, 18, 23, 7:8, 12, 13, 8:1, 18, etc >
30x in Deut.)
F B Hole (Biographical
Note) writes that...
We need to have a hope which is resting
upon a very weld established basis if we are to hold it with full assurance.
It is this thought which leads to verses 13-18. Abraham stands before us as
a great example not only of faith but of hope also. It was when he had
offered up Isaac, as recorded in Genesis 22:1ff, that the promise of blessing
was given, which culminated in "the Seed," which is Christ, according to
Gal 3:16. That great promise had behind it not only the authority
which always accompanies the bare Word of God, but also the added sanction
of His solemn Oath.
How beautiful is this glimpse which we have of God, stooping to consider the
feebleness and infirmities which mark even the best of His creatures! Here
are Abraham and the later heirs of the promises. How easily their faith may
waver! How full of uncertainties is the world in which they find themselves!
Then God will condescend to their weakness and reinforce His Word by His
Oath, saying, "By Myself have I sworn, saith the LORD."
(Hebrews
Commentary Notes)
HE
SWORE BY HIMSELF: omosen (3SAAI) kat heautou
By (kata) Himself - This special use of kata with the verb of swearing gives resultant meaning “he swore by
Himself”
This concept of
God binding Himself to His Word by His eternal Person is seen in the OT...
Genesis 22:16 and said, "By Myself I have sworn (LXX
= omnuo), declares the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not
withheld your son, your only son,
Isaiah 45:23
"I have sworn
(LXX
= omnuo)
by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will
not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear
allegiance.
The writer is appealing to his Jewish readers on "turf" that many would have
been familiar with because a popular saying (and one true to Scripture) in the
first century Jewish
synagogues was that God had confirmed His promise to Abraham with an oath (Ge
22:16). In response to Abraham's obedient faith, God reaffirmed His pledge to bless Abraham, reinforced
by a promissory oath in which he named himself as the guarantor of his word.
(Ge 22:16-18)
Note the remarkable concentration of forensic (legal or used in court for act of
judging) language in Hebrews 6:13-18. The distinctive character of the vocabulary
finds ample illustration in the
Septuagint (LXX)
and in secular Greek contracts preserved among the papyri.
><>><>><>
Steven Cole has a well done sermon on this section
(Hebrews
6:13-20 An Anchor for Your Soul)...
Hebrews 6:13-20
An Anchor for Your Soul
Fishermen tend to be incurable optimists. A guy asked his neighbor how the
fishing was going. “Better,” he said. “Last week I went out for four hours
and didn’t catch a thing. Yesterday, I got the same result in only three
hours” (Reader's Digest [8/87], p. 80).
Many confuse optimism and biblical hope. Biblical hope is optimistic, but it
differs greatly from worldly optimism or positive thinking. Biblical hope is
an optimism based on certainty and truth, not upon a cheery disposition that
looks on the bright side. If hope rests on mere fantasy, it is worthless. To
be valid, hope must be based on truth and certainty. Since our God is the
God of hope (see note
Romans 15:13),
we who represent Him to this hopeless world must be people of hope-not mere
optimists, but people filled with hope because of the certainty of God’s
promises in Christ.
The author of Hebrews was writing to people who were facing hardship and
persecution because of their Christian faith. A few were tempted to abandon
Christ and return to Judaism. He is urging them to persevere by putting
their focus on the superiority of Jesus Christ and the salvation that He has
provided. He is trying to instill in them biblical hope-not just a positive,
cheerful disposition-but a steady attitude of joy based on the promises of
God, who cannot lie.
He uses a metaphor used only here in the Bible, of an anchor. But instead of
going down into the ocean, this anchor goes up into the heavens, behind the
veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us. He has become our high
priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Thus he brings his
discussion back to where he left off before his lengthy exhortation (see
note
Hebrews 5:10);
in the next chapter he will develop this theme. But here he is saying, The
certain hope of our future salvation is an anchor to steady our souls while
we wait on God in present storms.
The main reason a ship needs an anchor is to ride out storms so that it is
not blown off course or into the rocks or reefs nearby.
Even in a safe harbor, a ship needs an anchor so that it will not drift, hit
something, and sink. Whether in the storms of life or in the harbor during
the calm times of life, we all need an anchor for our souls so that we do
not destroy our lives.
Verse 19 begins, “which we have” (Greek text). Some under-stand the
antecedent to be “strong encouragement”; others think that it is “hope.”
Still others think that since Jesus Himself is our hope, that He is our
anchor. All of these views are somewhat overlapping and complementary. God’s
sure promises give us strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set
before us. In the final sense, we do not hope in hope itself, but in Christ,
and all that is promised in Him. But it seems to me that the anchor is the
certain hope of salvation that God has provided in Christ. In the storms of
life, if we take hold of the hope of His salvation, we will have the
steadiness for our souls that we need to endure.
1. The hope of our future salvation is certain.
The author hammers home the absolute certainty of our salvation. He uses
Abraham as an example of one who through faith and patience inherited the
promises (see note
Hebrews 6:12).
He goes back to Genesis 22:16-1 7, where after Abraham displayed his faith
in God by his willingness to sacrifice Isaac, God swore by Himself surely to
bless Abraham and to multiply his descendants. Then the author applies this
to the heirs of the promise, namely, believers in Christ. He gives four
reasons why our hope of salvation in Christ is certain:
A. Our hope of future salvation is certain because God’s promises have
never failed any that trusted in them.
Abraham is “Exhibit A” of a man who trusted God against all odds and found
Him to be faithful. Paul called Abraham “the father of all who believe,” and
added, “In hope against hope he believed…” (see notes
Romans 4:11;
4:18).
Abraham’s life is the story of God initiating and promising, with Abraham
responding in faith. God appeared to Abraham while he was still named Abram,
living in Ur of the Chaldees. He commanded Abram to leave his relatives and
that city and go to a place that God would show him (Acts 7:2, 3). Abram’s
obedience was not easy. In that day, you didn’t just pack up a U-Haul and
head out on the interstate, keeping in touch with the folks back home
through frequent emails and phone calls. To move hundreds of miles away
meant permanent separation from family and friends. There were unknown
hardships to be encountered. Would the people of the new land be hostile or
friendly? Could you provide adequately for your family there? What about
learning the new language? There weren’t real estate offices to help you get
resettled into a new home. Where would you live?
But Abram obeyed. God had promised to multiply Abram, making him the father
of a multitude. His name, Abram, meant, “exalted father,” but his wife Sarah
was barren. They were getting up in years, but had no children in spite of
God’s promise. Can you imagine the encounters he had as he and Sarah moved
into Canaan? This 75-year-old man says, “Hello, my name is Abram [exalted
father].” The Canaanite responds, “Nice to meet you. How many children do
you have?” “None yet.” Right!
But then God added insult to injury. When Abram was 99, the Lord appeared to
him, reaffirmed His promise to multiply him exceedingly, and then changed
his name to Abraham, meaning “father of a multitude”! He has been waiting
for 24 years since God first promised to give him a son. He still has no
children, except for Ishmael through Hagar. But now he tells everyone that
God has given him a new name, “father of a multitude”! It would be like a
bald man named Harry, and God says, “Let’s change your name to Bushy-haired
Harry”!
When Abraham died at 175, he had fathered several nations through Ishmael’s
descendants and through the sons that he had with Keturah (Gen. 25:1, 2,3, 4,
12, 13,14, 15, 16). But as far as sons through Isaac, Abraham died with twin,
15-year-old grandsons, Esau and Jacob. He owned no real estate in Canaan,
except for the cave that he bought to bury Sarah. But he died in faith,
“looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is
God” (see note
Hebrews 11:10).
Though Abraham didn’t see it, history has validated God’s promise, that his
descendants, both physically and spiritually (Gal. 3:7), are as many as the
stars of heaven, and as innumerable as the sand of the seashore (see note
Hebrews 11:12).
The lesson for us is: There has never been anyone who trusted in God’s
promises and was finally disappointed. God may delay the visible answers to
His promises, because He always answers in his time, not in ours. We may not
see the answer until we’re in heaven. But He is utterly trustworthy to keep
His Word. If He has promised eternal salvation to the one who has faith in
Jesus, you can count on it as absolutely true!
B. Our hope of future salvation is certain because God’s purpose is
unchangeable.
The Greek word translated “desiring” (see note
Hebrews 6:17)
is cognate with the noun “purpose” (same verse), and points to “the
deliberate exercise of volition” (G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of
the New Testament [Charles Scribner’s Sons], p. 84). It means that God
purposed to show the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His
purpose, which here refers specifically to installing His Son as a high
priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:20 -
note).
This points to His purpose to be glorified by sending His Son to save a
people, “the heirs of the promise,” for His name.
It is inconceivable that the Sovereign God would purpose to send His Son to
redeem a people for His glory, but then leave the fulfillment of that
purpose up to the so-called “free will” of rebellious sinners who are, to
use Charles Wesley’s phrase, “fast bound in sin and nature’s night” (Play
the hymn
“And Can It Be That I Should Gain?”
)! If God had left salvation up to
the will of fallen sinners, none would be saved, because there is none who
seeks for God (see notes
Romans 3:10-18).
God calls His people here “heirs of the promise.” Heirs do not choose
to be heirs. If we could choose to be heirs, we’d all be waiting in line for
the fortunes of the Kennedy’s or the Rockefeller’s. Heirs are chosen by the
one who owns the estate. It is his prerogative to choose one person and
overlook another, because it is his estate and he has the right to dispense
it as he chooses.
Yet many today deny that right to Almighty God and say that He must give
everyone an equal chance to choose to be His heirs! They stand the biblical
doctrine of election on its head, saying that He foresaw that we would
choose Him, then He put us on the list! But that view robs God of His
sovereignty. His sovereignty means that He chooses the heirs. He chose Abram
from everyone else in Ur, and excluded Abram’s immediate family members. He
rejected Ishmael and chose Isaac. He rejected Esau and chose Jacob. Such
choices are God’s right as the Sovereign Lord. And if you protest,
“That’s not fair,” you need to read
Romans 9:11-23 (notes),
where Paul anticipates and answers that response by saying, in effect, “How
dare you even raise the question that God is unfair! He has mercy on whom He
desires, and He hardens whom He desires. And you have no right to answer
back to God!”
In Isaiah 46:9-11, God says,
For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me,
declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which
have not been done, saying, “My purpose will be established, and I will
accomplish all My good pleasure”; calling a bird of prey from the east, the
man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will
bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.
In the context, God is talking about raising up the pagan king, Cyrus, to
accomplish God’s purpose. God is not bound by the will of proud man to do
what He purposes to do. He has purposed to give an elect people to His Son
(John 6:37-40), and He will accomplish His purpose! Denying God’s sovereign
election makes assurance of salvation shaky. If it’s up to man’s will, “lots
of luck!” But if our hope of salvation is based on God’s purpose to the
heirs of His promise, then your hope is certain and secure!
C. Our hope of future salvation is certain because God’s person is
incapable of lying.
The author states the obvious, “it is impossible for God to lie” (see note
Hebrews 6:18).
If He lied, He would deny His very nature as the God of truth, whose very
word is truth (Isaiah. 65:16; John 14:6; 17:17). If God has said that Jesus
has made purification for our sins (Hebrews 1:3-note),
and that He has entered within the veil as our forerunner as a high priest
after the order of Melchizedek (see note
Hebrews 6:20),
then it is true and we dare not question Him!
We’re all prone to bend the truth when it suits our purposes. We don’t want
to look bad, and so we tell “little white lies.” We “overlook” reporting
things on our income tax forms that would cost us more in taxes. We withhold
the truth when it is to our ad-vantage to keep things under cover. But in
spite of our propensity toward compromising the truth, we get offended if
anyone challenges the truthfulness of our word, and we would be outraged if
they directly called us liars!
But here is the God for whom it is impossible to lie. He has never lied in
all of eternity. When we doubt His promises, and especially His promise of
salvation to the one who believes in Jesus Christ, we are in effect calling
Him a liar! 1 John 5:10 says,
The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one
who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in
the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.
Do you believe God’s promise concerning His Son, or are you calling God a
liar? Our hope of future salvation is certain because God’s person is
incapable of lying.
So the author has hit three hammer blows to show that the hope of our future
salvation is certain: God’s promises have never failed; His purpose is
unchangeable; and His person is incapable of lying. As if that were not
enough, he adds a fourth:
D. Our hope of future salvation is certain because God’s pledge backs up
His promise.
God’s bare word should be sufficient, since His word is al-ways true. But
when God says it with an oath or pledge, He wants us to know that it is a
done deal! To show the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His
purpose, God “interposed with an oath” (see note
Hebrews 6:17).
Because of the weakness of our flesh, God condescends to add the oath to His
word to give us double assurance.
In
Hebrews 6:15 (note),
the author uses a human illustration. When men are having a dispute, and
they swear under penalty of perjury to do something, that ends the matter.
They must do what they have sworn to do, or they will pay a stiff penalty.
But when the God who cannot lie interposes with an oath or pledge, how much
more certain is His word! You’ve got two unchangeable things: God’s promise
and His oath. These two things make our hope of future salvation both “sure
and steadfast” (Heb 6:19).
Why is this so important? What difference does it make in our day to day
lives?
2. The hope of our future salvation is an anchor to steady our souls in
present trials.
There is a three-fold progression of thought here:
A. Future salvation is secure for all that have taken refuge in Christ.
The author identifies those to whom he is writing, along with himself, as
“we who have taken refuge” (see note
Hebrews 6:18).
He does not specify what they have taken refuge from, but his Hebrew readers
would have immediately thought of the cities of refuge in the Old Testament,
where the man guilty of manslaughter could flee from the avenger of blood
(Num. 35:11, 12). These cities were a spiritual picture of the refuge that
God has provided for sinners to flee for protection from the wrath to come.
In
Hebrews 6:20 (note)
of our text, the author mentions Jesus as our high priest, within the veil,
where God’s holy presence meant instant death to any sinner who dared to go
there. Although people’s eyes are blinded so that they do not see their sin
and God’s holiness, every sinner needs a refuge from God’s coming judgment.
Jesus Christ is the refuge that God has provided. The question is, have you
fled to that refuge? Have you trusted in Christ alone to save you from your
sins? If your hope is in your good works, you are not saved. Your hope of
salvation must be in Christ alone.
B. Having taken refuge in Christ, we now must take hold of the hope of
our future salvation.
Our salvation is secure because it rests on the promise and unchangeable
purpose of God. It is not our feeble grasp of Him, but His firm hold on us,
that secures our hope of heaven. But you may wonder, “Why then does the
writer encourage us to take hold of the hope set before us? If it depends
totally on God and His unchangeable purpose, why do we have to hope in Him?”
John Piper (Having
Your Soul Anchored in Heaven)
answers this way:
What Christ bought for us when he died was not the freedom from having to
hold fast but the enabling power to hold fast. What he bought was not the
nullification of our wills as though we didn’t have to hold fast, but the
empowering of our wills because we want to hold fast. What he bought was not
the canceling of the commandment to hold fast but the fulfillment of the
commandment to hold fast.
He goes on to cite Paul’s statement in
Philippians 3:12 (note),
I
press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold
of by Christ Jesus.
Christ Jesus had laid hold of Paul by His sovereign grace. As a result, Paul
pressed on to lay hold of the hope of all that his salvation promised.
This means that we must battle discouragement by taking hold by faith of
God’s promise to save all who take refuge in Christ. God’s promise and His
oath are two strong motivating forces to encourage us to grab onto the hope
set before us and don’t let go. Then that hope becomes an anchor for our
souls.
C. The hope of our future salvation anchors us to wait on God in present
storms.
The main reason you need an anchor is to keep from drifting into things that
would destroy you, especially during storms. Abraham had his storms as he
waited on God. In two different moments of weakness, he thought that
powerful men would take his wife from him, which would have nullified God’s
promise of a son through her. And so he lied that she was his sister. At
another moment of despair, he went in to Sarah’s maid, Hagar, and conceived
Ishmael. But in spite of these failures, “in hope against hope, he believed”
(Romans 4:18-note),
until God fulfilled the promise.
We face numerous types of storms that threaten to rob us of hope in Christ.
There are storms of false doctrine that can blow us off course (Ephesians
4:14-note).
We must weather them by holding firmly to the promise of salvation in Christ
alone by grace alone through faith alone.
There will be storms of doubt, when we question the Christian faith, or
perhaps even the existence of God. We can weather them by coming back to the
truth of the resurrection of Jesus, which is the bedrock of the entire faith
(see note
1Corinthians 15:1-19).
If He is not risen, our faith is in vain. But if He is risen, then our
future salvation is certain and our hope can rest confidently in Him.
There will be storms of difficult trials, where we wonder why God is
allowing them and question whether He loves us. We weather them by
remembering that God, who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over
for us all, has promised to bring us through every conceivable difficulty to
ultimate glorification (see notes
Romans 8:28-39).
There may be storms of defeat, where we fall into sin and dishonor our Lord
and Savior. We can weather even these storms if we realize that our High
Priest is praying for us, that our faith may not fail, and that by His
grace, we can be restored (Luke 22:32).
Conclusion
I
read of a Christian man who made a trip to Russia in 1993. He felt
conspicuous walking down the streets of Moscow and could not figure out why.
He wanted to blend in, but it was obvious that people knew he was not
Russian. He asked the group of Russian educators with whom he was working
whether it was his American clothes: jeans and a Chicago Bulls shirt. “No,
it’s not your clothes,” they replied.
“What is it, then?” he asked.
They huddled together and talked for several minutes. Then one, speaking for
the group, answered politely, “It is your face.”
“My face!” he laughed. “How does my face look different?”
They talked again and then one of the teachers quietly said, “You have
hope.” (World Magazine [3/6/99], p. 37.)
As Christians living in a world that Paul describes as “having no hope and
without God” (see note
Ephesians 2:12),
we should stand out as people of hope. The certain hope of our future
salvation is the anchor that God has given to us to steady our souls, even
in times of storm.
A cheerful older Christian was asked the secret of his triumphant attitude.
He said, “I’ve read the last book of the Bible, so I know how the story
ends. I’m on the winning side!” We have a high priest within the veil. He
has promised to save all who take refuge in Him. Let’s take hold of our
certain hope in Jesus!
Discussion
Questions
How can a believer keep trusting in God when He delays answers to prayers
for years? Why does God make us wait?
Why is the doctrine of election essential for having proper assurance of
salvation?
How do we balance the tension between “examine yourself to see if you are in
the faith” (2 Cor. 13:5) and “take hold of the hope set before us” (Heb.
6:18)?
How should we “process” discouragement? What steps should we take to recover
our hope in God? (See Psalms 42 & 43.) (Hebrews
6:13-20 An Anchor for Your Soul)
