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.

*** 

Paul quoted Genesis 22:17, the account of Abraham getting ready to offer up his son, Isaac, as an offering to the Lord, as commanded by Him (Genesis 22:2). Isaac was the miraculous promised son whom God gave to Abraham and Sarah in their old age (Genesis 21:1-7). He would be the one through whom the promise of God to Abraham would be fulfilled—the promise to make him a father of a multitude of nations (Genesis 17:5-7). By killing their only son, it would seem as if he would be killing God’s promise to him and his destiny. Yet Abraham considered that God could raise Isaac from the dead if necessary (Hebrews 11:17-19).

When God made this promise to Abraham, He swore by Himself because there was, and still is, no one greater for Him to swear by. In an oath, men give their word swearing by one greater than themselves. This was considered an unchangeable promise. A person’s word sworn by a greater one settled all disputes.

God swore by Himself, not out of arrogance, but truth. He is the greatest one. There is none greater. He and His word are the ultimate truth. He can’t lie. He would keep His promise; Abraham knew and believed that. By two things—Himself and His oath (word)—God gave a promise which brought hope to Abraham and the heirs of the promise. The heirs of the promise are those who are of Abraham’s spiritual seed—believers in Christ Jesus (Romans 4:9-25, Romans 10:12, Galatians 3:16-29).

We who have taken refuge in Christ have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope of Jesus being our high priest, mediating for us, having paid the price for our sin, and interceding for us before God—this hope anchors our soul. It brings us peace—true peace with God the Father. It takes us within the veil. It gives us access to the most holy place of God. Jesus entered this most holy place before us—a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.


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