12Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.
Heb 6:12
God’s Promise & Oath to Abraham
13For 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.” 15Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised. 16Now 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. 17God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. 18So 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. 19This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. 20Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:13-20
Do you see how Hebrews 6:12 acts as a segue (segway – pronounced {sedgeway}) or a transition to the next topic the author wants to move on to? It is almost like he has made the comment at the end of the agricultural example which either allows him to bridge to the next thing he wanted to deal with or having written that, it led him to think of Abraham in relation to God’s promise. This is a difficult concept to deal with, but when we understand it; it’s immensely encouraging. Did you realise the passage that the author had in mind? You will find it in the following passage in Romans:-
And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb. Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.
Romans 4:19-21
I have written about this passage before when I was gemming Romans:
- Bible Gem 163 – Abraham – the faith that didn’t waiver (Rom 4:16-25)
- Bible Gem 166 – The Nature of Abraham’s Faith (Rom 1:17 + Chapt 4)
How can Paul say “Abraham’s faith didn’t waiver” when it plainly did? Didn’t Paul know the story? Of course he did. It is just that Paul understood the fact that God sees the end from the beginning. Clearly Abraham waivered when he laughed at the idea he would have a son when he was so old. He waivered when he followed Sarah’s advice and had a child by Hagar. He waivered when he told Pharaoh that Sarah was his sister and then waivered again when he said the same thing to King Abimelech. God looked to the pinnacle of Abraham’s faith that Abraham had not yet reached because God stands outside of time. God knew the extent to which Abraham’s faith would grow long before Abraham did.
Did you pick up on the author’s intention here in this section in Hebrews? The writer of the letter to the Hebrew Christians did the same thing Paul did in his letter when he wrote “Abraham waited patiently and he received what God had promised.” He edited the story and told it from God’s perspective and left out the faltering. Instead he focused on the Godward end of the story. I am sure these Jews living in Rome were familiar with Paul and his letter. We know from Acts 28 that Paul met with the Jewish leaders (Gem 1886) and then he met with a large body of people (Gem 1888). I imagine that he kept giving input to the Jews of Rome as well as Gentiles. He would have done what he always did, ministering to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles (Romans 1:16). Taking every opportunity to explain the Gospel to them. I am sure he would have spelled out the significance of Abraham’s story and would have explained the reason he left the waivering parts of the story out of his letter to them.
Genesis 15 contains the story of God making a covenant with Abraham. On the basis of that description the Jews practised the process of laying out the divided carcass of a sacrificial animal and then walking between the pieces while saying, “This do to me and more so if I don’t fulfil my part of the covenant.” What the author of Hebrews is telling us is God’s part in the process is that He too made a promise by way of an oath that He would do as He had promised. The absolutely mind-blowing part of covenants with God is that God will always fulfil His side of the covenant. The author of Hebrews was reminding the soon-to-be-persecuted-Jewish-Christians of that fact. “Don’t turn your back on Jesus and go back to Judaism. God will always fulfil His promises to you, just as He did with our Father Abraham. Stay faithful and watch what He will do! God keeps His promises.”
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.
Hebrews 6:17
What are the two things that are unchangeable by which God cannot lie? His promise and His oath! God has bound Himself to us by making His promise while taking an oath in His Own name. Stick with Him and trust His promise to bring you through what’s ahead. Despite your tendency to waiver, keep on keeping on in your journey to perfect your trust in Christ. God knows your end point even before you started. Simply use every opportunity to trust Jesus Christ to save you and grow in your faith in Him. Allow your testimony to build to the point where you can say with me, ‘though I die yet will I trust Him’. He is the resurrection and the life and besides who else will make you righteous before God? No one! The author of Hebrews, like Paul and Peter and God Himself have made it clear to us –
“There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12
You may not always know the details of your journey or clearly see where the trail is leading, but God will always give you enough light to take the next step.
Ian
To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise & the good learn wisdom for the future.
Plutarch
Sometimes we have to look up mutely to God and say, “I don’t understand it at all, but go on with what You are doing.”
Oswald Chambers
There are many of God’s commandments you won’t understand until you first obey them.
Bob Gass
The explanation of the Maori Proverb:- Tie your waka to a star and not a glow worm.
If you are in the bush in the night it is hard to tell the difference between stars and glow worms in the dark. There are two ways you can tell the difference:
- Check your surroundings to get clear in your mind where the horizon is and the location of the high points of land or the cliffs and chasms.
- Get up close to the light, the light you can approach and it comes closer is a glow worm. The stars stay the same distance.
You can use the light of the stars to navigate through the pathway of life, but you can’t do that with glow worms. The stars lead you up and onward; the glow worms take you down. Distinguishing between them helps you to know what is the true light to guide you and what is false. There’s a book which includes a story about three wise men who followed a star and found the Son, who will guide you on your life-long journey and help you to tell the difference between the truth and what is false.