Overcoming Apostasy: When God Swore by Himself, Hebrews 6:13-20

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Overcoming Apostasy: When God Swore by Himself

Hebrews 6:13-20

Introduction: Please notice that verse 13 of our text begins with “for.” Our writer and preacher is now transitioning from one of the strongest warnings of falling away to one of the strongest motivations. The goal is a full assurance of hope until the end (vs.11). 

The typical contrast of the preacher moves from 6:6, “it is impossible to restore them again to repentance,” to 6:12, “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” 

1. The Transition from Warning to Promises (6:9-12)
   1. The preacher is aware of his strong rebuke in 5:11–6:8 when he states n 6:9, “Though we speak in this way…in your case we feel sure of better things…” The preacher  knows that the warning he has given is bold and strong. He does not apologize for the sternness, but truly believes in these brethren that they will do better. That statement alone is a lesson.
   2. The writer ended his sermon with, “I appeal to you brothers, bear with my word of exhortation” (13:22). Can we “bear with” the strong warnings Old and New Testaments writers deliver to us without complaining that we have our feelings hurt? God is direct with us and plain spoken. It is the reason This preacher loves these brethren, and wants to save them from destruction.
   3. Those “better things” are summarized in verse 12: not being sluggish, but following the pattern of those who through faith and patience in inherit the promises. The emphasis is on three words: faith, patience, & promises. “Faith and patience” is the focus of the end of chapter 10 through the middle of chapter 12.
   4. However, in our text, the primary focus is on the promises of God. In other words, the words of verse 11 are the reason the preacher has spoken so sternly. We desire…” Why does he and his fellows desire to show the same “earnestness/diligence” to the end just as they had in the past? — verse 13: “for when God made a promise…” 
2. The Blessing
   1. It should first be of interest to us that the promise to which the preacher refers was made 2000 years previous to his sermon in Hebrews. Consider: 2000 years previous, God made a promise. We now live 4000 years after the promise was made. When we think of God making a promise so long ago, it highlights two phrases in our text:
      1. 6:12 “…imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
      2. 6:15 “Thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” 
      3. Now, do we understand what God means by “patience?” Why would God cause his people to endure and wait such a long time? Hebrews 11:6 says it well, “Without faith, it is impossible to please him.” 
   2. The quoted blessing comes from Genesis 22:16-17 just following Abraham’s faith and obedience in offering Isaac on the altar. Abraham illustrated his faith and loyalty to God by not allowing any earthly love to come in the way of his love and loyalty to God. This is the occasion in which the promised blessing is made. The “offspring” of Abraham would be those who followed in his footsteps (Romans 4:13).
   3. The specific blessing of Genesis 22:17 is making a great nation from his offspring (the kingdom of Christ) and, “your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies.” This promise primarily refers to the land promise, indicating the security of God’s people. It is the “rest” of chapter four. It is not that the enemies no longer exist, but that they no longer can “possess our gates.” They have been conquered and can no longer conquer us. In other words, Satan has been bound – “Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 21:27).
3. The Oath
   1. First, notice the oath itself in verse 14. Modern versions render, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” However, both the Greek and Hebrew are better represented by the KJV, NKJV, & ASV: “Blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you.” The repetition and the oath language of the Hebrew makes it the strongest way the Hebrew could make an affirmation.
   2. The preacher’s emphasis is on the fact that God took an oath. What are we to see from this shocking statement? 
      1. First, when a person takes an oath he would swear by an authority greater than himself. But with God, no one can supersede him. Therefore, he swears by himself. It is like he said, “I swear by me.” We would laugh to hear that in a court of law.
      2. Further, that God took an oath is almost humorous. Why would God take an oath? He has never lied; he has never failed to keep a promise. He could just say, “I promise.” An oath is taken when there is doubt as to its fulfillment. But with God there is no doubt.
      3. Most importantly, when one makes an oath he puts himself under a curse of utter destruction by the one whose name he swears. Thus, when God swears by himself, he is saying, “May I being utterly destroyed if I do not keep this promise.” Therefore, verse 16 states that once God swore, that was the end of the matter! 
4. The Graciousness of God’s Oath
   1. Obviously, God did not make his oath because he needed to keep himself from being tempted to violate his promise. The oath was totally and completely for our sake.
      1. Verse 17 shows God’s purpose: “So when God desired to show more convincingly the unchangeable character of his purpose…” Look again at the words of 6:11, “full assurance of hope.” God wanted us to be absolutely confident of our hope. And his reason for giving us this confidence was so we would not give up; we would not become sluggish, but maintain earnestness and diligence until the end.
      2. Verse 18 gives further emphasis: “that we might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope.” 
      3. Then finally, this promise and oath (“by two unchangeable things”) are now a “sure and steadfast anchor for the soul.” Those wonderful words address something we have all experienced – a feeling of discouragement that our salvation is not sure and steadfast. We think that the failures of our life somehow mitigate the promises of God. We must remember that later in 10:19 & 10:26 give the contrast between confidence and defeat. “We can boldly enter,” but “if we go on sinning willfully, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” Our job is to be diligent and patiently endure and reject continuous and willful sin. 
   2. Melchizedek
      1. The preacher had interrupted his speech back in 5:10 when he desired to explain the importance of Jesus being a priest like Melchizedek. Now he can further his explanation.
      2. An anchor is only as good as the surety to that which it is attached. I have been in many a boat where the anchor slipped. However, in this case, the anchor extends beyond the veil into the Most Holy Place, the very presence of God. But the key phrase is, “where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.” 
      3. In other words, our anchor extends to the place where Jesus has gone “on our behalf.” Look at 7:23-25 “The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” 
      4. The above text tells us why we can have “strong encouragement to hold fast” and that we have a “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.” Since he is a priest like Melchizedek, a permanent priesthood that continues forever, consequently, he can save to the uttermost (completely and at all times), since he always lives to make intercession. 
      5. 10:2 tells us that being completely cleansed in Jesus rather than by the sacrifices of the old Law, “the worshiper no longer has any consciousness of sins.” In other words, the sins of the past are cleansed leaving the worshiper without any need to ever be concerned about them again.

Conclusion: Now, why wouldn’t you hold fast? Why would you allow yourself to become dull and sluggish? The blessing has been pronounced! The oath has been made! We indeed have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us!

Berry Kercheville