A Necessary Oath - Hebrews 6:13–20

Who here can say that he or she has been entirely honest all their life? Who has never said something misleading, never knowingly deceived another person, or never given their word and later looked for a way out of keeping it? Mark Twain is said to have stated, “A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar.” Perhaps Twain was familiar with Psalm 116 in the OT, which says plainly, “All mankind are liars.” 

And it’s true, isn’t it? Not one of us has lived a life of absolute honesty, and we are disqualified from standing in the presence of God. Because of our natural compromise of the truth, we deserve God’s wrath against sin. But the Scriptures say, in and through Jesus Christ, God brings the dishonest to Himself. God has promised to do so, and unlike you and me, God always keeps His word.

You see, Christian hope is based on the trustworthiness of God. God is utterly truthful; he is truthful to the utmost, to the nth degree. God is entirely honest. He cannot lie, He cannot deceive or mislead. God is truth. He always does what he says He will do. And these verses today describe what God has done to strengthen our hope, to boost our confidence in his promise of freedom from sin and death.

But what has God done to assure us of His trustworthiness? The writer of Hebrews describes three things. They are listed for you in the WG. God took an oath, giving Abraham full confidence in His promise (vv.13-15), God took an oath, giving the heirs of Abraham full confidence in His promise (v.16-18), and God fulfilled the oath, receiving the offspring of Abraham into His presence. (v.19-20). God’s oath was necessary, but not for the normal reason. Let me explain.

Last Sunday, we saw how the church was encouraged to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises of God. Abraham in the prime example. The book of Genesis, in the OT, says that God spoke to Abraham and promised that he would be the father of a great nation, and all the earth would be blessed through him. 

It seemed unlikely because Abraham was 75 years old; his wife Sarah was elderly as well, and they had been unable to have children. Nonetheless, God told Abraham that it would be so. Years went by; Abraham and Sarah were unable to conceive, and waiting was difficult? Abraham suggested to God that one of his servants be adopted as a son. But God said “no,” a biological son would come. 

Then, when Abraham was 86, he had a biological son; however, not with his wife. Rather, with a female servant, the result of Abraham and Sarah trying to get results. When have you found it difficult to wait on God, and so you took matters into your own hands as you grew tired of waiting on God? We’ve all done it. 

Well, God confirmed, though, that Abraham would have a son, but it would be with his wife. And when Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah gave birth to a boy whom they named Isaac. Isaac’s birth was not the complete fulfillment of God’s promise. There was a nation left to come, and some kind of blessing to the whole world. Isaac was only the start.

But during this process, God had gone one step beyond the promise. God took an oath. And the oath, coupled with the promise, kept Abraham going, kept him hoping in God, kept him walking by faith. Even though some of Abraham’s decisions were regrettable, it’s clear that God was sympathetic toward Abraham and found him faithful. 

God understood the difficulties of humans walking by faith. Think about it: Abraham was a liar, he lived among liars, and he had never met anyone who was not a liar. God told Abraham to trust Him and hope for something that seemed virtually impossible. Genesis 15 tells us that Abraham believed God, but also, he asked God how he could know for sure that God would fulfill the promises. How could he know for sure?

Now, among men, the way we deal with Abraham’s problem is through an oath, through vows. We go one step beyond just giving our word. There’s an old story of a wealthy man on his deathbed. As he lay there, his pastor told him of God's healing power. The man groaned and said “Pastor, if God heals me, I'll give the church a million dollars.” Well, the man was miraculously healed and soon released from the hospital. Several months later, he and the pastor were chatting and the pastor said, “You know, when you were in the hospital and close to death, you promised to give a million dollars to the church if you got well. We haven't received that yet.” The wealthy man replied. “Did I say that? I guess that goes to show how sick I really was!” 

Why are those who testify in a court of law required to swear on a Bible? Because all mankind are liars. Just because someone says they will do something doesn’t mean you should bet your life on it. At any given time, someone somewhere in the world is breaking their word. So the courts require you proclaim that if you tell a lie on the stand, you invite the punishment of God upon yourself. We swear by a power higher than ourselves.

This makes God’s oath that much more curious and unique. Notice verse [13], “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, [14] saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” [15] And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” The highest authority in all of existence is the absolutely truthful, one and only God. God doesn’t need to take an oath. His word is enough. If he says he will do a thing, then he will.

But God is kind toward his people; he is gentle with us. Psalm 103 says, “He knows how we are formed; he remembers that we are dust.” And so that Abraham might have full confidence in His promise, God took an oath. 

Verse 14 refers to Genesis 22. Things took an interesting turn after the birth of Isaac. Remember, Isaac’s birth was not the complete fulfillment of the promise. When Isaac was a young boy, God commanded Abraham to kill Isaac as a sacrifice to God. 

Abraham had waited so long. Now he had the son; why would God want Isaac to die? Nonetheless, Abraham obeyed, but God stopped him at the last minute, sparing Isaac and providing a ram for the sacrifice. Hebrews 11 says, [17] By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son...He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead.” 

Why was Abraham so sure that Isaac would somehow be resurrected? He had God’s oath. God’s oath is reiterated by God in Genesis 22 after the provision of the ram, but it was actually initiated in Genesis 15. There we see the covenant ritual like those made at that time between a big nation and a small one. 

A big nation would approach a small nation to conquer it, but rather than destroying the small nations, the big nation might offer a peace treaty. A covenant would be made; it was a contract between the two parties. There would be blessings for keeping the covenant, and curses for breaking it. 

In the contract-making ritual, various animals would be killed and severed, and the bloody pieces were formed into two lines. Then the representatives from the nations, (the kings) would walk together between the lines, each taking an oath that if they did not keep their side of the deal, they invited a fate like these dead animals. They invited death if they broke their word. Nations would take this oath because all mankind are naturally liars.

But God does not need to do such things. So why would God do this? In short, because of His grace. Genesis 15 states that only God passed between the lines. You see, only God invited a curse - invited death - upon Himself if the covenant was broken. And Abraham remembered this. He remembered this as he raised the knife over Isaac. He reasoned that if God did not raise Isaac from the dead, then God would make Himself a liar. And God cannot lie. God’s oath gave Abraham confidence. Does your life demonstrate that you take God at His word? Where do you need faith and patience as you wait for God to forever remove sin and death?

Now notice verse [16] “For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. [17] So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it 

with an oath.” Both the covenant ceremony and the sworn word of God were not only for Abraham. They were also for his heirs, his descendants, those who would receive an inheritance. It was and often is thought that the heirs in question must refer to ethnic Jews, those descended from Abraham by blood.

But listen to what the apostle Paul, who himself was descended by blood from Abraham and the Israelites, says in Romans 9. He writes, “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, [7] and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring.” In other words, not all biological descendants of Abraham truly belong to the people of God.

Paul goes on to say, “it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.” Those of faith are the children of God, whether in OT times when they had faith in a savior to come, or in NT times and ever since when they have faith in the savior who has come, Jesus Christ. 

God’s oath to Abraham, God’s covenant with Abraham, serves to strengthen our faith in the promise of God, to strengthen our faith in the gospel. God did this, not because it was necessary for Him to be bound to keeping His word, but because we are liars and we live among liars.

Notice how serious God is about honesty. We see this over and over in the Scriptures. Jesus says, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” In other words, be truthful always. Now look at verse 18, [God guaranteed his promise with an oath] so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.  

The “two unchangeable things” are God’s promise and his oath. God meant to leave absolutely no doubt about his trustworthiness. But notice that it says, “we who have fled for refuge.” Refuge from what? 

Well, again, we are liars and we live among liars. Isn’t it true that so many folks would argue something like this: “I can’t believe the claims about Jesus Christ because I’ve never seen anything like that. And if I’ve never seen it, then I don’t believe it. I don’t believe something just because someone told it to me.” If you think that way, I can relate; I thought that way about Christianity at one time. After all, people are liars. 

If you think that way, just remember, you’re a liar too. Where can you go to get away from all liars and deceivers? Nowhere, because wherever you might, you would still be there! God, in the Scriptures of the OT and NT, doesn’t only tell us that he’s powerful, or all-knowing, or loving and compassionate. He says he is utterly honest. Christianity proposes that all mankind are liars and God is absolute truth.

From what do Christians for refuge? We flee from liars and even from our own lies. We flee from ourselves. We flee from unbelief. We flee from doubt, that we may walk by faith and trust God. Do you feel this need to flee to God for refuge from the dishonesty around you and within you? God made a promise and backed it up with an oath that was necessary for us. 

We are like Abraham; we say, “O LORD God, how can I know?” How can I know You will do these things? You and I did not have to be there for the covenant ceremony, we did not have to hear the voice of God to Abraham, we did not need to be present for the earthly works of Jesus or for his death or resurrection. I proclaim to you today that the only true God has spoken. Take Him at His word, that you may find lasting hope in what he has done! Hope!

Notice verse 19. “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, [20] where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.” The oath taken by God is completely fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God told Abraham that He would fulfill the promise through Abraham’s offspring. 

In Galatians 3, Paul says, “[7] Know...that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. [8] And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” [9] So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” But Paul adds this: [16] Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.” 

You see, when God made those promises to Abraham, God was promising to send Jesus Christ. God took an oath to bring upon Himself the punishment of death if either side of the covenant with Abraham and all those who believe was broken. God took an oath inviting on Himself the curse that you and I deserve because we have broken the covenant, we have sinned against God. 

Galatians 3 says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles,” that is, to non-ethnic Jews, to every tribe and nation of the world! Through Jesus Christ, the descendant Abraham, the whole world is blessed. Liars and deceivers can be accepted into the holy presence of God!

But how? How can the holy God of truth allow human beings into his presence, since all mankind are liars? Well, you see here in verses 19-20, a human being has now stood, on his own merit, in the holy presence of God! But this man was no liar. The one and only absolutely honest man, Jesus Christ. He performed the work of a great high priestly work, offering his own holy life as a sacrifice, making payment once and for all for the guilt of our sins on the cross. 

The curtain described in verse 19 is OT language. It refers to old covenant worship, where the priest would cleanse himself and then go behind a curtain, into the presence of God, where he would be the middleman between God and the people. 

Look at the rest of verse 20: “where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” This whole chunk of Hebrews is an explanation of how Jesus is our great high priest. It’s related to an ancient king named Melchizedek. We will look closely at him next Sunday. But for today, notice simply that Jesus remains in the presence of God, representing his people forever. With no end.

The sure and steady hope for a Christian is not your faith. Your hope is not in your faith. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, who stands righteously before God, and trusting him, you can stand righteous before God. When others remind you of the things you’ve said and done; when your memories remind you, when your conscience condemns you, when the enemy attacks you. 

When your faith is shaky, your standing with God is secure because Jesus is there in heaven, representing you forever. He is our Anchor. What good is an anchor to the captain of a ship if he can’t be confident that the anchor will hold?

Does Jesus anchor your soul? Do you know the hope that is in him? Admit your sin, turn from it, and cry out to him in faith. Turn from sin and renew your faith. Flee to him for refuge from your lies.

Let’s bow in prayer.