Hebrews Chapter Six, When God Swears

 

Hebrews 6:13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, [14] saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” [15] And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

 

It said numerous times in the New Testament not to swear, but to simply answer yes or no to an inquiry. Furthermore, we are cautioned that going beyond merely saying yes or no is of the devil, or Satanically inspired, James 5:12, Matthew 5:34, 37.

Why would Jesus our Lord go so far to paint swearing in such a grim light? To clarify: Scripture is not addressing profanity currently, but making oaths or promises. So, why are promises evil? A promise, even well intentioned, can stem from the seat of presumption that is fostered by an arrogant spirit, James 4:16. In the passage in Isaiah where we glimpse Lucifer’s thoughts regarding his ascension, we find the phrase, “I will,” five times, promises made to himself about how he would overthrow all rule and power to become like God, Isaiah 14:13-15. Yet not even Satan with all the power at his command could affect his intentions, because God opposed and overruled his corrupted wisdom.

 

Only God Himself is capable of promising and successfully carrying that promise out. We learn in Hebrews 6:16 that when people swear, we always swear an oath by someone greater than us. “I swear to God,” is still a very common phrase in this day and age, and while not taken terribly seriously, it nonetheless betrays the idea behind the need to validate what is said with an authority outside of us. In the days of Israel’s theocracy the penitent would take vows in the Lord’s name to demonstrate intention and deliberation. The hearer would rest easier in the knowledge that Yahweh’s name (and therefore His integrity as Israel’s covenant God) had been invoked.

 

We journey back to Israel’s infancy with this passage. Abraham had already tried to fulfill God’s promise to him by begetting Ishmael through Hagar. Now Isaac, a young man, was Abraham’s heir of God’s promise. Imagine then, when God demanded of Abraham a second, seemingly impossible thing from the patriarch. First He commanded Abram to leave Ur of the Chaldeans—everything that he had known and grown up with—to go to a land he knew nothing of, Genesis 12:1. The site associated with Ur is found in present day Iraq in the lower eastern portion of the Fertile Crescent, about 220 miles southeast of Baghdad. Considered one of the most advanced cities of the time period (circa. 2100-2000 B.C.) it is believed to be Abraham’s birth home. Leaving prosperity, comfort and familiarity behind, Abraham did as God commanded. Many years later, when Abraham and Sarah had been blessed with Isaac as his inheritor, God commanded Abraham to depart once more. This time to sacrifice his son on an altar, Genesis 22:2.

 

Faith—that is confident trust in the God who commanded him—led Abraham both times, and both times he was not disappointed. Faith’s fruit, obedience out of love for God, led him to Moriah where the patriarch believed that God would even raise the dead should he sacrifice his son as he had been commanded, Hebrews 11:19. Of course, God provided a ram in the thicket and Isaac was preserved. The test of faith was meant to demonstrate Abraham’s loving trust in God even when circumstance should have led him to a different conclusion. After Abraham passed his test, God assured him once again that his obedience (faith manifested) would yield the consummation of God’s promise to him. God promised Abraham an abundant seed on the earth, heirs innumerable despite his old age and having but a single legitimate successor. This lofty promise culminated in the prophesied Messiah coming from the loins of Abraham as a blessing to the whole earth, Genesis 22:18.

 

The author explains that after Abraham patiently endured, sojourning the entirety of his life on earth without a permanent home, he obtained the promise. Jesus our Lord said of this promise, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad,” John 8:56. The nature of the promise was found in this very passage, “Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” Note that the verse does not say Abraham obtained the fulfillment of the promise. Rather, it states that he received from God His word that what He said, He will bring to pass in due time, His time. And Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. The patriarch’s faith wasn’t like the sterility of demonic faith that simply believes that God is, James 2:20. No, Christians need to go further, not only believing that God is, but that He rewards those who diligently seek Him, Hebrews 11:6. We learn from Hebrews 11:13 that Abraham was one of those who, “died in faith.” He did not receive the promise’s fulfillment, but its reception. It is amazing that Almighty God deigned to promise at all, as if anything He says could be frustrated or stopped. We demand an oath from men because we want confidence in their word. We may doubt their character. We may mistrust their motives. But with God all of these things may be put to rest. No promise is needed; He speaks and it is so; this is the principle on how the very universe came into being. We will address this topic as the chapter progresses, God willing.

 

But for now we see Abraham’s faithful reception of God’s promise. He heard the word spoken, and God swearing by the integrity bound up in His own name, and knew for certain that what had been spoken would come to pass. The patriarch’s patient endurance stems from the moment of his calling, or election to service until that moment when he did not even deny God his only son out of love for Him and trust that God is capable of all things, and that He can do no wrong. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Genesis 18:25. Abraham patiently endured, walking beside God and finding his contentment in Him through decades of trials. This is why James wrote, and with which we can also agree, “Indeed, we count them blessed who endure,” James 5:11. Job, like Abraham, suffered manifold trials, but these tests were designed by God to strengthen his faith and manifest God’s character more clearly, as well as glorify the God whom they served in the sight of men. Those who live in this dispensation have the supreme pleasure of inheriting the matchless promises of God, who assures us that eternal life is ours through faith in Abraham’s greatest Son: Jesus Christ.