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Hebrews

6:13-20THE STEADFAST ANCHOR OF THE SOUL

Hebrew 6:13-15

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.

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Gen 15 – Faith of Abram

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I

am your shield; your reward shall be very

great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what

will you give me, for I continue childless, and

the heir of my house is Eliezer of

Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you

have given me no offspring, and a member

of my household will be my heir.”

Gen 15 – Faith of Abram

And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

7 And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”

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Gen 15 – Promise of God

9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female

goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove,

and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut

them in half, and laid each half over against the other.

But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey

came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Gen 15 – Promise of God

12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. …

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates

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Abraham’s faith

You will be the father of nations Gen 12

Your heir will be your own son Gen 15

Isaac born to Sarah

God instructs Abraham to sacrifice Isaac

What does he do?

Gal 3: 6 (also Romans 4:3)

5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

7 Know then 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.

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Hebrew 6:13-15

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.

Oaths in Israel

As surely as YWHW lives - the supreme oath of Israel

As I live an breathe!

What does God confirm his promise with?

As God as my witness vs As ME as my witness…

Psalm 110:4 YWHW has sworn and will not

change his mind

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Oaths in Israel

Philo remarks: “There is nothing amiss in God’s bearing witness to

himself. For who else would be capable of bearing witness to him?…

He alone shall make any affirmation regarding himself, since he

alone has unerringly exact knowledge of his own nature. God alone

therefore is the strongest security first for himself, and in the next

place for his deeds also, so that he naturally swore by himself when

giving assurance regarding himself, a thing impossible for anyone

else.”

Bruce, F. F. (1990). (Rev. ed., p. 154). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B.

Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Bruce, F. F. (1990). The Epistle to the Hebrews (Rev. ed., p. 154).

Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Cursing and Swearing

Hypocrisy of the Slave Ship Swear Jar

The Swear Jar in my fantasy football league

Doctors survey in the collar – “I don’t know you!”

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Cursing and Swearing – Ephesians

4:29-32

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Cursing and Swearing – Matthew 5

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of

old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will

be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you

that everyone who is angry with his brother will be

liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be

liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’

will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering

your gift at the altar and there remember that your

brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift

there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to

your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

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Cursing and Swearing – Matthew 5

33 “Again (BJ)you have heard that it was said to those

of old, (BK)‘You shall not swear falsely, but (BL)shall

perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say

to you, (BM)Do not take an oath at all, either by

heaven, for (BN)it is the throne of God, 35 or by the

earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it

is (BO)the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an

oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair

white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or

‘No’; (BP)anything more than this comes from evil.[g]

Hebrew 6

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, 18 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.

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Immutability Psalm 102:25–27

25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavensare the work of thy hands. 26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: 27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

Numbers 23:19 (AV)

19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

1 Samuel 15:29 (AV)

29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

Immutability Neither a static view of God nor a God in constant flux captures the

biblical picture of God. Biblical theology portrays God as

immutable, yet as acting, feeling emotions, and responding

differently to various situations. In all such actions, feelings, and

responses, God is constant and consistent.

Johnson, W. (2003). . In C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen, & T. C. Butler (Eds.),

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 811). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

God’s immutability is a great source of comfort to the believer.

Whereas God is constant in His wrath against sin, He is equally

constant in His forgiveness in response to faith and repentance.

Johnson, W. (2003). . In C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen, & T. C. Butler (Eds.),

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 811). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

IN CHRIST – we find the God who can weep, bleed, suffer…

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Hebrew 6

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, having become

a high priest forever after the order of

Melchizedek.

Leviticus 16:15-17 – The inner place

15 (S)“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood (T)inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16 Thus he shall (U)make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins.

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Leviticus 16:15-17 – The inner place

And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. 17 (V)No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.

John 14

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe

also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it

were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a

place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I

am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I

am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know

where you are going. How can we know the

way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth,

and the life. No one comes to the Father except through

me.

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Hebrew 6

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, having become

a high priest forever after the order of

Melchizedek.

Anchor

Only Acts 27 and Hebrews 6

Acts 27 : Paul shipwrecked – futile anchor maneuvers ending in

them leaving the anchors behind

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Hebrews 6:13-20THE STEADFAST ANCHOR OF THE SOUL

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