Letter to the Hebrews Volume 54

 God the Father's Foolproof Purpose & Promise in Christ Part

Hebrews 6:13-15 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. KJV

God the Father spoke to a man (at the time his name was Abram) and called him out of his land to serve and follow Him (God), and in so doing, God the Father made a promise to this man Abram, as it is written, "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 12:1-3) (KJV). Now we find the writer of Hebrews referring back to this moment of Hebrew History which marks the birth of the Hebrew Nation through this one man Abram (later God changed his name to Abraham), as it is written with these words, "For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself," (Hebrews 6:13) (KJV). The English word 'promise' is translated by the Greek word epaggellō meaning to announce upon (reflexively), that is, (by implication) to engage to do something, to assert something respecting oneself: - profess, (make) promise. In other words, the writer of Hebrews is now reminding these Hebrew converts to Christ of the reliability of God's promise to the man that He birthed the entire Hebrew Nation through and how that should fuel their confidence at that present time (likewise it should do the same for we believers today and of every era and generation). This should render strong encouragement to them then and to us now that God the Father through Christ Jesus our Lord and by the Holy Spirit's Power are 'kept by faith unto salvation' as we declared those words of the Apostle Peter in the previous study/commentary in Volume 53. Here is what Vincent's Word Studies had to say of this verse, "Illustration of the long-suffering of faith by the example of Abraham. The necessity for emphasizing this element of faith lay in the growing discouragement of the Jewish Christians at the long delay of Christ's second coming. Comp. ch. 11. Abraham became a sojourner in the land of the promise, looking for the heavenly city (Hebrews 11:9-10). All the instances cited in that chapter illustrate the long outlook of faith, involving patient waiting and endurance. The example of Abraham shows, first, that the promise of God is sure."

Next the writer of Hebrews reminds the Hebrew converts of how Abraham's faith was so sure, solid, and strong 'in God' that he was willing to offer his only begotten son Isaac up to God the Father as a sacrifice, that is, killing his son, firmly believing that God the Father would reward his faithfulness by resurrecting his son from death, as it is written here in Hebrews 6:14, "Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." (Hebrews 6:14-15) (KJV). However, we know that God never intended Abraham to kill his only son, but He (God) was testing Abraham's faithfulness (not for Himself, because He already knew what Abraham would do, but the test was for Abraham to place God above everything and everyone and even his only begotten son from he and Sarah as God had promised to him all those years earlier, the encounter as it is written originally in Genesis, "And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the Angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And He said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. And the Angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By Myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." (Genesis 22:9-18) (KJV).

Here is what Adam Clarke had to say of Hebrews 6:14, "I will continue to bless thee. I will continue to increase thy posterity. In the most literal manner God continues to fulfill this promise; genuine Christians are Abraham's seed, and God is increasing their number daily." The time elapsed from when God the Father made the promise to Abraham until his son Isaac was born to his wife Sarah (who at the time of giving birth was 90 years old) was 30 years or 3 decades that he (Abraham) had to 'patiently endure' and this English phrase is translated by the Greek word makrothumeō meaning to be long spirited, that is, (objectively) forbearing or (subjectively) patient: - bear (suffer) long, be longsuffering, have (long) patience, be patient, patiently endure. It appeared to Abraham that the promise of a son born to he and Sarah had long passed them by being 100 years old for Isaac and 90 years old for Sarah, however, God is allpowerful and allknowing and He knew the exact right timing for Abraham to receive the promise knowing of his many failings during the years earlier and the power of God has no limit, so He could make Abraham capable of sexual vitality at the age of 100 and Sarah's womb fertile at the age of 90, for with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Mark 10:27). Here is what Dr. John Gill had to say of Hebrews 6:15, "He waited long for a son, from whom the Messiah was to spring, after he had had the promise of one; and he endured many afflictions with patience, in his journeys from place to place, throughout his life to the end: he obtained the promise; he was greatly blessed in temporal things; he lived to see the son of the promise, and his sons; he saw the day of Christ by faith, and now inherits the heavenly glory, which is the thing chiefly designed."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…