Abide

Read: Hebrews 6:9-19

God taking an oath is a peculiar thing – when one makes an oath he or she usually takes the oath on something higher than his or herself to ensure the veracity of the oath. For God, however, there is no higher being. He is the ultimate reality, and therefore can only take oath upon one thing, namely himself. The author of Hebrews picks up on this when he is talking about the solidarity of God’s promises to his people. The interesting thing about God taking oath upon himself is that the oath itself becomes a guaranteed thing too because God cannot lie. When the author of Hebrews is talking about two unchangeable things, he’s talking about God and God’s oath. God is unchanging, and if he imposes and oath, the oath is unchanging too.

In the context of Hebrews 6, the oath that the author is talking about is the oath that God gave to Abraham in Genesis 17:2 where God promises descendants to a 99 year-old, childless Abram whose name was changed to Abraham – the father of many. God also instituted the practice of circumcision as a sign of this oath. He brings up this oath that God took with his people because the manifestation of this oath took numerous generations to fulfill (in fact, it is still being fulfilled!) God did not go back on his promise that he made Abraham. The author of Hebrews is showing that God is faithful to his word, and that the promises given to the readers will be fulfilled too, even until the end.

The promises that were given to those who believe are still in effect. God is still unchanging and still fulfilling his promises. God’s unchanging nature and unchanging oaths are, as the author Hebrews put it,  an “anchor of the soul” – something to cling too and rest on in a world were promises are broken and disappointment abounds.

Lord, you are the anchor of my soul!