Hebrews 6:13-20
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. 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. 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.
I want to challenge you, dare you, to do something today. This dare will sound very naïve to some of you. It will sound potentially “tone deaf” to others. Some will possibly even find it offensive. I suspect a good many will hear this challenge and think, “Impossible. It cannot be done.” And yet, I challenge you nonetheless.
Here is the challenge: I challenge you, I dare you, to hope.
I dare you to hope!
I dare you to be the kind of person who, after the group has rehashed the latest tragedy or scandal or catastrophe, walks away only to have those left say, “You know, there is something about her. She listens. She understands. She does not downplay or dismiss what is happening. But she always, inevitably, says something hopeful. And she does not seem to just be saying it. She seems to actually have hope!”
I dare you to hope!
And I dare you to have a solid, unmovable, certain hope.
Syntyche D. Dahou has written of how the French language has two different words for hope.
Unlike English, which uses the word hope broadly, the French language uses two words that derive from the word espérer (to hope): espoir and espérance. Both can first refer to something hoped for. In this sense, the word espoir usually refers to an uncertain object; that is, someone who hopes for something in this way does not have the certainty that it will happen (“I hope the weather will be nice tomorrow”). On the other hand, espérance describes what, rightly or wrongly, is hoped for or expected with certainty. It often refers to a philosophical or eschatological object (“I hope in the goodness of human beings”; “I hope for the return of Jesus Christ”).[1]
Yes, I am calling you to espérance, to a certain hope, a definite hope! But how can we do this? How can we have this kind of hope? Our text answers that question in two different ways.
Our hope is rooted in the very character of our refuge God.
Our first answer is that the hope of the believer is rooted in the very character of God. In verse 13, the writer of Hebrews, having just issued his caution against apostasy, now moves to a call for hope. He grounds this call in the character of God and he begins by using Abraham as an example of what this looks like.
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. 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.
This is a most fascinating thing for the author of Hebrews to say. Think of the times when you try to bolster your word through some kind of oath. Perhaps it’s humorous: “By the hammer of Thor I will do this!” Sometimes it is deadly serious: “On the grave of my mother I am telling the truth!” And sometimes it is inappropriate, as when we evoke the name of God in an oath. But the one thing all of these have in common is this: they appeal to something above and beyond us to lend weight to our words. Or, as the writer of Hebrews puts it, “people swear by something greater than themselves.”
But how would God swear an oath given that there is nothing above God? Of course, He could not make such an oath. The hammer of Thor is far beneath Him! Ha! But there is a way for God “to show more convincingly” what He is saying. There is a way for God to make an oath. And it is this: He can speak by the authority of His own character.
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.
What are the “two unchangeable things” by which we are encouraged “to hold fast to the hope set before us?” They are:
- God’s word.
- God’s character.
And what is it about the character of God that engenders this hope? The text tells us specifically that it is “unchangeable” and that “it is impossible for God to lie.” What is more, God is our “refuge.”
This gives us hope! God always tells the truth. God will never change. We are safe in the arms of God.
Our hope is rooted in the very character of our refuge God.
The psalmist long before this wrote of the character of God and of the hope of the believer in Psalm 33.
17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. 18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, 19 that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. 22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
We dare not trust in lesser realities (i.e., the war horse). The earthly powers will inevitably fail us! They “cannot rescue.”
Our hope is rooted in the very character of our refuge God.
But our great God can! His love is steadfast. He is “our help and our shield.” His name is “holy.” And so the psalmist writes in Psalm 42:
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Hope in God!
Hope in God!
Hope in His character!
Hope in His person!
Hope in His love!
Hope in His holiness!
Hope in His name!
Our hope is anchored in the very work of our High Priest Jesus.
When we say that our hope is grounded in the very character of our refuge God we must remember that the character of the Father is most powerfully and vividly demonstrated in the person and work of the Son. And so the writer of Hebrews moves to this fact in verses 19 and 20.
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.
We first notice the amazing and beautiful imagery of the “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope.” It is fascinating to see that the anchor is an older Christian symbol than the cross. The cross did not become the main symbol of our faith until much later in the history after the church received a degree of political protection. But before this, the church had other symbols: the fish, the peacock, the anchor, and others. One can easily find online catacomb drawings of anchors and anchors on early Christian jewelry like rings.
Our soul is anchored in Christ. What a powerful image! Donald Guthrie writes:
The job of the anchor is to remain fixed in the seabed whatever the conditions at sea. Indeed the rougher the weather the more important is the anchor for the stability and safety of the boat. It is an apt symbol of Christian hope.[2]
Yes it is! But the author of Hebrews does not stop there. Take in the whole image:
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.
Our hope, which is a steadfast anchor, “enters into the inner place behind the curtain.” This is a clear reference to the work of Christ and the splitting of the temple veil. It is a reference to the cross. Through His atoning work on the cross, Christ has opened “the inner place behind the curtain”—that is, the Holy of Holies, the very presence of God—to us. And He has entered in as a “forerunner on our behalf.” Meaning, Christ enters first and then we, by grace through faith, enter likewise.
Our hope is therefore grounded in the saving work of Jesus on the cross! Our hope is grounded in the fact that Christ has made a way for us to go “behind the curtain,” into the presence of God. Paul, in Romans 5, likewise grounds our hope in the work of Christ.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Notice how similar this is to our text. Paul, in Romans 5, speaks of our obtaining “access” through Jesus. This is another way of saying that Christ has opened the veil for us, that it has been torn in two and all impediments have now been removed. Because of this “we rejoice in hope”! What is more, “suffering produces endurance…endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” Then the amazing statement: “and hope does not put us to shame.” Or “hope does not disappoint”!
No it does not!
The hope that is grounded in the character of our refuge God and the saving work of the Son and the inner witness and work of the Holy Spirit will never let us down, will never disappoint!
This is why I dare to dare you! Have hope! Be a people of hope! If you have trusted in Christ, you have reason to hope, reason for espérance, a definite hope, a certain hope!
The world needs to see that we are a people of hope. And Christ has made this possible! And Christ will not disappoint!
[1] https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/january-web-only/hope-pandemic-expectation-uncertainty-covid.html
[2] Guthrie, Donald. Hebrews (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.