Abraham is here used as a pattern,
because he was the father of all believers. The promises God made to him of
blessedness and of being made a blessing, are ours, for all the promises of God
are in Christ, and are yea and amen in him. "For when God made promise
to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware 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" (vv.
13-15).
The
promises referred to here are found in Genesis 22:16-17. This is the place
where God’s promise was enforced with his oath. This promise to Abraham was
made by Christ himself, the Angel of the Covenant, who swore by himself because
he could swear by none greater (Isa. 45:23). Yet, it was a promise concerning
Christ, Abraham’s Seed, and all God’s elect in him (Gal. 3:14-16, 29).
When
the Scriptures speak of God swearing by himself, it is a display of his condescension.
He condescends to our weakness, assuring us, by his oath, that his promise is
good. All who are chosen of God, all who are called by his grace, all who
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, are hereby assured that all spiritual
blessings are and shall be ours in Christ forever (Eph. 1:3-6).
"For men verily swear by
the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the
immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath” (vv. 16-17).
The
oath of a man is given to put an end to strife, doubts, and questions about
what he has promised. How much more shall God’s oath put an end to all our
doubts and questions concerning his promise of grace in Christ? The counsel of
God, as the term is used here, is his everlasting purpose of grace in Christ,
his purpose of grace, his eternal decree concerning the salvation of his elect
(Rom. 8:28-31). This is, like God himself, here declared to be a matter of
absolute immutability.
God’s
purpose of grace is immutable. It must be immutable, because it is the purpose
and grace of the immutable God (Mal. 3:6; James 1:17), whose wisdom is
infinite, whose power is omnipotence, whose will is unalterable, whose grace is
unconditional. God’s purposed and promised grace is ours immutably because it
comes to us through the merits of our eternally accepted Surety. This is what
the words, “confirmed it by an oath,”
suggest. They speak of the interposition of a Mediator, Christ our Surety.
"That by two immutable
things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us”
(v. 18).
The two immutable things here are
the decree of God and the oath of God. By the decree of his will and the oath
of his covenant, knowing that “it
is impossible for God to lie,” we find in Christ our “strong consolation.” Our assurance and consolation before God are
not found in our feelings, experiences, personal holiness, or even in our
faith, but in God our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers are men and
women who have fled for refuge unto him, like the man slayer in the Old
Testament fled for refuge to one of the cities of refuge.
Even the names of the cities were
typically significant and instructive (Ex. 21:13; Num. 35:6, 11, 14; Deut.
21:2, 9; Jos. 20:1-9). -- Kedesh
means, "holy." Christ is holy, both as God and man, and is our
holiness before God, that “holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.”
-- Shechem means,
"the shoulder." Christ not only bore our sins in his own body on the
tree, he bears and carries their persons; and the government of his church and
kingdom is on his shoulders. There, on his omnipotent shoulders, we are safe
and secure. -- Hebron
means, "fellowship." Believers have fellowship with Christ and with
the Father in him; and in him we have fellowship with one another. -- Bezer means, "a fortified
place." -- Christ is our stronghold, our high tower, and our place of
defense. To him we run; and in him we are safe. -- Ramoth means, "exaltations.” Our Lord Jesus Christ is
exalted at God's right hand, and in due time he will exalt those that trust in
him. -- Golan means
"manifested." Christ is God “manifest in the flesh.” The Son
of God was manifest to take away our sins and destroy the works of the devil;
and he will be gloriously manifest and revealed at the last day.
The
words “lay hold upon” are very
strong. They mean to laid hold firmly, as with a death grip. When Satan would
pull us off of Christ, we hold him fast. It is our faith in Christ, our hope in
him that the fiend of hell would destroy. – His messengers are preachers who
cunningly try to get us to take refuge somewhere else.
"Which hope we have as an
anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within
the veil" (v. 19).
Our
hope is fastened within the veil. It is “a nail in a sure place.” It is
a sure and steadfast hope. Our ship may be tossed to and fro, but it cannot be
wrecked. Christ is the Pilot. The Scriptures are the compass. God’s promises
are the tackling. Hope is the anchor. Faith is the cable holding it. The Holy
Spirit is the Wind that drives it.
"Whither the forerunner is
for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of
Melchisedec" (v. 20).
As
the high priest in Israel entered into the holy of holies once a year, the Lord
Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, has gone into the Holy Place. There he has
taken possession of Heavn as our Forerunner. By the merit of his own blood he
has obtained eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12). Our great Forerunner has
gone to heaven to make intercession for us (Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2) as a
Priest after the order of Melchisedec. Our Lord Jesus Christ is a Priest after
the order of righteousness and of peace. The order of his priesthood is an
everlasting and unchangeable order.