“For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:
‘I will certainly bless you,
and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.’
Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.
Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.”
One of the things I love most about cultures with an oral history tradition is that the same familiar stories can be told and retold with rich, colorful flavor. Throughout Jewish history, stories that we read in the Bible were primarily handed down verbally (since most people could not read). The Jewish readers (and hearers!) of this letter would not need much explanation about the role of Abraham in their culture. If you are unfamiliar with his story, check out Genesis 17-22.
This passage starts with the words, “For example…,” so recall from earlier in the chapter that we’ve been talking about loving others and holding on to our faith in order to inherit all that God has promised. Today we are given reasons why we can put our hope in God’s promises. I mean, who’s to say he won’t just get sick of us and bail? Turns out God himself says he won’t bail. If there’s one thing that this Jewish audience knew, it was that God kept coming back for his people. It’s the point of every Old Testament story. God has taken an oath on his own name that he will not abandon us. It is because of his trustworthy word that we can have any sense of hope at all.
If you have decided to follow Jesus, then he’s given you an all-access pass straight into the most sacred space: the Holy of Holies. What used to be a physical room in the Temple is now inside you. We are now the temple where the Holy Spirit dwells. In that old physical room in the Temple, there was a curtain blocking the entrance to the Holy of Holies. When Jesus died, that curtain tore from top to bottom and changed all of history (check it out in Matthew 27:50-52). The Holy Spirit ties us to Jesus so significantly that unless we make a deliberate choice to walk away, we are tethered for life. Anchors hold us steady when storms come. They give us our bearings. They allow us to pause for rest. God can be trusted, he’s proven that over and over to his people. You won’t regret tying your life to him.