Hebrews chapter 6

vs 11

The purpose for these works is assurance of hope. We as humans aren't assured just by the promises of God, I guess. We need to see something concrete we can hang our hopes on, and so that becomes good stuff we do for other people by the power of the Spirit. Of course, if we're not really doing those things, what happens to our hope then?

vs 12

Patience in this case, then, doesn't mean waiting with your arms folded and humming a tune. It means getting busy so that the time goes past faster. Or that sort of thing. My point is it's a busy, active patience.

vs 13

It would seem to me that we're going on to a new idea here. The thread seems to have been somewhat broken.

So now we're looking at Abraham, and God's promise. Although we're told not to make oaths in the NT, it was done regularly in the OT, even by God. And so God swears it on himself, because who else is going to hold him to it?

vs 14

This was the promise to Abraham - one about blessing and descendants. I'm sure this is going somewhere.

vs 15

Ahh, so the point is that Abraham had to wait, a long time, to see that promise fulfilled. Got it.

vs 16

Now we get a lesson in oaths. Considering that the people reading this would have known much better than us what an oath is, it's surprising that it still gets explained so openly. Perhaps this really does mean that when they don't explain something in detail, they simply don't know!

vs 17

That confirmation is important. It shows that God is serious. I mean, God's not going to lie, so it's not important for him to keep his promise. But it's important for us, because it shows the importance of the promise.

vs 18

I realise only now that this verse is really only promising that God cannot lie about these things. I'm not sure what the two things are - the two portions of the promise, blessings and descendants? It must be, because it is beause of these promises that we are able to come to him for hope and to be encouraged. The description of fleeing to him is an interesting one - it's like we are refugees fleeing war.

vs 19

Hope is secure, an important part of the evangelical faith, and an interesting foil to the earlier point about falling away.

vs 20

Hope becomes personified, and enters the sanctuary in ther way a priestly representative would. It makes the point that Jesus has been there already. Perhaps Jesus is the personification of our hope. I would say that makes more sense, but this language is awfully vague.

And now, finally, we have come back around full circle, and we will begin to learn again about Melchizidek.