Hebrews 6:17 Commentary and Bible Study

What a verse this is! Just look past the old-fashioned language and the wealth of terms. No modern version can exhibit the depth of these terms as well as the pedantic old-fashioned KJV translation here. In verse 14 we saw the great promise to Abraham, that was made after the incident with Isaac, and God made a promise and an oath coupled together. Immutable simply means unchangeable. We are reminded of the very famous quip that used to be made by CH Spurgeon, when he taught his students to get them to remember the meaning of the word immutable. He would say, ‘My pocket is immutable. There is no change in it’, and when you remember that, you never forget the meaning of the word immutable. What was God’s purpose in confirming his promise by an oath? Wasn’t the promise on its own already sufficient to convince abraham that God was telling him something that was utterly reliable, utterly trustworthy? Yes, it was. Do we not have a duty to believe all that God has said, simply because he has said it and because he can never exaggerate or mislead? Yes, we do. So why did God add an oath to what was already enough on its own? He did so because he was ‘willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel.’ The passage explains why God would wholly unnecessarily go to the lengths of coupling together, a solemn promise and an oath. It shows us how much it is the will of God to give us assurance. If God when he made a promise to Abraham of an heir would go to such lengths to reinforce his promise; if God when he promises us eternal life will go to such lengths to confirm his promise, does it not show how desirous God is that we should be certain, that we should have assurance, that we should have this deep conviction? It is showing, if we may use the word reverently, the keenness of God that we should be assured of our salvation and be certain of it. God sees the certainty of all that he says. He knows that he speaks the truth. He also knows that we too will rejoice in that truth and benefit from it as we too share the same certainty, and so he wills to transmit that certainty to us in the most powerful way. It is true that we must believe his bare word, but on this occasion he added an oath to it because Abraham must be fully convinced of this wonderful promise.