Starting with today’s reading, Hebrews dives deep into the Old Testament and uses it like a magnifying glass to show us in great detail that all God’s plans and promises for salvation have been met in Jesus Christ. This part of the Bible can be difficult to understand, and one reason is that it is referencing other parts of the Bible that are also hard to understand. If you don’t know what the Old Testament is about, Hebrews 6 might just sound like a bunch of gobbledygook—an oath, a promise, and a… curtain. However, reading this verse together with the Old Testament feels like the moment after a dark storm when the clouds open up to let the sunshine through.

First, some historical context… imagine an ancient battle that ends with one king and his army surrendering to another king. Just like in modern history, the one who surrenders needs to make concessions to give up land, riches, and power. The winner of the battle doesn’t have to promise anything, but the loser—the one with no power—would make promises of faithfulness. They would do so by cutting some animals in two and making a vow by saying, “If I don’t keep these promises, then let this slaughtered animal represent what happens to me,” and then they would walk between the two parts of the animal. Archeologists have found multiple texts from the ancient world describing this.

Now we can turn and read Genesis 15:9-21. We see that pattern, but it is subverted. God is the one making promises. Abraham sees a strange vision of a firepot and a flaming torch passing through the slaughtered animals. The pot and the torch represent God, and amazingly, God is the one who passes through the animals. God is the one who takes the risk and vows to keep promises. This is what Hebrews 6 is talking about; we can trust the promise that God has made, and we can rest assured that God will not break it. God is faithful through the generations, it is on us to decide if we are going to trust him to keep his word.

God of faithfulness, you promised to give Abraham a son, and that his son would become a nation, and that over that nation you would put a king. Christ, you are that king, and you have opened to us an identity and a homeland in that promise so that we can hope beyond anything this world can give. This hope is the strong and trustworthy anchor of our souls and we praise you for it, amen.

Questions for reflection:

  1. Read Genesis 15. What does God promise to Abraham? Do you see ways that God kept his promises?
  2. What does God promise to us? What threads tie Genesis 15 to Jesus? What does it mean that God is promising Abraham that he will bear the burden of a broken covenant?
  3. Hebrews is imploring us to have faith that God will keep his promises, even if it doesn’t feel true and we must wait for the fulfillment. How does this relate to Abraham? (see Genesis 15:6) Does Abraham’s faith mean that he doesn’t struggle? (see Genesis 15:8)
  4. What does the curtain in Hebrews 6:19 represent? (see Mark 15:37-38, Exodus 26:31-33, and Acts 17:24) What is Hebrews saying about Jesus?