Hebrews 6:13-20 | What's the connection?

June 9th, 2026
by Zachary Matus

Fulfilling Promise

We are given an example of the faithfulness of the Lord. The comparison made is one that is made throughout the New Testament. As we look at Abraham, we can see the pattern that the Lord works in. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son unto the Lord. Understanding the Lord to be faithful to His promises, Abraham knew that, through Isaac, he would have many descendants. Hebrews later tells us that Abraham believed God would raise his son from the dead to uphold the promise. Instead we see the character of God as He provides a sacrifice to take the place of Isaac. At the end of it all, the Angel of the Lord speaks to Abraham and offers a promise.

15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
-Genesis 22:15-18

A covenant was made where the Lord promises to bless and multiply Abraham and his descendants. Interestingly, the Lord does not make this promise the way any other person would. Mankind must swear by something higher. There is nothing higher than God. Therefore, He swears by Himself. This spells something very interesting for Abraham. Because the covenant was not made with Abraham, Abraham could not break it. The promise was made from the Lord to Himself concerning Abraham. What did this mean? God, who cannot lie, made a promise with Himself, who again cannot lie, to bless and multiply Abraham and His descendants. In short, His promise was certain.

How does this pertain to our text in Hebrews? In every way! God did the same thing. He made a promise with Himself concerning humanity. Having cut a covenant with His Son, the Godhead being unable to lie, has made a promise that anyone who believes in the name of the Lord shall be saved. It is not contingent upon works or performance on the part of the people. It is contingent upon faith, which the writer of Hebrews is actively contending for.

Where does this take us? The aim is hope. The writer to the Hebrews desires for His reader to take hope from this just as Abraham took hope and believed the Lord. We will end this devotion in reflecting on the hope and faith that Abraham had that was accounted to him for righteousness.

16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
-Romans 4:16-22

What connections are you seeing in the text?

Posted in Hebrews