Thursday, June 21, 2012

The Oath and the Promise.

After Avraham successfully passed the test set by God on Mount Moriah, YHWH gave him a promise,
Genesis 22:15-18
The angel of YHWH called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said,
“I swear by myself, declares YHWH, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring [seed] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
There are two immutable things in the word of YHWH in Gen.22:15-18 above i.e. there are two things that cannot be changed after it is declared to Avraham.

The first immutable thing is the promise of YHWH. The promise of YHWH is sure and unchangeable. He does not change His mind.
Num 23:19 ESV
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
When YHWH declared to Avraham that He would surely bless him, make his descendants numerous and make all peoples on earth become blessed through his seed, YHWH will not change his declaration. He will not change his words. His promise is immutable.

The second immutable thing is the oath of YHWH. The declaration was made when YHWH swore an oath by Himself, by His own Name. There is no other name higher than the Name YHWH to swear an oath by. The oath confirms the promise. Like the promise, it is also immutable.

The book of Hebrews explains this in chapter 6:
Hebrews 6:13-18
"When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, . . ."

Brothers and Sisters, both the promise and the oath made to Avraham in Gen.22 are immutable. They do not change. They cannot be changed. Through the Seed (Offspring) of Avraham, all the peoples on earth will be Blessed.

Let us ponder. Let us ask, "Who is this Seed of Avraham?"