From Hebrews 6:

We desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, that you not become sluggish, but rather be imitators of those through faith and patient endurance are inheriting the promises.

For example, when God made the promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself [in this passage]:

Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and wow, there was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns [a crown of thorns]. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it to ascend as burnt offering – instead of his son.

Abraham called the name of that place, “Yahweh Will Provide,” as it is still said this day, “In the mountain of the Yahweh, it will be provided.”

Then the messenger/angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said:

“By myself I have sworn – an affirmation of Yahweh:

“Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed, [in Hebrew]:

Barak barak rabah rabah

Zera

[Which translated is:]

I bless! I bless! A great multiple! A great multiple!

Your seed

[“seed” singular, which is Jesus, explains Paul in Galatians 3:16]

“As the stars of heavens, as the sand which is on the seashore.

“Your seed [Jesus] shall possess the gate of his [not “their”] enemies.

“In your seed [Jesus] all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:13-18)

And so, having patiently endured, he did obtain the promise.

For people certainly do swear by someone greater, and a confirming oath puts an end to all disputing.

Thus God, abundantly willing to show the heirs of the promise the immutability of his purpose, confirmed it by an oath.

That by dual immutable legally established facts, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong, consoling exhortation, an irresistible summons to God’s side, we who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, upon which we enter in within the veil, where the forerunner is already entered for us, Jesus, made a high priest forever under the order of Melchizedek, King of Righteousness.

Hebrews 6:11-20

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What are these “two things,” these “dual immutable legally established facts?”

Is it the repetition, actually the double repetition?

Barak barak: I bless! I bless!

Rabah rabah: A great multiple! A great multiple!

At that point in time, Abraham had already previously heard God’s word, his oath, his sworn oath. This same promise had been spoken before. Abraham and Sarah also had already had Isaac. This is now well past the time of Abraham and Sarah to believe and receive the miracle baby in their old age.

And now, God promises anew. With profound assurance. An oath. On himself. Repetition. Promise of multiplication. Twice.

All through a single, tiny, barely noticeable seed.

That day that Abraham was on the mountain, a ram caught in the thorns was sacrificed instead of the son of the promise. A seed (the ram) died.   A seed (Isaac) lived. And multiplied. And multiplied. And is still multiplying.

The author of Hebrews invokes this multi-dimensional promise to encourage faith in the readers. Imitate Abraham’s (and others’) faith, implores the writer. Abraham’s story in particular is powerfully illustrated. To what conclusion? This: we have an “anchor of the soul.”

We have the encouragement of having been summoned to God’s side.

We have a high priest who is our forerunner.

The Hebrews author is very concerned for his audience, that they will persevere in the faith, in the face of persecution. They have the strong traditions of centuries. Might they fall back in reliance on those traditions of the Old Covenant, and lose their grasp, their trust, in the Savior?

May it never be, pleads the author. Keep on keeping on, he exhorts. Remember Abraham, he reminds them? He received a promise. The promise was fulfilled. The promise was about to be exterminated in a sacrifice. In that critical moment, God provided, a ram. And God promised anew. A promise of a double blessing, of multiplication, squared. Even though Abraham could see but that one 13 year old boy, the seed that would come through and from him, and the blessing that would come through that seed, would multiply beyond the number of stars in the sky, and grains of sand on the beach.

And so for us, we are those stars and grains of sand. We are the harvest of that seed. We are both the fruit, and the recipients, of this double, squared blessing. And the greatest blessing of all, that high priest, that seed, that ram caught in a crown of thorns, has entered before us as our forerunner behind the veil, into the very holy of holies. And we are beckoned, summoned to the Savior’s side.

So don’t give up now. We are direct participants in this millennia old promise and flow of blessings, squared.

Be encouraged in days of tribulation. God’s promise continues. His purpose is immutable.

Step into it yet anew, afresh. He still beckons. Multiplied blessings have not ceased, they continue. We continue to enjoy them as beneficiaries. And we continue project them as agents to future beneficiaries, as the multiplication of the blessings continues.

Jesus said if a single seed falls to the ground and dies, it grows into a great harvest. He was referring of course primarily to himself. The multiplication of a single, tiny, nearly invisible seed is so vast. Do not despise the day of small beginnings. Look to the future, to the fields white with ripeness, ready for harvesting. And more planting. And more multiplication. And more harvesting.

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