Chuck Larsen

Jesus is the guarantee of God’s love for us. Even while we are sinners, God demonstrated His love for us on the cross of Calvary. The cities of refuge were spread out across Israel so that any sinner could make it to a city of refuge in a day or less. This was so designed so that every citizen would have within reach a place where they could find protection and safety.  At the time of the writing of the letter to the Hebrews, the cities of refuge no longer existed in Israel.  But their illustrative value to Bible readers cannot be missed. Jesus took the place of the cities of refuge. Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses on our behalf. Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial system. No more blood sacrifices need be made. The Priesthood of Aaron has been superseded by the Priesthood of Jesus in the order of Melchizedek. You see, everything in the Old Testament is about Jesus! The Bible is still relevant today because it all offers mature insights into the person and work of Jesus which nourishes our faith.

In Hebrews 6:19, the writer talks about the most sacred of places in the Old Testament as a picture of where Jesus went on our behalf. He’s talking about the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant rested upon which the mercy seat lay. He writes, “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain…” As any good seaman knows, anchors don’t always hold. It depends upon what it takes hold of and on the stability of that object. Jesus is our anchor! Jesus is the subject of the whole Bible. He is the physical embodiment of God’s promises from Genesis to Revelation. He is the Lamb of God that makes atonement for sin. He is the true king, priest and prophet. He is the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham and the seed of David. He is the full and complete demonstration of God’s love for us all. Priscilla J. Owens wrote the beautiful little hymn that captures this verse’s truth. One of the stanzas goes like this,

“We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll;
Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.”

Once the anchor has dropped, we can no longer physically see it. But we know it’s there and when it finds a stable hold we can rest knowing that the ship is not going anywhere. Lenski writes, “As the anchor is out of sight, so the hope, promised and sworn to us, is out of sight. It is in the heavenly Sanctuary. It is the promised salvation through the all-atoning blood of Jesus.”^[1] In the early church three images arose as acceptable symbols of the Christian faith. Clement of Alexandria around 200 AD acknowledges these three symbols as the Dove, the Fish and the Anchor. Brown observes, “Clement of Alexandria, an outstanding teacher in the early church, mentions the anchor as an appropriate device for a Christian’s ring: And let our seals be either a dove or a fish … or a ship’s anchor. It is sometimes found on early Christian epitaphs as a symbol of secure hope.”^[2]

^[1] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews and of the Epistle of James (Columbus, OH: Lutheran Book Concern, 1938), 205.

^[2] Raymond Brown, The Message of Hebrews: Christ above All, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 121–122.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews said that there are two unchangeable things. The first is God’s promise of deliverance from our sin through the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, and the seed of David. Is there anything God can’t do? Yes, He cannot lie. He can never fail to keep a promise. The second thing is the clear and undeniable demonstration of His love for us as a guarantee that He will keep His promises as seen in the blood sacrifice of His son on Calvary. These two things, the promise and the blood oath, guarantee our eternal destiny. And God cannot lie. This is what the writer says in Hebrews 6:18. It reads, “So that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” Steadman says, “So by these two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, the readers of this letter, and we who share it with them, are greatly encouraged to take hold of the hope offered. Since God cannot lie to us, and actually confirmed His promise with an oath, let us, as the writer says, be greatly encouraged”.^[1]

In the history of Israel, God instructed Moses and then Joshua to set up cities of refuge. These are cities where someone could flee from the “avenger of blood” and find protection. Fruchtenbaum says “The word refuge is a reminder of the concept of the cities of refuge. The Old Testament concept of refuge is the background for this verse. Just as a man flees to a city of refuge, the believers have fled to the Messiah for refuge because that is where the hope [is] set before us, the Messianic Hope.”^[2] Kent summarizes this issue for us. He writes, “So Christian believers, having trusted in the promise made first to Abraham regarding his seed—a promise which culminated in Christ, the unique Seed—have fled from the prospect of coming judgment to grasp as their own the refuge provided in the Christian hope.”^[3]

The writer of Hebrews uses every allusion to the Old Testament to point to Jesus. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises to Adam & Eve, Abraham, and David. Just as surely as God kept His promises to His people in the Old Testament, we too can be sure He will keep His promises to us and even more so, because Jesus, the promised one, was also the blood oath that guarantees those promises. There is so much uncertainty and insecurity in the world in which we live that God wants us to know that there is something we can hold on to which will never change. His love for us demonstrated on the cross of Calvary is something that will never change. That’s why Jeremiah refers to it as “everlasting love.” Just as the cities of refuge gave sinners a place to run for protection from the blood avenger, so too does Jesus give sinners a place to run from the one who has the power of sin and death. “Come to me,” Jesus says, “I’ll give you rest for your souls.” Jesus is the only sure thing!

^[1] Ray C. Stedman, Hebrews, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Westmont, IL: IVP Academic, 1992), Heb 6:16.

^[2] Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Messianic Jewish Epistles: Hebrews, James, First Peter, Second Peter, Jude, 1st ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 2005), 94.

^[3] Homer A. Kent Jr., The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary (Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 1983), 121–122.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews was concerned about those who have become “dull of hearing.” In Chapter five he told them he had so much he wanted to tell them about Jesus but they seemed to have heard enough and wanted to slip back into their religion. They could not and would not mature in their understanding of the person and work of Christ and like the Israelites at Kadesh Barnea, were in danger of losing the “rest” God had promised to those who move forward in faith. Jesus calls people to come to Him and He will give them rest for their souls (Matthew 11:28). This is a rest that comes only through faith. It’s not a rest we can earn on our own. It’s not something that comes as a reward for some deed performed. It’s only the product of a growing appreciation of the full sufficiency of Jesus in every area of our lives. Jesus and His grace is more than sufficient for all our needs. When that becomes true, we find rest.

I’ve actually had people tell me to stop telling them about Jesus and to give them something more relevant to their lives. They wanted some rituals to observe, some rules to follow, some practices to rehearse, or something they could do to give them a sense of accomplishment. Some people long to have their failures, sins, and weakness pointed out over and over again so that a sense of guilt might motivate them to better living. But that never works! Rest is only found in Jesus who fulfilled all rituals, rules, and regulations, accomplishing for us what we could never accomplish for ourselves. Jesus is the most relevant message for everyone. If you have become “dull of hearing” about Jesus, you must grow in your understanding of Jesus: His person and His work. God’s rest can only come from the full assurance of the full sufficiency of Jesus.

The Greek word translated “dull of hearing” in Hebrews 5:11 is translated by the English Standard Version in Hebrews 6:12 as “sluggish.” Hebrews 6:12 says, “so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” He wants his readers to be passionate about Jesus. After all, the whole Bible is about Jesus. When people become “sluggish” about Jesus they revert to religion! The Jews were passionate, or zealous, for the law. The author of Hebrews wants his readers zealous for Jesus. He doesn’t exhort his readers to passion for self-righteousness but for a passion for Jesus’ righteousness; a righteousness of God that comes through faith alone. A growing confidence in the full sufficiency of Jesus is only nourished by a mature understanding of Jesus as presented throughout the entire Bible. The writer of Hebrews spends a lot of time showing us Jesus from the Old Testament. By the end of chapter 6, he has only gotten started. There is so much more to come about Jesus in the whole Bible.