Genesis 22:15-19; Heb. 6:13-20; Gal. 3:15-18

In whom can you trust these days?  Government?  Parents?  Your spouse?  Even at their best earthly authorities can at times let us down.  A better question is, can you (we) trust God?

Heb. 6:13-ff reminds us that God cannot lie.  It’s not that He doesn’t lie; He is not able to lie.  As the God of truth He defines truth.  Everything about Him is true and anything in our lives that is not godly (like Him) is by definition a lie.  Because God never lies we can put our hope in Him and never be disappointed (Heb. 6:19-20).  

To make this clear and emphatic the writer of Hebrews refers to our passage in Genesis today, in v16, when God says, “By Myself I have sworn.”  It is enough that we have God’s word, that He will do unconditionally what He has promised.  But for Abraham’s sake, and ours, He swears to do what He said.  Since there is nothing and no one greater than Him, He swears by Himself.  God confirms the covenant by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:17-18).  Thus we have great consolation, being able to lay hold of our hope with confidence.  In other words, we can trust God!

Remember that the covenant with Abraham was unconditional.  When God says, because you have done this thing (v16) and because you have obeyed My voice (v18), He is not acknowledging Abraham for earning the covenant.  He is acknowledging the completion or perfection of Abraham’s faith by which he has received God’s promise and believed God to be faithful.  He knew before he ever ascended the mountain that he would return with Isaac (22:5); and so he did (22:19).  Abraham’s faith was not dead, and his obedience confirmed this.

Let us count on our God who cannot lie.  He did not lie to the spiritual descendants of Abraham when He promised that Abraham would be a blessing to all nations.  God has done this through the greater promised Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, God did not lie to the physical descendants of Abraham when He promised they would be a nation.  Jer. 31:34-36 makes Israel’s future existence proof of God’s faithfulness.  It is as sure as the presence of the sun and moon in our universe.

Friend, it is of eternal significance that, like Abraham, you trust God’s word.  He cannot lie.  Thus He has not lied and is not lying to you as you read His word.  Faith obeys His voice.