6:13,14
The seriousness of an oath is often stressed by swearing by some greater power, such as God or a “god”. In communicating with humans God sometimes expresses Himself in human terms so that we understand better. When He does this it is important that we do not overinterpret the anthropomorphic element of what God has said. So here, God does not actually need to swear by anything, for His word is always completely reliable. However, God wanted to stress the veracity of His words to Abraham, when said “Surely I will bless you and multiply you”. At the time it seemed highly unlikely, not to say impossible, that Abraham would have any offspring, the only grounds for believing this to be possible was the word of God.
6:15
“Abraham ,having waited patiently , obtained the promise.” Now Abraham did indeed have a son, Isaac. It is worth considering for a moment what “patiently” means, or rather what it does not mean. If we look at the story of Abraham we see that it was hardly an example of a man piously waiting for God to fulfil His promise. Abraham had to wait twenty five years, and at many times he really struggled. There was the whole Hagar and Ishmael incident (Gen16), and then there was a time that Abraham laughed at God’s promise (Gen 17:17). Waiting on God can involve a great struggle.
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