The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is doing a study through the New Testament book of Hebrews. The word better is used thirteen times in the book of Hebrews as the writer shows the superiority of Christ and His salvation over the Hebrew system of religion. Jesus Christ and the Christian life He gives us are better because His blessings are eternal and they give us perfect standing before God. This study is not a diet for “spiritual babes” who want to be spoon-fed and coddled. In this letter you will find “strong meat” that demands some chewing and enjoying.
Jesus Christ is God’s superior Priest and He ministers on the basis of a better covenant, which we are going to talk about today,
These are the notes to Session 9.
Jesus Christ is God’s superior Priest, and there is nothing that can minimize this superiority. At the very beginning we said that the writer of Hebrews used the word better thirteen times in showing the superiority of Christ and His salvation over the Hebrew system of religion. Because He ministers on the basis of a better covenant, which we are going to talk about today, He ministers in a better sanctuary (Heb. 9), and because of a better sacrifice (Heb. 10).
The writer presents three pieces of evidence for the superiority of this covenant.
It is ministered by a superior High Priest
It is ministered in a better place
It is founded on better promises
Hebrews 8:1-13 NKJV Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord , when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord . For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord : I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord ,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” In that He says, “A new covenant ,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 8:1-13 CEV What I mean is we have a high priest who sits at the right side of God's great throne in heaven. He also serves as the priest in the most holy place inside the real tent there in heaven. This tent of worship was set up by the Lord, not by humans. Since all priests must offer gifts and sacrifices, Christ also needed to have something to offer. If he were here on earth, he would not be a priest at all, because here the Law appoints other priests to offer sacrifices. But the tent where they serve is just a copy and a shadow of the real one in heaven. Before Moses made the tent, he was told, “Be sure to make it exactly like the pattern you were shown on the mountain!” Now Christ has been appointed to serve as a priest in a much better way, and he has given us much assurance of a better agreement. If the first agreement with God had been all right, there would not have been any need for another one. But the Lord found fault with it and said, “I tell you the time will come, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and the people of Judah. It won't be like the agreement that I made with their ancestors, when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They broke their agreement with me, and I stopped caring about them! “But now I tell the people of Israel this is my new agreement: ‘The time will come when I, the Lord, will write my laws on their minds and hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Not one of them will have to teach another to know me, their Lord.’ “All of them will know me, no matter who they are. I will treat them with kindness, even though they are wicked. I will forget their sins.” When the Lord talks about a new agreement, he means that the first one is out of date. And anything that is old and useless will soon disappear.
It Is Ministered by a Superior High Priest (8:1–2)
Hebrews 8:1-2 NKJV Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.
Hebrews 8:1-2 CEV What I mean is we have a high priest who sits at the right side of God's great throne in heaven. He also serves as the priest in the most holy place inside the real tent there in heaven. This tent of worship was set up by the Lord, not by humans.
The main point that the writer was making in chapter seven when he provided evidence that Jesus was superior to any high priest that had ever existed before and that Jesus was superior in every way.
Jesus Christ has a superior title He was God’s Son God Himself call Him the great High Priest Hebrews 3:1-2 NKJV Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.
Jesus Christ has a superior ordination Hebrews 5:5-6 NKJVSo also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” As He also says in another place: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”;
Jesus Christ reveals a superior sympathy - We are going to talk about this later
Jesus Christ offered a superior sacrifice - We are going to talk about this later
Since He is superior, the covenant He ministers must be a superior covenant.” Last week we said that both the priesthood and the law were imperfect that’s why Jesus who was anointed by God Himself to become the Great High Priest and fulfill the law which was a key component to the covenant along with circumcision and a lot of other stuff.
A superior priest could never minister on the basis of an inferior or imperfect covenant.
There are four arguments for Jesus superiority as His Priest in these two verses;
His moral adequacy (v. 1)
Hebrews 7:26 NKJV For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;
The fact that Jesus Christ is morally perfect and yet identified with us in our needs and temptations makes Him superior to any other priest, past or present.
His finished work
Today our Lord is seated because His work is complete. There were no chairs in the Old Testament tabernacle because the work of the priests was never finished. Each repeated sacrifice was only a reminder that none of the sacrifices ever provided a finished salvation. The blood of animals did not wash away sin or cleanse the guilty conscience; it only covered sin until that day when Jesus Christ died to take away the sin of the world
John 1:29 NKJV The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
His enthronement
Jesus Christ is not just “seated.” It is where He is seated that adds glory to His person and His work. He is seated on the throne in heaven at the right hand of the Father. This enthronement was the fulfillment of the Father’s promise to the Son: “Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Ps. 110:1). Not only did the high priest of Israel never sit down in the tabernacle, but he never sat down on a throne.
Only a priest “after the order of Melchizedek” could be enthroned, for Melchizedek was both king and priest (Heb. 7:1).
If Jesus is God, how can He be “at the right hand” of God?
It all has to do with the relationship of Jesus, the Son of God, to God the Father, and His role and work in the plan of redemption of mankind
What is God’s Right Hand?
To understand “the right hand of God” we have to realize that we can’t place human limitations on God. We need to understand that the Bible often describes God in ways that aren’t meant to be taken literally. When the Bible describes God in terms of imperfect human qualities, it’s not because He actually has those qualities, but it is a way for us imperfect humans to understand Him better.
The bible says that God rests, and wakes up;
Genesis 2:2 (NKJV)2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
Psalm 44:23 (NKJV)23 Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever.
But we know that God never gets tired or sleeps;
Isaiah 40:28 (NKJV)28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
Psalm 121:4 (NKJV)4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The bible says that God goes “down”, “up” or “away”
Genesis 11:5 (NKJV)5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
Genesis 35:13 (NKJV)13 Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.
Genesis 18:33 (NKJV)33 So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
But we know that God’s presence is everywhere at the same time.
Psalm 139:7 (NKJV)7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
Jeremiah 23:23 (NKJV)23 "Am I a God near at hand," says the LORD, "And not a God afar off?
1 Kings 8:27 (NKJV)27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
The bible says that God changes His mind;
Genesis 6:6 (NKJV)6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
Exodus 32:14 (NKJV)14 So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.
But He never changes His mind;
1 Samuel 15:29 (HCSB)29 Furthermore, the Eternal One of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not man who changes his mind.”
Romans 11:28-29 (HCSB)28 Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage, but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs,29 since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable.
The Bible also uses other figurative language. God is often described in symbolic terms:
God is a rock, a fortress
2 Samuel 22:2 (HCSB)2 He said: The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
He is a sun, a shield
Psalm 84:11 (HCSB)11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield. The LORD gives grace and glory; He does not withhold the good from those who live with integrity.
He is a fire
Deuteronomy 4:24 (HCSB)24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
He is a banner
Exodus 17:15 (HCSB)15 And Moses built an altar and named it, “The LORD Is My Banner.”
These and other metaphors tell us something about God, but will only confuse us if we take them literally.
Jesus Himself used figurative language.
John 16:25 (HCSB)25 “I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.
Matthew 13:34 (HCSB)34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and He would not speak anything to them without a parable,
God’s Right Hand Is Symbolic
Here are some biblical examples:
Psalm 16:8 (HCSB)8 I keep the LORD in mind always. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
How can God be always in front of us and always at our right hand and we never move? This scripture isn’t about anything that you can see but the reality is that God is in always in front of us, in the sense that we are always thinking of Him, and always at my right hand in the sense of always giving support and strength
1 Samuel 2:31 (NKJV)31 Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.
This doesn’t mean that God would literally cut off Eli’s arm. It means that his family would lose their influence and that the men would die early in life.
There are other passages where reference to the right hand or arm are symbolic as is the right hand or arm of God.
Psalm 144:8 (NKJV)8 Whose mouth speaks vain words, And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
.Proverbs 3:16 (NKJV)16 Length of days is in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor.
Isaiah 33:2 (NKJV)2 O LORD, be gracious to us; We have waited for You. Be their arm every morning, Our salvation also in the time of trouble.
The Phrase “Right Hand” is a Metaphor
God exercises his authority by his right hand. His “right hand” is a metaphor for His power.
Psalm 89:13 (NKJV)13 You have a mighty arm; Strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand.
The expression “right hand” is not to be taken literally but symbolically, when we speak of God. When you consider the fact that God doesn't have a physical body, and that the Bible tells us that God is everywhere, it really doesn't make sense to think of God sitting in one particular place and having hands, next to the right one of which sits Jesus. And when you consider, further, that Christian doctrine tells us that the Father and Son, while being two persons, are one in essence and being, then it really doesn't make sense to think of them sitting side by side. My sons and I could sit side by side, but we are not one in essence and being. God the Father and God the Son are. So what does it mean that Jesus is seated, in heaven, at the right hand of God the Father?
His supreme exaltation
He is “in the heavens.” He is now exalted as high as anyone could be
Ephesians 1:15-23 NKJV Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
The fact that He ministers in a heavenly sanctuary is important to the argument presented in this chapter.
Can you conceive of a high priest who is perfect morally, ministering on the basis of a covenant that could not change human hearts? Could a priest who has finished his work minister from a covenant that could finish nothing? Can we conceive of a king-priest in the highest heaven being limited by an old covenant that made nothing perfect (Heb. 7:19)? The conclusion seems reasonable: The presence of a superior High Priest in heaven demands a superior covenant if He is to minister effectively to God’s people.
This Better Covenant Is Ministered in a Better Place
Hebrews 8:3-5 NKJV For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”
In this paragraph, the writer expanded on the marvelous truth that Jesus Christ today ministers in the heavenly sanctuary. It makes sense that the writer makes this reference because his readers knew that there was a real temple in Jerusalem, and that in the temple there were priests offering gifts and sacrifices. But how do we know that the Lord Jesus is ministering in a sanctuary? Has anyone actually seen Him in His high-priestly work?
Good questions—and the writer provides some good answers!
There is a logical answer.
Hebrews 8:3 NKJV For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.
It has already been determined that Jesus Christ is a high priest. But all high priests serve others; the title is not honorary. Each Old Testament high priest was appointed “to offer gifts and sacrifices”; therefore, Jesus Christ must offer gifts and sacrifices. But these sacrifices must not be offered just anywhere; they must be offered in God’s appointed place. That appointed place is the sanctuary. The conclusion is logical: If Jesus Christ is a High Priest who offers gifts and sacrifices, then He must have a sanctuary in which He ministers. Since He is in heaven, that sanctuary must be in heaven.
We must not, however, get the impression that our Lord is offering sacrifices in heaven that correspond to the Old Testament sacrifices. The word “something” in Hebrews 8:3 is in the singular, and the phrase to offer is in a Greek tense that implies “offer once and for all.” On the cross, He offered Himself as the one sacrifice for sin forever. In other words, our Lord is “a living sacrifice” in heaven. He is not offering Himself over and over because that is unnecessary.
That was the logical answer to the question: how do we know that the Lord Jesus is ministering in a sanctuary? The genealogical answer is in verse 4.
Hebrews 8:4 NKJV For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;
As far as His human ancestry is concerned, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah. God had promised that the Messiah would come from the kingly tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:8–10). But the priests had to come from the tribe of Levi. Therefore, if Jesus Christ were still on earth, He could not function as a priest. But He can serve as High Priest in heaven because there the order of Melchizedek governs the ministry, not the order of Aaron.
Jesus’ earthly birth into the tribe of Judah would not permit Him to be an earthly priest; therefore, He must be a Priest in heaven. He would not be accepted in the earthly sanctuary, so He must be serving in the heavenly sanctuary.
Now the typological answer
Hebrews 8:5 NKJV who served the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”
A “type” is an Old Testament picture of a New Testament truth. The word pattern in this verse is the Greek word tupos, from which we get our English word type.
The priests then serving in the temple were actually serving in a sanctuary that was a copy (“example”) of the heavenly sanctuary. The quotation is from Exodus 25:40, where it refers obliquely to a heavenly sanctuary.
Exodus 25:40 NKJV And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.
Moses saw this pattern on the mount and duplicated its essentials in the earthly tabernacle. This does not mean that the heavenly tabernacle is made up of skins and fabrics. It is the basic pattern and meaning of the sanctuary that is emphasized here. The true sanctuary is in heaven; the tabernacle and temple were but imitations or copies of the true.
The earthly priesthood and sanctuary seemed quite real and stable, and yet they were but copies of the true! The Old Testament system was but shadows. The law was but a “shadow of good things to come”
For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not Hebrews 10:1 NKJV the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
the true and full light came in Jesus Christ. So why go back into the shadows?
Since Jesus Christ is ministering in the original sanctuary, and not the copy, He is ministering in a better place. The question to those Hebrews reading the letter would be; Why fellowship with priests who are serving in a copied sanctuary when you can fellowship with Christ in the original heavenly sanctuary? It would be like trying to live on the blueprint instead of in the building itself!
The writer has now given us two evidences of the superiority of the new covenant: It is ministered by a superior Priest, Jesus Christ; and it is ministered in a superior place, heaven itself. He devoted the remainder of this section to the third evidence, which is
It Is Founded on Better Promises (8:6–13)
Hebrews 8:6-13 NKJV But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord , when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord . For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord : I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord ,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” In that He says, “A new covenant ,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 8:6-13 CEV Now Christ has been appointed to serve as a priest in a much better way, and he has given us much assurance of a better agreement. If the first agreement with God had been all right, there would not have been any need for another one. But the Lord found fault with it and said, “I tell you the time will come, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and the people of Judah. It won't be like the agreement that I made with their ancestors, when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They broke their agreement with me, and I stopped caring about them! “But now I tell the people of Israel this is my new agreement: ‘The time will come when I, the Lord, will write my laws on their minds and hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Not one of them will have to teach another to know me, their Lord.’ “All of them will know me, no matter who they are. I will treat them with kindness, even though they are wicked. I will forget their sins.” When the Lord talks about a new agreement, he means that the first one is out of date. And anything that is old and useless will soon disappear.
Moses was the mediator (go-between) of the old covenant in the giving of the law (Gal. 3:19–20). The people of Israel were so frightened at Mount Sinai that they begged Moses to speak to them so that they would not have to hear God speak (Ex. 20:18–21). Sad to say, this fear of God did not last long, for the people soon disobeyed the very law they promised to keep. The Mediator of the new covenant is Jesus Christ, and He is the only Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5). Christ’s ministry as Mediator is more excellent than that of the Old Testament priests because it is based on a better covenant; and His covenant is founded on better promises.
The “better covenant” that is referred to in this paragraph was announced by the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 31:31–34). The promise was given in a prophecy that assured the Jews of future restoration. Jeremiah ministered during the closing years of the nation’s history, before Judah went into Babylonian captivity. At a time when the nation’s future seemed completely destroyed, God gave the promise of restoration and blessing.
Before our Lord went to Calvary, He celebrated the Passover with His disciples in the upper room. At that supper, He instituted what we call “the Lord’s Supper.” He said, taking the cup, “This cup is the new testament [covenant] in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20). The apostle Paul quoted these words and applied them to the church (1 Cor. 11:23–27). The writer of Hebrews states clearly that Jesus Christ now “is the mediator of the new testament” (Heb. 9:15) and repeats it (Heb. 12:24).
What, then, is the relationship between this new covenant promised to Israel, but today experienced by the church? Or, to state it another way, how can God promise these blessings to the Jews and then turn around and give them to the church?
Some Bible students solve the problem by concluding that the church is “spiritual Israel” and that the new covenant promises therefore belong to “Abraham’s spiritual seed” today. That believers today are the “spiritual seed” of Abraham is clear from Galatians 3:13–29; but this is not the same as saying that the church is “spiritual Israel.” The promise quoted in Hebrews 8:8 specifically names “the house of Israel and … the house of Judah.” Once we are permitted to make such plain words as “Israel” and “Judah” mean something else, there is no end to how we might interpret the Bible!
Perhaps the solution is found in God’s principle of “to the Jew first” (Rom. 1:16). God did promise a new covenant for His people, but the blessings of this covenant are wrapped up in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. He is the Mediator of the new covenant. When Jesus began His ministry on earth, He went to His own people first (Matt. 15:24). When He sent out His disciples, He sent them only to Israel (Matt. 10:5–6). When He commissioned the church to witness, He instructed them to begin in Jerusalem (Luke 24:46–48; Acts 1:8). Peter’s message at Pentecost was addressed only to Jews and to Gentiles who were Jewish proselytes (see Acts 2:14, 22, 36). In his second recorded sermon, Peter clearly stated that the good news of the gospel would go to the Jews first (Acts 3:25–26).
But the nation rejected the message and the messengers. While it is true that thousands of individuals trusted Christ and were saved, it is also true that most of the nation rejected the Word, and that the religious leaders opposed the ministry of the church. One result was the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7). But what was God’s response? The gospel moved from Jerusalem and Judea into Samaria (Acts 8), and then to the Gentiles (Acts 10).
The church today is made up of regenerated Jews and Gentiles who are one body in Christ (Eph. 2:11–22; Gal. 3:27–29). All who are “in Christ” share in the new covenant, which was purchased on the cross. Today the blessings of the new covenant are applied to individuals. When Jesus comes in glory to redeem Israel, then the blessings of the new covenant will be applied to that beleaguered nation. Read all of Jeremiah 31 to see what God has planned for Israel, His people.
Before we examine the “better promises” of the new covenant, we must settle another matter. We must not conclude that the existence of the new covenant means that the old covenant was wrong or that the law has no ministry today. Both covenants were given by God. Both covenants were given for people’s good. Both covenants had blessings attached to them. If Israel had obeyed the terms of the old covenant, God would have blessed them and they would have been ready for the coming of their Messiah. Paul pointed out that the old covenant had its share of glory (2 Cor. 3:7–11). We must not criticize the old covenant or minimize it.
Even though the new covenant of grace brings with it freedom from the law of Moses (Gal. 5:1), it does not bring freedom to disobey God and to sin. God still desires that the “righteousness of the law” should be fulfilled in us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:1–4). There is a lawful use of the law (1 Tim. 1:8–11).
Now we are ready to consider the “better promises” that belong to the new covenant.
Now let’s look at those greater promises.
The promise of God’s grace (vv. 7–9).
Hebrews 8:7-9 NKJV For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord , when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord .
Hebrews 8:7-9 CEV If the first agreement with God had been all right, there would not have been any need for another one. But the Lord found fault with it and said, “I tell you the time will come, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and the people of Judah. It won't be like the agreement that I made with their ancestors, when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They broke their agreement with me, and I stopped caring about them!
The emphasis in the new covenant is on God’s “I will.” The nation of Israel at Sinai said, “All the words which the Lord hath said will we do” (Ex. 24:3). But they did not obey God’s words. It is one thing to say “We will!” and quite another thing to do it. But the new covenant does not depend on man’s faithfulness to God but on God’s faithful promise to man. The writer of Hebrews affirmed God’s “I will” on behalf of those who trust Jesus Christ
Hebrews 8:10 NKJV For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord : I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
In fact, God’s “I will” is stated three times in that one verse and six times in Hebrews 8:8–12.
God gave Israel His holy law for their own good, to separate them from the other nations and to protect them from the sinful practices of the heathen. But the nation failed;
Hebrews 8:9 NKJV not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord .
God’s responses to Israel’s disobedience were to discipline them repeatedly and finally to send them into captivity.
The problem wasn't His covenant but with His people.
“Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Rom. 7:12).
The problem is not with the law, but with our sinful natures, for by ourselves we cannot keep God’s law. Remember what we read last week.
Hebrews 7:19 NKJV for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
Only God’s grace can do that.
The new covenant is wholly of God’s grace; no sinner can become a part of this new covenant without faith in Jesus Christ. Grace and faith go together just as the law and works go together.
Romans 11:6 NKJV And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
The law says, “The man that doeth them [the things written in the law] shall live in them” (Gal. 3:12). But grace says, “The work is done—believe and live!”
The promise of internal change (v. 10).
Hebrews 8:10 NKJV For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord : I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
The law of Moses could declare God’s holy standard, but it could never provide the power needed for obedience. Sinful people need a new heart and a new disposition within; and this is just what the new covenant provides. When a sinner trusts Christ, he receives a divine nature within.
II Peter 1:1-4 NKJV Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
This divine nature creates a desire to love and obey God. By nature, sinful people are hateful and disobedient, but the new nature gives each believer both the desire and the dynamic for a godly life.
II Corinthians 5:16-17 NKJV Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
The law was external; God’s demands were written on tablets of stone. But the new covenant makes it possible for God’s Word to be written on human minds and hearts. God’s grace makes possible an internal transformation that makes a surrendered believer more and more like Jesus Christ.
II Corinthians 3:18 NKJV But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
It is unfortunate that many Christians think they are saved by grace but must then fulfill their Christian life according to the Old Testament law. They want the new covenant for salvation but the old covenant for sanctification. The apostle Paul had a phrase to describe this condition: “fallen from grace”
Galatians 5:4 NKJV You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Not “fallen from salvation,” but fallen from the sphere of God’s blessing through grace. We do not become holy people by trying to obey God’s law in our own power. It is by yielding to the Holy Spirit within that we fulfill the righteousness of the law and this is wholly of grace.
The promise of forgiveness for all (vv. 11–12).
Hebrews 8:11-12 NKJV None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord ,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
There is no forgiveness under the law because the law was not given for that purpose. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20).
The law could not promise forgiveness to Israel, let alone to all mankind. It is only through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that forgiveness is possible to all who will call on Him. The Old Testament sacrifices brought a remembrance of sins, not a remission of sins
Hebrews 10:1-3, 18 NKJV For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
Hebrews 8:11 quotes Jeremiah 31:34. It refers to that day when Israel shall be reunited with Judah and shall rejoice in the promised kingdom (Jer. 31:1–14).
In that day, there will be no need to share the gospel with others because everyone will know the Lord personally. However, until that day, it is both our privilege and our responsibility to share the gospel message with a lost world.
What does it mean that God remembers our sins and iniquities no more? This important statement is quoted again in
Hebrews 10:16-17 NKJV “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord : I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Does it mean that our all-knowing God can actually forget what we have done? If God forgot anything, He would cease to be God! The phrase “remember no more” means “hold against us no more.” God recalls what we have done, but He does not hold it against us. He deals with us on the basis of grace and mercy, not law and merit. Once sin has been forgiven, it is never brought before us again. The matter is settled eternally.
As a pastor in counseling ministry I have often heard people say, “Well, I can forgive—but I cannot forget!” “Of course you can’t forget,”
“The more you try to put this thing out of your mind, the more you will remember it. But that isn’t what it means to forget." To forget” means “not to hold it against the person who has wronged us.” We may remember what others have done, but we treat them as though they never did it.
How is this possible? It is possible because of the cross, for there God treated His Son as though He had done it! Our experience of forgiveness from God makes it possible for us to forgive others.
The promise of eternal blessing (v. 13).
Hebrews 8:13 NKJV In that He says, “A new covenant ,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
The old covenant was still governing the nation of Israel at the time this epistle was written. The temple was standing and the priests were offering their appointed sacrifices. Devout Jews probably thought that their Christian friends were foolish to abandon such a “solid religion” for a faith that was seemingly intangible. What the unbelieving Jews did not realize was that their “solid religion” had grown old and was about to vanish away. In AD 70 the city of Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans, and the Jews have not had a temple or a priesthood to serve them ever since.
However, the new covenant brings eternal blessing. Jesus Christ is the Author of “eternal salvation”.
Hebrews 5:9 NKJV And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
and “eternal redemption”
Hebrews 9:12 NKJV Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
The new covenant can never get old and disappear. The Greek word translated “new” means “new in quality,” not “new in time.” This new covenant is of such quality that it will never need to be replaced!
Yes, our Lord is ministering on the basis of a better covenant, a new covenant that makes us partakers of the new nature and the wonderful new life that only Christ can give.
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