The Superior Covenant

See, the days are coming, says the Lord,when I will make a new covenantwith the house of Israeland with the house of Judah—not like the covenantthat I made with their ancestorson the day I took them by the handto lead them out of the land of Egypt.I showed no concern for them, says the Lord,because they did not continue in my covenant.For this is the covenantthat I will make with the house of Israelafter those days, says the Lord:I will put my laws into their mindsand write them on their hearts.I will be their God,and they will be my people.And each person will not teach his fellow citizen,and each his brother or sister, saying, “Know the Lord,”because they will all know me,from the least to the greatest of them.For I will forgive their wrongdoing,and I will never again remember their sins.

By saying a new covenant, he has declared that the first is obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away.

This is the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Last week, we looked at the Levitical tabernacle, along with the altar, the ark of the covenant, and the rest of the instruments for worship. The author of Hebrews called them “copies and shadows” of the heavenly temple where Christ ministers for us today.

Today, we will see the author of Hebrews provide one of the Old Testament prophesies that told of a new covenant, how God said that this covenant would be different, and that the old covenant would pass away. This new covenant was not because anything was wrong with what God had proclaimed in the old covenant, but because our sinfulness could not be fixed through the Levitical system of sacrifice.

Big Idea: The new covenant did what the old covenant could not.

Hebrews 8:7-8

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one. But finding fault with his people, he says:

See, the days are coming, says the Lord,when I will make a new covenantwith the house of Israeland with the house of Judah—

The author says that the second Covenant would not have been necessary if there were no faults in the first covenant. The author makes sure to let us know that the Covenant itself was not faulty; it was humanity that could not keep its end of the Covenant. That is why the author says that God found fault with his people. Humanity was the problem with the first covenant.

The sacrifices of the old covenant could only take away the guilt of our sins for a short time. Remember, the priests were offering sacrifices every day. The author stated this in Hebrews 7:11 when he said that there was a need for another priest to appear because the Levitical priesthood could not perfect us.

The author then starts quoting from Jeremiah 31:31-34. The beginning of this section states that God proclaims he will make a New Covenant with both Israel and Judah.

The reason that he separates these two is because after Solomon's reign as king of Israel the nation split into two different countries the northern kingdom kept the name Israel while the southern Kingdom took the name Judah, which was the one tribe of Israel that stayed somewhat faithful to God. so when God makes this new covenant he is not making it just with the Northern Kingdom of Israel or the southern Kingdom of Judah. He is making this Covenant with both factions of this nation.

Hebrews 8:9

not like the covenantthat I made with their ancestorson the day I took them by the handto lead them out of the land of Egypt.I showed no concern for them, says the Lord,because they did not continue in my covenant.

This New Covenant will be different from the one he made with the Israelites when he brought them out of Egypt. That was the Covenant that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. That Covenant was Reliant upon both sides to fulfill their part. But as we saw earlier in this passage, Humanity did not keep its part of the Covenant. And this is why the two kingdoms were both exiled to foreign nations.

This is what it refers to when the passage in Jeremiah says the Lord “showed no concern” for Israel because they did not continue in his Covenant. But the wording here in Hebrews is a little different than the original text of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 31:32

This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”...

As you can see, most of these two passages line up. But where we see a difference is where the original passage says “I am their master,” while the Hebrews passage says “I showed no concern for them.” Though these two phrases do not seem to be related, they are actually in line with each other.

The word master used in Jeremiah literally means “husband.” Through the prophet Jeremiah, God is proclaiming that his relationship to the people of Israel was just like the Covenant of marriage. When a couple says their vows in a wedding ceremony, they are making a covenant with each other to stay faithful to each other.

This imagery is used throughout Scripture, including the book of Revelation, where Jesus is the groom preparing a wedding feast for his bride, the church.

Both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah left this Covenant, being unfaithful to God, and so, in God placing his judgment upon his chosen people, we can see the imagery of God showing no concern for his people when they are taken away into captivity. (Look at Perplexity info)

This seems to connect to Romans 1, where Paul is describing to the church in Rome about the Gentiles and how they had walked away from God. All states that the Gentiles refuse to acknowledge God for who he is, ignoring creation around us, which points to God, and began worshiping images of man, birds, and four-footed animals.

And so God, in his judgment, using the language of Jeremiah 31, gave the people over to their passions and sins. There are three times in Romans chapter 1 where Paul says that God gave the people over or delivered them to something in his judgment.

Romans 1

Vs 24 - …God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts…Vs 26 - …God delivered them over to disgraceful passions…Vs 28 - …God delivered them over to a corrupt mind…

One of the main ways that God brings judgments upon Humanity is by letting us freely fall deeper and deeper into the depravity of our sin. The last of the Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 is self-control. Being able to control our wants, our desires, and our actions is actually a sign of God's work in our hearts and Minds. When we see the world around us mocking God and falling deeper and deeper into sinful habits, excusing those actions as doing what they want, it is a sign of God's judgment on Humanity, allowing them to walk farther and farther away from the God who created them.

It is interesting that in Deuteronomy 28, Moses gives one of the punishments that would fall upon Israel if they did not uphold their end of the Covenant.

Deuteronomy 28:36

The Lord will bring you and your king that you have appointed to a nation neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone.

The people of Israel did not yet have a king. God was supposed to be the king of Israel. But we see in the book of 1st Samuel that the people ask Samuel to give them a king. And when Samuel goes to God about this, God tells Samuel to give them a king and that they have not rejected Samuel but have rejected God as their King. God knew beforehand that Israel would reject him. They would reject him as their King, wanting a human King, and they would eventually completely reject his Covenant, bringing God's judgment on them through the exile.

Hebrews 8:10

For this is the covenantthat I will make with the house of Israelafter those days, says the Lord:I will put my laws into their mindsand write them on their hearts.I will be their God,and they will be my people.

This New Covenant would not be reliant on the obedience of men. We can see in Exodus how the old Covenant was reliant on both sides keeping their end.

Exodus 19:5

Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine…

The old covenant required obedience to receive God's blessings. If humans did not obey God's law, they would receive God's judgment. But that is not what God is declaring in Jeremiah will happen in this new covenant. Just like when God made the Covenant with Abraham, saying he would be the father of many nations, God is the one doing all the work.

We have talked about how covenants were made in ancient times before. They would cut an animal into two pieces, and the two parties would walk together between the split pieces of this animal, saying, “If I do not keep my part of this Covenant, may what happened to this animal happen to me.” God had Abraham cut the animals into pieces, separating the pieces with a space to walk through. But that night, as Abraham fell asleep, the presence of God in the appearance of a torch went through the separated animals on its own, showing God's promise to fulfill what he said he would do through Abraham without specific requirements from Abraham.

This new covenant that God made with the house of Israel was not dependent on Israel's obedience. This promise from God included writing his law on the hearts of men and putting it in their minds. The prophet Ezekiel also speaks of this when God speaks through him to the people of Israel during the exile.

Ezekiel 36:24-28

For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

This particular promise that God made was to the people of Israel. However, we can see the parallels of God working in the same way in the hearts and minds of those who submit their lives to him today.

This is the Holy Spirit making men love the will of God, delighting in what God delights in. That is what it means for God to take out a heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh. We no longer have hearts hardened by sin, corrupted and jaded against the will of God. Instead, we have hearts of flesh, with God's law written upon them, causing us to be softened toward our savior, desiring to please him, and wanting to obey him out of a love that cannot be explained through human reason.

This is what Paul describes in Ephesians 2, when he talks about God's grace being given to us and how we cannot earn God's favor and blessing through our works.

Ephesians 2:4-9

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ (heart of flesh) even though we were dead in trespasses (heart of stone). You are saved by grace! He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.

Paul is saying that there is no amount of good things we can do, no amount of obeying God's law that can make us right with him. If we could do enough to earn God's favor, then we would be able to boast about it. We could say, “Look at me, God. Look what I have done for you. Aren't I just so great?” But Paul says it's not by our works so that we can put no confidence in our own actions. Our salvation is through the work of Christ because of God’s love for us. It is a gift that cannot be earned, but given freely.

God then says through the prophet Jeremiah that the people of this New Covenant would be his people and that he would be their God.

“People have their treasures: their pearls, jewels, rubies, and diamonds. These are their precious stones. But all people in the Covenant of Grace are the precious stones of God. He values them above everything else, keeping the world spinning for them, and is always tender toward them.”

Charles Spurgeon

God’s love for his people should provide comfort and peace in a world full of chaos and disorder. When we submit to him, turning our lives over to him, saying, “Your will be done,” he shows his love, affection, and tenderness towards us that he has always shown to his Son.

Hebrews 8:11

And each person will not teach his fellow citizen,and each his brother or sister, saying, “Know the Lord,”because they will all know me,from the least to the greatest of them.

In this new covenant, people will not need to teach each other, instructing them to know the Lord. God spoke through Jeremiah, saying that he would write his law on the people's hearts and minds. Because of this, they would already know God from the greatest to the least, the youngest to the oldest.

Jesus quotes a similar Passage to this from Isaiah 54 when he is confronted by Jews who did not believe he was from god. you can read about this in John chapter 6. These people were contesting Jesus’ Claim that he had come down from heaven because they were like, “Isn't this Joseph and Mary's kid? How can he say he is from heaven?” And Jesus responds to them like this:

John 6:45-46

It is written in the Prophets: And they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father.

Jesus is saying that when people come to him, it is through the work of God in their hearts. It is God who puts his law on our hearts so that we will obey him. The Apostle John says the same thing in one of his letters.

1 John 2:27

As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in him.

I want to give a little warning here. This does not mean we should not seek instruction on what God's word says. To put this verse in context, John is giving instructions to his readers to remember what they were taught when they first came to faith. The reason they follow God is because of learning about the truth of who Christ is and what he has done. However, there are people who will distort the truth of God for their own gain.

This is why Paul warns the young Pastor Timothy to preach the word of God, because false teachers will come, trying to pull people away from the truth of the Gospel by appealing to the itching ears of those who want to hear something different. But when we are established in the truth of Scripture, the truth of who Christ really is, we will better understand the ways the gospel gets distorted and see those deceptions for what they are.

“This is the central truth of all scripture. It is the basis of all scripture. When Paul desired to set forth the gospel, he appealed to this passage. Twice in Hebrews, the author based his argument on it. Under the first Covenant, we are ruined. There is no salvation for us. But under this New Covenant, God writes his teaching on our hearts.”

Charles Spurgeon

Hebrews 8:12

For I will forgive their wrongdoing,and I will never again remember their sins.

The reason that people will know God is that He will have forgiven their wrongdoing. He also states that he will not remember their sins. While this is actually impossible for the omniscient, all-knowing God, it is a figurative way of saying that God's pardon of our sins through Christ's sacrifice is so thorough that it would be as if the sins were forgotten. Spurgeon called this a wonder of wonders.

We actually see this type of language, of God forgetting the sins of his people, throughout the Old Testament prophets as they proclaim this New Covenant to the people.

Isaiah 43:25

I am the one, I sweep away your transgressionsfor my own sakeand remember your sins no more.

Jeremiah 50:20

In those days and at that time—this is the Lord’s declaration—one will search for Israel’s iniquity,but there will be none,and for Judah’s sins,but they will not be found,for I will forgive those I leave as a remnant.

Micah 7:18-19

Who is a God like you,forgiving iniquity and passing over rebellionfor the remnant of his inheritance?He does not hold on to his anger foreverbecause he delights in faithful love.He will again have compassion on us;he will vanquish our iniquities.You will cast all our sinsinto the depths of the sea.

Here on earth, it can be hard to believe that someone has forgiven us because we know that person still remembers how we sinned against them. We may even wonder if they will still try to retaliate against us even though they said they forgave us. But when God forgives us of our sins, scripture tells us that it is like we have never sinned.

The reason for this is Christ. When Jesus was hung on that cross, he took the punishment from God for all of my sins, all of your sins, and all the sins of everyone who would call upon him for salvation. When we submit our lives to Christ, God had already placed the punishment of all of our sins upon Jesus on the cross, not just the sins that we have already committed, but also the sins that we have yet to commit.

When we call upon the Lord for salvation, God takes our sin, placing it on Christ, and wraps us in the righteousness that Jesus earned through his perfect life and sacrificial death. I have stated this before, that the best way that I have ever heard this described is by my son Ronan when he was 5 years old. We were having a conversation about Jesus dying for our sins, and Ronan said, “So it's like, Jesus takes our sin clothes and puts them on, and then gives us his righteousness clothes?” Yes. That is exactly what it is like.

Hebrews 8:13

By saying a new covenant, he has declared that the first is obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away.

God declaring a New Covenant means the first Covenant is now Obsolete and passing away. The old covenant could not save us. It showed us our sin, but could not permanently save us from our sin. The old covenant required daily and yearly sacrifices, but the new covenant provided one sacrifice for all time.

Some may ask why God didn’t just give us the second covenant to begin with. Wouldn't that have just been easier? Maybe. But how many of us know that the easy path is usually not the right one? God had everything planned out before he created time. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit laid out this plan with infinite wisdom, love, and clarity.

Jesus coming to earth was not Plan B. There was never a Plan B. It was always Plan A. God did not change his mind on how to redeem humanity because he was wrong the first time. Like we said last week, the first covenant always pointed to the second. The statement made to Satan in the garden that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent was not a backup; it was the plan before the Mosaic Law was given. Abraham, being told by God that he would be the Father of many nations, was always the plan before the Mosaic Law was given.

The questions, “If God is so loving, why is there evil in the world?” and “Why do people die of natural disasters and disease?” often cause people to question faith, question whether there could actually be a God out there. But if we did not see bad things in this world, how could we know what the love of God actually was? There would be nothing to compare it to.

The theologian A.W. Tozer said this in his book Knowledge of the Holy:

“What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

A.W. Tozer in Knowledge of the Holy

He goes on to say that our worship of God will be based on what we think about him. If we have a low view of God, we will not think of him as holy and righteous, but as a tyrant, as evil, as not worthy of praise. A low view of God makes him sound human. If we can see him as a human, then we can justify not serving him, not praising him, and having no regard for what he says. A low view of God tells us that he kept making mistakes and tried to fix them over and over again.

But if we have a high view of God, we will understand that his ways are higher than our ways. We see God as all-knowing and all-powerful, and that those two attributes are not in conflict. A high view of God informs us that God could stop all suffering in this world but chooses not to, yet. We understand that God does have a plan that we cannot understand, and that everything he does is for His glory and our good.

This past Thursday, one of the students in my class at our homeschool co-op, 15 years old, lost his dad after a 6-year battle with cancer. We have known this family for 9 years. We had been praying for this man ever since the first diagnosis came. God worked miracles in his journey to provide when there seemed to be no way. And yet, God took him home, where he no longer has pain, no longer has cancer, and is now experiencing the Love of God in a way that he had never had before. We can’t know God’s reasoning for leaving this wife and son without their husband and father, but we can do our best to trust that God is working it all out, again, for His glory and our good.

Bringing in the new covenant does not mean that the laws and rules around morality have gone away. We still must honor God as holy, worshipping no one and nothing else but him. We must have self-control by honoring those in authority, loving our neighbors, and not chasing after things that do not belong to us. These parts of God’s law still apply to us. The part of the law that has passed away, because it has been completely fulfilled in Christ, is the part that has to do with how we become reconciled to God due to our sin.

When we put on those new righteousness robes of Christ, we become a new person. God takes out a heart of stone and puts in a heart of flesh. He writes his law upon our hearts. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul states that those who are in Christ become new creations.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

The old law provided a temporary covering for our sin. But temporary things need to be replaced when they are no longer necessary. Temporary means - not forever.

The new covenant doesn’t just cover our sin for a little while; it wipes our sin away because Jesus paid the required price. Through the sacrifice of Christ, we are reconciled to God. Without this reconciliation, without our sins being atoned for, without payment being made for our rebellion, we are enemies of God.

The late theologian R.C. Sproul famously called sin “Cosmic treason” against the holy creator of the universe. Our sin makes us enemies with God. Our rebellion separates us from God’s love. If we die in our sins, we will be permanently cut off from him in eternal judgment. But as we read last week in 1 John 1:9:

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When we repent of our sins, giving our lives over to God, submitting to Christ, we are made into a new creation. We are raised from spiritual death to spiritual life. We gain life through giving up our earthly lives. We become righteous in God’s sight, and our sins are washed away. And as Paul says in Ephesians 1, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption, marked for salvation. That mark can never be taken away.

Do you want that type of security? Do you want eternal life with the Father, experiencing his love, his peace, and his grace forever? You no longer need to be an enemy of God anymore. You can be his child, a co-heir with Jesus. If that is you, you know that you need to give your life to the Lord…

Next Step: I will repent and submit my life to Christ.

Let us pray.

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