Hebrews 8

Intro John 2:10

The main point: Hebrews 8

Cool fact: we have Christian letters quoting the book of Hebrews as early as AD 96 (Clement of Rome’s first letter to the Corinthians).

So far in Hebrews, we’ve learned about:

Jesus is better than the Old Law

Jesus is better than the angels

Jesus is God

Jesus is the perfectly obedient man

Jesus is more faithful than Moses

We’ve been warned about falling away, like the first generation did after the Exodus

Christians will enter God’s rest

Jesus as a high priest is better than the Levite priests

Jesus’s priesthood is from the priest-king who ministered to Abraham, Melchizedek

Are you ever resistant to something that is new and improved?

Have you even been surprised by a book or movie, but the whole story makes sense after the reveal?

How can you tell if someone is from another country?

The author takes a breath to summarize his argument that he has been making from the Old Testament.

Hebrews 8:1–6 CSB

Now the main point of what is being said is this: We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore, it was necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he wouldn’t be a priest, since there are those offering the gifts prescribed by the law. These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain. But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established on better promises.

The author has been quoting a lot of Old Testament verses so far, but this is the mic drop moment: Jeremiah 31:31-34

Hebrews 8:7–13 CSB

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 covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to 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 covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds and 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.

Paul, in 2 Corinthians 5, quotes extensively from Jer. 31:31-34 also.

Jeremiah lived at a time when Jerusalem was being destroyed, including the Temple. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was long gone, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah was taken into captivity.

God gave Jeremiah hope that one day God’s people would not have promises that they can lose.

Jesus is the priest, mediating his people to God. He is the sacrifice, atoning for his people’s sins. And he is the faithful one, unlike the Israelites of old. He both saves Israel and is Israel.

By joining the body of Jesus we benefit from his work and do not rely on our own works.

Visible vs Invisible

How could someone know that anyone was a part of ancient Israel?

Can you see who is in the church and who is not in the church?

Let’s look at verse 10 again:

Hebrews 8:10 CSB

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 into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Jesus removes all barriers to those in the New Covenant. No priests, no animal sacrifices, no big Temple. God wants to be intimate with his people.

(We’ll see more on that in the coming chapters.)

According to verse 10, who is in the New Covenant?

Applications

Don’t resist this New Covenant by falling into old ways.

Jesus tore down all the barriers between us and God. Don’t put any more up!

Jesus tore down all the barriers between us and God. Are you intimate with God?

Each covenant, Old and New, is between God and his people. There are no lone wolf Christians. God didn’t make a special covenant with Bob.