Sermon Tone Analysis

Hebrews 8:1–6 (NLT)

Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven.

There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands.

And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too.

If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law.

They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven.

For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.”

But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.

We’re at the Heart of Hebrews

The Author has Spent a Great Deal of Time Establishing the Fact that Jesus is Superior

He’s Superior to Everything that We Find Under the Old Law and Covenant

He is God’s Son, Messianic King, and High Priest

He is the Superior Prophet, Priest, and King

Lately We’ve Been Focused On How He is the Superior High Priest Who Mediates a Better Covenant with God

A Covenant that was Established on Better Promises

In Our Text Tonight, the Author is Going to Show Us a Prophecy From Jeremiah…

That Foretold that a New and Better Covenant was Coming

In Chapters 3-4, the Author Largely Based His Arguments Off of Psalm 95

In Chapters 5-7, He Focused Heavily On Psalm 110 and Genesis 14:17-20

Now, for Chapters 9-10, the Author is Going to Be Focused on Jeremiah 31:1-4

Hebrews 8:7–13 (NLT)

If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it.

But when God found fault with the people, he said:

“The day is coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.

This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt.

They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the Lord.

But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts.

I will be their God, and they will be my people.

And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’

For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already.

And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete.

It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

Hebrews 8:7 (NASB95)

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.

When the Author Says the Old Covenant Wasn’t Faultless…

Is He Saying that God Made a Mistake?

Not at All

The Covenant was Exactly What God Intended it to Be

We Read Back in Hebrews 7:18-19

Hebrews 7:18–19 (NASB95)

For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

The Old Law Under the Old Covenant (as it Pertained to the Priesthood)…

Was Weak and Useless

It Could Not Bring About the Desired End for God’s People

God’s Old Covenant with Israel was Incapable of Bringing Many Sons to Glory

Hebrews 8:7 (NASB95)

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.

Since There was this Weak and Useless Aspect to the Law…

God Promised a Second

Hebrews 8:8 (NASB95)

For finding fault with them, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

Most Translations Have “Them”, Referring to the Israelite People

But Some Earlier Manuscripts Have “It”, Referring to the Old Covenant

This Matches Up Better with Verse 7…

But the Interpretation is Still the Same

The Old Covenant was Faulty, Not Because God Made a Mistake or Made it Faulty

It was Faulty Because the People Who Were Under it Were Faulty

The Next Part of the Prophecy Tells Us this in Hebrews 8:9

Hebrews 8:9 (NASB95)

Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord.

So God Promised Through Jeremiah…

That There was Coming a Day When a New Covenant Would Be Established with Israel/Judah

But this Covenant Wouldn’t Be Like the Old

The People Did Not Faithfully Keep that Covenant

Because They Didn’t Keep Their End of the Covenant…

God “Did Not Care for Them”

He “Neglected” Them

He Allowed Their Sin and Faithlessness to Consume Them and Lead to Their Downfall

Do We See the Faultiness of the Old System Here?

Whenever the People Leave God, God Leaves the People

And the People Always End Up Leaving God

In Order to Have Perfect, Lasting Reconciliation with God…

There Must Be a New and Better Covenant

Verse 6 Told Us:

Hebrews 8:6 (NASB95)

But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

In this Prophecy From Jeremiah, We are Going to See the Better Promises

Hebrews 8:10 (NASB95)

“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 I will write them on their hearts.

And I will be their God, And they shall be My people.