Hebrews 8 - What Was New About the "New Covenant"?

Click Here to Read or Listen to Hebrews 8

7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said[b]: “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. 10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” 13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

There were 4 major covenants in the Old Testament that God made with His people, the Israelites. 

1. The Noachic Covenant  (2,500 BC)  This was the unilateral covenant God made with Noah that He would never destroy the world or its inhabitants with another flood.  By unilateral it was in unconditional promise based on God's faithfulness not man's behavior or obedience. Since it was pre-Abraham it applied to all people and was universal in scope. 

2. The Abrahamic Covenant (2,100 BC) - This is the relationship God promised to Abraham. There are three different promises made in this covenant are found in Genesis 12, 15 and 17. First, the covenant promised Abraham's (his original name was Abram) descendents to inherit the Land of Canaan, also known as the Promised Land. Secondly, God promised that despite his old age and the barrenness of his wife, Sarah, his offspring would be as numerous as the number of stars in the skies, and He would be the father of all nations. Finally, God promised He would bless Abraham and make His name great and that he would be a blessing to many people. 

3. The Mosaic Covenant (1,450 BC) - The Mosiac covenant was conditional offering blessings if Israel's obeyed the law and curses if they disobeyed. The covenant was given to the Isaaelites through Moses, who received it by divine revelation on Mount Sinai. The Mosaic covenant centered and was summarized by the Ten Commandments, but also included 613 other moral, ceremonial, and civil laws. The primary purpose was to set Israel apart from the other nations, and to show people how they fall far short of God's law, thus paving the way for God to send us Jesus, our Messiah. 

4. The Davidic Covenant (1,000 BC) - This was the unilateral covenant God made with King David. It is also called the "royal covenant", because it promised there would never fail to be a descendnat of his as king. The king would be of Davidic lineage which continue right up to King Jesus' birth. Though David didn't get a chance to build the first physical temple, his son, Solomon did. 

So if these were the old covenants, what is Jeremiah referring to when he says, "I will make a new covenant of with the people of Israel and the people of Judah?"

In Hebrews 8, the author is referring to the Mosaic covenant.  As you know the ceremonial and ritualistic laws of the Mosaic covenant were overseen by the priests of Aaron and the Levites from the tribe of Levi. 

Specifically, Jeremiah 31:31-34 points to a new covenant that will be written our hearts not tablets of stone. He says the Lord will put the laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. And then he makes quite an astounding statement, "I will be their God and they will be my people. No longer will they say to their neighbor "know the Lord" because they will all know me from the least to the greatest!"

As Christians we are comfortable talking about knowing the Lord and having a personal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. But in the Jewish faith that language would be completely foreign to them. The only one who could actually come in the Lord's holy presence was the Most High Priest once a year. 

Jeremiah is giving the Israelities this prophecy at around 635 BC, about 50 years before the Southern Kingdom would be overtaken and exiled to Babylon. They had disobeyed God by worshipping foreign idols.  In chapter 8, the author of Hebrews uses this quote from Jeremiah and connects it to Jesus' priesthood.  

Jesus, as a high priest, inaugurated a much better covenant, because the Mosaic covenant's laws could only point out the people's sinfulness. It had no power in itself other than to reveal how the people fall far short of God's righteous laws. And, in fact, the people regularly broke this covenant with God, which resulted in them being exiled far away from their homeland. 

Also, the old covenant was based on animal sacrifices, which could only cover sins temporarily. A new animial needed to be offered every year for the many new sins committed. To the contrary Jesus' sacrifice "was once and for all time". He made atonement for our sins by offering his innocent blood which took away the sin of the world.  

I think what is most important about Jeremiah's prophecy is the power this new covenant brought us. The old covenant could do nothing to change a human heart, it could only point out its sinfulness. In the new covenant the law is written on our hearts, so that we will intrinsically know what is right and wrong. 

 How the Holy Spirit Fulfills the New Covenant (from biblehub.com)

• The One who writes God’s law on human hearts is the Holy Spirit.

• By indwelling believers, He transforms the inner person so that obedience flows from desire rather than external compulsion.

• He secures an unbreakable, personal relationship between God and His people.

Did you know God's law is written on your heart? 

God wants you to know us personally. This is the reason He sent His only Son Jesus to be the once and for all sacrifice for our sin!  The only thing God requires of us is faith. Faith in Jesus, the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. By faith, you can now come into the Lord's holy presence through our merciful high priest Jesus. 

Thank you Father for sending us Your Son, who did for us what we could never do for ourselves. Transform us from the inside out by the power of Your Holy Spirit so that we might naturally do the things that are right in your sight. Amen.