Hebrews 8:7–13

The New Covenant is made through the spotless blood of the Lamb. Jesus Christ, King and Lord of all! 

Jesus fulfilled in His birth, death and resurrection, what man could not. He now sits at the right hand of the Father intervening for those who believe in Him.

Romans 11:27 

For this is My covenant with them,

When I take away their sins.”

"Let us not darken the joy of resurrection," Thomas Merton reminds us, "by remaining in captivity and darkness, but let us live as free men and women who have been called out of the darkness and into the light.”

That light may be obscured by tragedy and stress but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there and cannot spill to the world around us. Yes. In this life. Because I have nothing to prove, no one to impress and no need to manipulate or denigrate anyone. Sabbath Moments 

Hebrews 8:7–13

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 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—9 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. 10 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. 11 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. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 13 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 New King James Version

The author describes the better covenant and its promises in terms of the blessings envisioned by the prophet Jeremiah 31:31–34. This citation lays the foundation for Hebrews, which discusses the superiority of Jesus’ sacrifice. The new covenant includes the promise that God will put His law into the people’s minds and inscribe it on hearts.  As a result, God’s people will no longer need to be taught about Him by other people to experience Him. God has vowed to be their God so all will know Him. Faithlife Study Bible

That first covenant is the Mosaic covenant. The new covenant is the “better covenant”. This covenant was made with Israel and Judah, yet the church enjoys the spiritual blessings of this covenant now. The Abrahamic covenant was made with Abraham and his physical descendants, who would inherit the land. Yet the Abrahamic covenant also contained spiritual promises in which the church participates. 

The new covenant in fact is a fulfillment of the spiritual redemption promised in the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants. There are four provisions of the new covenant: (1) God’s law will be written on believers’ minds and hearts. This is in contrast to the Mosaic Law which was written on tablets of stone. (2) Believers will have a relationship with God fulfilling the promise of Leviticus. (3) All will know God. No longer will Pharisees and scribes have to teach the intricacies of the Law to the people. (4) God will forgive the sins of believers and remember them no more. The continual sacrifice of animals for the atonement of sin will cease. 

The presence of a new, better covenant not only demonstrates that the first covenant is not sufficient, it also shows that the first covenant is obsolete and ready to vanish away. At the time the author of Hebrews wrote these words, the ceremonies of the Mosaic covenant were still being conducted in the temple in Jerusalem. In a.d. 70 the Roman general Titus destroyed the temple, fulfilling these words. The NKJV Study Bible

Jeremiah 31:31 “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—

Jeremiah 31:32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.

Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Jeremiah 31:34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”