Bible In A Year | Read: Hebrews 8
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and will remember their sins no more.” 13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.. Hebrews 8:10-13
Overview of Chapter
The way Israel worshipped in the Old Testament was a picture of what was coming. They made sacrifices, had a High Priest who made those sacrifices for them and built a tabernacle in which to worship. The priests and sacrifices pointed to the fact that sin had to be paid for, and the tabernacle was patterned after what God showed him. The new covenant, or system for being God’s people, is better than the old one because Jesus is the sacrifice, High Priest and minister in heaven. In addition people who trust Jesus move from obeying God because it is forced on them to obeying God because it is in their hearts and minds to desire what God wants.
Israel enjoyed a special relationship with God in the Old Testament, but wanting to return to that relationship makes no sense. We have it so much better being able to be God’s children through Jesus. Hopefully you are so thankful for Jesus’ sacrifice for you that you desire to live as he wants us to live.
Thoughts on the verses
When Moses was on Mount Sinai, he was given instructions to build a tabernacle where animal sacrifices would be offered that allowed sinful Israelites to approach a holy God: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain’ (v. 5). We aren’t quite sure what that tabernacle ultimately points to until we come to Christ in the New Testament, or the new covenant. The Old Testament tabernacle was ‘a copy and shadow of … heavenly things’ (v. 5, ESV).
The ceremonies connected with the tabernacle were all external. They could make an Israelite ceremonially right with God, but they could not change an Israelite’s heart. God was using the picture of the Old Testament tabernacle, with its Holy Place and Most Holy Place (which regular Israelites could not enter), to teach us about our separation from God caused by sin. And our sin is something that cannot be taken away ceremonially – it demands a change of heart. In verses 8–12 the writer quotes from Jeremiah 31, a pivotal passage that predicts how Christ would fulfill what the tabernacle ministry was foreshadowing. The Israelites could not keep the old covenant, based on the Ten Commandments: ‘they did not remain faithful to my covenant’ (v. 9). But God knew they couldn’t, and had always planned to establish a new covenant: ‘I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts’ (v. 10).
The new covenant would deal with our hearts in a way the old covenant never could. Jesus’ blood cleanses our consciences and the Holy Spirit changes the desires of our hearts, so that we can know God personally and have a new longing to serve him that Old Testament Israelites never enjoyed. The days of killing lambs and goats are over. Jesus has now come to deal with the real, inner heart problem that separates us from God, and by his blood we can enter the Holy of Holies every time we pray, and have fellowship as forgiven sinners with the God of the universe!
Reflection
Make sure the ceremonies of your church don’t deflect you from examining your own heart.
Action Steps
Bible: What is God showing me? What am I going to do about it?
Bless: Serve one person through word, action, or gift today.
Have you ever thought it would be cool to hear some C3 leaders discuss the daily verses, share about their lives and mostly just talk about nonsense? Of course not!…even though nobody has ever thought that we are still doing it. You can follow along with us each morning in a brand new podcast – Wednesday French Class & Hump Day Hyped.
Recent Comments