Hebrews 8:7-13 — The Perfect Covenant

READ THIS: Hebrews 8:7-13

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: “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13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

If you've been just about anywhere in the Bible before, you may have seen the word "covenant" pop up. Covenants, especially the ones we are learning about today, are promises with conditions that need to be met between God and His people. Verses 8-12 quote Jeremiah 31:31-34, which describes a covenant that God was planning to make with His people one day. God looked at the old covenant He made with His people (following the law of God and making sacrifices or payments when they failed to do so) and decided to make a new covenant with His people instead. Verse 9 explains why: God's people never did their part perfectly! Time and time again, God's people turned away from Him and sinned, so God ultimately had to punish them. That's why the author of Hebrews said that something was "wrong" with this first covenant... it wasn't being held up perfectly by both sides, so God knew that something had to be done to make things right.
 
That's where Jesus comes in. Hundreds of years later, we know that Jesus would enter into our world, live a perfect life, and sacrifice Himself as a payment for the sins of all of us! On top of that, Jesus conquered over sin and death forever when He walked out of the tomb 3 days later. Jesus did what we should have done: He lived out the law perfectly and followed God blamelessly. Because of this, anyone who believes in Jesus has access to this new covenant that we see in verses 11 and 12. When we believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit enters into us and we can know God and His law in a new way. Even better, when we fall short, Jesus's perfect life is what covers us and we are met with grace, not punishment! Jesus created and fulfilled a perfect covenant for us!

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. If God doesn't make mistakes, why does the author of Hebrews say that the first covenant was wrong? Who was really at fault during the time of the old covenants?
 
2. If you know a lot about Jesus's life, you may know that He did some things that were slightly against the Old Testament law, like doing things on the Sabbath day! How did Jesus live a perfect life without sin if He did these things, and what does that teach us about how God wants us to live our lives?

TRY THIS:

Living a perfect life is really hard... well, it's actually impossible! Today, I want you to pay attention to how you think, act, and speak. When you realize you've fallen short of perfection (which I promise will happen pretty quick if you pay enough attention), take a moment to thank Jesus for being the perfect fulfillment of our end of the covenant with God!

SONG OF THE WEEK:
 
Check out this song about Jesus being our High Priest before God in Heaven!





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