MAKES EVERYTHING NEW
Opening Prayer
Perfect Lamb of God, victorious Lion of Judah, my life is yours; help me to glorify you in all that I do.
Read HEBREWS 8
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
The High Priest of a New Covenant
8 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”[a] 6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
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.”[c]
13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 8:5 Exodus 25:40
- Hebrews 8:8 Some manuscripts may be translated fault and said to the people.
- Hebrews 8:12 Jer. 31:31-34
Reflect
Look back over your reflections in these eight chapters. Have you been captivated by the ascended Jesus? What has made the most impact?We attend a dress rehearsal, but the real thing is yet to come. Refugees living in a camp hope for something better than their temporary home. A couple engaged to be married know the best is yet to come. Until Christ’s death, God’s people unknowingly had to settle for second best. Jesus has made it possible to enjoy a taste of the best NOW. But the very best in eternity is yet to come.
Verses 8 to 12 are a direct quote from Jeremiah 31:31–34 and go back to the time when Jeremiah’s home city, Jerusalem, was about to be razed to the ground and its inhabitants taken as captives to Babylon. They had disobeyed God. His words, through Jeremiah, offered future hope of transformed lives, an assurance of truly knowing God (Jeremiah 31:31–34). Their sins would be forgiven, in a way they’d never experienced before. (See also 10:16, 17.)
That time has now come. Jesus, seated as a priest to the right of his Father (v. 1), serves to make purification for sins (1:3), interceding for us (7:25) and offering forgiveness written in a new way, in minds and hearts. We, like the readers, can experience this NOW. But the very best is yet to come (v. 13).
Apply
The writer has been constantly urging readers to persevere and embrace a confident hope, expecting the best. In what specific ways has your reading in Hebrews encouraged you in your faith journey?
Closing prayer
Lord God, I am so grateful for all you have done for me, for the difference that knowing your Son makes for me each day, and for the hope that is mine in him now and for eternity.
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