A Better Covenant (Hebrews 8)

Where is our high priest? What did our high priest offer? What does the new covenant place in our hearts? What will God forgive? Is the old covenant now obsolete? Let’s find out in Hebrews 8.

Where does our high priest serve? Where is the true tabernacle?

Now the main point of what is being said is this: We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man. (Hebrews 8:1-2 HCSB)

Did Jesus as high priest offer Himself? Is the new covenant better than the old?

For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore, this high priest had to offer something, too. Now if he were on earth, he would not even be a priest, because other men offer the gifts prescribed by the Law. They serve in a sanctuary that is a copy, a shadow of the heavenly one. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tent: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” However, Jesus has now obtained a more superior ministry, since the covenant he mediates is founded on better promises. (Hebrews 8:3-6 ISV)

With whom was the fault of the old covenant? Is there a new covenant?

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: (Hebrews 8:7-8 KJV Jeremiah 31:31-34)

Who broke the old covenant? What is a key component of the new covenant?

Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers In the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord. 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 into their minds, And upon their hearts I will write them. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. (Hebrews 8:9-10 LSB Jeremiah 31:31-34)

What is a wonderful blessing of the new covenant? What will God no longer remember?

And they will not teach, each one his fellow citizen, And each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ For they will all know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings, And their sins I will no longer remember.” (Hebrews 8:11-12 NASB Jeremiah 31:31-34)

What happens to the old covenant? Will it soon disappear?

By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. (Hebrews 8:13 NIV)

Where is our high priest? What did our high priest offer? What does the new covenant place in our hearts? What will God forgive? Is the old covenant now obsolete? You decide!