Heb 8

A better covenant

Context: After proving from Gen 14:17-20 and Ps 110:4 that Messiah had to become a high priest who lives forever so that he can truly save and sanctify his people (Heb 5-7), Heb 8 now addresses what the ministry of this new high priest is and how it accomplishes such a great salvation: By atoning for our sins, this high priest so reconciles his people to God in a new covenant that their hearts are changed and will no longer abandon him as in the old covenant of the Mosaic law of which Jesus now made an end.

Warm-up: When you were a kid, did you ever seal a friendship with one of your buddies as special by some kind of token? How?

Read: Hebrews 8

1) vv1-2: After proving with Ps 110:4 that Jesus had to become high priest forever, the writer turns to the question of what this high priest is doing: Do vv1-2 describe anything about Jesus that you find unexpected?

  • Already Heb 1:3 described Jesus as enthroned in heaven. Where does this metaphor of a ‘heavenly throne’ come from? cf Ps 2:4; Isa 66:1; Mt 5:34 Do these texts describe God as an old man inhabiting the sky? Why or why not? What does the Bible mean by ‘heaven’ (lit. heavens, v1)?
    • What light does v2 shed on this question? =>
    • Why call heaven the ‘holy places’ (lit. sanctuary), or the ‘true tent’? ‘True’ in what sense? [In contrast to the copy, v5]
  • What is the main point of the writer: That Jesus now reigns from heavens? Or how he ministers as our high priest?
    • v1, “We have…”: Whose high priest is he, actually? Who are the ‘we’? cf Heb 2:16; 3:1

2) vv3-7: How did the writer prove that the risen Christ in heaven must be fulfilling a priestly ministry? [vv3+5]

  • In v5, the writer inferred this from the symbolic rites of the tabernacle. Where did those come from?
    • Read Ex 25:40. What do you think did Moses actually see in that vision?
    • Did Moses only speculate about heaven? If not, how can we find out whether what he saw was real?
      • If it were only fantasy, how would you explain that this tabernacle flawlessly modeled what was fulfilled hundreds of years later when Jesus became high priest forever by atoning for our sins?
      • If needed: How did God choose to prove the truthfulness of his word? [“prophesying in advance the things as yet unseen”, e.g. Gen 18:17; Isa 42:9; Amo 3:7]
      • How does this principle apply to how one can recognize the New Covenant as inspired and validated by God?
  • v6: What ‘better promises’ formed the basis for now appointing this better high priest? cf Ps 110:4b Hint: Did God ever swear with an oath anything to priests from the line of Aaron?
    • v7 starts again with a “For…”: What evidence led the writer to conclude that the promises to appoint Jesus as high priest were ‘better’?
    • Better in what sense? cf Heb 7:21

3) vv8-9: What was lacking in the old covenant that God ordained to replace it?

  • v9: How did the Israelites break the old covenant? =>
    • Read Jer 31:31-32 “….my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord”. How did Jeremiah’s metaphor of a husband and his unfaithful wife illustrate how Israel broke covenant?
  • In what sense then was the old covenant too ‘weak’ to prevent such unfaithfulness?
  • By inference, what qualifies the new covenant as ‘better’ (or ‘strong’, Dan 9:27)? [=> it will not be abandoned anymore by those partaking in it]

4) v10: What is identified as the main difference about the people of the new covenant?

  • Since Jeremiah spoke of a new covenant for ‘Israel’, how can the writer of Hebrews apply this to all Christians, whether Jew or Gentile? [Note: This is one of many passages that prove that ‘Israel’ in the Bible does not always mean the biological descendants of Abraham]
  • What is the distinctive of this new covenant people if not their nationality? A better outward morality? Why or why not?

5) vv11-12: One of the hundreds of laws that the scribes had codified was a commandment to know the Lord. What was wrong or inadequate about that?

  • How does the new covenant make this obsolete?
  • v12 starts again with “For…”: For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. What has this to do with the heart renewal of the people of this new covenant?
    • Do Christians by definition desire to do the will of God, or does one have to coerce them to do so? cf Tit 2:14

6) v13 “In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish.”: What exactly was almost obsolete by the time Hebrews was written? 

  • Recall: What were the recipients of this letter tempted with? Were they in danger of relying too much or rather too little on sacrifices? cf Heb 3:16 How did it manifest that they relied too much on Moses, and not too little? cf Heb 2:1

7) Personal and application

  • What do you make of the fact that Hebrews puts so much emphasis on reminding the readers and explaining what Jesus is for them as their high priest?
    • Are you convinced and sure that he is this also for you? Why or why not?
    • In what ways are believers in your culture tempted to rely on their own sacrifices or on those of their priests instead of believing Jesus?
  • As a Christian, how have you experienced that God put his laws into your mind and wrote them on your heart?
    • How does that differ from how you experienced his laws before your conversion?

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