Hebrews 8:1-13 Lesson 425

Hebrews 8:1-13
Lesson 425

Read both the "King James Bible" and the "New Living Translation."

In this lesson:

God's new covenant (agreement) with mankind (Jeremiah 31:31-33).

"Christ brought to mankind a New Covenant. The First Covenant, centered around the
tabernacle services and the Ten Commandments, had served its purpose (9:1-5). Its laws
were written on tables of stone (9:4). Christ's laws would be written on our hearts (8:10). The
First Covenant was temporal. Christ's Covenant would be everlasting (13:20). The First Covenant
was sealed with the blood of animals. Christ's Covenant was sealed with His own blood (10:29)."

("Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; page 652)

The way to salvation:

First, acknowledge that we are all sinners.
Second, accept Jesus, who died for our sins, as your Savior.
Lastly, pray, read the Bible, and make Jesus Christ a part of your life.

Salvation comes through the Son of God.

The Epistle of Paul The Apostle To The Hebrews

The King James Bible

Hebrews 8:1-13
Christ as High Priest

1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:

5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

8 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:

9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

Margin notes:

"This is the sum." (8:1) - Means "this is the point."

"We have such an high priest." (8:1) - Jesus is our High Priest (2:17; 4:14; 7:23-28).  Jesus made all other sacrifices unnecessary when He was sacrificed on the cross (7:27).

"Who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens." (8:1) - After being resurrected and ascended to heaven, Jesus sat at the right hand of God (Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 10:12).

"Every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices." (8:3) - "Every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices (to God)." Offering sacrifices was the most important job of a high priest.

"This man have somewhat also to offer." (8:3) - "Jesus must have an offering too." And He did.  Christ offered up His own life as a sacrifice.

"If he were on earth, he should not be a priest." (8:4) - Under Levitical rules, Jesus did not qualify for Jewish priesthood. Only a member of the tribe of Levi (descendants of Aaron) could be a priest, and Jesus was from the tribe of Judah (7:14). But of course, Jesus was not of this earth.

"Shadow of heavenly things." (8:5) - "Copy of heavenly things."

"Moses was admonished of God." (8:5) - "Moses was warned by God."

"The pattern shewed to thee in the mount." (8:5) - "The plan shown to you on Mt. Sinai." See Exodus 25:40 and 26:30.

"If that first covenant had been faultless." (8:7) - If the Old Covenant had been perfect and offered salvation, there would be no need for the New Covenant. See also verse 7:11.

"Behold, the days come... (8:8) - Verses 8:8-12 are from Jeremiah 31:31-34 written six hundred years before the birth of Christ.  It accurately prophesized the coming of the New Covenant and contrasted it with the Old.

"They continued not in my covenant." (8:9) - "They didn't stay faithful to my (first) Covenant."

"I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts." (8:10) - God writes His laws in the hearts and consciences of His people so they will intuitively understand (Psalm 37:31; 40:8; Romans 2:15; 2 Corinthians 3:3; Hebrews 10:16).

"I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (8:12) - God promised to be merciful towards believers and to forget their sins (Jeremiah 31:34). God loves, and wants to save us from evil.

"Waxeth old is ready to vanish away." (8:13) - The Old Covenant "grows old and is ready to fade away."  Just a few years after these words were written, the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and the entire Levitical system with it. No Levitical priest has offered a sacrifice in the last two thousand years.

New Living Translation

Hebrews 8:1-13
Christ Is Our High Priest

1 Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven.

2 There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands.

3 And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too.

4 If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law.

5 They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: "Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain."

6 But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.

7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it.

8 But when God found fault with the people, he said:

  "The day is coming, says the Lord,
      when I will make a new covenant
      with the people of Israel and Judah.

9 This covenant will not be like the one
      I made with their ancestors
   when I took them by the hand
      and led them out of the land of Egypt.
   They did not remain faithful to my covenant,
      so I turned my back on them, says the Lord.

10 But this is the new covenant I will make
      with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord:
   I will put my laws in their minds,
      and I will write them on their hearts.
   I will be their God,
      and they will be my people.

11 And they will not need to teach their neighbors,
      nor will they need to teach their relatives,
      saying, 'You should know the Lord.'
   For everyone, from the least to the greatest,
      will know me already.

12 And I will forgive their wickedness,
      and I will never again remember their sins."

13 When God speaks of a "new" covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

This second Bible text from the "New Living Translation" (Tyndale House, Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois) is a paraphrase and not an accurate word-for-word translation of the Bible. However, it is a helpful tool when read with the "King James Version."

Today's question:

1. Why is the New Covenant better than the Old Covenant? (8:6-7)

"Faith is the ability to feel so sure of God, that, no matter how dark the day, there is no doubt as to the outcome. For God's people there is a glorious future. It may be a long way off. But it is absolutely sure."

("Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; page 373)

Answer: (Do you agree?)

1. The first Covenant between God and the nation of Israel was never meant to offer salvation. It made primarily
temporal, not spiritual promises.  The Old Covenant was designed to show mankind their sinful ways and promised to make Israel a great nation (Genesis 17:6) if they followed the Mosaic Law.  Without promising lasting forgiveness, the Old Covenant burdened people with an onerous system of rites and ceremonies that required them to make constant animal sacrifices to be forgiven for their sins.  With Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, the New Covenant (which includes all people, Jew and Gentile) freed believers from the rites and ceremonies and offered eternal forgiveness of sins to anyone who accepts God's gracious gift.

Also, the Old Covenant did not give humanity direct access to God. Mankind needed to approach God via a priest. Now, thanks to the New Covenant, Christ is our High Priest, and we have direct contact with God.



Application thought for the day:

Hebrews tells us that Jesus sits at the right hand of God five separate times (1:3; 1:13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2).
Remember, repetition is a tool writers use to emphasize important points.
Spend the day pondering why Christ sitting at the right hand of God is important.

Thanks to the writings and commentary of John Wesley and Adam Clarke. Also, "The Layman's Bible Study Notebook" by Irving Jensen published by Harvest House Publishing, Irvine, California; the "Life Change Series" published by NavPress books, Colorado Springs, Colorado; the "Life Application Study Bible" published by Tyndale House Publishing, Carol Stream, Illinois; the "Quest Study Bible" published by The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "Robertson's New Testament Word Studies;" "The MacArthur Bible Commentary" by John MacArthur published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee; "Wisdom of the Bible" CD by Topics Entertainment, Inc., Renton, Washington for their inspiring pictures; "My utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, Ohio; The "Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge" by Reuben Archer Torrey; "Hope For Each Day" by Billy Graham published by J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee; "Easton's Bible Dictionary" by Matthew George Easton; "Unger's Bible Dictionary" by Merrill F. Unger, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; "Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "The Everyday Bible" published by World Wide Publications, Minneapolis, Minnesota; "The Living New Testament" published by Tyndale house, Wheaten, Illinois; "The New Living Translation" published by Tyndale House, Wheaten, Illinois; "The New Testament" translated from the Latin Vulgate, published by Guild Press, New York, New York; BibleGateway.com for all their wonderful links; and of course, the "King James Bible." All were critical in putting these lessons together.
© 2023 evolke

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