Hebrews 8

The writer here says that the new covenant is founded on better promises, promises given by God to those who believe in Jesus. The writer mentions three of these better promises below, in a quotation from the prophet Jeremiah. The first of these promises of God is this: “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts” (verse 10). The second promise is: “… they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest” (verse 11). The third promise is: “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (verse 12). In brief, the meaning of these three promises taken together is this: God makes each believer in Christ a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). He sends His Holy Spirit to dwell within each believer’s heart. God said: “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19-20).

Therefore, the “new covenant” between man and God is as follows. God gives us the promise of eternal life in heaven. Together with that, He gives us a new spirit, by which we are enabled to overcome sin and to recognize Him and to love and obey Him. For the covenant to be fulfilled, only one thing is necessary: a person must believe in Christ. Truly, this new covenant is far superior to the old covenant!

7 If nothing had been wrong with that first covenant (old covenant), there would have been no need to make a new covenant.

8 But there was something “wrong” with that first covenant:¹⁵ the Jews did not remain faithful; they did not fulfill their part of the covenant.

In verses 8-12, the writer of Hebrews quotes God’s words as written down by the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 31:3134. God says: “I will make a new covenant with the house of ISRAEL and with the house of Judah.” In Jeremiah’s time, the nation of Israel (the Jewish nation) was divided into two kingdoms: Israel in the north, and Judah in the south. Thus from this verse we can understand that God’s new covenant is meant for “both kingdoms”—that is, for all true descendants of Abraham through faith. The true descendants of Abraham are all those who put their faith in Jesus Christ (see Gal-atians 3:7-9 and comment).

9-10 The new covenant is not like the old covenant. The old covenant was written on two stone tablets (Exodus 31:18). The new covenant is written on men’s hearts. Men did not have the power to obey and remain faithful to the old covenant. But under the new covenant, men receive the Holy Spirit, who gives them the power and the desire to obey God. We can now say with the Psalmist: “I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8).

11 The Jews taught one another about God and His word according to what was written in the Old Testament. But under the new covenant, each believer knows God personally through the Holy Spirit dwelling within him. Just as children know their human fathers, so we believers can know our heavenly Father. Jesus Himself said that to know God in this way is to have eternal life (John 17:3).

12 Under the new covenant, our sins are forgiven; they are erased completely. Through Christ’s perfect sacrifice of His own body, we have been made pure. Having been made pure, we can now enter God’s presence. Only through Christ can man be made holy and acceptable in God’s sight. In this way Christ is the mediator of the new covenant (Hebrews 9:15).

13 Thus, from what is written in verses 812, we can now see what this new covenant is like. It is a covenant of the Holy Spirit written on men’s hearts. This is why Paul calls himself and his fellow apostles ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:6). And if a new covenant has come, the old covenant is now obsolete and will soon pass away. The old covenant is like the light of a candle; when the sun rises, it is no longer needed.

The old covenant was confirmed by the shedding of blood (Exodus 24:8). In the same way, the new covenant was also confirmed by the shedding of blood—Jesus’ blood. This is why Jesus, at His last supper, took the cup and said to His disciples: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. … This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20).