Day 14 - Hebrews 8:9 - 9:5

Hebrews 8:9-9:5 

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 It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

Old Rules about Worship

9 That first covenant between God and Israel had regulations for worship and a place of worship here on earth. 2 There were two rooms in that Tabernacle. In the first room were a lampstand, a table, and sacred loaves of bread on the table. This room was called the Holy Place. 3 Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the second room called the Most Holy Place. 4 In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides. Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 Above the Ark were the cherubim of divine glory, whose wings stretched out over the Ark’s cover, the place of atonement. But we cannot explain these things in detail now.

Tori's Comments -

Verse 13 definitely stuck out to me. I love all of the connections between the old testament and Jesus that I never caught, although I know there's probably still hundreds out there waiting for me to find. I really like the term 'out of date' when describing the old covenant. As if we should just not think about it because it's so irrelevant.  
What keeps popping in my head is that the old system only dealt with the exterior. The new one remodels the inside. And that fact should be such a source of joy for us, that we are made new in Christ. 
I keep finding these particular verses that give me such hope and happiness. I'm thinking I should write them on sticky notes or something and put them in places where I will see them daily. Kind of like an attitude pit stop.
I don't understand verse 11, though. Thoughts?

Terrie's Comments -

The law is now in our minds and written in our hearts.  I LOVE the verse Heb 8:10 in the last part where it says "I will be their God, and they will be my people." and the writer is clear that we KNOW God.  EVERYONE not just the priest or judge or prophet, like it was with the old covenant.  We do not need to be taught who God is because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.  The old covenant is obsolete... out of date... is not like the new one.  So why is it that when God says that the old covenant was broken and obsolete that we want to hold onto it?

I believe one of the main reasons that the old covenant is obsolete is because it was made for worshiping our God who is in heaven from a tabernacle here on earth.  The new covenant gives us direct access to His heavenly throne room through the perfected work on the cross, therefore the old covenant is outdated.  It is valuable to know the old covenant to appreciate all that Jesus actually accomplished at the cross for us.  It is out of this knowledge that our praise and worship can rise to heaven freely because we realize that we truly have been set free from the old covenant and have a much better covenant in the new.


Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!