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 It is now out of date and will soon disappear.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 I really like the term 'out of date' when describing the old covenant.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!

Day 13 - Hebrews 7:27 - 8:8

Hebrews 7:27-8:8 

27 Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins. 28 The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.

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.

Terrie's Comments -
I think it is interesting that in the beginning of chapter 8 the writer finally gets to what he calls "the main point"

Don't miss it...
The old tabernacle was a copy of the real one
The old covenant wasn't perfect and needed to be replaced...
verse 7 is very clear that the second covenant that God made with His people replaces the first.  
The new covenant is carried out through the ministry of Jesus Christ, our High Priest and is FAR SUPERIOR to the old and we have BETTER PROMISES in it.

This just keeps getting better and better :-) 

We need to understand the old covenant to understand exactly why we needed the new covenant.  The law required sacrifice and blood.  When Jesus died as a perfect sacrifice the whole requirement of the law was fulfilled and it is no longer required.  We now have a new covenant which is way better and doesn't require any further sacrifices to be made.  It is bathed in grace, mercy and obtained by faith in Jesus alone.


Tori's Comments -

That explains the meticulous rules in the old testament about building regulations and such. They were only a "shadow" (vs. 5) of the real thing. I feel like sometimes I settle for a shadow of a relationship with God (I could be crazy-talking, who knows). Like only half praying, half pursuing God when what he wants for my life is to dig deep and live a life of abundance. I'm making myself miss out, chasing shadows instead of the real thing.
Ponder time.


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!