A Better Promise

The major point of this message to the Hebrews is to teach that with the coming of Jesus Christ, something has changed. Something has arrived that is far better, far superior, and which will never need to be undone.

Look at verse 6 with me, and you can see this point pretty clearly. “Christ has obtained a ministry,” the author writes, “that is… more excellent.” How much “more excellent” is it? Christ’s ministry is as much more excellent than the old [ministry] as the covenant he mediates is better.” So, in the transition from the old to the new, we’ve got a better ministry and a better covenant. And, the end of the verse tells us, the new covenant is enacted on better promises. So, it’s a better ministry which is part of a better covenant which is based on better promises. Better ministry, better covenant, better promises.

We talked about Jesus Christ’s better ministry last time. His sacrifice was complete. It was perfect. It was accepted by God. And now, Jesus ministers at the true, heavenly throne of God, not in some thing or some place built by man. Today, we’re going to talk a little more about the better covenant and the better promises.

Because of how rapidly technology has been advancing, many of us know the experience of something new and better coming along to replace something old. I’m not talking about a new version of something, like a new iPhone model. I’m talking about a whole new product that changes the way we do things.

I remember my family getting our first DVD player. We were very excited. Besides being able to navigate a menu with the remote, one of the changes I remember was a weird feeling I had after the movie was over. You simply hit “eject” and then put the movie back in the case. That’s it.

It felt weird because before that time, when a movie ended, you weren’t supposed to put it away right away. You were supposed to sit around for a few minutes while the movie was rewinding.

There was even a slogan at that time reminding people to “be kind, rewind.” It was ruse to force the next person to have to rewind the movie before they watched. But once DVD were popularized for movies, it didn’t need to be done anymore. The world had entered a new era.

Maybe that’s a glimpse into how some of the converted Jews felt at first. “You mean we don’t have to go sacrifice an animal?” Nope. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was sacrificed once and for all. The world no longer had to gain indirect access to God through a system of animal sacrifices. Every nation of the world had direct access to God through Jesus Christ.

The transition to the new covenant was infinitely more significant than the shift from VHS to DVD, or from cassette tapes to CDs. Something new had come into effect. Something better had arrived.

And if the New Covenant is better, then the first covenant is worse, right? That’s exactly what it means. It doesn’t mean that the first covenant was totally wrong or evil. But it does mean that the first covenant has run its course. Something better is here.

A believing Jew should have felt relief and joy, but a non-believing Jew would have been offended. What do you mean God’s covenant with Israel through Moses wasn’t good enough? Is there any evidence of that? Yes, there is.

Verse 7 gives us the evidence. It says—For if that first covenant [through Moses] had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

To say that the covenant is faultless doesn’t mean it was defective, or had some kind of error. I think it’s best to think of it as a weakness, or a limitation. There was something that the first covenant couldn’t do.

If that first covenant had been enough, we wouldn’t have been waiting for a second covenant. The fact that God promised a new covenant indicates that the first covenant wasn’t enough. Something better was coming.

The main Old Testament passage related to the new covenant is also the only passage in the Old Testament that uses the phrase “new covenant.” It comes in Jeremiah chapter 31, which is what Hebrews 8:8-12 quotes. It’s a quotation from Jeremiah 31:31-34.

If you look it up in the Old Testament, the wording there is a little different because the author of Hebrews appears to have used the Septuagint as his basis. The Septuagint was a Greek translation of the Old Testament, so the wording changes a little, but the essential meaning is basically the same.

Let’s read this quote and find out what it says. It’s a promise from God about something better that is to come, but, as the beginning of Hebrews 8:8 tells us, it’s also an example of God Himself finding fault in the old system.

Verse 8—For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, [9] not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.

This really helps us see what the fault, or the weakness, was in the Mosaic covenant. This is the covenant God made with Israel through Moses in the desert after they were freed from Egypt.

The first covenant depended on the people’s obedience. God promised to bless the people if they obeyed. If they disobeyed, they would be cursed. The weakness of the first covenant wasn’t in God; it was in man. If a covenant depends on people’s obedience, and the people are not obedient, it’s not going to work.

And this is what verse 9 points to—they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.

Why did God make a covenant with His people that depended on their obedience? Didn’t He know they would fail? Of course, He did. He set up a covenant He knew the people wouldn’t be able to keep.

Why? Because it would expose the sinfulness of the people. That was and is the point of the Law. Many of the Jews thought the Law of Moses was like a ladder that let you climb into heaven. But God designed it to be a mirror to let you see your own sinfulness.

This is a big part of the argument in Romans and in Galatians. You cannot be saved by the Law. No one can be justified by the Law.

Galatians 3:19 says the Law was added because of transgressions. Verse 22 says that the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin. Paul says it was like our tutor, our guardian, our nanny. It was intended to point and lead us to faith in Jesus Christ, the only way to be forgiven and saved.

To those who were tempted to think that they could be saved by the Law, Galatians 4:9 asks, “How can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world?” In other words, don’t go back to the basic things that God only used for a limited time.

This is one of the key differences between the New Covenant and the old covenant, and we’ll make this the first heading in our outline today. The old covenant depended on the people’s obedience. The New Covenant guaranteed the people’s obedience.

The old covenant depended on the people’s obedience. The New Covenant guaranteed the people’s obedience.

The old covenant said: “If you’re good God will bless you.” The New Covenant says: “God will make you new. God will give you a new heart.” This is the “better promise of the New Covenant. The old says: “I promise to bless you, if you’re good.” But the people can’t be good enough. The New Covenant says: “I promise to change you, and I will bless you.”

Look at verse 10—For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

I’ve said this before, and it’s so important to remember. One of the main points of the Old Testament is that God is faithful, but Israel is unfaithful. They cannot keep themselves devoted to God and obedient to His Law.

But after generations of disobedience and the resulting judgments, God promised He would change them. He would guarantee their obedience.

Under the old covenant, the Law was written on stone tablets. But in the New Covenant, the Law was going to be etched into people’s hearts and minds.

It’s a beautiful promise, and it also reveals a second difference between the covenants. The old covenant separated God and His people. The New Covenant unites God and His people.

The old covenant separated God and His people. The New Covenant unites God and His people. The first brought division because it exposed sin. The New Covenant brings unity and reconciliation.

This is the heart behind the end of verse 10. It’s not simply that the people are finally going to behave. It’s that they will be reconciled to God. God says, “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Again, that is a much better promise. That is a much more excellent promise.

Verse 11 gives us third way the New Covenant is better. The old covenant was general. The New Covenant is universal. The old covenant was general. The New Covenant will be universal.

What I mean by that is that under the old covenant, Israel would be blessed as long as the nation was generally obeying God. If the king and the judges were obedient, God would bless them, even if some ran away from God. And vice versa, if the king and the leaders disobeyed, God would give some blessing or protection to those who were faithful.

But what about under the New Covenant? Look at verse 11—And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

You should know that there is some disagreement as to what this exactly means, or what the fulfillment of this looks like. Since this was a promise given to Israel, which is what verse 8 says, I believe this is pointing to an age to come in which all those who reject God will be cast out, or purged, and all of Israel, every single person that remains will have the knowledge of the true God. The truth will win out. Personally, I think this is directly pointing to the millennial kingdom, after the Tribulation, in which Israel, as a nation, recognizes Jesus Christ, and the truth is proclaimed and upheld. They will all know the truth of God.

Like I said, there is some disagreement here, so don’t assume that if someone disagrees with my position, they’re teaching some kind of heresy. Some of this bleeds into people’s views about the end times.

But even if we disagree with some of the finer details of the New Covenant, we should all agree on the heart behind it. And this is a fourth reason why the New Covenant is better. The old covenant led to judgment. The New Covenant leads to mercy. The old covenant led to judgment. The New Covenant leads to mercy.

Look at verse 12. God says—"For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

This is a great definition of what forgiveness is. God demonstrates His mercy through forgiveness. And forgiveness means He no longer remembers our sins. What does that mean? Does that mean God forgets His people’s sins?

No, it doesn’t mean that. God can’t forget anything. But what it means is that God no longer brings it to mind. He no longer brings it up in the way that He deals with His people.

If I asked you what you had for breakfast yesterday, I assume most of you would be able to remember. Ten second ago, however, you weren’t remembering that, right? You hadn’t forgotten it, but you were not remembering it, right?

That’s what forgiveness is. When you forgive your spouse, you’re saying to them: “I don’t need to bring this up anymore. I’m not holding this against you. And if the thought comes to mind, I will actively fight against dwelling on it.” That’s how we forgive one another, and it’s a reflection of the forgiveness of God. He remembers our sins no more because He delights to forgive and to be restored.

Again, these are amazing promises that God gave to Israel! And the better promises and guarantees of the New Covenant mean the promises of the old covenant were not enough. They were never intended to be. They served a purpose for a time.

And this gives us another major difference. The first depended on obedience; the second guarantees obedience. The first separates; the second unites. The first was general; the second is universal. The first led to judgment; the second leads to mercy. And now, number 5: The old covenant was temporary. The New Covenant is permanent. The old covenant was temporary. The New Covenant is eternal.

Nothing is going to come again and undo the New and eternal covenant. The first covenant is not going to come back into fashion.

Verse 13—In speaking of a new covenant, he [God] makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

These are terms that would have offended a Jew if used for the Law of Moses: obsolete, growing old, vanish away. It’s not going to work anymore. It’s not going to stay in effect. Something new and eternal has come, and that is the covenant through Jesus Christ.

Now, what does all this mean for you and for me? God made a promise to Israel, so why should we care?

I am going to go outside our text for today and give you a final reason the New Covenant is better. Here is why this matters for us today. The old covenant led the world to Israel. The New Covenant leads the world to Jesus Christ. The old covenant led the world to Israel. The New Covenant leads the world to Jesus Christ.

God told Moses that if they obeyed His law, the world would see it and recognize the wisdom of the nation and the wisdom of God. If anyone was going to be spared the judgment of God, they needed to serve the God of Israel. They needed to basically become an Israelite, and live in accordance with the Law of Moses. This is what Rahab did who was a Canaanite. This is what Ruth did who was from Moab.

This drawing to Israel was epitomized under the reign of King Solomon, when people came to him from many other nations to hear his wisdom and hear of his God. As one of my professors once put it, under the old covenant, Israel was the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to Yahweh except through Israel/

But in the New Covenant, the world is no longer pointed to a nation. The world is pointed to a man who came from that nation—a man who was, and is, and always has been, the Son of God. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Romans 8:3 says this. Listen carefully—For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, [4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

The law was weakened by the flesh. It can’t save because we can’t keep it perfectly as God requires. But Jesus kept the Law in the place of His people. And Jesus bore our punishment on the cross.

And now, God calls people from every nation now to place their faith in the sacrifice and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And in doing that, God’s people don’t walk according to the Law of Moses. They walk according to the Holy Spirit that dwells within them. They get a new heart. They are a new creation. The blessings that God promised Israel will come to you as well, if you surrender your life to Jesus. You enter into the promises of the New Covenant.

This is something we take for granted so easily. We are not Jews. God didn’t make this promise to us. But now, in Jesus Christ, He has opened the doors to all of us, people from every tribe and tongue and nation.

Jump back with me to Ephesians chapter 2, and we’ll close with this passage. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 11. Paul was writing to the Gentiles in a church where people were division was creeping in because of racism. The Jews saw the Gentiles as second class members of God’s people.

But notice what Paul says. Ephesians 2:11—Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— [12] remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

No more separation. No more judgment. Now there is permanent mercy and reconciliation because of what Jesus has done.

We’re not going to dive into it, but we’ve been reading about it in Romans 10 and 11. Israel rejected Jesus Christ, and it was a tragic thing. They rejected the better promises. But in their rejection, the promises of God have gone out to the whole world, and that includes you and me.

We need to learn to live in the New Covenant. We need to learn to fight legalism in our hearts. We need to fight against the tendency to think that we can earn or gain or maintain the favor and love of God by our obedience.

It all depends on Jesus Christ. His life counts in our place. His death counts in our place. Righteousness and justice have been satisfied.

The old covenant is gone. It’s obsolete. It’s no longer in effect. The New Covenant is here.

We live in the New Covenant, and we have been made minister of a New Covenant. Let’s always praise and thank God for His eternal mercy and love through Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, and the mediator of the New Covenant.