The New Covenant – Part 1
Hebrews 8:1-13
September 20, 2015
We’ve been studying through this great letter written to the Hebrews.
These Hebrews were struggling in the faith.
Because of their profession of Jesus they are being ostracized from Judaism and they weren’t quite sure how to handle it.
Because of this confusion the writer of Hebrews has written to unequivocally tell these Hebrews to kiss Judaism good-bye!
Let go of the symbols and latch on to the substance.
• You don’t need those sacrifices
• You don’t need those feasts
• You don’t need those priests
• You don’t need that temple
YOU’VE GOT JESUS AND HE IS FAR MORE VALUABLE
And so this letter is proving to be one of the greatest dissertations
On the greatness of Jesus that the world has ever known.
When we’ve got Jesus we’ve got enough.
Now last week we finished the 7th chapter of this book
The first 7 chapters really had only one major point.
“Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest,”
What were you supposed to learn from the first 7 chapters?
That Jesus is the greatest high priest that the world has ever known.
• He’s greater than the prophets
• He’s greater than the angels
• He’s greater than Moses
• He’s greater than Joshua
• He’s greater than Aaron
He is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
• He is a priest based on character, not pedigree.
• He is a priest based on worth, not obligation.
• And most importantly, He is a priest who reigns forever,
(Which means He is able to save forever all those who draw near to God through Him.)
To follow the often made illustration: OUR SHIP HAS AN ANCHOR!
Regardless of what the sea may bring Regardless of the trials we may face
WE KNOW THAT OUR SHIP WILL NOT DRIFT
Because we have One who has anchored us within the veil.
We are secure because of Jesus
We have assurance because of Jesus
We have a great high priest
And that has really been our theme for the past couple of months.
The text that the writer has been preaching has been:
Psalms 110:4 “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
And we have seen that promise fulfilled in Jesus.
Well THIS MORNING the writer is about to transition you to his next point.
He is about to take you to the next passage of Scripture
He wants you to study.
We’ve studied Psalms 110:4,
Now he wants you to consider Jeremiah 31:31-34
He is about to call your mind back to God’s promise of a New Covenant.
If you will remember, while talking about Jesus being a priest,
The writer casually introduced something vitally important.
Hebrews 7:12 “For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.”
You will remember we learned that you can’t just change priests
Without also changing the Law.
(Since the Law was explicit that all priests had to come from Levi)
Well, God did change priests
So now the writer wants to talk to you
About God’s promise to change the Law.
We are about to learn about God’s new covenant.
And just BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION I want you to understand
The absolute importance of you grasping this truth.
For I see a great deal of confusion here in Christianity today.
People (even faithful believers who genuinely love God)
Seem to have a bit of a confusion regarding the role of the Law
And even the Old Testament in their faith.
I see some who seem absolutely enamored with Jewish custom
And Old Testament commands and Old Testament ordinance.
(Perhaps some of the youth will remember some of kids at camp
Who wouldn’t eat the hotdogs out of fear that they had pork in them)
Ever since I was a kid I’ve heard things like:
You can’t work on Sunday because it’s the Sabbath
Granted not all cases are extreme,
But they do all represent a bit of a misunderstanding
Regarding the role of the Law in the life of a Christian.
So I see some Christians who seem to try and regularly adopt Jewish practices and customs, and this does concern me.
On the other hand I see entire congregations called “Messianic Jews”. They are Jews who have come to faith in Jesus.
And I am not in any way suggesting that these people don’t love Jesus,
Or that they are not saved.
I am however concerned about the fascination
That seems to capture some people
In regard to following the customs of Judaism.
WHY DOES THIS CONCERN ME?
Because becoming Jewish was not the plan of God.
And I want you to understand this before we dive in to Hebrews 8.
LET ME BEGIN BY SAYING that Judaism and the Law and the Covenants
ALL ARE GOOD, AND THEY ARE ALL FROM GOD.
But, Judaism and Law and the Covenants
Were NOT INTENDED to be the end in and of themselves.
They had a definite and specific role they were intended to play.
WHAT WAS THEIR PURPOSE?
To lead men to Christ
Listen to the privileges of being born Jewish.
Romans 3:1-2 “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.”
Romans 9:4-5 “who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”
What is Paul’s point?
That those who were born Jewish clearly started out ahead of the game.
We see a similar advantage today for children born in a Christian home.
They are easily exposed to Christ.
That was true of the Jews.
They had it all.
Every picture, every command, every ordinance, every feast, every revelation.
In fact the Messiah Himself was a Jew and He first came to Jews to save Jews.
There was great advantage to being Jewish.
BUT – BEING JEWISH IS NOT THE GOAL
(Incidentally being a Messianic Jew is not the goal)
When the disciples all got saved they didn’t call themselves Messianic Jews, what did they call themselves? -Christians
1 Peter 4:14-16 “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.”
For these men it was never again about being Jewish,
It was about being Christian.
• These men abandoned dietary restriction
• These men abandoned segregation requirements
• These men abandoned covenantal signs
• Watch Peter eat with Gentiles
• Listen to Paul forbid the Galatians to be circumcised
• Listen to Paul say to the Corinthians that he lives as one without the law
The goal was never to make men Jewish,
The goal was to lead men to Christ.
Judaism wasn’t bad,
Namely because it was so exposed to God’s revelation,
But if you’ve found Christ then Judaism holds no benefit.
THIS IS ALSO TRUE IN REGARD TO THE LAW.
Listen to what Paul said about the Law to the Galatians.
Galatians 3:19-26 “Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
The Law did not come as a means of SALVATION.
The Law came as a means of CONDEMNATION. (The Letter Kills)
The purpose was to take people who assumed they were ok before God
And prove to them that they were not.
The purpose of the Law was to expose sinners
And show them that they were in danger.
WHY?
So they would readily accept the Savior when He arrived.
That is what Paul meant when he said that “the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ”
In short, after being condemned by the Law
Jesus should be a welcomed Savior.
And that means that once you find Christ, you no longer need the Law.
I’LL SHOW YOU.
When the Gentiles were being saved under Paul’s ministry there was actually quite a stink that arose among the Jewish Christians.
THEY WERE CONFUSED as to the importance of the Law
And thought it necessary for these new Gentile Christians
To start obeying the Law.
Acts 15:1 “Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
The result was the first ever church council.
The elders of the church in Jerusalem gathered to discuss this very issue.
NAMELY, HOW IMPORTANT IS THE LAW NOW?
Is it so important that Gentiles should have to learn it and abide by it?
That is actually the very confusion I spoke of a moment ago.
Should Christians be honoring Jewish dietary restrictions?
Should Christians be resting on Saturday? (the Sabbath)
Should Christians be celebrating Jewish feasts and holidays?
Maybe we should ask it a different way:
Is there value in honoring Jewish dietary restrictions?
Is there value in following the Jewish calendar?
That was the issue at hand at the first every church council.
Can I show you Peter’s take on the issue?
Acts 15:6-11 “The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”
Did you hear Peter’s logic?
• God already saved the Gentiles,
• We know that because He gave them the Holy Spirit.
• Why would you force them to go back to a Law that only exists to drive men to Jesus?
• If they already have Jesus, they don’t need the Law anymore.
Carrie and I bought new mini-blinds for the living room.
They came with assembly instructions and hanging instructions.
But once the blinds were assembled and hung,
Guess what I did with the instructions?
I threw them away.
Those instructions no longer have value to me
Because my blinds are hanging.
Now, they may be beneficial to someone else,
Namely someone who needs to hang blinds,
But for those of us who already have them, those instructions are no longer needed.
Those instructions served their purpose.
That is Peter’s point.
(The Gentiles didn’t have the instructions, but somehow the blinds got hung. Well, if their blinds are hanging, there is really no need to make them learn the instructions)
Asking the Gentiles to start adhering to the Law
After they already have Jesus
Is like forcing someone to study the instructions
Of a job they’ve already completed.
Peter said, it’s not necessary.
Later in the debate James would chime in.
Acts 15:12-21 “All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they had stopped speaking, James answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me. “Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. “With this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘AFTER THESE THINGS I will return, AND I WILL REBUILD THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID WHICH HAS FALLEN, AND I WILL REBUILD ITS RUINS, AND I WILL RESTORE IT, SO THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK THE LORD, AND ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME,’ SAYS THE LORD, WHO MAKES THESE THINGS KNOWN FROM LONG AGO. “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
James also said that forcing the Gentiles to obey the Law is foolish.
He said not to “trouble” them with it.
The only commands James was concerned about
Was that Gentiles fully leave their old pagan lifestyle
Which consisted of idolatry, fornication, and pagan sacrifices.
And James said they need to leave that
So as not to be an offense to their new Jewish brothers.
But I wanted you to see that
The church’s official position regarding the Law
Is that once a person finds Jesus, the Law is no longer necessary.
And is that not what the writer of Hebrews has been telling us?
Hebrews 6:1-2 “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.”
If you’ll remember the Greek word for “leaving” was APHIEMI
Which meant “to forsake; to put away; to let alone; to disregard; to abandon”
He didn’t tell them to continue in the Law while they also grab Jesus.
He told them to abandon that old way completely and grab hold of Jesus.
And that is the point I want you to understand as we dive into Hebrews 8.
In Christ Jesus God ordained a new priest with a new covenant
With the intent that you leave the old and embrace the new.
Am I saying to tear the Old Testament out of your Bible?
Absolutely not.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and useful…”
• We just finished studying Genesis
• We are currently studying Job
• We’ve studied the Kings
• We’ve been through the prophets on Wednesday nights
In no way am I telling you to get rid of your Old Testament.
What I am telling you is that
It is imperative that you understand its purpose.
When you read those commands in Exodus and Leviticus
And Numbers and Deuteronomy,
Those are not commands you are intended to obey.
Those commands consist of the Old Covenant.
Those were conditions made for people under that Old Covenant.
That is not your covenant and that is not the goal.
Well what about the 10 Commandments?
(People love the 10 commandments)
First of all, they are part of the Old Covenant.
We are not under them anymore.
However, their teaching is for the most part duplicated in the New Testament.
Things like idolatry, murder, lying, adultery, covetousness, are still sinful.
So, because of the New Testament,
We affirm many of the commands in the Old Testament.
But be careful. Many Christians have been confused for years over commands like “Remember the Sabbath”
That command was clearly explained.
Do not work on Saturday…at all.
We break that all the time.
Many of you work harder on Saturday than any other day of the week.
• Are we wrong for this?
• Should we be Seventh Day Adventist?
No, because we are not under that old covenant.
We have NEVER been under it.
We learn from it, but we are not under it.
And now we are studying the book of Hebrews
Where the writer is about to tell these Jews that
They are no longer under it and even they should leave it behind.
They aren’t under it anymore, we were never under it to begin with.
IN FACT, after emphasizing the new covenant, look at the end of the chapter and see what the writer says about the old one.
Hebrews 8:13 “When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.”
Did you know that in less than 5 years after the writing of the book of Hebrews Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple that was inside it?
They lost all sacrifices, all festivals, and all ordinances regarding the old covenant.
It had become obsolete, had grown old, and it disappeared.
I just want you to understand then that as Christians
Our focus is always Christ and what He accomplished.
Don’t get sucked in to these fads we sometimes see
Regarding Jewish custom and ordinance.
• I’m not going to follow dietary restrictions
• I’m not going to follow Jewish customs
• I’m not going to adhere to a Jewish calendar
THAT COVENANT IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
THERE IS A NEW COVENANT.
And that is the point that the writer of Hebrews is about to make.
Now, I’ve spent so much time on the introduction
That we don’t have much time to dive into the meat of this thing
So here is what I want to do this morning.
I want to take you back to the day
When God originally promised this New Covenant and set our background
So that next week we can come and examine this passage
With the context already in place.
So TURN TO: JEREMIAH 31:31
The context behind this passage is a gloomy one.
Jeremiah is God’s prophet serving in Jerusalem.
At this point many Jews have already been exiled to Babylon
Where Ezekiel is prophesying to them.
But now Jerusalem has been surrounded.
Nebuchadnezzar is literally starving them out.
Their end is near.
The day is bleak.
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?
Why is God allowing it?
The ANSWER can be found
In that ORIGINAL COVENANT that God signed with Israel.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God:”
And for their obedience to the commands of God,
God promised all types of blessing.
“blessed in the city, blessed in the country, blessed be your offspring, etc.”
However it wasn’t all blessing.
Deuteronomy 28:15 “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”
(And the list of curses is extensive.)
One of the specific curses God outlined that would occur if Israel didn’t fully obey is found in verse 47.
Deuteronomy 28:47-52 “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you. “The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand, a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. “Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also leaves you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish. “It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the LORD your God has given you.”
And finally God said:
Deuteronomy 28:64-66 “Moreover, the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known. “Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. “So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life.”
God outlined for them specifically that
If you will obey all My commands then all will be well,
But if you break My commands, you will be judged.
And Moses ended that with this admonition.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. “But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
You obey and I’ll bless.
You disobey and I’ll curse.
YOU’D BETTER OBEY.
Well, if you remember anything from our study of the Kings
You know that Israel didn’t obey.
They broke God’s commands and they worshiped other gods
And so now God is judging.
• The northern 10 tribes have long since been destroyed by Assyria
• And the last remaining tribe (Judah) is nearly entirely exiled.
All that remains is Jerusalem and it is surrounded.
• It is the darkest of days
• It is the lowest of moments
And it is at this very low point that
God brings one of the greatest promises contained in Scripture.
READ JEREMIAH 31:31-34
Incidentally Ezekiel is already in Babylon
Preaching the same thing to those already there.
Ezekiel 36:26-28 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. “You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.”
So what is God saying?
God testified through these men that the Old Covenant just didn’t work.
Why didn’t it work?
Because it depended too heavily on the faithfulness of man.
This covenant was only going to be successful
If somehow man was able to take God’s Laws
And force himself to obey them perfectly.
But you know and I know that it never works.
Teaching morality is always short-lived.
Namely because the desires of the flesh are far too strong.
And every one of us could fill a journal with moments
Where our flesh caused us to forsake
What we believe to be morally right.
A covenant that depends upon the faithfulness of man will fail every time.
And that is precisely what happened to the old Mosaic covenant.
• That is what Paul was talking about in Romans 8 when he said the Law was weakened by our flesh.
• That is what the writer of Hebrews was talking about in Hebrews 7 when he said the Law was weak and useless because it made nothing perfect.
The Old Covenant failed.
Man was sinful and their agreement with God was cancelled.
Here is how Isaiah said it:
Isaiah 50:1 “Thus says the LORD, “Where is the certificate of divorce By which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, And for your transgressions your mother was sent away.”
Isaiah said there was a divorce.
• Israel and God had entered into a covenant where both sides were required to be faithful.
• But Israel broke her faithfulness and God divorced her and sent her away.
THAT IS WHAT WAS HAPPENING.
But it was then, at this darkest moment,
While the divorce was in its most brutal stages
That God spoke another promise.
“I will effect a new covenant”
It won’t be like that old covenant.
WHY? Because it didn’t work.
The new covenant will work because
I will no longer expect man to be faithful on his own.
Instead of writing commands on stone tablets
That he is required to learn and obey,
I will write those commands on his heart
And change him from the inside out.
In effect God said, I will no longer REQUIRE him to love me.
I will CAUSE him to love me.
It was a transaction literally acted out by the prophet Hosea.
Remember God’s command to him?
Hosea 1:2 “When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD.”
So Hosea did, they had three children and
The last one Hosea named “Lo-ammi” which means “Not Mine”
Obviously unfaithfulness shattered the covenant and in Hosea 2 Hosea divorced her.
It was a picture of God and Israel.
But then in Hosea 3 God required something beautiful from Hosea.
Hosea 3:1 “Then the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”
Hosea was a living illustration of what God promised to do with Israel.
He was bringing in a new covenant.
And where the old covenant ended in divorce and exile,
God promised that the new covenant
Would end in redemption and forgiveness.
“for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
On the darkest day of failure God promised that a new day was coming.
And when you get to Hebrews 8.
The writer of Hebrews is saying, THAT NEW DAY IS HERE.
We got our new priest and He has brought His new covenant
My point to all of this?
There is nothing for you in the old covenant but failure and defeat.
You can preoccupy yourself with all things Jewish…
You can preoccupy yourself with adherence to Mosaic Law…
But all that ever brought to anyone
Was defeat and condemnation and judgment.
And that is why God said I’m bringing in a new covenant.
I’m bringing in a covenant that doesn’t rest on the shoulders of man,
But one that rests solely on My shoulders.
I’ll do in them what they could never do on their own.
• I will make them righteous
• I will make them holy
• I will give them a love for Me
• I will give them a love for My truth
• And the result will be forgiveness of sin and intimacy with Me.
So if you were Jewish, I’d follow the leading of the writer of Hebrews and quickly tell you not to bat an eye when asked to leave the old covenant behind.
Being that you are Gentile, I encourage you not to burden yourself with trying live up to that old standard.
If you’ve found Christ, you’ve found the point.
Next week we’ll dive into Hebrews 8 and listen to the writer’s appeal.
