The Superiority of Christ’s New Covenant to the Old Covenant
Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." 13 In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (NKJV)

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The early Eastern Church (Dionysius and Clement, both of Alexandria), from the very beginning, claimed Paul was the writer of Hebrews. The Western Church later agreed.

Luke translated the letter to the Hebrews into Greek, according to Clement in the second century. Luke was with Paul during his second Roman imprisonment and was his amanuensis during Paul’s final days (2 Timothy 4:11). It is logical to assume that Luke was also Paul’s amanuensis for this letter.

My conclusion is that this was Paul’s last writing, written in late 67-early 68 A.D.

In this passage, Paul is continuing to proclaim the superiority of Christ over all tenants of Judaism. Paul is writing to Hebrews, probably those in the church in Rome. They have converted from Judaism and Paul is encouraging them to hold true to Christianity and not fall back to their Jewish roots.

The first three verses of this passage have to do with the Old Covenant, the covenant that God made with the Hebrew people when He took them out of captivity in Egypt. The last four verses of the passage have to do with the New Covenant, the covenant of Jesus Christ.

Paul begins by writing “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.“ (v.7). But the problem was not with the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant came from a perfect God, and thus was perfect.  

Paul continues this thought with “Because finding fault with them” (v. 8a). The fault was with the people, the Hebrews.

The Hebrews rebelled against God, disobeying the first covenant. If they had been obedient to the commands of God there would have been no need for a second covenant.

Of course, none of this was news to God. He was not surprised by the disobedience of fallen mankind. It was ordained from the beginning that Christ would come and introduce a new covenant.

Paul continues “He says: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—’ “ (v. 8b). Verses 8b-12 are taken from Jeremiah 31:31-34.

God revealed to Jeremiah way back around 600 B. C. that there would be a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. These were the days of the divided kingdom. Israel was divided into Israel, the northern kingdom, and Judah, the southern kingdom.

Next, Paul writes “ ‘not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;’ “ (v. 9a). The new covenant would not be like the old one.

Paul continues “ ‘because they did not continue in My covenant’ “ (v. 9b). The old covenant was broken by the disobedience of the Hebrew people.

Paul writes “ ‘and I disregarded them, says the Lord’ “ (v. 9c). Because of that God turned His back on the Hebrew people.

They were forced to wander in the desert for forty years, until a whole generation had died off. Only Joshua and Caleb had remained faithful and were allowed to enter the Promised Land with the new generation of Hebrews.

The Old Covenant was conditional, based upon obedience. The New Covenant was unconditional, based upon the grace of God.

Paul then turns to the New Covenant. Jesus Himself proclaimed the New Covenant at the Last Supper through these words: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20).

Paul gives three ways that the New Covenant was superior to the Old Covenant.

He writes “ ‘For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people’ “ (v. 10). First, the New Covenant is superior to the Old Covenant because of the internalization of the law.

God put His laws in our minds and wrote them on our hearts. The laws will be obeyed, not because of fear of punishment but because of love for God.

Next, Paul writes “None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them’ “ (v.11). The second way the New Covenant is superior is because it provides a new and direct knowledge of God.

We do not need to be taught to “Know the Lord” because we will have an inward consciousness of Him. The new and direct knowledge of God is through the presence of God, the Holy Spirit, who indwells every Christian.

Paul continues with “ ‘For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more’ " (v. 12). The third way the New Covenant is superior is because it promised complete forgiveness of sins.

The Old Covenant provided for animal sacrifice to cover the sins of the people. The sins were covered but they were never removed.

There was ceremonial cleansing but not internal cleansing. There was not moral cleansing, a clear conscience.

The blood of Christ completely removed our sin. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12).

The sacrifice of Christ on the cross provided forgiveness of our sins. Christ will forgive our wickedness and will remember our sins no more.  Christ forgives and forgets our sin, and wants us to do the same.

This passage concludes with how the New Covenant will completely replace the Old Covenant. Paul writes “ ‘In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away’ “ (v. 13). The Old Covenant is obsolete and aging and will soon disappear.

Christianity will win out in the end. All other religions and ideologies will become obsolete with the return of Christ. Every knee will bow to Him.

Art Toombs Ministries 

Online Bible Commentary