October 22: Hebrews 8
Our Better Covenant
8 Now this is the crowning point of what we are saying: We have a magnificent King-Priest who ministers for us at the right hand of God. He is enthroned with honor next to the throne of the Majesty on high. 2 He serves in the holy sanctuary in the true heavenly tabernacle[a] set up by God, and not by men. 3 Since every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, so the Messiah also had to bring some sacrifice. 4 But since he didn’t qualify to be an earthly priest, and there are already priests who offer sacrifices[b] prescribed by the law, he offered in heaven a perfect sacrifice.
5 The priests on earth serve in a temple that is but a copy modeled after the heavenly sanctuary; a shadow of the reality. For when Moses began to construct the tabernacle God warned him and said,
“You must precisely follow the pattern I revealed to you on Mt. Sinai.”[c]
6 But now Jesus the Messiah[d] has accepted a priestly ministry which far surpasses theirs, since he is the catalyst[e] of a better covenant which contains far more wonderful promises! 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless no one would have needed a second one to replace it. 8 But God revealed the defect and limitation of the first when he said to his people,[f]
“Look! The day will come, declares the Lord,
when I will satisfy the people of Israel and Judah
by giving them a new covenant.[g]
9 It will be an entirely different covenant
than the one I made with their fathers
when I led them by my hand out of Egypt.
For they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
so I rejected them, says the Lord God.
10 For here is the covenant I will one day establish with the people of Israel:
I will embed my laws within their thoughts
and fasten them onto their hearts.
I will be their loyal God and they will be my loyal people.
11 And the result of this will be
that everyone will know me as Lord!
There will be no need at all to teach their fellow-citizens or brothers by saying,
‘You should know the Lord Jehovah,’
since everyone will know me inwardly,
from the most unlikely to the most distinguished.[h]
12 For I will demonstrate my mercy to them
and will forgive[i] their evil deeds,
and never remember again their sins.”
13 This proves that by establishing this new covenant the first is now obsolete, ready to expire, and about to disappear.[j]