Hebrews 8:7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people… (NIV)
This passage from Hebrews, along with a selective reading of Galatians and Romans, has been used to advance the idea that the New Testament has completely replaced the Old Testament. This has led to the notion, found nowhere in the New Testament itself, that we are New Testament Christians (see last week’s blog{1}). So, let me spend a few paragraphs on Hebrews, and then this passage.
No one knows who wrote this lengthy sermon. It is completely clear to me that it wasn’t Paul(2). However, of greater importance than who wrote the letter is why this sermon was written and sent. Although debated, the majority of scholars I’ve read see Hebrews as a response to Jewish followers of Jesus moving away from Jesus, back to the relative safety of the synagogue, as Christians faced persecution(3).
The preacher/writer reminded his or her(4) readers that Jesus was greater than all, including angels. He was the greater High Priest, who offered a greater sacrifice in the true, heavenly sanctuary. Turning away from Jesus might bring temporary safety, but was fraught with the eternal danger of missing the ultimate Sabbath Rest.
Now, what about this passage? With the coming of Jesus, the eternal Word (Chapter 1) made flesh (Chapter 2), everything changed! Among those things was God’s covenant with His people, which was now new. However, if the writer intended to mean that the Old Testament scripture no longer had authority, he or she went about it oddly. This word of exhortation is chock-full of quotations from the Old Testament to be read as Holy Scripture.
While Mark (14:24) and Matthew (26:27-28) imply that the covenant seen in the cup of the Last Supper was new, Luke (22:20) and Paul (1 Corinthians 11:25) overtly call it “the blood of the new covenant.” Why the need for a new covenant? What was wrong with the old one? After all, it came directly from God. Was God’s work inferior? Hebrews certainly would never say that, but does say that a new covenant was needed. The NIV interprets (rightly) Hebrews 8:8 as saying, “But God found fault with the people.” In short, we, not the covenant, are the problem. The covenant depended on obedient people, but the people of the covenant were not obedient. That disobedience reached its climax at the exile to Babylon. At that time, Jeremiah looked to a new day and a new covenant. The author of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah at length. In fact, it is the longest quote in Hebrews.
The point of Jeremiah 31:31-34 (I encourage you to read it) is that with the promised New Covenant, the Torah would be internalized. What, then, is the biggest difference between the old and new covenants? Let me rephrase the question: Who is the biggest difference? For Hebrews, the answer is clear. It is Jesus. He provides atonement, but not through the yearly sacrifices. That is, His atoning sacrifice was once and for all. Second, through Him and the gift of the Holy Spirit, the will of God lives within us.
The denial of the living work of the indwelling Spirit is a denial of the New Covenant. Without the living Word filling us through the Spirit, the New, like the Old, becomes another external legal code, producing legalism. Doesn’t our history demonstrate just that? Thankfully, the Spirit is greater than our bad theology, and still moves in those who trust in Him. And, as in the Old Testament (see Hebrews 11) we, in our lifetimes, have been blessed with faithful saints who demonstrated the powerful fruit of the Spirit!
Let me offer a poor analogy. Computer software often has automatic updates that provide little changes free of charge. Yet, every once in a while, they offer a significant upgrade to the software, often at a significant price. The Old Covenant needed, not to be thrown out, but to have a profound upgrade. It was an extraordinarily expensive upgrade, but the Designer paid that price for us. Our great High Priest made the sacrifice of His own blood and brought it to the true, heavenly Sanctuary. Because Christ and His Spirit live in us, we are whole Bible Christians.
Tim Kelley
(1)https://www.littletonchurch.org/blog/2023/10/24/the-abiding-torah
(2)Sparing you all the lengthy arguments about authorship, given Paul’s last words to Timothy (2 Timothy), the following verse from the end of Hebrews could not have been written in Paul’s lifetime: “I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.” (Hebrews 13:23 NIV)
(3)Rome made a distinction between “religions” (associated with the traditional beliefs of an ethnic group or nation. Judaism qualified.) and “superstitions” (foreign, strange, innovative, and divisive), which were deemed dangerous to the state. Since the Neronian persecutions following the Great Fire of Rome (AD 64), Christianity was seen as a superstition and lost the protection it once had when viewed as a sect of Judaism.
(4)Priscilla has often been suggested as the author.