God Speaks
Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven. 2 There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands.
3 And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too. 4 If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law. 5 They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.”
6 But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.
7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. 8 But when God found fault with the people, he said:
“The day is coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel and Judah.
9 This covenant will not be like the one
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
and led them out of the land of Egypt.
They did not remain faithful to my covenant,
so I turned my back on them, says the Lord.
10 But this is the new covenant I will make
with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds,
and I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 And they will not need to teach their neighbors,
nor will they need to teach their relatives,
saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’
For everyone, from the least to the greatest,
will know me already.
12 And I will forgive their wickedness,
and I will never again remember their sins.”
13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection
Hebrews 8:1-2 teach us that Jesus now ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle. Verses 3-5 say that the earthly tabernacle and priests were only copies or shadows of the real ones in Heaven. Verses 6-7 explain why the second covenant replaced the first. Verses 8-13 use quotes from Jeremiah 31:31-34 to explain God’s reasoning.
Prayer
Dear Father God, thank You for making Jesus our great high priest. He ministers there in Heaven with You in the true place of worship. The tabernacle and temple on earth (as magnificent as they were) were only copies or scale models to give us a “sneak peek” of that real one. Christ’s ministry there with You is far better than that of the priests here. O God, Your special promises (covenant) through Him are greater than all that You did for Your people under the old covenant. If the old covenant had accomplished all that You planned, there wouldn’t need to be a new one. Even before You, Jesus, came to earth, You knew that the old covenant wasn’t working (because people didn’t and couldn’t keep their part). So, You, LORD God, said through Jeremiah (See Jeremiah 31:31-34) that You would set up a new plan (covenant) for how You and Your people would interact. With the new covenant instituted by Jesus, the old covenant became obsolete. All this was to the praise of the glory of Your grace. AMEN
Action
(Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
I will live today as if I am a living, breathing temple where God is worshipped, because I am.
I will continually thank Jesus, God the Son, for being my High Priest.
I will research how Jesus fulfilled the old covenant.
I will remember how God has forgiven me and forgive those who have treated me wickedly, and never again hold their sins against them (though they may have to suffer other consequences).
Share
I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.