Hebrews 8:6

Hebrews 8:6

A superior Covenant

Oh dear, I wonder how this verse and its associates went down with Jewish readers of this Epistle! If they had fully embraced the Gospels and the work of Messiah, then no problem. If, however, they were still sceptical, (and the whole point of the letter is that some were) then statements like verse 6 would be hard to accept. For the point being made is that the ministry of Yeshua, and the Covenant that He initiated, is far superior to all that had transpired under Moses and the Levitical system of the Law. This whole verse seems to revolve around one word – mediator! In fact, the entire letter concentrates on the supremacy of Christ and how He has initiated and mediated a superior way of relating to the Lord God. 

Moses was able to intervene before the Lord on behalf of His people on numerous occasions, however, he could only bring temporary respite, in the same way the sacrifices and offerings at the Tabernacle were only temporary, they had to be constantly repeated. Thus, to now learn that there was a High Priest and a sacrifice that was “once for all” was unprecedented and astonishing. 

What is more, the terms of the new covenant were far better than those that had gone before. This time the whole world is embraced by the mercy and grace of God, the contract is eternal and demands nothing from men except faith. The core of the covenant is based on love, God’s love for us and our love for Him which prompts obedience and trust. As we have seen, the covenant does not demand that we endlessly learn the texts of ancient scripts, for the Holy Spirit writes God’s truth on our hearts. Our journey of faith is not about claiming physical land but about claiming the Kingdom of Heaven and finding our resting place in the Courts of the Lord. We no longer wrestle over the earth and its provisions, instead we battle in the spiritual realms and claim our inheritance in Christ. Neither do we need to build and maintain extensive (and expensive) buildings or a superior priesthood, for everything we need is already in place in the heavenly realms and all true followers of our High Priest are promoted into the priesthood. This is our destiny and our privilege, and we will now go on to learn more about these “better promises” in the next few verses. 

 

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