“For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord” ( Hebrews 8:7-9 )

I’ve struggled in the past while reading these verses because what stands out to me is the last statement saying, “they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord” (vs. 9). The Amplified puts it this way, “for they did not abide in My agreement with them, and so I withdrew My favor and disregarded them, says the Lord” (vs. 9 AMP). These statements seem so foreign to the God I know. It is hard to imagine Him ever saying these things. Setting out to reconcile this idea in my heart has brought wonderful revelation of what this passage is truly saying.

The key lies in the idea that the first covenant was flawed because of mankind’s inability to keep it, not because of God. This is why he found fault with the first covenant and brought about a new one. The first covenant was based on blessings and curses ( Deuteronomy 28 ). It was not like the covenant that God made Abraham and it is certainly not like the covenant that God made with us through Jesus. It was behavioral based. If they kept the commandments they received the blessings listed in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy. If they disobeyed the commandments they received the curses listed. It was all spelled out, the Israelites were well aware of the terms when they agreed to it ( Exodus 24:3 ).

Of course mankind, being one hundred percent flesh at that time, couldn’t live up to it’s rigorous guidelines. In fact the Israelites are the ones who turned away from their part of the agreement first. This released God from His part, although He always remained faithful to it. This passage in Hebrews is a quote from Jeremiah 31, with a slight difference near the end, “The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them” declares the LORD” ( Jeremiah 31:31-32 ).

The relationship that Israel and God had, was akin to the marital relationship. The covenant agreement was a marriage agreement. Israel continually prostituted themselves with other gods even though the Lord was a husband to them. This led the Lord to give them a certificate of divorce ( Jeremiah 3:8 ). This did not annul God’s relationship with them, it merely made an allotment for Him to usher in a new covenant to include those outside the nation of Israel. Even though He divorced them, he told them to return. so He could establish a New Covenant with them still declaring himself as their husband. “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding” ( Jeremiah 3:14-15 ).

He did in fact give us this Shepherd, who is the radiance of God’s glory and exact representation of his being ( Hebrews 1:3 ). Jesus brought with him an understanding and revelation of God that was previously unknown ( John 1:14, II Corinthians 4:6, Colossians 1:15-20, Hebrews 1:1-3 ). In the first covenant, it was the Israelites themselves who caused all their suffering. God wanted to protect us from that because we could never live in the weakness of the flesh, which is why he sent Jesus to usher in a new covenant and give us the Holy Spirit so we could be born again not fashioned after the flesh but after the Spirit of God himself ( II Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:24 ).

The entire point is this; the first covenant had not been without defect. The weakness of the covenant was the people themselves. It wasn’t that God just disregarded them withdrawing His favor on a whim. God found fault with the people because their behavior showed how they choose everything else before God. The people broke the covenant agreement, not God. He is stressing in verse 9 that the New Covenant He ushered in will not be like the previous covenant. In other words, it will not be left to mankind to keep it, the covenant will entirely be dependent on God himself to bring it to pass, to ratify it and to uphold it for all eternity. Mankind can freely enter into it, but our behavior does not affect the terms or the outcome. This is why God found fault with the first in order to usher the second. Then He based the entire thing on His character and His ability to keep it. This is an amazing truth!

“But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises” ( Hebrews 8:6 )

Jesus is the mediator or guarantor of the Covenant of grace. This covenant is far superior in every way imaginable to the Covenant of Law. This is because it is founded on better promises and backed by an oath between God and Jesus that it will be lasting and eternal ( Hebrews 7:21 ). In fact, King David himself looked forward to this covenant and congratulated the recipients, pronouncing a blessing on them “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.” ( Psalms 32:1-2, Romans 4:6-8 ).

The better promises on which  this covenant is founded rest solely in the Lord Jesus. It is superior because of this, and unlike the first, it is not based on cause and effect. In other words, God is not limited in his interaction with us based on something we do or do not do. In fact, chapter 8 defines the differences of the New Covenant. First He put his laws in our hearts and minds so that we can be familiar and intimate with His ways and precepts ( Hebrews 8:10 ). Secondly, He makes us His people, declaring that He will be our God ( Hebrews 8:10 ). Third, He reveals himself to us so that we do not need someone to tell us about God, we can experience Him for ourselves ( Hebrews 8:11 ). Lastly He has forgiven our sins and goes a step further declaring that he will also forget them entirely ( Hebrews 8:12 ). We have these amazing things as New Covenant believers, which is why our covenant is far superior than the previous one. This is what David saw and why he pronounced a blessing on us ( Psalms 32:1-2, Romans 4:6-8 ).

To highlight our wonderful covenant it is important to understand that the Old Covenant of Law was based on blessings and curses. Deuteronomy 28 lists both. The chapter starts out with these words spoken by the Lord, “If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God” ( Deuteronomy 28:1-2 ). He then gives the list of blessing that were theirs by obeying Him. However it was conditional, “The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways” ( Deuteronomy 28:9 ).

In the same way, curses would befall the people when they were disobedient. “However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you” ( Deuteronomy 28:15 ). The list of the curses is immense and disastrous. This is why the New Covenant is so wonderful, because He placed His laws and precepts inside us and gave us the Holy Spirit to teach us to follow and obey ( I John 2:20, 27 ). This was not the case under the law of the Old Testament, they were subjected to the whims of the flesh. The Law strengthened sin against them arousing the desire for disobedience and the curses it brought ( Romans 7:10 , I Corinthians 15:56 ).

In the New Covenant, Jesus became a curse for us so we could have all of the blessings described in Deuteronomy 28 with none of the curses, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit” ( Galatians 3:13-14 ). You can see how our Covenant is superior in every way. We receive all of the blessings and none of the curses. all because Jesus became the curse for us to redeems us from the Law.

In the same way our mediator is also far superior. Jesus is the Mediator of this Covenant just as Moses was the mediator of the Covenant of the Law. However Jesus has acquired a better ministry because he resides over it as a son not a servant. “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast” ( Hebrews 3:5-6 ). Not only do we have a better and more advantageous Covenant based on nobler and higher promises, but we have a Mediator that is far superior in both title and position than that which was previously given. This is why the Old Testament Patriarchs looked forward to the time we enjoy because God has done a work through Jesus Christ that is unparalleled to anything they experienced. This is why God enacted the New Covenant making the first one obsolete ( Hebrews 8:13 ) so that we could be the people of God enjoying all of the blessings He bestows on us.