Hebrews 8

1 – 2

Here is the point of what we are saying: We do have a high priest who sits on the right side of God’s throne in heaven. Our high priest serves in the Most Holy Place. He serves in the true place of worship that was made by God, not by men.

Jesus is a priest who serves in the real temple which is in heaven. The temple on earth was only able to show what the temple in heaven looks like.

3 – 4

Every high priest has the work of offering gifts and sacrifices to God. So our high priest must also offer something to God. If our high priest were now living on earth, He would not be a priest. I say this because there are already priests here who follow the law by offering gifts to God.

The Jewish priests offered sacrifices but Jesus offered Himself.

5. The work that they do as priests is only a shadow of what is in heaven. For when Moses was ready to build the Holy Tent, God warned him: “Be very careful to make everything by the plan I showed you on the mountain.”

Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of His covenant could be seen inside the Temple. Revelation 11:19, Exodus 25:40

6. But the priestly work that has been given to Jesus is much greater than the work that was given to the other priests. In the same way, the new agreement that Jesus brought from God to His people is much greater than the old one. And the new agreement is based on promises of better things.

The Jewish priests showed that there needed to be a way to come before God but they could only show the way. Jesus stands between man and God as the complete sacrifice and promise of God.

7 – 9

If there was nothing wrong with the first agreement, there would be no need for a second agreement. But God found something wrong with His people.

He says:

“The time is coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new agreement. It will be with the people of Israel and the people of Judah.

It will not be like the agreement I made with their ancestors. That was when I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt. But they broke that agreement, and I turned away from them, says the Lord.

The Old Testament promises were built on the Jews keeping their part of the agreement by walking with God. They did not walk with God.

Now if you will obey Me and keep My covenant, you will be My own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth. Exodus 19:5

10 – 11

In the future I will make this agreement with the people of Israel, says the Lord.
I will put My teachings in their minds. And I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.
People will no longer have to teach their neighbors and relatives to know the Lord. This is because all will know Me, from the least to the most important.

But you have received the Holy Spirit, and He lives within you, so you do not need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what He teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as He has taught you, stay in fellowship with Christ. 1 John 2:27

12. I will forgive them for the wicked things they did. I will not remember their sins anymore.”

The day is coming,” says the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.

This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the LORD.

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the LORD. “I will put My teaching deep inside them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.

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,” says the LORD. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” Jeremiah 31:31-34

13. God called this a new agreement, so He has made the first agreement old. And anything that is old and worn out is ready to disappear.

The Old Testament agreement was built on what men would do. The new agreement is built on what Jesus has done on the cross. A short time after this was written, the Jews turned against the Romans and the temple was destroyed. There were no more sacrifices and the Jews were not allowed to come back to Jerusalem until 1948.