HEBREWS 8:7-13

^NAS  Hebrews 8:7-13 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. ⁸ For finding fault with them, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; ⁹ Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord. ¹⁰ “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them upon their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people ¹¹ “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ For all shall know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. ¹² “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.” ¹³ When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

“THE OLD COVENANT AND THE NEW ARE DIFFERENT. The covenant made with Israel on Mount Sinai had gracious elements. It would be a mistake to identify it as a legalistic covenant. God by His grace liberated Israel from Egyptian bondage. The Lord carried them ‘on eagles wings’…

^NAS  Exodus 19:4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.

“He tenderly ‘took them by their hands to lead them out of the Egypt’…

^NAS  Hebrews 8:9 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord.

“THE SUMMONS TO KEEP THE LAW WAS GIVEN AFTER THE LORD HAD SAVED THEM FROM SLAVERY TO EGYPT…

^NAS  Hebrews 8:9 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord.

“THE CALL TO KEEP THE LORD’S COMMANDS WAS TO BE IN RESPONSE TO THE LORD’S GRACIOUS INTERVENTION ON THEIR BEHALF.” – Schneider

I THINK THAT IS A PRECIOUS FACT TOO SELDOM EMPHASIZED.

“EVEN THOUGH THE SINAI COVENANT WASN’T LEGALISTIC, IT WAS STILL DEFECTIVE AND IS INFERIOR TO THE NEW COVENANT. Israel had to keep the stipulation of the covenant to be blessed. If Israel obeyed, they would receive the blessings of the covenant; but if they disobeyed, they would experience the cursings of the covenant (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 26-28). By the time Jeremiah wrote, it was apparent that Israel ‘did not continue in My covenant.’ The northern kingdom of Israel had already been exiled by Assyria in 722 B.C., and the southern kingdom of Judah experienced the final hammer of exile to Babylon in 586 B.C. The claim that Israel and Judah did not keep the covenant was not an abstract theological proposition. Both kingdoms faced exile because of their disobedience; the curses of the covenant had become a reality. The consequence of Israel’s disobedience is that the Lord ‘turned away from them’ (VIV). God’s ‘not caring’ for them is another way of saying they experienced the curses of the covenant. DEMONSTRABLY, HE INVARIABLY HOLDS US ACCOUNTABLE FOR OUR SIN, ‘NO MATTER HOW LONG HE MAY DELAY HIS INEVITABLE PUNISHMENT. – Schneider

PRAISE HIS BLESSED AND INCOMPARABLE NAME!                                                                                 

“ISRAEL AND JUDAH WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR DISOBEDIENCE, AND AT THE SAME TIME THEIR DISOBEDIENCE REFLECTED THE INADEQUACY AND LIMITATIONS OF THE OLD COVENANT. Israel, of course, returned from exile. Still the fundamental problem with Israel remained, for the people didn’t obey the Lord and the covenant promises weren’t realized. When the NT opens, Israel is under the dominion of Rome and is not experiencing the freedom and joy promised by the Lord, and their dismal state is due to their sin.” – Schneider

THAT’S REALLY THE END OF THIS BLOG. AS STANDS, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. I BELIEVE THAT IS A CREDIBLE, IF BRIEF, EXEGETICAL REPORT OF VERSE 9. BUT I ASK YOU TO LOOK AGAIN AT THE VERSE…

^NAS  Hebrews 8:9 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord.

IN CLOSING FOR THIS ENTRY, HERE IS COCKERILL’S SIMPLE HELPFUL, ADDITIONALLY CLARIFYING COMMENT, ON THIS PROMINENT POINT…

“THE ‘FATHERS’ OF GOD’S PEOPLE, WITH WHOM HE MADE THE FIRST COVENANT, ARE TO BE IDENTIFIED WITH THE ‘FATHERS’ TO WHOM HIS WORD WAS ADDRESSED OF OLD…

^NAS  Hebrews 1:1-2 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, ² in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

“SINCE GOD MADE THE OLD COVENANT WITH THEM ‘IN THE DAY’ OF HIS ‘TAKING THEM BY THE HAND TO BRING THEM OUT OF EGYPT,’ THEY CAN BE NONE OTHER THAN THE REBELLIOUS WILDERNESS GENERATION DESCRIBED IN 3:7 – 4:11.”

 

– Professor Thomas A. Rohm