1. Reference Difference Levitical High Priests Jesus the High
Priest
7:23-24 quantity many priests only one priest
7:23-24;
9:12
duration temporary permanent, eternal
7:27; 9:12 frequency sacrificed daily sacrificed once for
all
7:26-27 quality sinful sinners holy, innocent,
unstained
7:26-27 focus offered sacrifices also for themselves offered sacrifices
only for others
7:27;
9:11-14
object offered sacrificial animals offered up himself
9:11-12 sphere entered a man-made tent entered a greater
and more perfect
tent
9:11-12 means entered by means of the blood of goats
and calves
entered by means of
his own blood
1. Working Vs. Resting
The Levites could not cease or rest because there is no end to the sacrifices they had to make in order to mediate for
those under law. Jesus finished his work and sat down. He is resting, and in Him so are you. The law will never give
you rest, it never ceases to make demands on you. Jesus fulfilled the demands and supplies you with rest! (Heb
10:11-12)
2. Multiple sacrifices Vs. Once For All Sacrifice
The Levites had to sacrifice many animals day after day, year after year, feast after feast. It was never enough. Jesus
sacrificed one perfect sacrifice for all people for all time: Himself. (Heb 10:11-12, Heb 7:27)
3. Imperfect Vs. Perfect
The Levites were imperfect because they had to first offer sacrifices for their own sins before they could offer
sacrifices on behalf of the people. Jesus is sinless making Him a perfect priest. (Heb 7:27)
4. Mortal Vs. Immortal
The Levitical priests were of the order of Aaron, a man who was born and who died therefore they were born and
they too died. Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek, one who was not born and who has no end of days, one
who has everlasting life. (Heb 6:20)
5. Changeable Vs. Unchangeable ; The Levitical priesthood changed constantly because they died and had to be
replaced by new priests. Jesus has everlasting life thus His priesthood is unchangeable. (Heb 7:23-24)
6. Demand Vs. Supply

2. The Levitical priests mediated a covenant that demanded perfection from you, but could make nothing perfect. Jesus
mediates a covenant that supplies perfection for you. He fulfils both the supply and demand on your behalf. (Heb
7:19, Heb 10:1)
7. Harmful Vs. Harmless
The Levitical priesthood was harmful. They could order your execution under the ministry of death. Jesus is
harmless, He executed Himself on your behalf. He is the ministry of life. (Heb 7:27, 2 Cor 3:6-10)
8. Shadow Vs. Substance
The Levites mediated in a shadow tabernacle erected by man, a copy of the real one in Heaven. They were only
“shadow priests.” Shadows consist of nothing but a distorted appearance of something real. Jesus is the substance,
the real priest mediating in the true tabernacle built by God. (Heb 8:2)
9. Faultfinding Vs. Forgiving
The Levites mediated a covenant that was designed to find faults it could not take away. Jesus mediates a covenant
that forgives and takes away all your sin. (Heb 10:4, Heb 8:12, Heb 10:11)
10. Unpleasing Vs. Pleasing
The blood of bulls and goats offered by the Levites did not please God. Jesus’ sacrifice was pleasing to God. Since
His sacrifice pleased God, you are pleasing to God because of Jesus through faith and not works! (Heb 10:5-14)
The biggest difference between these two priesthoods for me is that the Levites ministered from earth into the Holy
of Holies whereas Jesus is ministering from the Holy of Holies out into the earth. If you were born in the earth, you
had restricted access to the Holy of Holies, but if you are reborn in the Holy of Holies in Christ, you have unlimited
access to the Father! (You don’t get zapped…)
Jesus is indeed our high priest after the order of Melchizedek (Ps.110:4; Heb.4:14; 5:10; etc.). That is to
say, His priesthood is qualitatively different and superior in every way to the Levitical priesthood (the
very point that Paul is making in Hebrews chapters 4:14 and following). Now a priest is someone who
represents human beings before God, a go-between, so to speak. We know of a certainty that no human
being ever lived who could actually stand before God and offer any effective plea for the rest of
humanity, because he/she could never hope to stand before God on his/her own account (let alone on
behalf of others). Jesus, of course, is the one exception to this rule, being virgin born and thus without
original sin, being sinless in His life, and therefore being qualified to make atonement for the sins of
others - the very purpose of His mission here on earth (Heb.2:17: "He had to be made like His brothers in
every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that
He might make atonement for the sins of the people" NIV). Of course, the atonement Christ provides, the
sacrifice which covers the sins of the people, of all of us, is the sacrifice of His own life on Calvary's
cross for us all. Every other previous legitimate priest of God (including all of the Levitical priests) could
only stand before God on the basis of the promise of the coming sacrifice of Jesus Christ (that is what all
the animal sacrifices and their blood foreshadow). So that all previous priesthood is shadow (along with
every other aspect of the Law), while the sacrifice of Christ is real (and it is of that reality that we now
partake).
The book of Hebrews is often misunderstood. Paul is writing this book (anonymously) with the purpose
of explaining to Jewish Christians the folly and the danger of returning to the rituals in which they were
weaned. At the time of writing (ca. 65 A.D.), the Levitical rituals were still being performed (and would
be for another four years until the Romans destroyed the temple). So there were "high priests" at the
time, but they no longer had any spiritual validity.

3. THE OFFICE OF HIGH PRIEST
The Jews placed stress on the office of High Priest, for it was through these men that the people had, for many
generations, their access to God.
I think it could be said, many of the Hebrew people who had converted to Christianity missed the Levitical priests.
No doubt, some of them were being tempted to go back to that old system.
Yet, the Hebrew writer sent them the message: YOU HAVE SOMETHING BETTER! He teaches them that Christ
was "made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to
make reconciliation for the sins of the people," (2:17). "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus," (3:1). "Seeing then that we have a great high
priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet
without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help
in time of need," (4:14-16).
In the first ten verses of Hebrews five, the inspired writer shows that in every respect, Jesus Christ is qualified to be
High Priest. And, in fact, God had put Christ in this position. God had said: "You are a priest forever according to
the order of Melchizedek," (see Psa. 110:4; Heb. 5:6). [After making this affirmation, the writer went into a
discussion about the condition his readers were in; they were "dull of hearing," see 5:11-6:19. He returns to his
teaching concerning Melchizedek in chapter seven.]
Thus, the primary affirmation of this section of the Hebrew epistle is: Jesus became high priest forever according to
the order of Melchizedeck.
BUT, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
It means that Christ was not a High Priest, as in Aaron and the Levitical order (according to the law of Moses). The
High Priesthood of Jesus Christ -- the writer is affirming -- is of a higher order! Christ was and is a High Priest like
Melchizedek; not like Aaron or Levi. Note the following:
1. Melchizedek's position as High Priest was not dependent on ancestry... neither was Christ's. (7:14).
2. Melchizedek was not in a succession of many priests... neither is Christ. (7:3).
3. Melchizedek's priesthood was higher than and separate from the Levitical order... so is Christ's. (7:4-7).
4. Melchizedek was priest and king... so is Christ! (See Zech. 6:9-15).
5. Melchizedek received tribute from Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation; this shows the superiority of
Melchizedek's priesthood above the Levitical (which came out of the loins of Abraham). {See Gen. 14:18-20 with
Heb. 7:4}.
CONCLUSION
All of this was set up, executed and revealed by God, for the purpose of convincing the Jews - their old Levitical
priesthood was now history. The broader point of application was: Their old law was now abrogated. For the
Levitical priesthood and the old law were bound together; one was a subordinate part of the other. Thus it followed -
- if the priesthood is changed, "there is made of necessity a change also of the law," (Heb. 7:12).
For us what does this mean? It means that the law of Moses is not binding today. And it means that we have a high
priest (access to God)! "For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,
and made higher than the heavens. Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his
own sins, and then for the people's; for this he did once, when he offered up himself." (Heb. 7:26-27).

4. "Wherefore, he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them," (Heb. 7:25).
Introduction
Last week we ended with the author’s pronouncement that Jesus is our new High Priest (read 4:14). The idea of a
priest is central to the Bible. A priest is a mediator, a specially designated person who fixes the problems between
two estranged parties so that access and reconciliation is restored. We need a priest to mediate between us and God
because God has a problem with us, namely our sin. The moral guilt that results from our sin creates a barrier
between us and God so that we cannot come into his presence until this barrier is removed. So because God wants
to fix this problem, he appoints a priest to do this by offering a sacrifice to pay for our sins. Because the priest does
this, we can come to God through his priest and relate to him.
In the Old Testament, the Levitical priests played this role. God selected certain individuals from one of the 12
tribes of Israel (Levi) to act as mediators between himself and Israel. The Levitical priests “fixed” the problem of
Israel’s sins by offering up highly ritualized animal sacrifices to God on their behalf. 5:1-4 describes how the
Levites played this role (read). But by claiming that Jesus is a High Priest, the author seems to be contradicting
God’s Word.
If God chose Levites to be his High Priest, how can Jesus (not a Levite) be a High Priest? God devoted dozens of
Old Testament chapters to the Levitical priestly system (big sections of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy)—he
seems to be ripping them out and throwing them away. If God already said that his people must relate to him in this
through this human priesthood in this highly ritualized way, how dare he say that this is no longer necessary? This
why he must prove that the Old Testament itself predicted that the Messiah would be part of a different priesthood
that would replace the Levitical priesthood.
This is not just some dry theological issue that mattered only to first-century Jewish Christians. This issue is super-relevant
to you and me today. Most church traditions (not just Roman Catholic, but also Orthodox and many
Protestant denominations) prescribe relating to God through a human priesthood and highly ritualized worship-services
that copy the Levitical priesthood system. Many of you (like me) grew up in one of these traditions. Why
don’t we have priests and ritual-laden worship services? Is it just because we are ornery and rebellious? No, it is
because Jesus is now our High Priest—and he doesn’t want us to relate to God that way. I’ll show you where the
author actually says this soon—but first we need to see resolve the dilemma...
The priesthood of Melchizedek
The author argues that this change in priesthood is mandated because Jesus is part of an older, superior priesthood—
the priesthood of Melchizedek (read 5:5,6,11). Before we read his explanation of this fact, let’s look at the two Old
Testament passages that talk about this priesthood.
The first passage is in Gen. 14, which briefly records a strange encounter between Abraham and this person
Melchizedek. The time is about 2100 BC—700 years before the Levitical priesthood began. Abraham is returning
from a battle in which he rescued his nephew Lot after he had been kidnapped by some wicked local rulers. Read
14:17-20. What a strange event! It raises a lot of questions. Who was this Melchizedek? Where was Salem? Why
was he both a priest and a king? Why did he bless Abraham and receive gifts from him? Why did God make sure
this event was recorded? Nothing further is said about Mel—until 1100 years later when God says something very
strange to David...
Read Ps.110:1-3. David is relaying a conversation he overheard between God (“the LORD” – YHWH) and his ruler
(“my lord” - Adonai). The problem is that David is the ruler of Israel; he has no human ruler. Who is this
“lord?” Both Jewish and Christian scholars have long agreed that David is talking about the coming Messiah—for
two reasons. David’s description of him fits the description of the Messiah in Gen.49:10 (read). David was from
the tribe of Judah, and God promised David that one of his descendents would reign permanently as God’s King

5. (read 2Sam.7:12,13). So David is recording a conversation between God and the future Messiah, in which God
presents his kingdom to the Messiah.
But David also hears God says something else to this Messiah (read 110:4). Wow! Not only would the Messiah be
a King from the tribe of Judah—he would also be a priest from the order of Melchizedek! And God swears that the
Messiah’s priesthood would be permanent.
So what do these two Old Testament passages tell us about relationship between the Messiah and the Levitical
priesthood? They tell us that the Messiah will be a part of an older priesthood that is superior to the Levitical
priesthood, and that when he comes his priesthood will last forever. In other words, the Old Testament itself taught
that when the Messiah came, he would replace the Levitical priesthood!
Now turn to Heb.7, where the author resumes his comments about this subject. He repeats what we have already
concluded, but he also makes some additional points.
Read 7:1-3. Melchizedek was more than an ancient priest-king; he was a prophetic picture of Jesus the Messiah
(“TYPE” SLIDE)! Both his name (“king of righteousness”) and his title (“king of peace”) were names later given to
the Messiah. The city of his reign (Jerusalem) was the future site of the Messiah’s kingly reign. The fact that he
was both a priest and a king was a picture of the Messiah, who will be both king and priest. The absence of any
reference to his human lineage implies no successor, which was a picture of the Messiah’s permanent
priesthood. Maybe even the meal he gave to Abraham (wine and bread) was a picture of the Last Supper Jesus gave
his disciples—a meal he said symbolized the priestly sacrifice he was about to make. Wow!
Read 7:4-8. His point is that Melchizedek was clearly greater than Abraham. Their culture dictated giving a tenth
of one’s battle spoils to one’s superior/king. It also dictated that only a greater person can bestow a blessing on
someone beneath them. So God went out of his way to record these details to show that as great as Abraham was,
Melchizedek was far greater. So why is this so important?
Read 7:9,10. Since Melchizedek is greater than Abraham, Melchizedek’s priestly order is greater than any priestly
order that would arise out of Abraham. And since the Messiah would be a Melchizedekian priest, he would
supercede the Levitical priesthood. So the author has resolved the dilemma: Jesus’ high priesthood does not
contradict the Old Testament—it fulfills it!
A new & better way to relate to God
But there is more—and it is radical. Now that Jesus is our High Priest, it is “out with the old and in with the
new.” It is no longer appropriate to relate to God through human priests and ritualized sacrifices—whether Jewish
or “Christian.” God has set this aside and replaced it with a new and better way to relate to him. Let’s see how he
argues this...
Read 7:11. The point is that God never planned the Levitical priesthood to be permanent. If he had planned this, he
would never have spoken of the Messiah as a Melchizedekian priest. He sovereignly arranged the encounter
between Abraham and Melchizedek, and he inspired David to say the Messiah would be a priest according to the
order of Melchizedek so that his people would know that a change in priesthood was coming.
And why was the Levitical system only a temporary arrangement? Because it never did the job—it never fixed any
of the problems between us and God. He says this again in 7:18,19 (read). The only value of the Levitical system
was that it provided prophetic pictures of Jesus (we’ll study this in the coming weeks). But it was “weak and
useless” because it never truly fixed any of the problems between us and God. And now that Jesus has come, God
has set it aside—he no longer wants us to relate to him through human priests and ritualized sacrifices. Like
TRAINING WHEELS, this system was a help for a time—but now it needs to be set aside or it will restrict the
freedom that it helped to develop!

6. What great news this is! Do you want more reasons why having Jesus as your High Priest is better than any system
of human priests and ritualized sacrifices? How about these:
You can be confident of God’s acceptance. This is the best thing of all. Like the Levitical system with its ongoing
sacrifices, the other systems imply (and sometimes teach) that you have to keep observing the rituals through the
priests in order to avoid God’s condemnation. But since Jesus paid for all of your sins, you are completely and
permanently forgiven if he is your High Priest. This confidence is the key to a dynamic relationship with God!
You can experience relational closeness with God. Human priestly systems by their very nature keep God at a
distance. You can’t relate to God directly; you have to relate to him through the priests and by observing the rituals
and at special places and times. But all of this is over if Jesus is your High Priest. Through him, God actually
indwells you through the Holy Spirit. This means you can relate to God anywhere and any time, and you can relate
to him heart to heart—sharing your problems and joys, asking him for the help you need, thanking him for his work
in your life, etc. God truly becomes your best friend and ever-present guide instead of a religious object
disconnected from real life.
You can relate to God with others who know him. Human priestly systems do not promote spiritual closeness with
others. But when Jesus is your High Priest, you become part of a new family of spiritual brothers and sisters. You
can experience closeness with God with them as you talk to him together, read and discuss his Word together, share
what God is doing in your lives, help each other to follow him, etc. This is one of the sweetest parts of relating to
God through Jesus!
Do you relate to God this way—confident of his acceptance, experiencing loving intimacy with him alone and with
others? If you don’t, you can. The whole reason that God sent Jesus was so that you could have this kind of
relationship with him. If you want this, all you need to do is tell Jesus that you want him to be your High
Priest. Ask him to pay for your sins through his death, and ask him to give you this kind of personal relationship
with God. Today could be the day you begin to experience this—are you ready
Hebrews 8:1-13
Central to the structure of God’s relationship with men was the concept of the covenant. A
covenant was more than just a treaty. It was both a legal contract and a formalized bond of life
and death sealed with an oath.
The mediator of such a covenant was the priest. He was the one who would represent man to
God and God to men. He officiated over the sacrifice and he brought the blood to the altar. He
went into the presence of God on behalf of men.
In the last chapter, we saw that Jesus was our high priest. His priesthood was not of the Aaronic
priesthood, for he was not a descendant of Levi. His priesthood was of a much older line of
priests — one that went all the way back to the days of Abraham. His was of the Melchizedek
priesthood.
A BETTER HIGH PRIEST
Now the main point in what has been said is this:
we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat

7. at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the
heavens, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and in the
true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.
(Hebrews 8:1-2).
Everything that has been said in Hebrews up to this point has been to bring us to this one main
point — we have a high priest in the person of Jesus. We saw at the very beginning of this epistle
that God has spoken in a Son who sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. This is now
repeated nearly word for word. We have come full circle to see Jesus.
It is one thing to see Jesus as our high priest. It is quite another to see Him as our high priest who
has taken His seat. The one thing that no Old Testament priest ever did was to take his seat.
Priests in the temple always stood. There were no seats in the temple or the tabernacle. The only
seat was God’s seat - the mercy seat. This was the lid of the Ark of the Covenant and no priest
would ever have dreamed of even touching the Ark let alone actually sitting on it. But Jesus did
exactly that. He is the priest who sat down. And notice where it was that He sat — at the right
hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.
Just in case you didn’t hear that, it is repeated for us in verse two. The place where Jesus sat as
our high priest was not in any earthly tabernacle or temple. His place of honor was in heaven
itself.
We will be seeing a contrast in the next two chapters between that which is in heaven verses that
which in on earth.
On Earth In Heaven
High priest after the order of Aaron High priest after the order of
Melchizedek
Never sat down, but was constantly
ministering in the temple
He has taken His seat at the right hand of
the throne of the Majesty in the heavens
An earthly temple built by human
hands
The true tabernacle, which the Lord
pitched, not man
There are two things of which we ought to take note with regard to Jesus sitting at the right hand
of God.
1. To be seated at the right hand was to be seated in the place of honor. The right
hand was used for fellowship and for eating. The left hand was used for more
mundane tasks. Jesus has been given the place of honor in heaven.
2. In the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of Israel, it was the custom for two scribes
to sit on either side of the judges of that court. The scribe who sat on the right

8. hand side would write the acquittals. The scribe who sat on the left hand side
would write the condemnations.
Jesus has been given the seat of pardon. His ministry has been one of bringing
pardon and forgiveness to men.
But that is not all. In Revelation 3:21 Jesus promises that to Him who overcomes,
I will grant to sit with Me in My throne. There is coming a day when we shall not
only see Jesus seated at the right hand of God, but when we shall sit with Him.
This is not because we are good or deserving, but because He has been good and
deserving in our place.
The place of Christ’s ministry is in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord
pitched, not man (8:2). This is in contrast to the tabernacle which Moses erected in the
wilderness.
The Earthly Tabernacle The Heavenly Tabernacle
The sanctuary and tabernacle which
Moses pitched in the wilderness
The sanctuary and in the true tabernacle,
which the Lord pitched, not man
The shadow The real after which the shadow is patterned
Old Covenant New Covenant
This will be more fully developed in the next chapter. The point is that the Tabernacle which
Moses built and the Temple which eventually replaced it were only scale replicas of the true
heavenly reality.
Does this mean that there is a literal temple in heaven? It might. You go to the book of
Revelation and look over John’s shoulder to see what he saw in his heavenly vision and you will
see a description of the Temple. But more importantly, the Tabernacle and the Temple both
pictured the heavenly reality of what Jesus has done in our salvation.
You want to know about redemption? Look at the Tabernacle, for it is pictured
there. Propitiation is represented on the altar. A substitutionary atonement is seen
in the sacrifice lamb.
o The Tabernacle had a lampstand — Jesus is the light of the world.
o The Tabernacle had a table of shewbread — Jesus is the bread of life.
o The Tabernacle had a veil — Jesus’ glory was veiled to the world and He passed
through the veil into the presence of God on our behalf.
o The Tabernacle had an altar — Jesus is our sacrifice offered on our behalf. By His
blood we are healed.

9. Everything in and about the Tabernacle was representative of the spiritual reality that we have in
Christ.
The Earthly Tabernacle The Heavenly Tabernacle
The sanctuary and tabernacle which Moses pitched
in the wilderness
The sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord
pitched, not man (8:2)
The shadow (8:2) The real after which the shadow is patterned
Old Covenant New Covenant
A copy and shadow of the heavenly things (8:4) The reality after which the earthly things were copied
The pattern which was shown to Moses on the holy
mountain (8:5)
The reality from which the pattern is derived.
The earthly Tabernacle and Temple were nothing but shadows. A shadow has no independent substance or existence. When a
shadow exists, it is evidence of a reality which created that shadow.
When Moses was given the directions for building the Tabernacle, they were extremely precise as to the
dimensions and the building materials. He was warned not to deviate from this pattern. Why was this so
important? It was because it was all a shadow of a spiritual reality.
The shadows of the Old Testament were designed to point to the reality that is in Christ. He is the real thing which gives the
shadow its shape and form. He defines the shadow.
Did you ever see the stage play version of Peter Pan? He was the little boy who had determined not to grow
up. We have already likened the Hebrews to that little boy in this desire — they wanted to remain in the
babyhood of the Old Testament Covenant. But here is another likeness. In the stage play, Peter Pan attempts
to capture his shadow and to sew it back onto himself. It is rather silly to our way of thinking, because that is
not what you do with shadows. But it was equally silly on the part of the Hebrews, for they were attempting
to "sew back on" their shadow of the Old Covenant stipulations.
A BETTER COVENANT
But now He has obtained a more excellent
ministry, by as much as He is also the
mediator of a better covenant, which has
been enacted on better promises. (Hebrews
8:6).
The priests were the mediators of a covenant. God had established His covenant with the nation of Israel.
There were stipulations to this covenant relationship and it was the duty of the priest to mediate the
sacrificial and ceremonial aspects of these stipulations.

10. There is nothing wrong with the Old Covenant. It was made between a holy God and His covenant people.
But today there is a better covenant — a New Covenant.
The New Covenant is new in the kainos sense. It is a new thing which was previously unknown. God has done
something new in Christ that He had never done before. It is both new and it is better.
What makes the New Covenant better? It is better because it has been enacted on better promises. What those
promises are we shall see in just a minute. But the first and most obvious promise of the Old Covenant is that
there would be a New Covenant to replace it.
THE OLD COVENANT ASSUMED A BETTER COVENANT TO COME
For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.
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. (Hebrews 8:7-9).
One of the Old Covenant promises was that there would eventually come a day when a New Covenant was
established. The promise of this coming New Covenant can be found in several places in the Old Testament.
Don’t miss the implications of this! The fact that a New Covenant was promised which would replace the Old
Covenant assumes that there is a problem in the Old Covenant which needs to be remedied by the New
Covenant. You’ve heard the old saying, "If it’s not broken, don’t fix it." If the Old Covenant was not
somehow lacking, then there would have been no need for a New Covenant to be given to take its place.
The fact that a New Covenant was promised while the Old Covenant was still in effect assumes that there was
a need for something better than the Old Covenant that was in place. The writer to the Hebrews points this
out by quoting a portion of the promise:
The Old Covenant The New Covenant
If that first covenant had been faultless... ...there would have been no occasion sought for a
second
For finding fault with them... "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..."
"...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,"
This will be a continuing covenant which will last
forever.