Hebrews 8:13 - “In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
The Old Covenant is identified with the Law. God gave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai after the exodus from Egypt. There are three parts to the Law:
1) The Moral Law – this included the Ten Commandments.
2) The Civil Law – these laws govern the social life of Israel.
3) The Ceremonial Law – ordinances concerning the religious life of Israel.
These three divisions together form the Law as it is expressed in the New Testament.
Kevin Conner writes in his book The Covenants, “The Bible reveals that God is a covenant-making, covenant-keeping and covenant-revealing God. The Bible itself is a covenantal book being divided into two sections, the Old and New Testaments (Covenants), and containing a progressive revelation of eight major covenants. These covenants comprise the purposes of God in both creation and redemption and involve time and eternity.” (1)
The New Covenant was prophesied by the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 31:31, “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” Hebrews 8:6 says, But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, in as much as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.”
The New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant. Hebrews 8:13 says, “In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” Why is the New Covenant better?
In the Old Covenant access to God was limited. Only the high priest could go into the Most Holy Place once a year on the Day of Atonement. In the New Covenant the veil has been torn and now every believer has direct access to God. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us there come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.”
The Old Covenant was a shadow of better things. Hebrews 10:1 says, “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.” We learn in Colossians 2:17 that Christ is the substance.
The Old Covenant required continual animal sacrifices. In the New Covenant, Jesus’ sacrifice once for all time replaces the need for continual sacrifices. Hebrews 9:28 says, “So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” We can rejoice because we have a better covenant build on better promises.
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