Hebrews
Chapter 8
Overview
Hebrews 8 gathers the argument around one central claim: the community has a high priest, the chief priest who represents the people in worship, serving in heaven rather than in a sanctuary built by human hands. The writer compares his service with the work of earthly priests under Moses’ law. He then turns to covenant—a binding relationship established by promises—and quotes God’s promise of a new one. The chapter is short, but it swings a large door: worship moves from an earthly copy to heavenly reality, and God’s laws move from written commands into human minds and hearts.
1The main point of what we are saying is this: we have exactly this kind of high priest. He sat down at the right side of the majestic God’s throne in heaven.
2He serves in the holy place of worship, the true tent that the Lord set up, not a human being.
3Every high priest is appointed to present offerings and sacrifices. Therefore, this high priest also must have something to offer.
4If he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since others already present the offerings required by the law.
5Those priests serve in a place that is only a copy and shadow of the heavenly reality. That is why God warned Moses when he was about to build the sacred tent: “Make sure that you make everything according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain.”
6But now this high priest has received a far better work of service. He is also the mediator who brings about a better covenant, one established on better promises.
7If that first covenant had been without fault, there would have been no reason to look for a second.
8But God finds fault with the people when he says, “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and the people of Judah.
9The Lord continues, “It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I disregarded them, says the Lord.
10The Lord continues, “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time: I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
11The Lord continues, “No one will have to teach a fellow citizen or a brother or sister by saying, ‘Come to know the Lord.’ They will all know me, from the least important to the greatest.
12The Lord continues, “I will show mercy toward their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins.”
13By calling this covenant “new,” God has made the first covenant outdated. What is growing old and aging is close to disappearing.