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"This is the covenant that I will make..."

Text: Hebrews 8:10

THE IDEA OF A NEW COVENANT

The promise of a New Covenant to Israel reveals God as one who is truly “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth” (Cf. Exodus 34:6). The author of Hebrews took careful note of what God said to Jeremiah, His prophet.

“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 in their mind and write them on their hearts;
and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Hebrews 8:10

1. This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

a) This envisaged the time when there would no longer be the division between Judah and Israel (Hence only “Israel” is mentioned here).

b) This would be the New Covenant (Cf. Jeremiah 31:31-33).

c) “After those days”- a reference to post-exilic Israel.

2. The Laws of God

a) The core would still be the “laws” of God.

b) But these laws would not be set in stone and external.

c) These laws would be

i) In their minds

ii) In their hearts

3. A close relationship

a) The Lord would be their personal God.

b) The New Covenant people would indeed be “God’s people”.

NEW TESTAMENT AFFIRMATION

The Apostle Paul wrote about how the Spirit of God would write upon the hearts of believers (Cf. 2 Corinthians 3:3). In another text he commented on how God would regard believers as “sons and daughters” (Cf. 2 Corinthians 6:18).