Day 311

Ezekiel 16:42–17:24; Hebrews 8:1-13; Psalm 106:13-31; Proverbs 27:7-9

TODAY IN OUR reading from Hebrews, we spent much of our time in the book of Jeremiah. As odd as that sounds, it’s true. The longest Old Testament quotation in the New Testament is located in Hebrews 8, and the quote is from Jeremiah 31.

To understand why Jeremiah 31 is quoted at length in Hebrews 8, we need to state the obvious: The book of Hebrews was written by Hebrews, for Hebrews. The Hebrew (or Jewish) context is foundational. To see this, all we have to do is imagine what reading the book of Hebrews would be like if there were nothing called the Old Testament. It would make no sense whatsoever. And that’s not even mentioning the cultural nuances in the book.

Understanding that the entire premise is from a Hebrew perspective helps us understand why the systematic evidence being laid out about a new covenant and a new high priest matters. The writer of Hebrews quoted at length from Jeremiah because the prophecy foretold a coming new covenant.

When Hebrews was written, Jeremiah’s prophecy was seven hundred years old, but it was not unknown. Devout Hebrew people knew what was being talked about. The writer of Hebrews was revealing that the new covenant established by God, through the work of Christ, had been foretold long ago and shouldn’t be a surprise —it was what they had been waiting for. Followers of Jesus weren’t attempting to fabricate a new religion. Rather, they were announcing the inauguration of this new covenant because “if the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it” (Hebrews 8:7). In the first covenant, priests served on behalf of the people to fulfill what they understood the obligations to require. According to Hebrews, however, “They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven” (Hebrews 8:5).

If a new covenant were actually being inaugurated by God Himself, a new high priest would need to preside over it. The author of Hebrews wrote, “We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven. There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands” (Hebrews 8:1-2).

As modern believers who are mostly Gentile, we can see the intricate argument being made in Hebrews as tedious and highly theological. For a devout first-century Jew, however, the teachings about Jesus were so revolutionary that many simply could not embrace the idea that God was doing something new in the world through a suffering Messiah.

The point of the book of Hebrews wasn’t to convincingly talk Hebrew people out of their faith. Quite the contrary. It was to reveal Jesus to Jewish people as the foretold next step in their faith. Hebrews was intended to unveil the ongoing Hebrew story within the context of what God was inviting His people into. The shadow of the old covenant was being replaced by an unbroken and unblemished new covenant presided over by a sinless High Priest in heaven.

In the Hebrew context, this statement was almost too good to be true. To be told that sin was no longer an issue and the law had been fulfilled was too monumental for most. But it had been foretold. Other things had been foretold as well, and we’ll end today with Hebrews quoting Jeremiah about a future we all long to see:

They will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, “You should know the LORD.” For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already. And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.

MEDITATION:

The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.