During Old Testament times in the Bible, the nation of Israel needed priests to offer sacrifices to God. It was the law. We do not have priests to lead in the church now. Jesus is our High Priest, who offered Himself in death on the cross. He rose from the dead and now He is sitting at the right hand of God. Now, each of us believers is a priest. We can each offer the sacrifice of praise to God in the assembly and anytime. There were a lot of problems with the old covenant — the ten commandments. The reason was that the people could not keep it. That is why God came up with a second plan — or a new covenant for the nation of Israel. The new covenant is an agreement by which God will put His laws into their minds and hearts so they will know how to live on the earth. They won’t need someone to tell them what to do. They won’t even need a list of rules. They will know what to do because the will of God is in their hearts. Because of His death and His shed blood, Jesus can say He will not remember the sins of the nation of Israel. That is the new covenant that God has with Israel so they can be accepted to live with blessing on earth. God does not have a covenant with us who are Christians, because our blessing is to live in heaven with Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us Christians from all of our sins too, so we can be accepted in Christ. Covenants are for the earth.
1. Where is our great High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, presently sitting? __________ Hebrews 8:___
2. The true tabernacle is all the believers together with God living inside them. Who pitched or built the true tabernacle? __________ Hebrews 8:___
3. The first covenant was an agreement to keep the ten commandments. Is the second covenant, of which Jesus is the mediator, better or worse than the first covenant? __________ Hebrews 8:___
4. If the first covenant had been faultless, would there have been the need of a second, new covenant? __________ Hebrews 8:___
5. What does God promise to remember no more? __________ Hebrews 8:___