Day 212 – Thursday, October 23, 2025

One Year Journey Through the New Testament

Hebrews 8

Welcome to our journey through the New Testament!

The New Priestly Service

1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, ² a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

³ For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. ⁴ For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; ⁵ who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” ⁶ But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. 

(Hebrews 8:1–6, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• The high priest, Jesus Christ, is seated at the right hand of the throne in heaven. He ministers in the true temple and sanctuary, not that made by men.
• The altar and the sacrifices of the earth are simply types and shadows of that which takes place in heaven. The priesthood of Christ is the more excellent ministry, administered by a greater Mediator of a better covenant, based on better promises. Jesus is the better!

A New Covenant

⁷ For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. ⁸ Because finding fault with them, He says: “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—⁹ not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. ¹² For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

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. 

(Hebrews 8:7–13, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• The covenant of the law was imperfect. It was not sufficient in light of the covenant of grace based on the sacrifice of Christ.
• God promised to make a new covenant with Israel: He would write his laws in their minds and hearts. He would be God and they would be His people, and there will be no need for teaching, for all will have the law in their heart.
• The new covenant, therefore, makes the old covenant obsolete, ready to vanish. I am thankful for the new covenant.

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All Scriptures from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Join us this afternoon at 5:00 pm for a discussion of this chapter live online. Live@5 with Dr. Greg Sloop can be found on Facebook on the Dr. Greg Sloop page or on the Kannapolis Church of God Facebook page or Youtube page. Another blog will be posted each weekday at 6:00 a.m.