Not Like the Old Covenant

(Hebrews 8:8-9 – Not Like the Old Covenant)

When I was a teenager at school, we used to have religious instruction every week. Ministers and pastors from different churches would come in and teach Bible principles and teachings during school time. Needless to say, in this modern world this no longer occurs in our public schools.

However, I recall at one of these sessions I asked the minister that day, what was the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The answer he gave was that the New Covenant is essentially and extension of the Old Covenant.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I knew that not to be the case then and know even better today. It was evident to me then and today, that he did not understand the significant difference between the two covenants. And this section of scripture today makes that point abundantly clear.

The New Covenant is Not like the Old Covenant

To begin we should look at the verses under study.

8 For he finds fault with them when he says: “The days will come, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; 9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I paid no heed to them, says the Lord. (Hebrews 8:8-9)

Many years ago, I learned the importance of looking at the “little words” in the Bible. There are words that you might just skip over and not notice. But when we do look at them, they impart great meaning.

There is one such word in this section of scripture. It is the word “not” at the start of verse 9. It is this word that gives the whole section meaning. And it also refutes the opinion given to me by that minister when I was at school.

The New Covenant is not like the Old Covenant. It is nothing like the Old Covenant, and certainly not an extension of the Old Covenant.

We will look at what the New Covenant IS actually like in the next post. At this time we need to understand why and how it is nothing like the Old Covenant.

Why was there a need for a covenant Not like the Old Covenant?

God made it clear that there was a need for a New Covenant. The Old Covenant was the covenant of law, given to Israel through Moses. It was given because of the escalation of sin. The intent was to define a standard of living and to rein in sin in Israel, as this scripture shows.

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained by angels through an intermediary. (Galatians 3:19)

Transgressions, or sin, was a major problem in Israel at the time Moses led them out of Egypt. They had been living in idolatry following the gods of Egypt, and their idolatry was evident when they made the golden calf (Read: Exodus 32). Doing so infuriated God and was part of the reason why the laws of the Old Covenant were given.

Sin was rampant in Israel. The law was introduced to provide a mechanism for justice in the people and a process for worshiping the one true God, rather than idols.

But still the people strayed from the law. They frequently frustrated Moses and God by rejecting God and doing sinful things. As this verse under review today shows, they rejected God, they did not continue in His covenant, and so He paid them no heed. In essence God rejected the people and punished them because they rejected Him.

This is why it was necessary to establish a New Covenant that was not like the Old Covenant. The fact is, no-one could keep the Old Covenant then, nor can anyone do so today. If man was to be redeemed, there needed to be a new and different way. God provided that path through establishing the New Covenant.

Why is it not like the Old Covenant?

The first thing to understand is that the Old Covenant was a covenant of law. The law was a bondage upon the people and all were born under the law and bound to keep the law. Failure to keep the law was sin and there were consequences and judgements for failure to keep the law. Some required animal and blood sacrifices to atone for sins. Other sins required the death penalty to remove the sinfulness from the people and the nation.

The people were bound under the law and there was no escape. They had to keep the law, or suffer the consequences.

By contrast, the New Covenant in Jesus Christ offers freedom. This freedom is not based upon keeping the Old Covenant laws. Rather, it based upon faith in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

The Old Covenant condemned people for breaking the law. But the New Covenant is not like the Old Covenant. Instead, it offers freedom from law, freedom from sin, and redemption through faith and the grace of God.

This is the key difference why the New Covenant is not like the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant promoted bondage and the New Covenant promoted freedom. And you cannot be in bondage and free at the same time. You cannot be a slave and be free at the same time.

A challenge in the Church today

This is a challenge for the broad church today. Many churches still preach the law, especially the Ten Commandments. Many promote works of the law such as fasting, tithing, not eating certain meats, and so on.

Then they also teach the messages of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They do exactly what that minister said to me many years ago. They teach the New Covenant as if it were an extension of the Old Covenant.

And it is not. The New Covenant is not like the Old Covenant, as the scripture says. They should not be taught together. We have been set free from the Old Covenant that taught law and condemned people as sinners. We have been redeemed from the curse of the law through the sacrifice of Jesus, as this scripture shows:

10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no man is justified before God by the law; for “He who through faith is righteous shall live”; 12 but the law does not rest on faith, for “He who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us–for it is written, “Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree” — 14 that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:10-14)

It was in Jesus’ sacrifice that we have been set free from the law. Sin has been removed, and the law that condemns people as sinners has been taken away too. All we need to do to receive this redemption is to believe.

The problem the law causes for Christians

Also, we find that the law actually gets in the way. I mentioned that the Old Covenant is based upon bondage under the law. By contrast the New Covenant is based upon freedom. Freedom from sin and freedom from the law, and this is why the New Covenant is not like the Old Covenant.

We also see these words that tell us of the necessity to be set free from the bondages of law under the Old Covenant.

1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Now I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is bound to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness. (Galatians 5:1-5)

Verse 1 confirms that Christ has set us free so that we could be truly free. Circumcision was the sign and seal of the Old Covenant amongst the children of Abraham. And verse 2 tells us that when people accept circumcision, they are bound to keep not just that law, but all of it. In the same way when someone breaks just one law, they are guilty of breaking all of it, as this verse tells us.

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. (James 2:10)

Likewise, today if you accept that you have to keep just one law, then you are required to keep all of the laws. For instance, if you believe that you MUST tithe because the law says so, then you have to keep all the rest of the six hundred and fifty laws too. And that is the burden of the Old Covenant. No-one can keep it all and that is why the New Covenant is not like the Old Covenant.

Furthermore, we see in the Galatians 5 scripture quoted above, that those who seek to be justified by the law are separated from God’s grace. They are severed from Christ when they seek to be justified, or made righteous, under the law. And if there is one thing we do not want as Christians it is to be separated, severed, and cut off from Christ.

We must learn and understand that the New Covenant is not like the Old Covenant as it says in Hebrews 8:9. We must learn then what the New Covenant is really all about. It is n ot a simple extension of the Old Covenant. It is something entirely new and different from the Old Covenant. And it is a far better way to come to God as it releases us from all of the bondages and restrictions under the Old Covenant that no-one is able to keep anyway.

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