October 24, 2026 -Covenant
“But God found fault with the people and said: “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.”
Hebrews 8:8-9 NIV
This prophecy is found in Jeremiah 31 which we will be reading soon. Just like we needed a better sacrifice we need a better covenant. All because the old was dependent on man. Sinful broken mankind. God always knew that the first covenant was not something that the people would or could keep up their side of. I think just like the sacrificial system was to help us to understand the need for a sacrifice the old covenant was to reveal to us our sinfulness and inability to live by the law, as well as help us understand the reliability of God's part of the covenant.
“This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”
Hebrews 8:10-13 NIV
The old covenant required His people to follow His laws, and He promised to bless them and give them the land that He promised them. But if they disobey His law, He will remove his blessing, and they will no longer possess that land. The people showed themselves unfaithful and He showed Himself faithful to do exactly what He said He would do over and over again. This shows us that we cannot live up to the standard that God requires and it shows that if God says it, He will do it.
So, when He gives a prophecy about a new covenant that will make it so everyone can know Him, that He will forgive their wickedness and not only forgive sin but "remember it no more". It is a complete fulfillment of the first covenant because He no longer see the sin or hold it against us. The new covenant makes the old covenant obsolete because it fulfills it and nullifies it by the blood of Jesus.
There is no need to require that the old laws be fulfilled. That doesn't mean that a Jewish believer has to give up the following of the laws that they choose to live by. Kosher laws, worship practices etc. There is nothing wrong with the laws and if they help someone to keep Christ in His rightful place in their life then it is good. However, it should not take the place of Christ and there should be no requiring of the laws that are not sin prohibiting to be followed. Of course, we should strive to live by the 10 commandments those are the laws we are to live by but most of the Jewish laws are not related to the 10 commandments. Just like there are many different practices that we are called to do in scriptures. Praise Him, worship Him, pray, study, love Him and love others etc. But how we do that and when or how often we do that is going to be different for every person. We cannot decide what walking with Christ looks like for others. The new covenant assures us that a true believer will be seen as cleansed off all sin in the eyes of God for eternity. So, all the things that we do to walk with Him and follow His word are for us. To help us to know Him more and to love Him and others more. They are gifts from God, not rules to be followed.
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