Not the Covenant Made with Israel's Fathers Hebrews 8:9

The writer of Hebrews declared that God would “make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah”, and in chapter eight and verse nine of Hebrews the writer shares how God said this is not “the covenant that I made with their fathers” where we read:

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 continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, says the Lord.

The verse begins, “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;”. The writer began with the words, “Not according to” which means “not down from, throughout, toward or along” “the covenant” or “the disposition, arrangement, compact or testament” “that I made” or “that God brought forth, fulfilled, caused and performed” “with their fathers” which refers to “the people of Israel and Judah's generators, founders, progenitors or ancestors” “in the day” or “general time period” “when I took them” which means “caught, laid and took hold of Israel and Judah” “by the hand” or “by help, agency, means and determined will” “to lead them” which means “to bring and fetch them out” “out of the land” or “the ground, territory, country and region” “of Egypt” which means “double straits” and was “a country occupying the northeast angle of Africa”. God's “new covenant” would not be like the one He gave to Israel when He “lead them out” of the land of “Egypt”.

The verse continues, “...because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, says the Lord.”. The writer added the word, “because” or “since and on account of” “they continued not” which means “did not remain, continue or persevere, hold fast, be true to and keep anything” “in my covenant” or “in God's disposition, arrangement, compact or testament”, “and I regarded them not” which means “God did not neglect, make light of or be careless of the people”, “says” which means “speaks, calls, tells, exhorts, advises and commands” “the Lord” which refers to “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah”. The reason God provided a “new covenant” was because the people did not “hold fast to or keep” His “first covenant”, and yet, God still did not “neglect or ignore” them.

When we consider these words in Hebrews, we see clearly the reason for the “second covenant” - the people could not and did not keep the “first” one. An amazing characteristic of God is that He did not forsake them but rather made a “second covenant” that would be based upon His performance and not the people's. The Lord knows our frame, that we are only “dust”, and we have flaws. We do not keep His law, and rather than our disobedience reflecting bad upon His “first covenant”, it reflects badly upon us. God's blessing to us is that He sent Jesus Christ to the earth to “fulfill” His “first covenant”, and now we must only believe in, trust in, rely upon and cling to Him for our salvation and relationship with God. May all who read these words understand how God made having a relationship with Him as simple as it can be.

Next time the writer of Hebrews shares more about the “second covenant” that God “will make with the house of Israel”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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