1. Hebrews 8:8 says it was the covenant made with Israel and the house of Judah when God "took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt."

In 1 Kings 8:21, Solomon makes a speech when the Ark of the Covenant is brought into the newly constructed temple. He says "And there I have made a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD which He made with our fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt."

Conclusion: The first covenant of Hebrews 8 is the covenant placed in the Ark of the Covenant.

 

2. Also in 1 Kings 8: 9 the Bible says that "There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt."

Conclusion: The first covenant of Hebrews 8 is the covenant written on the two tablets of stone, the Ten Commandments. See Duet 4:13.

3. Hebrews 8:7 identifies the covenant under consideration as the first covenant. Notice what Hebrews 9 says about the first.

The first:

1. Had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary 9:1
2. Had the ark and the Ten Commandments. Notice that these are part of the earthly sanctuary. 9:2-4
3. Had priests, priestly services, animal sacrifices. 9:6-10
4. Was concerned with foods and drinks, washings, fleshly ordinances. 9:1
5. Was dedicated with animal blood. 9:19-22
6. Did not provide remission of sins so that a new covenant was necessary. 9:15

Conclusion: The first covenant of Hebrews 8 was the 10 commandments PLUS the other ordinances given to the children of Israel at Horeb. This passage says the first covenant had these ordinances.

1. Notice that Hebrews 8, 9 and 10 contrast the first with the second, the old with the new. What do Hebrews 8,9 and 10 say about the first covenant?

1. A new covenant would take its place. 8:8-12
2. It is obsolete (old, KJV). 8:13
3. It waxeth old and was ready to vanish away at the time Hebrews was written. 8:13
4. Did not provide remission of sins and therefore the new covenant replaced it. 9:15
5. It was a shadow of good things to come. 10:1
6. He says that Jesus did the will of God by dying the death that animals could not satisfy and "He takes away the first that He may establish the second." 10: 5-10.

5. What is said of the new covenant?

1. It is a better covenant established on better promises. 8:6
2. Its laws are written on the heart and we are God’s people. 8:10
3. Under it God is merciful to our unrighteousness and sins are forgotten 8:12; 9:12
4. It has the promise of eternal inheritance. 9:15

According to Hebrews 8,9 and 10, the Ten Commandments and the associated ordinances were a system that could not provide remission of sins, did not include Christ, and were simply copies of that which was to come. Hebrews does not make one difference between the Ten Commandments and the other laws. The points above establish that the first covenant was the Ten Commandments and the other laws given by Moses.

Old and new are not the same. First and second are not the same. An old contract is replaced by a new contract. A first contract is replaced by a second contract. An old will (last will and testament) is replaced when a new one is written. A first will becomes invalid when a second is penned.

If we wish to determine what God’s commandments are for us, then we need to examine the new (second) covenant. A person cannot argue rights to his father’s possessions because his father's first will gave them all to him if a second exists that says he must share them with his brother.

We cannot prove the necessity of observing the Sabbath because of any scripture found in the first covenant. Nor can we argue for abstinence from meat, tithing, circumcision, priestly services, instrumental music or any other commandment found in the first covenant. All practices must come from and be found in the new covenant. The plain teaching of the scriptures is that the first covenant has been replaced. It vanished away. It passed away (2 Corinthians 3).

Of the Old Testament law Peter said in Acts 15:10, "Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?"

The writer of Hebrews begins by telling us where to look for our authority. Hebrews 1:1-2, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son…" Jesus is who we listen to. He is the "mediator of the new testament." Our authority comes from Jesus and the words of the New Testament. Does that make useless the Old Testament? Certainly not. Paul said in Romans 15:4 that those things are "written for our learning." We cannot understand God without the Old Testament. However, our authority comes from the words of Jesus in New Testament and these are the words that will judge us (John 12:48; 1 Corinthians 14:37).

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