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Hebrews 8:8-10 – New Covenant
How does the new covenant differ from the old so that the new is in our minds and written on our hearts and the old is not?
I think the answer is found in the history of a suzerainty covenant. When such a covenant was made, two copies were made. One for the king; the other for the people. Each would keep their copy. As we are aware, the Ten Commandments were written on two tablets. According to Phil Roberts, this was not because it took two tablets to contain the covenant or treaty. Rather, each tablet was a duplicate of the other: one copy for the king; one copy for the people. Where were both kept? In the meeting place – the Ark of the Covenant. Why? God was with His people.
Today, the New Covenant is also a suzerainty covenant. Where are the two copies? One is the word God spoke (the N.T.) which latter was completely written down. Where is the other copy? It is not on a stone tablet it is written on our heart.
Could this be the simplification of God’s moral code from a host of commands to loving God and fellow man?
No, because the lawyer in Luke 10 understood the entire Old Covenant to be simplified into these two categories (Luke 10:25-28). Jesus taught this is the proper way of understanding the Old Law (Matthew 22:34-40).
Or could an example of this be Jesus’ teaching on the mount where he emphasized not external obedience but obedience beginning in the mind?
No, because Jesus wasn’t laying down a new law (Matthew 5:23), but rather explaining how God’s laws should always be followed, which includes today. The theme of the Sermon on the Mount found in v.20 (a righteousness which surpasses the Pharisees, not a righteousness which surpasses the Old Law.) Even today we are to have this same type of righteousness.
Or something else?
One thing we need to remember is that the “Old Testament” commonly called, contained many covenants (Abraham’s covenant [Genesis 15:18] was different from Noah’s covenant [Genesis 6:18].). The covenant could be “The Law” (Exodus 31:16); but not all covenants were “The Law” (Galatians 3:17).
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