Hebrews 8

(2) A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

(3) For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

(4) For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
 

(5) Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

(6) But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

(7) For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

(8) For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

(9) 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, saith the Lord.

(10) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

(11) And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

(12) For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

(1) In summary; We have a new High Priest. He sits at the right hand of God.



(2) A minister in the heavenly sanctuary. Not the earthly model set up by Moses.


(3) Every High Priest has the duty to offer gifts and sacrifices. Likewise Jesus Christ must have something to offer.
 

(4) If he were on earth he would not be a priest, because we already have an abundance of priests offering gifts as instructed in Leviticus and other books of the law.

(5) But the earthly priests are only a pattern of the heavenly. That is as commanded in Exodus 25:40, "And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount."

(6) A better priest is in a position to mediate a better covenant and establish it on better promises.

(7) For if 'The Old Covenant' had been faultless, then there would have been no need for a New Covenant.

(8) Now God did not find fault with the Old Covenant, rather he found fault with the people of Israel. They broke the covenant. It is like a marriage covenant. There is nothing wrong with the agreement as long as both parties keep their part. But if one party is unfaithful, well then there is a fault. So after the people broke the covenant God said, I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: It is recorded in Jeremiah 31: 31 -34, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

(9) Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:
 

(10) But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God,

(11) And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord:

(12) For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

(13) A new covenant made the old obsolete but the Old Covenant is not gone yet.

   Here you will find listed the blessings and the curses of the Old Covenant. (It could also be called the graces and curses.) The first fifteen verses of list blessings for a Godly people. Three times as many verses list the curses that God will bring upon his people if they become wicked.

    The song about America containing the words "God shed his grace on thee" speaks of these first fifteen verses. Now that America had began a slide into wickedness the blessings of the first fifteen are disappearing and the curses of the latter forty five are appearing.