Messianic Jews 8:6-13
Letter to the Messianic Jews

In my last post, we began our mini-series on Yeshua: His Better Covenant which covers Messianic Jews 8:1 – 10:18. In this post, we examine Messianic Jews 8:6-13 the Brit Hadashah Based on a Superior Promise.  Both Stern, Barclay and I have much to say about this passage. Consequently, I’m breaking it up into bite-size chunks.  In this post, we will concentrate only on verse 6 since it is pivotal in our understanding the superior promise.

Brit Hadashah Based on a Superior Promise

“⁶ But now the work Yeshua has been given to do is far superior to theirs, just as the covenant He mediates is better. For this covenant has been given as Torah on the basis of better promises. ⁷ Indeed, if the first covenant had not given ground for faultfinding, there would have been no need for a second one.

⁸ For God does find fault with the people when he says, “‘See! The days are coming,’ says Adonai, ‘when I will establish over the house of Isra’el and over the house of Y’hudah a Brit Hadashah. ⁹ “‘It will not be like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by their hand and led them forth out of the land of Egypt; because they, for their part, did not remain faithful to my covenant; so I, for my part, stopped concerning myself with them,’ says Adonai. ¹⁰ “‘For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Isra’el after those days,’ says Adonai: ‘I will put my Torah in their minds and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people. ¹¹ “‘None of them will teach his fellow-citizen or his brother, saying, “Know Adonai!” For all will know me, from the least of them to the greatest, ¹² because I will be merciful toward their wickednesses and remember their sins no more.’” [Qouted from Jeremiah 31:30-33(31-34)]

¹³ By using the term, “new,” he has made the first covenant “old”; and something being made old, something in the process of aging, is on its way to vanishing altogether.” ~ Hebrews 8:6-13 (CJB)

The covenant which Yeshua mediates is the Brit Hadashah (New Covenant) spoken of by Jeremiah in the passage quoted below (verses 8-12). It is better than the covenant Moshe mediated at Mount Sinai, as proved by verses 6b-13. Whether the idea of a mediator between God and humanity is Jewish, (see 1 Timothy 2:5b-6a).

Stern states that this passage (verses 6b-13) is one of the two most important discussions of the Brit Hadashah in relation to the Covenant with Moshe at Mount Sinai (the other is 2 Corinthians 3:6-18).

Non-Messianic Jews claim that God did not establish a Brit Hadashah with Israel through Yeshua – and indeed they must say this, even though it undermines ecumenical tolerance by attacking the foundation of Believer faith. Otherwise, they have no excuse for not adhering to its terms and accepting Yeshua as the Messiah. He goes on to raise and answer four traditional objections made by Non-Messianic Jews ~ the scope of which is beyond our discussion at this point.

The Brit Hadashah has been given as Torah. This is a virtually unknown theological truth of far-reaching importance.

1. Although many Jews and Believers believe that the Brit Hadashah abrogated the Torah, the Brit Hadashah here explicitly states that it has itself been given as Torah. Apparently, if the Brit Hadashah is Torah, then the Torah has not been abolished.
2. The fact that the Brit Hadashah has been given as Torah means that a Jew is not a Torah-observant Jew unless he accepts the Brit Hadashah as Torah. A Jew who considers himself shomer-mitzvot, “an observer of [the] commandments,” is deluding himself if he does not obey the Brit Hadashah. Unless he trusts in Yeshua as Messiah as his atonement for sin, he is disobeying Torah. Let us not forget that the author of Messianic Jews is writing under the influence of the Ruach HaKodesh.
3. Finally, it means that a Gentile grafted into Israel by faith in Yeshua the Messiah has himself come into the framework of Israel’s Torah. Although what this Torah demands of him differs from what it requires of a Jew, a Gentile Believer should never think of himself as “free from the Law,” as many do.

That the Brit Hadashah has become Torah is crucial for understanding the Brit Hadashah. 

The better promises of the Brit Hadashah were not invented by the author of the book of Messianic Jews but were announced by God in the Tanakh through the prophet Jeremiah (as we will see in verses 10-12). Having the Torah internalized is better than having it written out, and it is better to have sins forgiven permanently than temporarily.

In my next post, we’ll continue our new mini-series on Yeshua: His Better Covenant as we continue to unpack Messianic Jews 8:6-13.

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