8:7,8
All of the Old Testament is pointing forwards, and in Jer 31:31-34 God explicitly states that He is going to make a new covenant. The old covenant did not fail in its purposes, put the Jews thought it had a different purpose than the one God gave it, they thought it could actually provide salvation.
Moreover this new covenant would be made with the people of Israel and Judah. Some Jews might have been tempted to think that the new covenant was the way that the Gentiles would be saved, but that Jews needed to stick with the old covenant. This is slightly better than the error made by the people in Galatia (ie that the Gentiles needed to follow the Law), but is still badly mistaken. The Jews needed a new covenant just as much as the Gentiles did.
8:9
The Old Testament can fairly be described as a record of the sins of Israel and God’s judgement upon them. I know it is more than that, but it sums up much of it. The Jews should have realised that the Law could not make them righteous, and the reason was that they were sinful. They did not, indeed could not, remain faithful to it.
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