8:6
Everything was a shadow. Now the true covenant has come. Jesus is a far better high priest, His ministry is “much more excellent”, and it is built on better promises. The writer will now go on to explain how it is built on better promises. The essence of this is that the promises in the Law all depended upon Israel keeping all of the Law, the promises of the new covenant are built upon the obedience of Jesus.
8:7
The wrong way to look at the Law is to see the Law as “it”. This is the way that the Jews looked at it. The Law was the way to live and that was the end of the matter. If we lived by the Law we would be fine, if we didn’t, then we would not be fine. The Law is perfect in the sense that its commands are good, and if someone did live perfectly by the Law then they would have life. It is highly imperfect if the goal is to save a sinful people, and that is God’s purpose. The writer has also demonstrated on several occasions that as well as setting out the perfect requirements, the Law and the Prophets (though Hebrews focuses mostly on the Law) are also looking forward to a new and better covenant, one that can save sinful people.
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