Suffering Glory—Shadows of the Good to Come

Hebrews 8

Joel Miles

May 5, 2024

With a friend, your family or in your small group, discuss the following questions:

1. Read 8:1-2. Before you discuss what this means, spend time talking about why priests are important. What is a priest? What role did priests have throughout the history of the Bible? How do priests relate to our ultimate need of being with God?
2. Read Hebrews 8:3-6. According to this text, what was the Old Testament sanctuary? What does this mean about the role priests played in the Old Testament? Why do you think God gave Israel a covenant that was a "shadow of the good to come?"
3. Why does seeing Israel’s old covenant with God as incomplete make sense, when you compare Israel’s relationship with God with the garden of Eden? How does this highlight our need for something better? How does this relate to Hebrews 8:7?
4. Read Hebrews 8:8-12. In what way is this new covenant better than the old? What are the differences?
5. The original readers were tempted to walk away from Jesus and to go back to the old covenant, but the writer here is saying: “No! That covenant isn’t not enough to provide what you truly need!” How are we tempted to look to things that aren’t enough to truly satisfy us? What are the things that we go to to give us rest and peace, that aren’t good enough? How does this text encourage/challenge us?
6. How can you encourage and pray for one another to rest in Jesus?