Discourse on the Preterist' Mindset—An Exegesis on Hebrews 8:13

Discourse on the Preterist' Mindset

An Exegesis on Hebrews 8:13

The New Covenant is in His Blood

There are times when I am astonished. This is one of those times. 

Having read some explanations of how some Preterists¹ interpret Hebrews 8:13, I felt another exegesis was due. Hebrews 8:13,

“In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”

The Preterists referred to interpret Hebrews 8:13 as though the context for “Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” is written in present tense²—current events at the time of the writing. Hence, they understand that the author of Hebrews is writing, standing in present tense, saying at that point (post Cross and Resurrection) the first Covenant is—at that point—becoming obsolete and growing old, and at that present time, ready to vanish away.

I know that is a mouthful. Let’s break it down. Here is the context for verse 8:13 starting at the beginning of the paragraph in verse 6,

6 But now [at this very moment] He [Jesus] has obtained³ a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is² also Mediator of a better covenant, which was³ established on better promises.

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says 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 did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD.

10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

11 “None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”

Hebrews 8:8b-12 is a restated prophecy from Jeremiah 31:31-34; in Hebrews it is preceded by and followed by the author’s explanation. Beginning in 8:6-8a, the author leads into Jeremiah’s prophecy of the New Covenant, then wraps it up by concluding the explanation in 8:13. Hebrews 9 goes on to bring revelation to types and shadows—how they speak of and point to Christ.

Often in Biblical literature tenses are confusing to our English mindsets. Tenses do not always translate directly from Greek to English. In Hebrews 8:13 the author uses “He says,” “has made,” “is becoming,” and “is ready” all in relation to the Old Covenant. Let’s look again at Hebrews 8:13 as the author quotes from Jeremiah 31:

“13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”

Hebrews 8:13 spans from the time when Jeremiah wrote the prophecy to the death of Jesus. The author of Hebrews is quoting Jeremiah’s prophecy as if standing in 600 BC with Jeremiah, viewing the prophecy as they look forward to the New Covenant. They are watching the timeline. As the New Covenant approaches the Old Covenant is becoming obsolete and growing old. At the same time they acknowledge, as they view the New Covenant from 600 BC, God giving a New Covenant means the Old vanished. That was what happened on the Cross!

The pinnacle of how to understand Hebrews 8:13 is within itself: “In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete.” Meaning, when the New comes, the Old is obsolete. And from the time of Jeremiah’s prophecy, the Old was becoming obsolete, growing old, and ready to vanish. The word “obsolete” is perfect tense. Perfect tense “describes an action which is viewed as having been completed in the past, once and for all, not needing to be repeated.” (Greek Online Lexicon) The Preterists’ view I conflict with believe the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, in 70 AD by Titus, is what made the Old obsolete and completely vanished. However, as the writer of Hebrews is plainly stating, the Old was already obsolete at the time of the writing of Hebrews—predating 70AD; note the wording, “In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete.” The Old is automatically obsolete when the New comes. Again, the tense is “perfect” meaning, it “describes an action which is viewed as having been completed in the past, once and for all, not needing to be repeated.” (Greek Online Lexicon)

How do we know the Old was already obsolete at the time of Hebrew’s writing?

The Bible is clear the New Covenant was in Jesus’ Blood. Luke 22:20 states, “Likewise He [Jesus] also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” This is what Communion is all about. 1 Corinthians 11:25-26, “In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”

Also Hebrews 9:16-17, “For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.” Therefore, on the Cross when Jesus said, “It is finished” and breathed His last, the New Covenant began—before the resurrection, before Pentecost, before the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD—on the Cross, at the last beat of Jesus’ heart, as He breathed His last saying “It is finished.”

Furthermore, Hebrews 10:8-10, “Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first [most commentators agree this refers to the old way entirely—covenant, law, priesthood, dispensation: the old order] that He may establish the second [covenant, law, priesthood, dispensation]. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Note again, it is the body—the blood sacrifice—of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Again demolishing any argument that it was Titus in 70 AD who completely obliterated the Old Covenant! To say otherwise would be to give Titus the power to accomplish what Jesus could not.

It was Christ Jesus—His blood, His sacrifice!

I encourage everyone to read through Hebrews over and over.

Footnotes:

1.  Preterism: See http://www.theopedia.com/preterism for more on Preterism.

2.  Present Tense: “The present tense represents a simple statement of fact or reality viewed as occurring in actual time.  In most cases this corresponds directly with the English present tense.”

“Some phrases which might be rendered as past tense in English will often occur in the present tense in Greek.  These are termed "historical presents," and such occurrences dramatize the event described as if the reader were there watching the event occur.  Some English translations render such historical presents in the English past tense, while others permit the tense to remain in the present.” (Online Greek Lexicon)

Examples of present tense in Hebrews 8:13 are “He says”, “what is becoming obsolete”, and “growing old.”

3.  Perfect Tense: “The perfect tense in Greek corresponds to the perfect tense in English, and describes an action which is viewed as having been completed in the past, once and for all, not needing to be repeated.”

 “Jesus’ last cry from the cross, TETELESTAI (“It is finished!”), is a good example of the perfect tense used in this sense, namely “It [the atonement] has been accomplished, completely, once and for all time.””

 “Certain antiquated verb forms in Greek, such as those related to seeing (eidw) or knowing (oida) will use the perfect tense in a manner equivalent to the normal past tense.  These few cases are exception to the normal rule and do not alter the normal connotation of the perfect tense stated above.”