The question naturally arises, “If Christ is now the Mediator of a New Covenant, what happens to the Old Covenant?” Hebrews 8:13, which comes after the quotation from Jeremiah, gives us the inspired answer:
In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
The word “obsolete” can be illustrated by the ox wagon. To people who have cars and trucks, a wagon pulled by animals has become “old” or “obsolete.” It is out of date, a thing of the past. By saying that the Old Covenant is obsolete, the Hebrew writer does not mean that it has no more use of any kind. Indeed, he puts Old Covenant passages to good use in many ways throughout the Book of Hebrews. But he means that it is out of date as a covenant. A New Covenant is now in effect and therefore, the Old Covenant is no longer in effect.