Hebrews 8 introduces Jesus as the mediator of a new and better covenant based on better promises. But before we talk about the new covenant, we must talk about the old covenant. But we cannot talk about the old covenant until we understand what a covenant is in the first place. And to understand the idea of a covenant, we have to understand why God made covenants, and to understand that, we have to go back to the very beginning and learn more about YAHWEH- the covenant making, covenant keeping God of Israel.