Violating a local ordinance does not incur the same degree of legal culpability as committing treason. And, in like manner, the potential punishment for a misdemeanor is not the same as a felony.
The writer of Hebrews has gone into thorough and compelling detail (in chapters 5-10) to provide plenty of irrefutable proof that Jesus’ new covenant is superior to the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai. What extraordinary blessings and privileges are embedded in this fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:7-13).
Though vastly inferior to the new covenant, Moses’ law could be so violated that the righteous punishment for the guilty was death without mercy. If this severity of punishment was just for those who violated the laws of the first covenant, “of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:29).
