The Blood Covenant
The Blood Covenant this is the key for understanding the nature of Scripture. Here we go.
What is a covenant?
The Hebrew word for covenant is berith or b’rit, which simply means “to cut, to bind together in obligation.” It is used nearly 300 times in Scripture and comes from the root word meaning “to cut”.
A more expanded definition for clarity and richness is:
“Covenant is
• An all-encompassing agreement between two parties with clearly outlined perimeters and promises
• A mutual understanding between two persons who bind themselves together with specific obligations to fulfill
• The giving of oneself or a group of individuals into a lasting union together for life and unto death
• Entered into so as to complement strengths and weaknesses (never based on unilateral similarities)
• A tangible expression of love and trust
• A relationship that will require blood to be shed to reinforce the solemnity and seriousness of the bond”
A covenant bond is very different from a contract agreement. How so? A contract is limited to the giving of goods, services, and products to another party. These terms may be” “negotiated or cancelled. What’s more, contracts are made with ink. Covenants are made with blood and involve the giving of one’s complete self to another—much more than just goods, services, or products!”
The blood symbolized an entering into a type of death to self and passing through to a new life of union together with the new covenant partner.
We're going to look at Genesis 15 and read a most unusual passage.
Genesis 15:7-8 ESV
7 And he (God) said to him (Abram), “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
Now just three chapters before in Genesis 12 God brought him to a particular place and He says, take a look at this as far as you can see that's going to be your land. That's Genesis 12. So, here in Chapter15
He says, "'God what about the land? You kind of making a deal with me. So, what about this? We're going to sign the contract. God says, you are, we are right now.
Now watch what he says, "'How may I know I possess it?'
9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
Well that's kind of a gory passage, cutting cows in two, what's going on here?
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
Remember that phrase. That phrase is going to have jolting relevance.
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
So far we have a cow that’s been cut up and we have a smoking oven and a flaming torch walking through the gore.
" What on earth is that? This is an odd verse. This is not a verse you would put on your refrigerator.
18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land…
And by the way Abraham's descendants to this day still go in the Middle East watch over what's going on. They still haven't figured out that God gave him this land. Nobody else could have it.
Now, let's suppose that we're making covenant. And the ancient tribal chiefs when they make a covenant, it's called cutting a covenant. There was always the shedding of blood, cutting a covenant. Ancient tribal chiefs would go through certain steps in the ancient world in which the Bible is written.
We are going to have to use our imaginations for a few moments…
And here's what they do, let's suppose Mr. Donald and I were making a covenant. So if Christian and Mr. Donald are now making a covenant, we're before a crowd of witnesses in an open field, and the first thing we would do would be to EXCHANGE OUTER GARMENTS. We would exchange outer garments. I would give him mine. He would give me his. We would wear each other's.
Robes represented an exchange of identity. It symbolizes an exchange of identity, even an intentional “confusing of identity”.
So when someone came and they'd say, here comes Mr. Donald. Well that's his coat, but man, he doesn’t walk like Mr. Donald. As confused as the identity. Hey, that's Christian’s coat, but boy, he's looks taller. Yeah, there's a confusion of identities that's taking place. That's the first step.
The second step is the EXCHANGE THE BELTS.
When you exchange belts, you exchange strengths or assets. And so whatever I have belongs to Mr. Donald belongs to me. And whatever I own belongs to Mr. Donald.
The exchanging of belts would be like us saying, “Everything I bring to this relationship is now yours. And everything you have is now mine. Our strengths and our assets are now combined.”
And so at that particular point, if he wants to borrow the lawnmower, he doesn't knock on my door and ask for the lawnmower, it's simply his because we're covenant partners. He just gets the lawnmower because we have now shared everything, every strength.
The third thing we would do would be the EXCHANGE OF WEAPONS. So, all the swords and everything that hangs on the belt is now exchanged. All the military hardware is exchanged. That symbolizes an exchange of enemies. That means if somebody comes after me they're going to have to take on Mr. Donald first because he's going to defend me. That's the third step in the ancient covenant making ceremony the tribal chiefs would participate.
The fourth step would be the SACRIFICIAL ANIMAL'S CUT.
Now this is Genesis 15. The sacrifice, the heifer was laid there, on its backside, sliced down the underbelly of the animal, the parts folded out, and the next, in the covenant-making ceremony. There's always the shedding of blood. There's always the loss of life.
And so, here we go with the next step, which is the WALK OF DEATH.
I would walk through the animal, walk around this side. I would come back through the animal. I would end up back over here where I was, completing a figure eight. He would walk through this animal the same way, and that walk of death symbolizes the loss of our identity, the death of self. Because we're now moving into a merged relationship, so everything's going to change after this.
The next thing Mr. Donald and I would do would be the STRIKING OF HANDS / MARK ON THE BODY. In the Hebrew culture the hand includes the wrist. There would be a small incision on the wrist and we would intermingle our blood with one another. In primitive culture, some primitive culture still actually practice this and it is said that they will rub an abrasive substance, something like gunpowder into that to leave a darkened mark so the wound is evident and we can't prove this next part, it's surmised but we can't prove this, that possibly the origin of the wave, why do we wave to people, the origin of the wave, so it would expose the covenant mark as a way of saying, better be careful what you do with me because out there somewhere is another set of fists prepared to defend me, don't mess with me.
Now that's the next step, that was the striking of hands. Somewhere on the body, it wasn't always the wrist, but somewhere on the body was a mark, evidence that I was in covenant with this person, with Mr. Donald in this case.
Seven, the PRONOUNCEMENT OF BLESSINGS AND CURSES.
We'd face each other, a crowd of witnesses, open field, and I'd say, Mr. Donald, so long as you keep these, the terms of this covenant, blessed shall you be when you go out and come in, blessed shall be your wife, blessed shall be your children, your offspring, as a rural agrarian economy, so that language, blessed shall be your oxen, your donkeys, blessed shall be your barley, your crops, and we would go through it and then there would be a pause. But if you violate the terms of this covenant, curse shall you be when you rise up, when you lay down. And I would go through his family and through all of his everything that he owns.
Then he would look at me and start to do the same thing, Christian so long as you keep the terms of this commandment, blessed shall you be. And then eventually he would walk through the curses and the consequences of violating the covenant.
The next thing would be the COVENANT MEAL.
Mr. Donald and I as tribal chiefs, ancient culture, would sit in front of you as a crowd of witnesses. We would come together for the covenant meal. And the covenant meal I would feed him the first bite, he would feed me the first bite as a symbolism of our ingesting our further oneness.
By the way that's the origin of the bride and the groom at a wedding reception, that's a covenant meal. That is done as a statement of their oneness with each other.
The next thing would be the EXCHANGE OF NAMES.
I would look at Mr. Donald and would say, From this point on Mr. Donald I'm going to take a part of your name into mine. My name will be Christian Corbitt Walker, and he would say from this point on my name will be Donald Walker Corbitt.
That way every time anybody pronounces either of our names, they're pronouncing who our covenant partner is.
Abram went through a covenant making ceremony his name got changed. What did it get changed to? Abraham. Where did the A-H come from? In the ancient Hebrew there are no vowels. There are only consonants. So his consonant was an H. In the Hebrew letter there's kind of one harsh one and one softer one.
In Hebrew, the equivalent to our H, one is H and the other is H. Softer. It's the softer one. When God shows up, how does He show up?
Well sometimes in fire, sometimes clouds, sometimes wind. In the Hebrew the word is ruach, the breath of God. He breathed into humanity the hhh, the breath and man became a living being in that moment.
If we go to the New Testament the word there is pneuma. We say Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost. We don't know how to translate pneuma, we call it spirit or some people ghost, it's really a holy wind. It's the holy whoosh wind that comes through.
And so somebody comes to Abram, I hear you made a covenant, you have a new covenant partner, what's your name now? My name is Abraham. Oh, you made covenant with HIM, yeah.
And from that point on, God was called the God of Abraham. Even the friend of Abraham, in the exchange of names.
Okay, so I want to show you some examples in Scripture that would not make sense unless you understand covenants. And there are hundreds of verses like that. Let's take for example
Genesis 17, he says, Abraham
11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
A mark on the body. Why a piece of skin from the male reproductive organ? Why?
Well let me ask you this, in that culture what was the most horrible thing that could befall a husband and wife?
Answer, barrenness.
What was the greatest thing that could happen to a husband and wife?
Fruitfulness in producing children. That was the best. Children were seen as a blessing then and they ought to be seen as a blessing now.
So what was the most priceless thing you could have?
Children are the most wonderful blessing you could have. And so God says,
Abraham, on that part of your body that's involved in procreation, since children are the most priceless possession you have, I want you to put a mark there as a permanent reminder that everything you have, even your kids, even your son Isaac, belongs to me.
Let's go to another passage.
Deuteronomy 28:1-3
“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.
Have you ever heard that language before? Pronounce it with blessings and curses. Well twice in Deuteronomy and once in Joshua they give directions what's going to happen in Joshua, and what happens?
The children of Israel are getting ready to finally come into the Promised Land. It was promised to them a long time before but now they've been wandering for 40 years. And by the way when they came in strange passage He required them as they came near Jericho required all the males to be circumcised. Why?
The mark of the covenant. If you are going to get in this land you are going to come in with my mark as a permanent reminder on you.
Now you read this in Joshua, as they crossed they did a strange thing. There is Mount Gerizim, the Mount of Blessings and Mount Ebal, the Mount of Curses. And they walked between the parts. Does that sound like something you've heard?
And they put a bunch of priests on this mountain, a bunch of priests on this mountain.
From Mount Gerizim there's a, "'Blessed shall you be so long as you keep His commandments.'"
That's what they're hearing as they are walking between mountain. This is a covenant making ceremony. It's a weird story unless you understand covenant.
And from Mount Ebal, the Mount of Curses, from there they were saying, "'Cursed shall you be if you disobey the Word of the Lord.'"
Or take Jeremiah 34 it says, the rulers in Judah cut the animal in two and walked between his part. Makes no sense unless we understand covenant.
19 the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf.
Here we go, the last one. The last step in the covenant making ceremony, if Mr. Donald and I were in an open field before a crowd of witnesses, everybody would be saying, are they going to test or prove the covenant? Because that's where you find out if it's for real.
And at that point, we're gonna see what's gonna happen. You'd be gasping to wait, because the final step of the covenant making ceremony is the exchange of the oldest male child. And so here we sit. I'm here, he's there.
I take hold of Gavin’s hand, he takes hold of Don’s hand, and we start walking towards each other. And we get here, and I say, Joshua, you've been my son, I love you. My son. But I'm making covenant with Jorgen.
I'm placing your hand in his. He will be your son and go to your home from this point on. And Jorgen says, Jordan, I love you. You mean everything to me. But I just cut a covenant with Jim. And the proof, or the testing of the covenant, is whether we're willing to exchange oldest male child, and I'm giving you my hand, your hand, into Jim's, and you're going with him to his home from this point on.
Now, watch what happens in Genesis 22:1-2. You're not going to believe this.
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
In other words, God says, Abraham, it's time to prove or test the covenant. Your boy, your boy.
Abraham didn't go, my boy, sacrifice my boy to you. He didn't do that because he understood covenant. He understood the nature of covenant. He says, okay, it's that time.
They are walking towards Mount Moriah where it's going to happen. That place today is called Mount Calvary, a rocky hill just outside Jerusalem
Now catch this.
4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
They walked for how many days?
Genesis 22 is a historical event.
Hebrews 11, catch this, puts us into the mind of Abraham. Hebrews 11 tells us what Abraham was thinking. And here's what Abraham was thinking according to
Hebrews 11:17-19
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
Basically, Abraham said to himself, God is so incredible that He promised me this son, and all the promises are going to happen through Isaac. So, if I sacrifice his life to God, God's going to have to raise him from the dead because we are in covenant together.
Now let me ask you, when had Abraham ever seen a resurrection?
The answer, never. Not recorded, no such thing. But he was so confident in God that he thought God could do something that no person had ever seen, including him.
So, in Abraham’s heart, Isaac was a “dead man” when they began the journey.
SO, Isaac was a “dead man” for how long?
Catch that, anybody? And when the father saw his son, he was in the tomb for three days. Isaac, we don't know how old he was. Some people, a little boy. No, I don't think so. Some people think he was 33. Interesting if he was.
5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”
Here we see confirmation of Hebrews 11. He expected to return back with Isaac.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.
Abraham placed the wood on Isaac to carry to the sacrifice. In Hebrew the word tree means wood.
Jesus would later carry the tree, the cross up that same hill.
7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Isaac is tested and must now embrace his father’s faith. He allows himself to be bound on wood.
Jesus would later say,
Luke 22:42
42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
God was saying that because you sacrificed your son. Because you've been willing to sacrifice your son, I can now sacrifice my son, and the covenant is now rock solid. It's been tested or proved. And every descendant of Abraham, that's you, enjoys the reality of this covenant.
And we see the covenant being fulfilled, completed in
John 19:30 English Standard Version
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Why'd that all end? Let me tell you, I'm going to take you back to Genesis 15. Here's where this passage is going to make a lot of sense. Remember what happened? Abram says, hey God, how am I gonna know I'm gonna have the land? He says, go get a heifer and cut it in two. Abram didn't say, well that's kind of a dumb idea, can't we just sign the contract?
So get the heifer, cut it in two, we're gonna walk between the parts.
Here's Abraham at the most important moment of his life, making covenant with God, and he fell asleep.
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
God knocked him out. A deep sleep, suddenly, this exhilarating moment, he's in clunk, he's out. Why did God do that to him?
Because if Abram would have been awake and have walked between the parts after God and violated one tiny piece of the covenant, it had been toast, it'd be over for him. And God wanted to protect him, and since we are embryonically present as the descendants of Abram in that event, God is protecting you at that point.
Now listen, and so what he says, it's time to walk between the parts. Abram says, okay. He's sound asleep. And so it says in the text,
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
What's the smoking fire pot? What's that?
Well, every time God shows up, he'll show up with a cloud or smoke or fire or something. And here he comes as fire coming between that part.
And then who comes next? A flaming torch.
Who's that? The second member of the Trinity. Jesus always was, before Bethlehem, He always was the second member of the Trinity.
One of the rules of the covenant making ceremony is you can designate a representative in your behalf. And God decided to do that.
You can designate a representative and God says, I'm going to designate a representative for you. Abram, you're dead asleep because if you go through that, you're over.
And so Jesus walks between it, representing you and me, Abraham's descendants, and he paid the price for it.
That's what sent him to the cross. That little verse about a heifer cutting two and Abram falling asleep and a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch may likely be the most important verse in the book of Hebrews. It's the most important verse in the book of Hebrews. That little verse about a heifer cutting two and Abram falling asleep and a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch may likely be the best verse in the entire Bible.
**Inspired by the Book, The Blood Covenant by James L. Garlow and Rob Price