Covenant is a word used nearly four hundred times in the Bible. If we don't understand Covenant, we can't truly understand God because He is a Covenant God, looking for a Covenant people. If we don't understand Covenant, we can't understand our relationship with one another either.

The Bible is divided into two divisions: The Old Testament and the New Testament. The word testament comes from a Latin word, testamentum. The more proper name for these two divisions; however, is "covenant." So the Bible is really the story of an Old Covenant and a New Covenant.

In the Bible, the word covenant means a binding agreement between two parties. The Hebrew word for covenant is Berith. The Greek word is Diatheke. It actually means to "cut covenant." By definition, it is an agreement to "cut a covenant by shedding of blood and walking between pieces of flesh." So the two divisions in the Bible are about an Old Blood Covenant and a New Blood Covenant. A blood covenant between two parties is the closest, the most enduring, the most solemn and the most sacred of all contracts. It absolutely cannot be broken. I remember years ago, the Spirit of the Lord spoke a Word into my spirit, that I will never forget. It was concerning a man that had just died. This man and I were baptized the same day. I continued on, in my relationship with the Lord becoming an ardent student of the Word, founding and pastoring a church and doing all the things you would expect a Christian to do. This other man didn't experience a whole lot of change in his life. He was not seen at church very often and for all intents and purposes, he more or less resumed his old lifestyle. Before he died he called me to talk about his well being and a few days after an operation passed away suddenly. His family called me to have his funeral and as I sought the Lord on what to preach at his funeral, the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me and said "Remember the Covenant." He went on to say," I entered into covenant with this man fifteen years ago and I have kept my Word, whether he did or not. The covenant I entered into with him was totally unconditional and eternal. It's as good and as binding today as it was the day that I made it with him."

When you enter into blood covenant with someone, you promise to give them your life, your love and your protection forever ... till death do you part. Marriage is a blood covenant. We don't honour marriage as a blood covenant but God says it is (Mal. 2:14). When the bride and groom feed each other the wedding cake, they are saying symbolically, "I'm coming into you and you into me. The two of us are becoming one." This symbolic union is made complete by the physical act of marriage when the groom and bride come together as husband and wife. The consummation of the marriage involves the shedding of blood when a woman has kept herself. You see now why God says pre and extra-marital physical intercourse is a sin (Ex. 20:14, Matt. 5:27; 1 Cor. 6:18)

The reason we wear the wedding ring on the third finger is because man believed the third finger had a nerve leading to the heart. And since the heart is the central part of the body that keeps the blood circulating, it became the symbol of life. We use the word "heart" to represent the total person. It stands for your whole being, your whole nature, your whole life. When you love someone with all your heart, you love them with all your being. When you give your heart to someone, you are giving them your total life. This is the essence and the spirit of the blood covenant which God ordains in the Bible and that man has always recognized.

"THE HEBREW BLOOD COVENANT RITUAL"

The Hebrews had a blood covenant ritual that was similar to the other nations around them. All nations practiced blood covenant because man instinctively sought this relationship so this practice was not unique to the Hebrews. When two Hebrew males entered into a blood covenant, they went through a very specific ceremony. There were nine steps to this covenant ritual.

1. The first thing they would do is take off their coat or robe and exchange them.

1Samuel 18:3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments,

To a Hebrew, a person's robe represents the person. By exchanging robes they are symbolically saying, "I'm giving you all myself. My total being and my life, I pledge to you." When we come to Jesus we take off our robes of sin, our robes of good works, our own righteousness and we give it to Him. He gives us His robe of righteousness.

2. The second step was to exchange belts.

1Samuel 18:3-4 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

The Hebrew males did not use their belts to hold up their pants, but to hold their weapons. It held their armour together; their dagger, their bow and arrow, their sword. So symbolically they are giving each other all their strength and pledging their support and protection. As they exchanged belts they were saying, "Here is my strength and all my ability to fight. If anybody attacks you, they are also attacking me. Your battles are my battles and mine are yours. I will fight with you. I will help defend you and protect you." This is similar to a contract nations make today. But this one cannot be broken. When we enter covenant with Jesus Christ, the battle is no longer ours, but His.

3. The next step is to actually "cut the covenant" by taking an animal and splitting it right down the middle.

In the Bible, an animal is only cut down the middle and split in two in a covenant ceremony. After they split the animal, they lay each half to the side of each other and stand in between the two bloody halves of flesh, with out backs to each other. Then we walk right through the two bloody halves, making a figure eight, and come back to a stop facing each other. In doing so they were saying two things.

Gen 15:9-10, 17-18 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

First, they are saying "Our old life separated is ended, we are dying to ourselves. We are giving up our rights to our own life and we are beginning to walk in a new life with our covenant brother. Just as surely as these animals are dead, our old lives are dead." (Gal. 2:20 - "I am crucified with Christ...")  

Second, since the blood covenant is the most solemn pact, they each point down to the bloody animal split in two and say, "God do to me and more if I ever try to break this covenant. Just split me right down the middle and feed me to the vultures because I tried to break the most sacred of all contracts."

4. The next step is to raise their right arms and mix blood.

As they raised their right arms, cut their palms and brought them together, their blood intermingles. Then they swore allegiance to one another. As their blood intermingled, they believed that their lives were intermingling, they believed their lives were intermingling and becoming one. So they were putting off their old nature and putting on the nature of their blood covenant partner. The two are becoming one. Man has always believed that intermingling of blood is intermingling life. This symbolically shows the two becoming one.

Gen 2:23-24 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

5. Then as they stood there with their blood intermingling, they exchanged names.

They each took the other's last name as a part of theirs. Jesus gives us the authority to use His Name.

Gen 17:2-5 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.     

        6.    The next step is to rub their blood together and make a scar as a permanent testimony to the covenant.

          7.    Then they stood before witnesses and gave the terms of the covenant. They pledged all their assets, all their money, all their property, and all their possessions to one another.

Act 2:44-46 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

If you need any of them, you don't have to ask. Just come and get it. What is mind is yours and what is yours is mine. And if I die, all my children are yours by adoption and your are responsible for my family. But at the same time they also got liabilities. If I ever get in trouble financially, I don't have to come ask you for money. I just make the need known. They are in covenant. Everything they have belongs to the other, both assets and liabilities, so they stood before witnesses, and listed their assets and liabilities.

8.     Then they had a memorial meal to complete the covenant union.

1Cor 11:24-26 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

They broke bread together and drank wine. In the Bible, wine is called the blood of the grapes (Gen. 49:11) and it represents our own blood. The bread represents our flesh. Jesus ate a covenant meal with His disciples. When they broke the bread in two and fed it to each other they were saying, "This is symbolic of my body and I'm now putting it in you." When they served each other the wine they were saying, "This is symbolic of my blood which is now your blood." Symbolically, they were now one together with a new nature. The Bible tells us that we have a divine nature when we enter covenant with Jesus Christ.

9.     The very last step was to leave a memorial to the covenant.

Gen 9:12-15 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

They want to always remember it. They did this by planting a tree that we have sprinkled with the blood of the animal. The blood sprinkled tree, along with their scar, will always be a testimony to our covenant. It sure sounds like the cross to me. Baptism is our memorial to the covenant we enter with Jesus.

This completed the ceremony. From now on they were known as friends. In Bible times, one didn't use the word loosely as we do today. You became friends only after you had cut covenant. And all our children are included in this covenant, even the unborn ones. They are in covenant because they are in us. Later, when they are born and come to an age of understanding about our covenant, they can choose to stay in it, or reject it. Now, anytime you see these happenings or these words referenced in the Bible, either actually or symbolically, you know the parties are entering into a blood covenant. In the Bible days everyone knew all the details of the Blood Covenant ritual and it wasn't necessary to record it all but we should get familiar with the nine steps and the covenant "Language" because this is the basic ritual and you will want to recognize it as you read the Bible and see how it is applied.

Would you like to live your life knowing that you are in Covenant relationship with God. You can, because Jesus Christ has made it possible and He desires to enter into covenant with you. He wants you to live your life in confidence and assurance. He wants you to have eternal life.

 Matthew 26:26-28 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament (covenant), which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Jesus Christ has become our covenant sacrifice. It is through His shed blood that we have an eternal relationship with our heavenly Father.

He has done His part through His death burial and resurrection. Now, all you have to do is believe and receive what He has done for you.

Pray with me right now. "Father I thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus Christ. I thank you for forgiving me of my sins and washing them all away in the blood of Jesus Christ. I confess Him as my personal Saviour and Lord of my life. Thank you Jesus for entering into covenant relationship with me and I can be called your friend. I am now in You and You are in me. In Jesus name. Amen