More About Blood Covenants
Life, real life, is in the blood.
Leviticus 17:11 says,
"For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”
Western thinking compared to Eastern, Oriental, Hebrew thinking.
Henry Clay Trumbull, for most of his life, researched blood covenants in ancient cultures, including Bible cultures. In his book, The Blood Covenant [1], he states:
From the beginning, and everywhere, blood seems to have been looked upon as pre-eminently the representative of life; as indeed, in a peculiar sense, life itself. The transference of blood from one organism to another has been counted the transference of life, with all that life includes. The inter-commingling of blood by its inter-transference has been understood as equivalent to an inter-commingling of natures. Two natures inter-commingled, by the inter-commingling of blood, have been considered as forming, thenceforward, one blood, one life, one nature, one soul - in two organisms. The inter-commingling of natures by the inter-commingling of blood has been deemed possible between man and a lower organism, - even between man and Deity, actually or by symbol; - as well as between man and his immediate fellow.
Blood, as life, has been looked upon as belonging, in the highest sense, to the Author of all life. The taking of life has been seen to be the prerogative of its Author; …
The heart of any living organism, as the blood-source and the blood - fountain, has been recognized as the representative of its owner's highest personality, and as the diffuser of the issues of his life and nature.
A covenant of blood, a covenant made by the inter-commingling of blood, has been recognized as the closest, the holiest, and the most indissoluble, compact conceivable. Such a covenant clearly involves an absolute surrender of one's separate self, and an irrevocable merging of one's individual nature into the dual, or the multiplied, personality included in the compact. Man's highest and noblest outreachings of soul have, therefore, been for such a union with the divine nature as is typified in this human covenant of blood.
A blood covenant demands unwavering loyalty. To waiver is to die. That is one reason I believe that many more civilized Western minded thinkers have a difficult time with their relationship with God. They don't understand the absoluteness of the relationship. Many Eastern thinking Christians don't have access to good solid Bible teaching, but when they find out about the blood, they latch on to the idea with all they have.
One who breaks the covenant does it to his/her own death.
Jeremiah 34:17-20 says,
17 “"Therefore thus says the LORD: 'You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,' says the LORD - 'to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth.
18 And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it -
19 the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf -
20 I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies shall be for meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth.'"
What happens when you do not keep the covenant perfectly?
God knew this would happen; therefore He walked the blood covenant ditch on behalf of man. In a later chapter we will cover the details of this from Genesis chapter 15. We will see that Abram did not walk the bloody covenant ditch, but he saw two forms of Deity in the covenant ditch. I believe that one was Jesus and the other was the Father, or perhaps the Holy Spirit. Jesus took the death of you, the covenant breaker! Then He was raised from the dead having left the Old Creation in Hell. He was raised as a New Creation, the first born of the new race.
Galatians 3:13-14 says,
13 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, " Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" ),
14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
God cannot lie! He swore to death that He would keep that covenant, knowing that Abram and you and I would not keep it. Thus, He died for our infidelity to the covenant. What a deal!
Hebrews 6:17-18 says,
17 “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath,
18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”
Titus 1:2 says,
2 “In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.”
[2] David Livingstone, historically one of the great missionaries of modern times, in the middle 1800s determined to reach the Africans with the Gospel. On one of his efforts to go into the interior he was advised that the only way would be to make a covenant with one of the chiefs. The deal was that the chief would give Livingstone his old staff with wire wrapped all around it in trade for Livingstone's goat. Livingstone needed the goat for milk, to settle his ulcers, but his people convinced him to make the trade. They cut the covenant with blood. As David Livingstone then approached each interior tribe he would hold up the staff, and the entire tribe would bow and worship, knowing that Livingstone was in covenant with the strongest chief in the area. They understood that looking at Livingstone was the same as looking at the chief with whom he had cut covenant. What about you? Who does Satan see when he looks at you?
Malcolm Smith tells the story of a journey into an African village. On the way he stopped at a bank to exchange funds. The teller put her fingers over the counter waiting for Mr. Smith to reciprocate. After asking his guides, he discovered that this represented two people exchanging blood at the tips of their fingers to insure that no dishonesty would take place in the transaction.
The next day, Mr. Smith met the village chief, a very primitive scarcely clad man. He told the chief that God had sent him with a message for his village. When the chief asked about the message, Mr. Smith put out his fingers in the blood covenant sign. The chief was totally overwhelmed and bowed down and accepted Jesus. He could barely conceive that the Creator would cut a blood covenant with him. The entire village was transformed.
During our trips to Haiti we have heard many stories about the culture's view of blood and covenants. Over 200 years ago, Haiti was given to Satan by the blood of a pig ritual. Voodoo and the related religions all understand the value of blood in spiritual matters. A Pastor told us the story of a Voodoo priest who came to him in order to better understand his religion. The pastor had been casting out demons, and this Voodoo priest wanted to know where the power came from. The priest told the pastor that his best friend had died recently and that even the blood of a chicken could not heal him. The pastor began to tell this man about the blood of Jesus. He was gloriously saved and is now serving in the church.
What is a friend?
The word “friend” in the Oriental/Hebrew culture means a blood covenant partner.
Proverbs 18:24 (KJV) says,
24 “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”
Many cultures that still appreciate blood covenants have a saying, “Blood is thicker than water." The water they refer to is the birth water of the mother, indicating that blood covenant friends are more closely related than children of the same mother. Another way they say it is, “Blood is thicker than milk.”
“Friend” is covenant language. It means the most intimate, loyal and strongest interunion between two beings. When Jesus called Judas “friend” in the Garden of Gethsemane, He was indicting him of breaking the blood covenant.
John 15:15 (KJV) says,
15 “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”
The Mafia does business with blood covenant relationships. If a Mafia member speaks against his brother, his life will be taken. That gives us some kind of a clue of how we should be speaking of our blood covenant brothers and sisters. I dare not speak a negative word against one, lest I am speaking against Jesus and will be judged!
Shaking hands is a blood covenant gesture. Originally blood was passed between the two parties in the grasp, each guaranteeing that the other would not be hurt.
Kissing is a blood covenant act. Notice that Judas kissed Jesus during the betrayal. When one kisses he/she can only kiss one person and that speaks of exclusivity. When one kisses on the lips, then it is codified as a two-way exclusive relationship. Be careful whom you kiss. Many godly people feel that it is wrong to kiss anyone on the mouth that is not your spouse, not even your children.
The word remembrance is a very powerful word.
Luke 22:19 says,
19 “And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.'"
Vines Complete Expository Dictionary defines the word remembrance as follows: “it denotes an unassisted recalling, a remembrance prompted by another, however in classical Greek the words are easily interchangeable. This denotes His presence, not in memory of, but in affectionate calling of the Person Himself to mind; an awakening of the mind to the sacrifices under the Law [the blood].”
Malcolm Smith in his book The Blood Covenant, [3] makes the following statements about the word remember.
The word " remember," in covenant language, means to take appropriate and obligatory action. The covenant meal punctuates our lives with all He has done and all that we must now do in the power of that finished work. It must never be thought of as an attempt to imagine the sufferings of Jesus and work up emotional sadness. Revelation 4 and 5 are the mentality of a service when the triumphant Lamb is covenantally remembered. Because of the nature of the remembering, it is a time to deal with anything in our lives and relationships that contradict the covenant we are celebrating.
A new vision for taking communion.
In the taking of communion we are to picture and remember in our mind, in our imagination, Jesus walking the blood covenant trench on behalf of Abraham and us. We are to picture Jesus on the Cross taking the stripes and torture and bleeding for us. We are to remember His blood. We are to remember to take up our cross, to offer ourselves to Him a living sacrifice. And finally we are to remember who we are in the resurrection power and New Birth.
Remember who you are. It is all about your identity.
If we truly meditate upon the Word of God as it applies to the blood covenant, we will eventually know who we are in fact and in truth! Most faith and behavior issues with Christians stem from the fact that they have never really believed in their hearts who God has made them to be through the blood covenant.
My wife has always said to our children, even our adult children, as they went out the door, “Remember who you are!"
As I was taking communion recently, the Lord said to me, “Larry, as you take this remember who you are." This was a reminder to me that the elements of the covenant are to remind us of the wonderful work that was done in order to regenerate us from sinners to New Creation beings. It is to remind us that we have been crucified with Christ, and have already been raised from the dead in Him. We are also to “remember” who we are in the spiritual sense.
In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul gives a warning that many believers are suffering needlessly and even dying at an early age because of taking communion unworthily.
1 Corinthians 11:29-31 (Amplified Bible) says,
29 “For anyone who eats and drinks without discriminating and recognizing with due appreciation that [it is Christ's] body, eats and drinks a sentence (a verdict of judgment) upon himself.
30 That [careless and unworthy participation] is the reason many of you are weak and sickly, and quite enough of you have fallen into the sleep of death.
31 For if we searchingly examined ourselves [detecting our shortcomings and recognizing our own condition], we should not be judged and penalty decreed [by the divine judgment].”
A lot can be said about this statement. I am sure that there is more to this statement than I even care to discuss here. I am going to share this idea of “Christ's body” in two aspects.
1. The universal Body of Christ, the body of believers in the world.
It is dangerous to be loose or double minded about God's blood covenant family. Paul had admonished these people for at least three things: 1) being in disunity, 2) harboring an ungodly behavior prior to taking the communion, and 3) for “not rightly discerning” or in the Amplified, “without discriminating and recognizing with due appreciation that [it is Christ's] body.” I have seen men of God suffer needlessly because they treated the earthly Body of Christ in a disrespectful way.
2. Your body as Christ's possession.
You know that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Your body is not yours but Christ's. When you put harmful substances into your body, you are not recognizing with due appreciation that it is Christ's body, and you are putting judgment on yourself. Imagine if you were looking at the Temple of God in front of you. You see white fire and smoke with loud noises coming forth from the Holy of Holies. Can you imagine yourself walking up to this Temple and writing graffiti on its walls with a paintbrush?
We should not be presumptuous with our bodies. When we take in harmful substances we should not wonder why God does not heal us. We should be careful with our sugar intake, our chemical intake, and our overall dietary habits. We should not use tobacco products, drugs and/or alcohol. We need to exercise, eat plenty of fibers, fruits and vegetables, and a balanced diet. In this year of 2006, millions of Americans, even youngsters are beginning to suffer for the first time with Sugar Diabetes much of which is traced to lack of exercise and bad diets.
My testimony about alcohol consumption.
Please take what I say here with mercy and grace, as what I say is primarily my personal testimony and is not intended to be absolute doctrine for the Body of Christ.
I have read scientific studies, which show that alcohol consumption, even in the smallest amounts, contributes to and even causes many types of cancer in adults, and deformities in babies while in the womb. Medical people who deal with brain issues have told me that even small intakes of alcohol destroy brain cells. Ask a nurse who cares for dementia patients in a nursing home setting. They have personally shown me patients who have been so affected. Ask a Christian believer in Africa or Haiti who has been delivered from witchcraft. He will tell you how his former slave masters kept him in bondage with alcohol.
Some have called me “religious” and intolerant for such a belief. I can only say what the Lord has revealed to me and spoken to me for my own life. He spoke to me, I believe, for my own benefit. I feel compelled to share it here, perhaps for your benefit as well.
He told me, just a few months after He saved me, that any intake of alcohol in my life would replace the joy of the Holy Spirit that He wanted to give to me. His voice was clear; I had no other influence or voice in my life on this subject.
Prior to meeting the Lord, I was a "social drinker.” I personally know the damage that even moderate drinking will do, and I have witnessed the destruction of relationships and lives due to the influence of alcohol.
Having said all of that, I do not let disagreements on this subject overrule the wonderful relationships I have with many precious brothers and sisters who do disagree with me. This issue is important to me but it may not be for them. We simply respect one another's opinions and preferences. I never wish to make anyone feel condemned or even argumentative on this matter; it is not worth it. I will not argue this subject because it is not worth the strife and division it could cause. I just state my testimony here for those who may be seekers. Ask God to speak to you about this subject.
So why did Jesus make wine?
God is Holy! If you wish to partake in the benefits of the covenant then be holy, be like He is! Treat His earthly Body properly. don't criticize and gossip. don't talk negatively, don't harbor ungodly thoughts rather take them to the Cross. Submit to your proper authorities, tithe, give to the poor, be unselfish, love your enemies, live a life of love, and don't judge others. When you don't live up to the pattern, then judge yourself, confess your sin, and Jesus will cleanse you. Be very prayerful about what you put into your body. If you want to change, ask Jesus to baptize you in His Holy Spirit and fire!
Remember who God is. Jesus made it clear that we partake of the covenant by His Words. Read this Scripture again and let it soak in.
John 6:53-56 says,
53 "Then Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.
56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.'"
John 6:63 says,
63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
Trust God's Word, it is His covenant transfer agent to you. Heaven and earth may pass away but His Word will stand forever! The reason many Christians cannot trust God's Word is that they cannot trust their own words. They are by nature disloyal people and liars. If that is you, don't fret, just get honest and repent. God will honor your honesty and repentance.
How to respond to a blood covenant.
We have an inheritance through the blood covenant that is so great that sometimes it is difficult to believe. We have grace by inheritance, but we must position ourselves and respond in a covenant manner to receive the inheritance. Satan is trying to block it, but Jesus is our Judge, Advocate, and our Mediator.
We can neglect the covenant.
Hebrews 2:3 says,
3 “[H]ow shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.”
Here is a reminder of your relationship disciplines.
While I listed these in the previous chapter, and also in Appendix A of the endnotes, I am listing them here again to emphasize their importance. It is all in the relationship. The blood covenant is all about relationship. Too many people just do not give value to this truth. In the relationship with Jesus, you give Him your words and He gives you His Words. In those words, the blood of both parties transfers to the other. You receive His life, He receives your death!
God is inviting you to discipline your life to relate to Him and get to know Him. This is how the blood covenant blessings flow into your life:
1. Make a firm decision to pursue the relationship. Offer yourself completely to God (Romans 12:1-2). This is our blood covenant response to a mighty blood covenant offered to us by God.
2. Take time to listen. You must take in His Word. Words are blood covenant containers. You must always be in a disciplined Bible study of some kind. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you.
3. Take time to talk: Speak your words. Some people write down your thoughts and feelings in a journal, which can be very valuable. Be gut level honest. Honesty with your blood covenant partner Jesus will cause your sin to go on Him. You cannot and will not overcome any bondage without this gut level honesty.
4. Take time to talk. Speak His Words. Read Psalms and Proverbs by the day. One discipline is to read aloud five Psalms every morning. Use the system of the calendar. As an example, on the 24th of the month read Psalms 24, 54, 84, 114 and 144. Also read Proverb 24. In this system the student will read all Psalms and Proverbs every month. Using this system renews the mind, speaks the Word to Satan, and allows the suffering believer to relate his/her emotions to the Psalmist's. Provisions can be made for months with 31 days, and for Psalm 119. God may lead you to other Scriptures to read out loud as you progress, but this is a good start, and can be a continued blessing for the rest of your life.
5. Obey God. Ask God to give you something simple, something small every day that you may obey. It may be just encouraging another. It may be not driving down the same street that fed your addiction. It may be confessing your sin to Him.
This is a big thing!
John 14:21-23 says that when we obey His Word that He will reveal more and more of Himself to us. Once you have “seen” Jesus, your relationship with Him will no longer be a discipline, but it will be a passionate pursuit. The apostle Paul had this passion.
Philippians 3:10 (Amplified Bible) says,
10 “[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope].”
6. Communion. Take communion on a regular basis. Many people take it daily.
7. Stay in fellowship. It is important to be in fellowship with strong Bible believing, Spirit filled believers, for refreshing and encouragement.
So why did Jesus make wine?
Here is my own personal opinion. I learned most of it from Dr. Carl Baugh, a Spirit filled scientist.
He said that before the flood in Noah's time, there was a firmament over the earth, which was an invisible globe made up of some sort of matter that kept the harmful rays of the sun from destroying things. It also had a metallic and crystal content that reflected the songs that the angels sang to the people on earth. It was like God's boom box! It had several other jobs. But at the flood this broke.
One of the things that the firmament prevented was the fermentation or death process of fruit. This fermentation is what creates alcohol. The alcohol does have some benefits like killing of germs, and in Bible days they would mix a little wine with some water for purification. But the priests who would minister in the presence of God were not allowed to drink any wine.
Notice, after the flood, Noah got drunk. I do not believe he did this on purpose; I feel like he was not aware of what happened.
I feel in the New Earth, that Jesus will give us the New Wine again, or the kind that does not have alcohol. This is different than grape juice, but it is something that we cannot imagine because we are living in a different earth now. I also believe that this original wine, and the New Wine is very tasty and healthy, but it does not have alcohol. Alcohol is made from a death process called fermentation and death is not from God.
Winkey Pratney on Alcohol. Taken from his article The Daniel Files
DRINKING
Minimize drug use of any kind. Find alternatives to what you have. Needless to say, you certainly cut out all illegal and legal addictives. Especially is this true with alcohol and tobacco of any kind.
More kids die by accident than any other cause of death among teenagers. Over half of those deaths are by drunk driving. More boys are murdered than kill themselves; drinking and drugs dominate in the cause of these deaths too. One single drink of alcohol permanently kills off an irreplaceable piece of brain.
All alcohols kill. Methyl blinds you as you die. Even a little propyl alcohol lets monsters loose in your body. But ethyl is the only one that kills you slow so you don't notice how you die.
don't drink don't drink at all. Alcohol (the decayed end-product of rot) not only stuns your ability to think clearly, quickly and remember. Even small amounts knock out your ability to resist disease.
No wonder the Bible says, “Wine is mocker, strong drink is raging and whoever is deceived by it is not wise.” (Prov. 20:1; Isa. 5:11,22; Isa. 28:7) No King's child is to touch alcohol. (Prov. 31:4) Wine is for no one in ministry (Lev. 10:9); you are to get your bravery, happiness, and loudness from the Holy Spirit! (Eph. 5:18; Acts 2:13)
The only legitimate use of strong drink in the Bible is to dull the pain of someone who is dying. (Prov. 31:6) Many kids use it just this same way today. On the cross, Jesus was Jesus was offered a drug/alcohol mixture; He refused it.
[1] Trumbull, H. Clay, The Blood Covenant, Impact Books Inc. Kirkwood, MO, 1975, pages 202-204.
[2] David Livingstone http://home.vicnet.net.au/~neils/africa/livingstone.htm
[3] Smith, Malcolm, The Blood Covenant. San Antonio, TX: Malcolm Smith Ministries, 1990