Blood Covenant goes back to the dawn of history. In fact, if you study ancient civilizations, you will find they all have some form of Blood Covenant. The American Indians, tribes in South America and Africa still practice the Blood Covenant rite. God instituted Blood Covenant in the Garden of Eden, and it’s been passed down through the ages. There are several steps to the Hebrew rite. First and foremost, one would never dream of entering into Covenant without having known the other individual for quite some time because you are going to give yourself away to that person … you have no rights left when you have entered into a Blood Covenant.
The Blood Covenant has existed since the Garden of Eden... we see it first when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Scripture tells us their eyes were opened and they covered themselves with fig leaves. God, however, required Blood. In Genesis 3:21 we read, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” God covered them with animal skins, for a Blood sacrifice was required. God taught Adam to offer animals as a sacrifice in looking forward to the promised Redeemer
Blood Covenant goes back to the dawn of history. In fact, if you study ancient civilizations, you will find they all have some form of Blood Covenant. The American Indians, tribes in South America and Africa still practice the Blood Covenant rite. God instituted Blood Covenant in the Garden of Eden, and it’s been passed down through the ages. There are several steps to the Hebrew rite. First and foremost, one would never dream of entering into Covenant without having known the other individual for quite some time because you are going to give yourself away to that person ... you have no rights left when you have entered into a Blood Covenant.
Chapter 15 of Genesis is the foundation chapter of the whole Bible. The whole concept of the Bible is stated there. God seeks Abram out because He wants to bring the new Adam (Jesus) down to earth. God is setting the stage to set in order all things that the first Adam destroyed. Now, God enters into Covenant with Abram. The Almighty God brings man into a union with Himself. The Creator goes to the creature and says, “We shall marry.” We will enter into an unbreakable Covenant with Blood. And God did it just according to any other Blood Covenant. He took off His coat, His bow and His sword and gave it to Abram. Scripture say:
In Chapter Two we strongly laid the foundation of the Diatheke Covenant ... that God took all the initiative. God came to Abraham, and He said, “I am going to enter into Covenant with you.” God made the Covenant. He cut it with Abraham, and then God made the promises that depended on Him for their fulfillment – not upon Abraham. He underlined that rather humorously by, just at the vital moment when Abraham should have had something to do with it – God put him to sleep. The only part Abraham played in the whole thing was ... “and Abraham believed God.”
In Chapter 3 we saw the Israelites go to Mt. Sinai, and at Mt. Sinai there seemed to be an interruption in the Covenant. But we found it wasn’t an interruption; instead, it was a “waking up.” The Law came to show how badly they needed a Diatheke Covenant – a Covenant where God would do everything! The Law came, not as a way to approach God, but to drive us to despair so we know only Christ can save us!
We will focus on the third term of the Covenant – which again, is Diatheke
For several weeks we have been studying the Covenant, and we frequently refer back to God’s Covenant with Abraham. We learned it was a special kind of Covenant, and we’ve used the Greek word “Diatheke” to describe it. God made certain promises to Abraham and the whole responsibility to fulfill the Covenant was on God. We have seen that it extended into the New Covenant. God spelled out the things that He Himself would do for the people who believe and trust Him.
1. God Covenanted: Your sins and iniquities I will remember no more.
2. God Covenanted: I will write my law upon your heart.
3. God Covenanted: Every one of you, from the least to the greatest, shall know me.
4. God Covenanted: I shall be your God and ye shall be my people.
Those are the terms of the Covenant. It was in the Blood of Jesus that the Covenant was sealed.
JUSTIFIED WITH COVENANTAL BLOOD
When God entered into Covenant with Abraham, and when Jesus ushered in the New Covenant, the believer was promised His infinite riches and power because He consented to bind Himself to us by Covenant. The Covenant was Diatheke – all its terms were (and always will be) fulfilled by Him. God has sought every possible means to give us confidence that He will never fail to keep Covenant. All of His dealings with Israel had one object – to teach men and women to trust in Him only. Without their Faith, He could do nothing! Unbelief was the root of the Israelite’s disobedience, and it made it impossible for God to do His work. When they showed trust and obedience; however, He was able to perform mighty miracles!
MY EXCEEDINGLY GREAT REWARD
God sovereignly inaugurates the New Covenant. Jesus used the occasion of the Passover meal to inaugurate the New Covenant. The symbolism of the Passover meal under the Old Covenant was about to be fully satisfied through Christ’s crucifixion. In this historic moment, Jesus transformed the meaning of the elements of the Passover meal into New Covenant thought.