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The Blood Covenant

As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. Zech. 9/11 The basis of all deliverance, healing and salvation is the blood of Gods covenant. Understanding the blood covenant will strengthen our faith in a way that I believe few revelations from Gods Word will do for us. Unfortunately, today the body of Christ is woefully ignorant of the blood covenant. We are like the description Paul gives in Eph. 2/12: Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. The concept of covenant is foreign to many believers. The reason is because we have been far removed from seeing covenants practiced in everyday life. We have witness contracts instead of covenants. A covenant is a contract, but it is ratified in blood and the agreement is allinclusive everything that belongs to one party belongs to the other party as well. There is no sub-dividing or limit of exchange on a blood covenant. In a contract you may purchase a car and in exchange you give a certain amount of money to the company, and in trade they give you use of the car. You do not own the company and they dont own you. But in a covenant, you own everything the covenant party owns and they own everything you own; you take all their assets and liabilities and they do likewise. Jesus made a covenant with us, not a simple contract. At the Passover, Jesus took bread and wine and lifted it up and said, This is blood of the covenant (Mt. 26/28). He did not sit down at a table and sign with ink an agreement. When you understand that you have a covenant with God through Jesus Christ, then you live with unlimited consciousness. You know if you lack something, then God is obligated by covenant to meet the need.

I know the idea of God being obligated to do anything is very foreign to many of us Christians. The reason is most have been taught that God is a Sovereign God He has the right to do anything He wants. While it is true that God is originally Sovereign, He has chosen to bind himself to us through a blood covenant. A blood covenant binds the parties together, so they are not free to do anything they wish; they must fulfill the obligations of the blood covenant. This is the only basis that we can have faith in God. If God was free to do anything He wishes, then there would be no solid foundation for our faith. We could not be sure what Gods will was if He had not bound Himself to a blood oath.

God Rememberes His Covenant

God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them (Ex. 2/24). It was not enough that God heard their groaning their pains, suffering, slavery He only moved when He remembered his covenant. Prayer is powerful when we remind God of His covenant with us. Abram knew the implication of a blood covenant, so when God promised him all the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates, Abram asked God, O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it? (Gen. 15/8) Abram knew God was Sovereign and was free to whatever He wished with Abram, so Abram wanted additional assurance from God that he would gain possession of the Land. He was basically asking God to make a covenant with him, and that is what God did: On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates (Gen.15/18). The Hebrew writer comments on this passage and says, God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, so that

we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged (Heb. 6/17-18). There are two things God cannot do: He cannot lie and He cannot break a covenant. Abram had both Gods promise and the covenant to confirm the promise. Like Abram, we have two foundations for our faith: Gods promises and the covenant He made with us to confirm all His promises. Eph. 1/13-14 says that God has sealed us with His Holy spirit and has given us the Holy spirit as a pledge, a guarantee to the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven. There is no point to feign humility and tell God, Oh, Lord, I do not want to hold you to anything, simply do what seems best to you. Often we pray like this, thinking that we are praying in faith. But this is not a faith-prayer. Praying in faith requires us to know what God has promised and to hold Him to the promise because of the blood of Jesus.

Marriage Covenant
Even though in our culture we have not seen the practice of blood covenants, there is still one institution where covenant is still the norm. It is marriage. Marriage retains the concept of covenant, though some have water-down the covenant to make it resemble more a contract; nevertheless most see marriage as a covenant not a contract. For example, in marriage, rings are exchanged. Rings are a memorial to a covenant made. Rings remind me on a daily basis that I am married. The blood covenant of Jesus is something we must remind ourselves daily, or else, the devil takes advantage of our memory lapse and brings discouragement. That is why we have the Eucharist celebrated daily for us in the church. The groom and bride at the wedding mass administer each other the Body and Blood of Jesus the Bread and Wine and at the wedding reception feed each other cake and the toast wine. The cake speaks of their bodies. Basically they are saying to each other, my body is yours! You are free to do whatever you like with my body. Then they take the

wine glasses and interlock their arms together and drink from the cups. By this act they declare that their lives belong to each other. We are not our own. We are owned by one another. We are not free to depart and go elsewhere. Do you see the resemblance of the Lords Supper? The best man and sometimes the maid of honour or a special toast master will toast the newlyweds. This toast is a symbol of the announcement of blessings and curses. Blessings if you keep your word and curses if you break it. Of course, now, in an upbeat climate, there are rarely any curses spoken over the couples, but only wishes and blessings for happiness. In some ceremonies, I have seen, there is a unity rope that is laid across the bride and groom. The unity rope is often called the lasso. The wrong picture some have is of a macho-cowboy-groom who lassos his heiferbride and ties her down and says, Shes mine! This is not what the rope symbolizes. Rather its origin is from an ancient soldier who carries weapons tied to his hip by a rope belt. By removing the rope and giving it to his covenant-partner, the person was saying that he will fight his partners enemies. His enemies are my enemies! The bride and groom are saying that they will fight together against any enemies that may come to break up their union. Coins are sometimes given in a wedding ceremony. The coins are easy to understand: this is the bride and grooms way of saying that all their wealth belongs to each other. No one owns any money independently of each other. They are heirs together. Finally, a groom gives his last name to the bride. This means that the wife will be treated with the same respect as the groom. She can sign for any withdrawal from the bank. She is Mrs. Groom and has the use of Mr. Grooms name. His name is her name and thus she has instantly becomes as rich as her husband.

Stories in the Bible

As I describe for you the marriage covenant, many of you, that are knowledgeable of the Bible, can immediately recall scriptures or stories that illustrate the covenant we have with God. For example, Davids utter confidence in God helping him defeat Goliath is based on Davids belief in the covenant. David begins by calling Goliath and uncircumcised Philistine. You see, circumcision is the cutting so blood flows. What David was saying to Goliath was Goliath you do not have a covenant with God and I do! So the battle is not mine, but the Lords! He is on my side! David also said, You come against me with a sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel (1Sam. 17/45). Do you see his complete assurance in the covenant? Being covenant-minded caused David to have great faith, and the same will be true of you. Not only does this story illustrate the blood covenant, but there are many New Testament passages that we may be very familiar with but dont recognize that these famous scriptures were based on the blood covenant. Here are some examples: The Last Supper is a memorial meal for us to keep until Jesus returns. This is why churches have crosses over their buildings. Many people often set up trees as a memorial to a covenant. In the same way, the cross is a memorial to a covenant. In the covenant, God has pronounced blessings upon us. It is not enough that God has saved us; He continues to bless us, all because of the covenant. The Bible says for us to put on the full armour of God. Why? It is because God has given us a promise to fight our battles. He gave us His armour so we can be assured of victory.

The Bible says we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Rom. 8/17). Everything God has belongs to us, because we have a blood covenant through Jesus Christ. If we need wisdom, then God promises to give it to us. If we are weak, then He will be our strength. If we lack anything, then God promises to make it up to us. He does this because of the covenant we have with Him. Jesus gave us the right to use his name. In my name you shall drive out demons and heal the sick. Whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give it to you. Where did Jesus get the concept of giving us His name? It has to do with the covenant we have with Him. As our groom, He gives us His name. We are as rich as Jesus!

Plead the Blood

Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs (Ex. 12/7). It is not enough that you have a covenant with God, but you must apply the blood of Jesus over you life. The reason many believers remain defeated is because they have not applied the blood for their lives. It is your responsibility to put the blood on your life. How do you do it? It is simple; the way the Israelites put the blood over the doorframes of their houses was by taking a hyssop and dipping it into the blood and like a painter, coating their doorframes with blood. A hyssop was a plant with water in its stems. The water speaks of the Word of God. Blood and water flowed down Jesus side. You are to take the water of the Word of God, and with your hyssop the tongue put the blood of Jesus over your life and family. In other words, you apply the blood by speaking the Word of God and pleading the blood of Jesus. The term plead is a legal term. A lawyer may plead a case. They plead not in the sense of begging, but in the

sense of claiming their clients rights. The blood of Jesus gives you rights over the devil and rights with God. You claim your rights by claiming the promises of God. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony (Rev. 12/11). You overcome Satan by two ways: first, the blood of Jesus and second, by you speaking the testimony that the blood provides for you. When a lawyer brings a case to court he brings to the stand witnesses to testify. Well, you are the witness to testify to what the blood has done for you. Testify that the blood cleanses you from sin. Testify that the blood frees you from Satans power. Testify that the blood heals all your diseases. Testify to the goodness of God because of the blood. Without your testimony, Christ, who is your advocate-lawyer cannot help you with your case. Your testimony is essential to winning the victory.