Blood Covenant

Fr. Wil Verhoff

May 21, 2017

The ancient blood covenant ceremony is one of the most sacred and binding ofrelational compacts. Marriage, too, is a sacred covenant. Some, but not all of the following components are a part of the marriage covenant.

To understand the blood covenant is to understandthe Hebrew termHesed or Chesed. This is a conceptthat appears240 times throughout the Jewish Bible. Hesed is the concept of God’s lovingly merciful relationship with humanity, that often times defies reason.

“In general, one may identify three basic meanings of the word, which always interact: ‘strength,’ ‘steadfastness,’ and ‘love.’ Any understanding of the word that fails to suggest all three inevitably loses some of its richness. ‘Love’ by itself easily becomes sentimentalized or universalized apart from the covenant. Yet ‘strength’ or ‘steadfastness’ suggests only the fulfillment of a legal or other obligation.” “Hesed implies personal involvement and commitment in a relationship beyond the rule of law.” (5) (p.195)

God’s choice of the Blood Covenantas the method of our salvation is unspeakably profound.
Blood covenants are known to be the ultimate in giving, fairness and mutuality.
Blood Covenants areirrevocable– in human terms, the only nullification of it is the death of one of its covenant partners (unlike the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus which did not nullify the New Covenant).
The New Covenant, through Christ Jesus, is greatly imbalanced in our favor – “Jesus gets our sin and we get His righteousness!” (4)

2 Corinthians 5:21 -- “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

“To cut the covenant” predates the biblical accounts of blood covenant, but the necessary portions of the ceremony are included in the biblical account. Because the ancients believed that blood was life, the co-mingling of blood made two lives into one life. (5)

First a suitable site for the ceremony was chosen. For example, God told Abram where to perform the sacrifice of his son Isaac. (Gen 22:2).

If a covenant was between two groups of people, a representative of each group was chosen to be the participants in the covenant ceremony.
From a Christian stand point, there is a deeper understandingof“Representative.”

“When the representative enters into a blood-covenant with another, the people he represents are said to be "in him", or they are "in" the person doing the representing because he is acting on their behalf as a "substitute" for them. The substitute has perfectly "identified" with the group he represents; therefore, the group and the guarantor are acting and speaking "as one" in the covenant making process. Therefore, when two tribes come together to make a blood-covenant between them they both send forth their representatives and when the covenant ceremony is completed the two tribes are now in union with each other and are seen "as one" to the rest of the world.” (4)

Elements of the Blood Covenant

An animal was sacrificed. It was usually a bull, a goat or a lamb. When it was killed, the body was cut in half down the center and laid aside on the ground. The two halves were separated by a pool of blood between the halves.

In the case of:

Abraham –God said to Abram:“Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-oldfemale goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.” (Gen. 15:9)

Abram was told by God: “Throughout your generations, every male among you at eight days old is to be circumcised. This includes a slave born in your house and one purchased with money from any foreigner. The one who is not your offspring,” (Gen 17:12)

Later, at the sacrifice of Isaac, The Lord provided a ram for sacrificein place of his son, Isaac.(Gen. 22:13)

Christ Jesus – Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice, his body and blood, so precious in every way, was spent for our salvation. He was a faultless, perfect representative and God’s own sacrifice, and acceptable of a pure, permanent offering for sin. “Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that He might sanctify the people by His own blood.”(Heb 13:12) (1)

There was an exchange of coats. Each participant removed his coat and gave it to the other person. (A coat was a sign of a tribe’s identity and authority – perhaps the derivation of the termcoat of arms.) The trading of coats meant an exchange of identity, so that the identity, resources and reputation of the two were now one(seen as “an entire sameness, one soul”). (3)

In the case of:

David and Jonathan – “Jonathan gave David his robe, military tunic, his sword, bow and belt.” (1 Sam 18:3-4) This was a sign of total giving and total reciprocity from the other.

Christ Jesus – The Lord had his clothing gambled for and His seamless garment as a prize. (John 19:23)–“When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from top.”

An exchange of weapon belts, swords and bow took place. By exchanging these personal items of self-defense, the participants were making the statement, “All of my strength is now yours.” “Your enemies are now my enemies.” It was a commitment to defend the other if and when the individual was ever under attack.

In the case of:

Abraham – At the scene of God’s Blood Covenant with Abram, the Lord comes to Abram in a vision, therein stating: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.” (Gen. 15:1)

David and Jonathan – The covenant love between David and Jonathan was so strong that Jonathan, the rightful and just heir to the throne of Saul, forfeited his inheritance because of his true admiration of David, and David’s anointing.

The covenant between Jonathan and David extended beyond their immediate relationship. Years later, David found one of Jonathan’s son’s living a life of poverty within his realm. When David learned of the son of his covenant brother, David brought him, Mephibosheth, into his household to have Jonathan’s son eat dinner with them nightly.(2Sam 9:10)

An exchange of names:covenant makers were stating that they now shared the same identity. It was a surrender of one’s individuality. The two became one. In a covenant, one is no longer concerned only for themselves. Care for the other was primary.

In the case of:

Abraham – In Gen. 17:5, Abram’s name was changed (Abram meant High Father), changed to Abraham (meaning a father of a multitude). God took the most important part of His name, the H in YHWH. The H (sound ha), used twice, one of them was given to Abram to make Abraham.

What an incredible gift – God shared part of His very name with a human in covenant!

God’s name changed also, because He became known as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

Here too, God changed the name of Sarai to Sarah because she was to be the mother of nations and the kings of peoples. (5)(p.25)

Each participant walked through blood. The parties walked through the pool of blood between the two halves of animals. They would walk a path in the form of a figure 8, (a sign of infinity) and stop in the middle to pronounce the blessings for upholding the covenant, and the curses if the covenant would be broken (Chapters 27 and 28 of Deuteronomy). In the middle of the bloody pool, the respective participants would say, “The one who breaks this covenant will die just like this animal has died.” Also, stating, “Just as this animal gave its life, so I will give my life for you if necessary.”

In the case of:

Abraham–After Abram had cut all three of the larger animals and laid them out opposite the other halves,God put Abram under a deep sleep. Instead of Abram passing through the halves of sacrificed animals, the Lord passed through them in the form of a smoking fire pot (Holy Spirit)and a flaming torch (Christ, the Messiah); and He said in covenant with Abram: “I give this land to your offspring, from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River: the land of the Kenites…and Jebusites.” Gen 15:18-21

The irony of this is that Abram was not awake to attest to the covenant. God vowed Abram’s part and His own. The Lord vowed that He would die if any part of the covenant was not honored. While Abram slept, God made humanity’s vow. By God’s own power, He took our punishment of death for violation of the covenant!

What a marvelous God who provided a way out of an eternalconundrum.

Our God is both the Ways and the Means to eternal life!

Furthermore, the Lord has proven His vigilance to His children time and again, not the least of which is the formof a theophany that He took while leading the Israelites through the desert: “The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.” (Exodus 13:22)

Moses –In Exodus 4:24-26, God tried to kill Mosesat night when Moses and family were traveling to Egypt for the first time. The action of God was based upon Moses’ having neglected the circumcisionof his son. This is why Moses’ wife addressed the matter with a flint, circumcising their son.

The Cut of the Covenant. Each participant would use a knife, making a cut in the palm of the hand or on the wrist, allowing the blood to flow freely. The participants then engaged in a blood mingling hand shake, believing that their life was in their blood. Their lives would become one blood, one life. “It is likely that the handshake evolved from the ritual of grasping for the blood to flow together.” (5) (p.8)

In some cultures, the blood of each participant was captured in a cup and mixed with wine to be consumed by the other, demonstrating their union. The Hebrew faith prohibited drinking blood, but the wine was referred to as the “blood of the grape.”

The blood covenant relationship was so intertwined that the children of either covenanted party would never be allowed to marry into the other covenanted family. This would have been taboo, creating an incestual relationship. Despite the many similarities of the blood covenant and the covenant of marriage, seldom were covenants made between a man and a woman. In such a case, they would not be permitted to marry, nor their respective children be permitted to marry a member of the other family.

In the case of:

Abraham – At age 99, Abram underwentcircumcision. This was his blood-letting for the Covenant with God. The Lord told Abraham, “This is My covenant, which you are to keep, between Me and you and your offspring after you: Every one of your males must be circumcised.” (Gen. 17:10)

Christ Jesus – Certainly, Jesus let virtually all of the blood in His body for humanity. The most memorable scene from the passion of Christ was following His last breath, when the guard pierced His side, blood and water flowed from the wound.

The Seal (or Scar)of the blood covenantwould be made from the incisions as a permanent mark reminding each of the covenant. The scar was made by adding a foreign substance in the incision (e.g. wood ashes) to make a noticeable scar as a “marked” man.

In the case of:

Abraham – The scar from the circumcision was the scar or seal of the blood covenant that Abraham and his descendants would have with God in to perpetuity.

Christ Jesus – The seal of the new Covenant was the risen body of Jesus. The wounds in His hands and feet, and the wound in His side were certainly marks to remember His great sacrifice. “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isa 53:5, NIV)

A Covenant Meal would be shared. The covenant ceremony would conclude with a meal of bread and wine. Each person of the covenant would feed the other bread (their body) and wine (their blood) as a sign of “a part of themselves going into the other.” As a sign of Hebrew Hesed, or GreekAgape love, the two became one. In either case, it meant “I will never forsake you or leave you.” (4)

The following is background for the significance of eating bread and drinking wine, from The Great Exchange: Bound By Blood:

“Through the cutting of flesh, their blood had co-mingled, but with the meal, they went a step further. By eating the bread and drinking the wine, they symbolically took the flesh and blood of the other into themselves, thus becoming one in flesh and in blood. They were co-mingled in such a way that it was impossible to separate them. Thus, the blood covenant was established, and the two indeed were one.” (5) (p.11)

In the case of:

Abraham – As a sign of this covenantal ceremony, celebrated with bread and wine, we are reminded of the great ceremonial ritual introduced when Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram in the presence of the other two kings. (Gen. 14:18)

Christ Jesus –As Paul provided (1Cor 11:23-26) the reiterationof Christ Jesus’ words at theLast Supper:

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”

“In the same way, after supper He also took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” (1Cor 11:23-26.

In like manner, in John 6:53, it states: “So Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves.”

Sources:

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Great Exchange: Bound by Blood, by Dr. Robert C. & Kay W. Camenisch