For the past two weeks, the students at re\\VAMP have been learning about the promises God made to us and our responsibilities to Him. For this lesson, I used a game of Deal or no Deal to illustrate the idea of a covenant...
So I constructed our own edition of Deal or No Deal, replacing cases with cards, the money values with gift cards and action based risks, and hilarity ensued (things got funny).
Twice I took pie to the face and for the record, ready whip smells like putrid vomit when it's stuck in your beard for a couple hours. But it's all worth it if this message sticks with you like the cream stuck with my beard.
All pie-bearding aside, the point that I wanted to drive home is the purpose of a deal. Making a deal with someone generally ensures that BOTH parties benefit from it. A covenant is like a hyper-advanced-uber-deal. And a BLOOD covenant is even stronger, still.
First, what exactly is a Blood Covenant?
A Blood Covenant is a ritual in which two people mix blood and make a lifelong deal to share EVERYTHING they own. This deal would ensure that BOTH parties would benefit and BOTH would actively participate (even sacrifice if they had to).
A good example is that of a farmer and a war general. If the farmer enters into a covenant with the general, he has to offer his land, crops, and shelter to the general's troops if need ever arises. This is to the benefit of the general. BUT if anyone ever tries to steal from the farmer or hurt him in any way, the general's entire army would be obligated to take up sword and protect the farm. This is to the benefit of the farmer. Both parties give and both receive. There are nine steps that you need to know so you can see when a covenant is cut in the bible...
Hebrew ritual steps:
1 Exchange Coats
2 Exchange Belts
3 Cut the Covenant
4 Mix Blood
5 Exchange Names
6 Make a Scar
7 Give Covenant Terms
8 Eat Memorial Meal
9 Plant a Memorial
Understand that you won't find all of these steps recorded in scripture because in the biblical days, everyone was familiar with the Hebrew culture so they didn't record all of the details, but learning these steps will make it easier for you to see covenants in the bible, even if only one step is mentioned.
So, is this why they sacrificed animals in the Old Testament?
Partially, yes. A blood covenant required the shedding of blood from both parties. In order to achieve the blood covenant with God under the Old Covenant, sinless blood needed to be shed, which is why animal sacrifice took place.
An example of God cutting a Blood Covenant can be seen in the story of Abraham (Abram) and Isaac...
Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.” Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.” But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?” The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away. As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.” After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River— the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.” (Genesis 15:1-21 NLT)
Then Abram acted in doubt and had his first son with a servant, but later was given another chance and a promise from God.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them! “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.” Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.” (Genesis 17:1-14 NLT)
We can see that God's bloodshed came from the sacrifice of animals and Abraham's bloodshed came
From the act of circumcision. Both parties shed blood as the blood covenant ritual required. Then God tested Abraham's obedience.
Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.” So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together. When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!” “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.” Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven. “This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:1-18 NLT)
Because Abraham obeyed God and had faith that God would keep his covenant with him, God spared the life of Isaac and sent a ram to be offered as a sacrifice instead.
But what does this all have to do with Jesus and Christmas?
I'll explain this in Part II later this week.
