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One of the recurring themes throughout both Old and New Testaments is that of covenant. In most cases, the Greek word translated "covenant" can also be translated "testament" and is indeed so translated in the King James Version. The two sections of the Bible could just as well be called the Old Covenant and the New Covenant respectively.
The Scripture tells us that God established a covenant relationship with Abraham and his descendants, the children of Israel. This was the Old Covenant.
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)
At the last supper, Jesus instituted the New Covenant which was based upon the shedding of his blood upon the cross.
In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." (1 Cor. 11:25)
Throughout the Bible, God has dealt with man on the basis of covenant, and for this reason, it is important to comprehend the underlying meaning of this concept.
There has existed with primitive man since before recorded history, a social custom known by a variety of names, but which can be broadly categorised as the "Blood Covenant."
In accordance with this custom, two people or two tribes, by observing a defined ritual, entered into a life-long and irrevocable commitment one to the other that was considered even more binding than marriage. In so doing they became "blood brothers" or "covenant friends."
Entering into such a covenant was to commit all one owned and all one was to the need of the other party, even to the laying down of one's life if necessary. If your blood brother had a genuine need, then it was your sacred and solemn duty to meet that need to the very limit of your ability. To break or neglect the covenant was largely unheard of, but to do so meant almost certain death, often at the hands of one's own family.
In many lands, in many ages, the rule of law, if it existed at all, was tenuous to say the least. To misplace one's trust could easily prove to be fatal. In this brutal and dangerous environment, the blood covenant stood out like a beacon. Individuals and whole tribes were prepared to commit themselves to it utterly. Those who have observed this custom in operation stand witness to the fact that such trust was seldom disappointed.
In modern western civilisation we understand very little about such total commitment. The closest we come to it is a contract in which two parties enter into an agreement whereby legal rights and obligations are created which the Law will enforce. However it is considered normal practice to look on a contract as something which can be manipulated within the boundaries of the Law to the best advantage of each party.
Not so with the Blood Covenant, where the spirit of the agreement was much more important than the letter.
There were a number of reasons why two people or groups would enter such a covenant relationship.
Having negotiated and agreed upon terms, the two parties would seal the covenant by means of a ceremony or rite. This ceremony varied widely in different parts of the world but, in general, went more or less according to the following pattern.
Firstly, a gathering would be called consisting of family and friends who would act as witnesses. Gifts would be exchanged according to the wealth and position of each party and the benefits and the responsibilities of the covenant would be declared before all witnesses.
Then blood would be shed either by:
A few drops of this blood would be caught and mingled in some way, often in a cup of wine or other liquor. The two covenantors would then drink this mixture, thus symbolically partaking of the other's blood, and by it, in their minds at least, their very life and nature.
At this point representatives of each side, generally priests of some sort, stepped forward and pronounced the most fearsome curses upon these new "blood brothers" detailing the dreadful misfortunes that would befall them should they ever break or fail to fulfil the covenant.
The ceremony frequently ended with a feast in which their new-found relationship was celebrated and enjoyed. Sacrificial beasts, if any, were consumed and other livestock were slaughtered, cooked and shared around. This was accompanied by much rejoicing and goodwill.
The common thread in all such ceremonies was the shedding and sharing together of the blood. To enter into a covenant, the term commonly used was to "cut the covenant" implying that the process normally was accompanied by the shedding of blood.
To those people who participated in this custom, the blood and life were synonymous and the drinking of the blood together was the sharing of each other's very life and nature. So strong was this belief that, in some places, it was held that the two lives became one, that is one nature in two bodies.
The Israelites apparently shared this belief, as they were forbidden to drink the blood of slain animals, as to do so would be to share in their life.
But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. (Deut. 12:23)
With this understanding, we can begin to comprehend the symbolism that was behind the following statement of Jesus.
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him." (John 6:53-56)
Here Jesus was referring to the fusion of his life and nature with our own under the terms of the New Covenant, where we become "participators in the divine nature." This is the reality towards which the symbolism of the Blood Covenant was pointing.
When God spoke to Abram (as Abraham was then called) and said that they would "cut the covenant," it is apparent that Abraham immediately understood the profound and enormous significance of that to which he would be committing himself and his descendants. The concept of the Blood Covenant was now deeply embedded within the consciousness of the human race and Abraham needed no specific prompting to grasp the meaning of what was being proposed.
This covenant was introduced in stages. Firstly God established the covenant with Abraham and celebrated it with the sacrifice of a heifer, a goat, a ram, and dove and a young pigeon. All were slaughtered, their blood being shed, and, except for the birds, were laid out in halves opposite each other.
After sunset a smoking firepot and a blazing torch appeared and passed between the halves of the slaughtered animals. These symbolised, respectively, God the Father (the "consuming fire" of Hebrews 12:29) and God the Son (the "Light of the world" of John 8:12). (Gen. 15:9-21)
Entry into this covenant for Abraham and his descendants was by the rite of circumcision.
This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. (Gen. 17:10-11)
Thus, as with the Blood Covenant, the Old Covenant was sealed with the shedding of blood symbolising an indissoluble union between God and Abraham and Abraham's descendants.
The terms of this covenant were simple yet profound. Abraham, who had been called from idolatry in Ur of the Chaldees, was to walk by faith before God, becoming the pioneer of the life of faith to which we are all now called. For this reason he is called "the father of us all."
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring - not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. (Rom. 4:16)
In return, God's covenant promise was to give him a son and an innumerable number of descendants. Furthermore, he was to give those descendants the land of Canaan as an "everlasting possession" (Gen. 17:1-8).
Abraham willingly accepted the terms of the covenant and a son, Isaac, was born to him when his wife, Sarah, was ninety years of age, and he ninety nine.
Commitment to the covenant was absolute. In entering into this agreement with the Lord, Abraham had placed at God's disposal everything he possessed and would possess and everything he was and would become. Now God moved to put the strength of Abraham's commitment to the test.
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the regions of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. (Gen. 22:1-3)
Abraham's response was immediate and unhesitating. He rose "early the next morning" and prepared to do exactly what God had told him to do. There is no doubt that Abraham would, in the normal course of events, have far preferred to lay down his own life than to lose his only son. But he did not flinch. When he arrived at Moriah he built an altar, laid Isaac upon it, took a knife in his hand and prepared to sacrifice the life of his son and everything implied by it to God. At this point God intervened.
But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." (Gen. 22:11-12)
God's response to his covenant friend was profound and moving.
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Gen. 22:15-18)
God had now found one who would be unconditionally true to the covenant and he could now commit his plan of Redemption to this man and his descendants. Through them would the Redeemer of all mankind ultimately be brought into the world.
The history of the nation of Israel as set out in the Old Testament is the story of the relationship between Jehovah and his Covenant people. In it we see the ebb and flow of this relationship as the Israelites wandered through the desert, took possession of the land of Palestine and then established themselves as a nation to be respected in the region.
Just as they entered the Promised Land the blessings and curses of the Covenant were pronounced from Mt Gerezim and Mt Ebal respectively. Here are some small exerts from these pronouncements.
The blessings which were recited that day were recorded as follows:
You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. (Deut. 28:3-6)
And so on. And then came the curses.
You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.
The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your have done in forsaking him. The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. (Deut. 28:16-21)
And so on for a total of fifty-four verses.
As long as the Israelites kept the Covenant by carefully observing all the law which had been given to them through Moses they prospered greatly and had great victory over all their surrounding enemies. As soon as they started to seek after the gods of the Canaanites and of the other nations they had displaced they were subject to the curses of the Covenant.
Under the leadership of David and then Solomon their wealth increased to unheard of proportions and they were held in fear and awe by all the nations of the then known world.
However, not all kings provided the same leadership, faith and inspiration as that shown by David and Solomon. Frequently throughout their history Israel had extended periods where their Covenant obligations were ignored or forgotten completely. During these periods they adopted the gods of the surrounding nations, indulged in the sins of the heathen, fought among themselves and ignored the sacrificial rites and ceremonies of the Covenant.
What inevitably followed was that they came under the curses of a broken Covenant. The result was that the once great nation of Israel became weak and impoverished, an object of scorn to the surrounding nations. God sent prophet after prophet to remind them of the consequences of living under a broken Covenant.
During these periods the tribe of Judah split off to be a separate nation and both Judah and Israel were overrun by surrounding nations and taken into captivity, becoming slaves again.
However throughout the narrative, stories of great faith abound. Although the nation of Israel as a whole was impoverished and laid waste there were always individuals who understood the meaning of the Covenant and who remained true against all odds. Some were great prophets such as Elijah and Elisha, leaders such as Ezra and Nehemiah and ordinary people such as Ruth. God dealt with such as individuals and bestowed his Covenant blessing upon those whose hearts were true towards him, even though desperate circumstances surrounded them.
At various times there was a resurgence of faith and a return to the Covenant. In 536 B.C. a start was made in the rebuilding of Solomon's temple (Ezra 1:2-5) which had been destroyed by the Chaldeans in 588 B.C. (2 Kings 25:4-10). The rebuilding was completed in 516 B.C. (Ezra 6:14-15).
In 63 B.C. Jerusalem was taken by the Roman general Pompey and Judea became a Roman province.
The children of Israel had despised the Covenant.
The crowning act of treason, however, was yet to come. For when their Covenant God, their Jehovah and Messiah, finally visited them in human form they crucified him.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:11-12)
In A. D. 70, the rebuilt temple was razed to the ground and the Israelites were dispersed throughout the world. For nearly two thousand years they were without a homeland and suffered all manner of deprivation, indignity and attempted genocide. It is one of the remarkable facts of history that despite all of this, they have never disappeared as a race. They have lived in scores of countries around the world. Where this would have normally meant integration and the dying out of their culture and beliefs, they have managed to retain their own unique identity.
But God will never forget the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and there is yet a glorious future for the nation of Israel.
...but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered. (Ps. 89:33-34)
I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew... (Rom. 11:1-2)
For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Rom. 11:15)
Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring! (Rom. 11:11-12)
Jehovah, the great God of the covenant, will return to his covenant people. But what astonishment awaits them when they welcome their Messiah.
If someone asks him, 'What are these wounds on your body ?' he will answer, 'The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.' (Zech. 13:6)
At the Passover feast just before the crucifixion, Jesus sat down at the table with his disciples, lifted up a cup of wine, and said:
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you." (Luke 22:20)
The disciples asked no questions. As Israelites they would have understood the meaning of the Old Covenant and they would have also well understood the meaning of the Blood Covenant as it was still commonly practised in that region and indeed throughout the world.
They seem to have understood, albeit somewhat dimly at first, that God's relationship with mankind was about to undergo a fundamental and revolutionary change and that something was about to be introduced that would replace and bring to fulfilment the provisions of the Old Covenant.
A New Covenant had been foretold for at least six hundred years.
"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them."
declares the LORD.
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD.
"I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'
because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD. (Jer. 31:31-34)
As the New Covenant is proclaimed, it is immediately apparent that it will contain at its very heart that which was so conspicuous by it absence from the Old, namely:
This is the reality towards which all the symbolism of the Blood Covenant and the Old Covenant were pointing. No matter how powerful these symbols were and how deeply they were felt by those involved, they were merely shadows of the reality.
The reality to which they were the forerunners is to be found within the provisions of the New Covenant. It was this for which God had been preparing mankind throughout all ages.
Central to the provisions of the New Covenant is the "new life" in Christ, whereby we become "partakers of the divine nature."
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Pet. 1:4)
It is by this impartation of the divine nature that he would "put his law into their minds and write it on their hearts." Where there was no "drinking of blood" under the Old Covenant, Jesus made the following remarkable statement about the New.
"I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. (John 6:53-56)
This Scripture can only be fully understood in the terms of the Blood Covenant ritual and beliefs. Jesus was here referring to the fact that under the New Covenant there would actually be the union of his life and nature with ours. This was to be no longer symbolic but solid practical reality.
Entry into the Old Covenant was by the rite of circumcision. Entry into the New Covenant is by "spiritual circumcision."
A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. (Rom. 2:28-29)
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,... (Col. 2:9-11)
This process consists of actually cutting away the "old nature," that is spiritual death, and replacing it with the new nature, that is, the divine nature or eternal life.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 6:23)
This transformation is also referred to as being "born again."
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.
"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. (John 3:3-6)
He was, of course, referring to a spiritual "birth" in which the new life springs into being within the spirit of a man, woman or child who believes in Christ and thus becomes a partaker of the provisions of the New Covenant.
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)
It is this new life that is the fundamental difference between the Old and New Covenants. Those men and women of faith who lived under the Old Covenant longed for this, the greatest of all God's gifts to mankind, but they did not see it in their lifetimes.
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. (Heb. 11:13)
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (Heb. 11: 39-40)
While we look back in awe at the deeds of some the great Old Covenant men and women of God, we have to be reminded that they were all living under the dreadful pall of spiritual death. None of them were partakers of the divine nature. They only viewed this promise from afar. Jesus made this distinction when he spoke of John the Baptist.
"I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (Matt 11:11)
In this extraordinary statement, Jesus firstly compared John the Baptist with all the other Old Covenant men and women of God, including such heroes of faith as Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Solomon, and stated that John was the greatest among them.
Then he stated that the least in the kingdom of God is greater than them all. In this Jesus was stating that New Covenant people are in a different class. They are partakers of the divine nature, possessors of eternal life.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor. 5:17)
It is this life that was the mystery hidden from man's understanding down through the ages.
I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness - the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col. 1: 25-27)
It is this life in which are contained all the "unsearchable riches of Christ."
Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,... (Eph. 3:8)
And it is this life which forms the basis of our New Covenant relationship with God. It is the receiving of the nature and life of Christ that gives us the right to become children of God.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God... (John 1:12)
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! (1 John 3:1)
At the very heart of the eternal purpose of God is fellowship, the desire of God who is love to establish a love relationship with man, the pinnacle of all his creation. Central to the provisions of the New Covenant is the right of each child of God to enter into the presence of God and experience the reality of a relationship with God as a son to a father.
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,... (Heb. 10:19-22)
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Heb. 4:16)
This personal relationship with God the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, is not only real, it is the very "wellspring of life" (Prov. 4:23). Without it, life has absolutely no meaning.
Those who lived under the Old Covenant were barred from entry into the presence of God by a heavy, ornate curtain which hung within the Tabernacle and the Temple after it, dividing them into two parts, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. In the Most Holy Place was placed the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat which symbolised the presence of God. Only the high priest went in behind the curtain and that only once per year and then only after elaborate ritual which involved ceremonial cleansing and the shedding of sacrificial blood.
As Jesus died on the cross, a most fundamental change took place.
With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.(Mark 15:37-38)
This act signified in the strongest terms possible that the way was now open for all mankind to approach God by faith in Christ and to experience the reality of life-sustaining fellowship.
God has, in the New Covenant, made a total and irrevocable commitment to mankind and to all of us as individuals. His commitment is to enable us to become sharers in the life and nature of his Son and to enter into a deep and real personal relationship with God the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3). This is at the very heart of the eternal purpose of God.
Abraham's commitment to the Old Covenant was such that he was willing to sacrifice his only son, but God stayed his hand and Isaac was spared.
God's commitment to us in the New Covenant is such that he too offered his own Son as a sacrifice for sin. In this case, however, his Son was not spared but died on the cross and suffered as our substitute. The strength of this covenant bond is greater than we can ever imagine. We can rely upon it utterly.
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