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 | | From: | Steve Goltra | | Subject: | Blood Covenant Ritual- Part 4 | | Date: | Sat, 15 Jan 2005 01:15:53 GMT |
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 | Continued- part 4
There are 9 steps or conditions which both parties must fulfill (Continued-
New Testament)
The New Testament
1. Exchange Robe
Isaiah 61:10
For He (Jesus) has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He (Jesus) has
covered me with the robe of righteousness.
Jesus, who is the Son of God, fully righteous, takes on all our
unrighteousness. We can take on His robe of righteousness.
Isaiah 64:6a
But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like
filthy rags.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.
2. Exchange Belt
We know very well we cannot protect God but God can protect us and He took
on our weaknesses.
Colossians 2:9-10
"9. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily
10. and you are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and
power.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Isaiah 53:4
Surely He has borne our grief's and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him
stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
3. Cut Covenant
Jesus gives His own body as the sacrifice broken for us.
Isaiah 52:14
His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred
beyond human likeness.
God knows that animals are corruptible, only He and His Son, Jesus, are
incorruptible, "eternal". God has to sacrifice Jesus, the eternal Being, so
we all can have eternal life. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life.
4. Mix Blood
Jesus who is fully the Son of God must come to earth as the Son of Man so
that His blood could be shed for mankind. When we receive Jesus as our
Savior, we are one with Him. We know that He is holy, righteous and perfect.
Thus, in Jesus we can put off our old nature and put on the new nature of
Jesus.
Ephesians 4:22-24
22 That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new
man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
5. Exchange Names
Jesus who is fully Son of God took the name Son of Man.
John 3:13
No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the
Son of Man who is in heaven.
We take on His name.
Acts 11:26
And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a
whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people.
And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
Galatians 3:26
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
6. Make a Scar
Jesus bears the scar in His hands, the scars of crucifixion. When Jesus had
risen, Jesus showed Thomas His scarred hands.
John 20:25 & 27
25 Thomas declared, unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my
finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not
believe.
27 He said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, see My hands. Reach out your
hands and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe."
God doesn't require us to be circumcised as the Jews as it was done by
Jesus.
Colossians 2:11 & 14
11 In Him you were also circumcised, with the circumcision made without your
hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision
of Christ.
14 having wiped out the hand writing requirements that was against us, which
was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to
the cross.
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| | From: | Steve Goltra | | Subject: | Re: Blood Covenant Ritual- Part 3A | | Date: | Sat, 15 Jan 2005 21:26:45 GMT |
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| Part 3 of the Blood Covenant Ritual (Continued)
There are 9 steps or conditions which where both parties must fulfill.
OLD TESTAMENT
1. Take Off Coat or Robe: Both parties will take off their robes to
exchange. This means "I'm giving you all of myself. I pledge to you my life
and whatever I have."
A robe usually represents the status of a person. God does not have a
physical robe therefore He offers all of Himself unto Abraham. He said,
"...I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward" (Genesis 15:1). This
means everything, whatever God has including His holiness and His
righteousness.
2. Take Off Belt: A belt is used to hold the armor together. It means -
"I'm giving you all my strength, support, protection, and ability to fight.
Your battle will my battle. I'll fight for you, I'll defend and protect you.
And you'll do the same for me."
In this case we know the lesser party will benefit from the stronger party.
So with Abraham since God doesn't have a physical belt, God promised
Abraham, "I will curse him who curses you,"(Genesis 12:3) and "I am your
shield" (Genesis15:1). In other words whoever comes against you comes
against Me (God Himself).
3. Cut The Covenant: God selected the animals and instructed Abraham to cut
them into halves and place them opposite one another. In this covenant, both
covenant parties had to walk between the bloody halves of the animals with
their backs to each other.After reaching the other end they will turn
around, face each other and walk through the animals to where they started.
In doing this they are saying firstly, "We are dying to ourselves, giving up
all our rights to the other party and beginning anew walk with the new
covenant partner unto death."
Secondly they are saying, "May God do so unto me (like the animals) if I try
to break the covenant."
Blood is very important to seal a covenant. There is life in the blood.
Therefore sacrifice is life for life. To seal the covenant with blood means
they hold the covenant until death. If one breaks the covenant let death
come unto him.
When God made a covenant with Abraham we see in Genesis 15:12 that Abraham
fell into deep sleep. And Genesis15:17 says, "Behold, there appeared a
smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces." It
wasn't Abraham who walked through the bleeding pieces of sacrificial animal
but it was God Himself.
In other words God was saying to Abraham, "I am making the covenant, doing
all of the work, and you are a recipient of this covenant, with no
responsibilities on your part". The Lord was the Initiator of the covenant
and He put Abraham to sleep. God did all of the work in this Covenant, not
requiring anything from Abraham to establish the covenant. This dramatic act
preshadows God's precious gift, Jesus, who condescended to die on a
degrading cross for all mankind,thus doing all of the work for us to be
saved.
We can see here that God: A. Initiates the covenant B. Gives the requirement
C. Administrates the outcome D. Himself is a Guarantor
4. Mix Blood: Both parties will cut their palms and bring them together to
mix the blood as they swear allegiance to each other. This means their lives
are intermingling to become one thus putting off their old natures and
putting the nature of the blood covenant partner. With Abraham God said in
Genesis 17:10, "This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you
and your descendents after you: Every male child among you shall be
circumcised". Genesis 17:12 He who is eight days old among you shall be
circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your
house or brought with money from any stranger who is not your descendant.
Circumcision here is a sign of man entering covenant with God.
5. Exchange Names: Both parties will take each other's last name. In Hebrew
God is called "YHWH". He took the "H" and He put it in Abram and Sarai's
names. So Abram became Abraham and Sarai became Sarah. God now becomes known
as the God of Abraham.
6. Make a Scar: both parties rub their blood together, they make a scar as a
permanent testimony to the covenant. This is one of the reasons why God
asked every male Hebrew to be circumcised so that there is a mark on their
bodies (Genesis 17:10-14). The seal of circumcision of the Abrahamic
covenant is fulfilled in the New Covenant circumcision of the heart (Romans
2:24-29).
7. Covenant Terms: Both parties will stand before witnesses and give the
terms of covenant. "All my wealth, assets, possessions are yours." At the
same time they also exchange liabilities so when one faces a financial
problem, he'll say, "I will use our money to settle it." We see that the
weaker party will benefit from the stronger party. With Abraham, God said
that through Abraham's seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed
(Genesis 12:3 and 17:16). We know very well that all good things on this
earth come from God. Abraham not only became a channel of blessing but more
than that he is called the friend of God (James 2:23).
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| | From: | Steve Goltra | | Subject: | Re: Blood Covenant Ritual- Part 3 B | | Date: | Sat, 15 Jan 2005 21:27:05 GMT |
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| 8. Eat Covenant Meal: After doing all the above they close the covenant with
a meal. Bread and wine are served.
9. Plant A Memorial: Both parties will plant a tree sprinkled with the blood
of the animal as a memorial to the covenant. All their children are included
in the covenant. Later when their children come to an age of understanding
about the covenant, they can choose to stay in it or reject it.
Abraham understood very well the meaning of the covenant he made with God.
Therefore he knew God had the right to ask for Isaac as a burnt offering. By
his willingness to sacrifice Isaac he showed that he was prepared to fulfill
covenant terms. Abraham chose to obey God where later God the Father
fulfilled His part of the covenant by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus,
as a sacrificial offering for all human race.
From the Abrahamic Covenant and the word covenant in Greek, "diatheke" which
means "an unequal covenant" we know very well that we as humans have nothing
to give to God - in fact we are His creation and His possession. On the
other hand, God is a Supreme Being, the self sufficient, self existent One,
the Eternal Being, the Almighty, the Creator. In other words God gives all
that He has while we give Him nothing. Man can gain all the positive
benefits from God. What can man give to God and what can God gain from
men -the sin, the transgression, the rebellion, the self centeredness, the
pride and the arrogance of the highest order, the wickedness, the diseases -
and all the negative things you can think of.
Who in the right mind would want to enter into an agreement or covenant
where he gets all the dirt - no one !!! Usually people enter into a covenant
because they can benefit from it. The stronger party will enjoy the benefit
of having the weaker party's manpower and the weaker party will get
protection or finance. Example, the mafia - you work for me, you do all the
dirty work and in return I protect you and your family.
I thank God, He is who He is. We all know He is powerful, He is awesome, He
is wonderful, He is the prince of peace, He is our healer, He is our banner,
He is our deliverer, He is our provider, He is our stronghold, He is our
refuge, He is our everything. He can be and is everything for us because He
is a God of love who gave Himself to us by giving His only begotten Son to
us.
It is His nature and it is His heart to love. It is His nature and it is His
heart to give.Therefore it is His nature and it is His heart to initiate
covenants with man. The covenants are the greatest manifestation of God's
love, grace and mercy.
In order for man to be in covenant relationship with God, He must reveal the
covenant to man openly declaring the promises and terms where the heavens,
the earth and all creation can witness it. All this was fulfilled in the New
Testament by God sacrificing His only Son, Jesus Christ.
God bless,
Steve Goltra
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