THE BLOOD COVENANT

Book D

Lesson One

The Blood Covenant

Contents

Chapter One ...................................................................................................................Covenant and Authority

Chapter Two ....................................................................................................................Blood Grace or Works

Chapter Three ..................................................................................................................Introduction to Covenant

Chapter Four......................................................................................................................Rest and Faith

Chapter Five.......................................................................................................................The Covenant meal

Chapter Six.........................................................................................................................The persuading witness

Chapter Seven....................................................................................................................Hesed loving kindness

Chapter Eight......................................................................................................................Go in my name

Foreword

There is an ancient proverb that is widely used and little understood. It is that "Blood is thicker than water". Most people use this and mean that family ties are usually more lasting and reliable than ties of friendship. Naturally speaking g, this may be the case.

But the proverb does not mean this, and it has nothing to do whatsoever with either natural blood relationships or friendships. What it speaks of is the relationship that exists within the context of blood covenant. There is something awesome and powerful about blood. And a relationship which is born out of the cutting of a covenant will stay more durable and is more reliable than any other.

The Blood of Covenant ties the parties closer together than the two brothers joined by the waters of the same womb.

Chapter One

The Covenant and Authority

The Hebrew word for covenant is "berit" which means "covenant, league, confederacy", and is probably derived from an Akkadian root meaning "to fetter" (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words).

The question that the thinking believer will ask is "Does God need to enter into covenant with Man in order to operate on the Earth, or is He sovereignly independent from Man, doing as He wills without reference to Man?"

It is clear from scripture, if not from popular religious teaching, that God is "fettered" in some way to Man in terms of His actions here on Earth. God does not just act independently; He acts according to covenant. This chapter will give an understanding of why this is so by looking at the question of authority.

MAN – The child of a Sovereign God

Genesis 1:26-28

God could have created any kind of being He wanted; God was sovereign and independent, and exercised His will in this matter. What He chose to do was duplicate Himself in some way, creating a being on the Earth, in His own image and likeness. Adam and Eve were quite literally the children of God. A look into the genealogy of Luke 3 demonstrates the closeness of the relationship God chose to have with Man – God Almighty slotted with ease into mankind’s family tree.

And Luke does not say "the son of Seth, the son of Adam who was created by God;" he simply places God in the family tree, saying "the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God!" In theory, at least, Cain, Abel and Seth could have called God "Grandpa!"

As a son of the Almighty, man was created with certain characteristics of His Father. He was given:

1. Intellect. He had capacity for thought and reason
2. Ego. Man is the only being in this creation who, with God, can stand outside of himself and ask the question "Who am I?" Every man is different in personality, taste and opinion.
3. Morality. Man knows the difference between right and wrong. He is able to evaluate the actions of both himself and others on the basis of this. He is not purely instinctive.
4. Free will. Man was not rested as an automaton. He has the ability to weight-up options and decide action for himself.

In all these ways, Man was made like God.

Talking of Man, David declares "You have made him a little lower than the angels". The word "angels here is "Elohim" which can also be translated as God. So the passage could be translated as "You have made him a little lower than God" (Psalm 8:5).

Of course, both translations are correct, but in different ways. Man is lower than the angels in terms of strength and ability; but Man is higher than the angels, and only lower than God, in terms of position and authority (Hebrews 1:13-14).

Man was born of God’s nature, God’s substance, God’s character, God’s breath, God’s spirit and God’s life.

(NB: This is not "small-gods" theology. We are of like-nature with God, but not like-authority. Queen Elizabeth the Second did not give birth to a King; she gave birth to two Princes and a Princess. They were of her image and likeness, but are not little monarchs).

Man’s scope of authority – Genesis 1:28-30

Because of the supreme nature of man in the original creation, God was able to place Man in a position of real authority over the Earth. His character brought with it command. Man was given authority here and commissioned to achieve three things on the Earth.

1. Fill it. Man was to be a co-worker with God, filling the Earth with more people born in the image and likeness of God.
2. Farm it. Man was placed in Eden to "tend and keep it".
3. Force dominion. Man was called to subdue, dominate, rule and reign, under God, as the one in authority here on the Earth. Man had the commission, authority and power to deal with problems here on the earth as they arose.

A man from two spheres – Genesis 2:7

The Lord God formed man from the dust of the Earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Man was capable of being sovereign on this planet as a result of his two-fold creation. He was born from two places:

1. The dust of the Earth i.e. The Spirit of God

Man’s body was formed from what already existed – the clay and dust of the planet. But his "life came from the breath and spirit of Almighty God.

This meant Man belonged to two spheres:

I) The planet Earth ii) The kingdom of Heaven

Via this unique God ordained combination, Man not only had authority, but also power to accomplish rulership over the Earth. He was at one with his environment through his body, but superior to it and sovereign over it by his Heavenly Birth.

In this position of authority, man was "crowned with glory and majesty" (Psalm 8:5 NASB).

Psalm 115:16

The highest Heavens belong to the Lord, but the Earth He has given to man….

The Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. But in terms of authority, this was given by God to Man at his creation.

The fall of Man – Genesis 3:1-6

The fall of Man is inexcusable. Through Eve’s deception and Adam’s treason, the two authority figures on the Earth agreed with the Devil (c.f. Matt 18:19), and sin became operational. This had a twin effect:

1. Death was released
2. Authority was handed to Satan

Authority abdicated –

Hebrews 2:14-15

……that through death (Jesus) might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

In partaking of death, mankind became the slave and son of a fallen angel, Satan. Man never lost authority on the earth as far as God was concerned; but through sin, and the bowing of the knee to Satan, Man handed the use or practical application of it over to the devil, for the devil’s use. As long as the man stayed subservient, through fear of death, the man remained bound to Satan and the authority remained in the devil’s hands. Satan has kept a firm grip on authority by keeping a firm grip on man.

Satan used the power of death, released through sin and brought his subjects into slavery via their fear of it. Satan rules and maintains authority through fear. As long as man is afraid, he has the ability of use the fearful man’s authority.

The full scope of the devil’s man-given authority can be seen in the following scriptures:

Romans 8:20-22 ....................................Creation under a bondage of corruption

2Cor 4:4 Satan – ....................................the god of this world

John 12:31 Satan – ...............................the ruler of this world

Eph 2:2 Satan – ...................................the prince of the air

Luke 4:5-7 ...........................................All authority given into the hands of satan

With the devil in such a position of authority, the outlook for man looked bleak! All he could look forward to was several years of global decay, sickness, disease and weakness in his body, followed by physical death and an eternity of judgement.

But………God so loved the World………….

God so loved His man that He put into operation a plan to redeem him. In Jesus, God had a master plan, a Lamb that would ultimately set man free from his bondage of sin.

1 Peter 1:19-20

This speaks of "the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (who) was foreordained before the foundation of the world".

Jesus would become the Second Adam and bring an alternative to bondage under the devil, by being tempted in all points as the first Adam, yet remaining without sin.

He would come to Earth as a man and shed His own precious blood as a counter-forced and antidote to sin and death.

The problem was with the authority of the Earth in the hands of Satan, via fearful and disobedient men, Jesus was not at liberty to merely "drop in". He needed a new "father-figure" on the Earth who would agree with Heaven, thus allowing God to operate in authority again here on Earth, in much the same way as the first "father of man", Adam and agreed with the Devil, opening the way for Satan to operate on the Earth.

John 10:1-2

Jesus did not enter the "sheepfold" as a thief; He entered the sheepfold of human domain through the same "door" as all men – by being born here as a man. This gave Him perfect right and authority to operate here. Since He was without either sin or the fear of death, Satan had no hold or sway on him whatsoever. Rather Jesus was able to use the power of Heaven and the unspoilt authority of man against him to the full.

Covenant:

God approached various people at various times and made proposals. He understood that if He could find a man who would defy the devil, defy the fear of death and bow the knee to Heaven, then authority could be used by God, on behalf of Man against the devil, here on the Earth.

God needed a channel to work through. His ultimate objective was to get a family in the Earth that would willingly mother the seed of God and so bring about the end of the rulership of sin, death and the devil.

The position of Abraham – Hebrews 11:11 17-19

Abraham was a key player in respect to our redemption. He was approached by God in Genesis 12 who was looking for a man with whom He could make covenant and work though, adding His divine power to Man’s natural authority. Abraham was told "Obey me, and as a result, in you all the families of the Earth shall be blessed". (Gen 12:3)

Abraham was an amazing figure; he was a regular unregenerate sinner (this was the only type of man there was!). But what set him apart was his refusal to be dominated by the fear of death. Rather he heard the words of life from God and decided to obey them, and so paved the way for Jesus to be born into the Earth.

Romans 4:16 calls Abraham "The father of us all", indicating that what he did as a man rated very highly by God.

What did Abraham believe?

1. Supernatural birth into the Earth – Hebrews 11:11. Abraham showed, through faith for the birth of Isaac, that God was able to cause supernatural birth in the Earth.
2. A new breed of people in the Earth – Hebrews 11:12. Abraham believed that through this supernatural birth, a new family of people would inhabit the Earth.
3. Resurrection power – Hebrews 11:17-19. By faith Abraham, when he was tested offered up Isaac, his only begotten son, accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. Remarkably, he believed it was possible for God to even raise a man from death! This was a "finger in the eye" to the authority of the devil! Not only did it show supreme faith in God, it also showed supreme defiance of Satan, death, Hell and the grave and demonstrated that even an unsaved Man could come loose from the fear of death and place his faith in the workings of God.
4. God’s provision of a sacrifice. Through Abraham’s faith in God, it was possible for God to provide the promised sacrificial saviour through whom redemption would come (Genesis 22:14-18).

Conclusion:

God is an independent God; nobody tells Him what to do. However, He is also a God of His word, and a God who will never violate His own principles. God chose in the beginning to place authority with man and so it is through man that God continues to work. God wants all to know Him and be obedient to Him – this is His will. However, Man is a free moral agent, and God will not force His authority on him. He will save and work with those who give Him authority to do so.

Suggested further reading: Genesis 18:16-33 and Numbers 14:11-25.

Also "The Believers Authority" by Kenneth E Hagin

QUESTIONS

With the easy questions it is necessary to decide, on the basis of the course notes and scriptures whether each statement is "True" or False".

The hard questions require fuller written answers and are designed for the more academically able student.

Attempts should be made to answer these questions from memory, the Bible and understanding of the subject, rather than by simply looking-up" the answer from the course text.

BookD Lesson2

QUESTIONS FOR THIS SECTION

Lesson ONE

Book D

BookD Lesson2

iafm.org