The Blood Covenant (Your Marriage)
Introduction
This message will start the foundation for my series on Marriage. My brother sent me a book titled “The Blood Covenant” by E.W. Kenyon. As I read the book, I kept thinking about the covenant of marriage and how if we entered into that covenant with the same restrictions applied to a blood covenant, there would never be any divorces. I am not condemning anyone who has been through a divorce, but as you will hear later in this message, the requirements of a blood covenant were so strong and so sacred that to break it meant certain death. It is not the threat of death that I feel would make divorce impossible, although it is a great deterrent, but the mental attitude of those entering into the covenant. I will discuss this more, but for now just understand that when you enter into a marriage with a spouse, you are entering into a blood covenant.
The first Sunday of the month we take “Communion” or “The Lord’s Supper”. This is the time that we set aside to remember what Christ did for us, dying for our sins. During this time we often quote what Christ said in the gospels, “…this is My blood of the New Covenant which is poured out for many for the remission of sin.” Christ stated that this was a New Covenant in His blood – which brings to question, what was the Old Covenant? The Old Covenant of course was the covenant that God made with Abraham. If we had lived in Abraham’s time, we would not have part in this covenant; it was Abraham’s and therefore his descendants. The New Covenant, which actually is better than the Old Covenant, is what we have through Christ. I am sharing this with you so that you understand the importance that goes with establishing any type of covenant, especially a marriage covenant. So lets examine what took place when someone entered into a blood covenant.
Definition of Blood Covenant: The rite of blood-covenanting is a form of mutual covenanting, by which two persons enter into the closest, the most enduring, and the most sacred of compacts through the inter-commingling of their blood, by means of its mutual tasting, or of its inter-transfusion. As it is the inter-commingling of their very lives, nothing can transcend it. It forms a tie, or a union, which cannot be dissolved. When Jesus told his disciples in Mark 14 that the cup was his blood of the New testament (Covenant), he was telling them they were about to enter into a special kind of relationship – the kind that would never, ever dissolve. The Old Covenant was sealed with circumcision (Genesis 17) but the New Covenant would be sealed with the new birth.
I. The Origin of the Blood Covenant
I have watched TV shows where two individuals came into agreement by making a “blood covenant”. This was often shown in westerns when the white man and the native American man (the term Indian although commonly used is the wrong name for this group of people) would come together, cut their hands to draw blood and then shake hands to mix the blood together. After that, they would be blood brothers and live in peace with one another. Besides what is shown in Scripture, we learned a lot about blood covenant practices in the land of Africa from the explorers Stanley and Livingstone. Blood covenants were often used to ensure the safety of the weaker one. They would meet with the stronger tribe (or individual) and through the covenant would secure their protection that the stronger tribe would never attack them and, more important, should they ever be attacked by another tribe, the tribe that they entered into the covenant with would come to their rescue. Today we still enter into covenants with one another, except we do not mix blood but sign a contract. The contract is a legal binding document, but cannot compare to a true blood covenant. In ancient times, a blood covenant would not be broken because it was sacred. Notice I use the word “would” instead of “could”. A covenant “could” be broken, but the penalty was so severe that it “would” not be broken. In Africa, where Stanley and Livingstone did a lot of exploration, if someone made a blood covenant and tried to break it, their own family members would seek their death because it would also put them at risk. To break a blood covenant meant that you cursed the ground you walked on. In Africa, the covenant was so sacred that the children down through the generations would honor it. It was a perpetual covenant that lasted forever and could not be annulled. I want to read you a story out of the book as it relates to Mr. Stanley when he was seeking Dr. Livingstone.
“When Stanley was seeking Livingstone, he came in contact with a powerful equatorial tribe. They were very war-like. Stanley was not in a condition to fight them. Finally, his interpreter asked him why he didn’t make a strong covenant with them. He asked what it meant and was told that it meant drinking each other’s blood. Stanley revolted from such a rite, but conditions kept growing worse, until finally the young colored man asked him again why he did not cut the covenant with the chieftain of the tribe. Stanley asked what the results of such a covenant would be, the interpreter answered, “Everything the chieftain has will be yours if you need it.” This appealed to Stanley and he investigated. After several days of negotiations, they arrived at the covenant. First, there was a parley in which the chieftain questioned Stanley as to his motives and standings and his ability to keep the covenant. The next step was an exchange of gifts. The old chieftain wanted Stanley’ new white goat. Stanley was in poor health and the goat’s milk was about all he could take for nourishment, so it was very hard for him to give this up, but the chieftain seemed to want nothing else. So he finally gave up the goat, and the old chieftain handed him his seven-foot copper-wound spear.
Stanley thought he had been beaten, but he found that wherever he went in Africa with that spear, everybody bowed to him and submitted to him. The old chieftain then brought in one of his princes. Stanley led forth one of his men from England. The priest came forward with a cup of wine, made an incision in the young black man’s wrist and let the blood drip into the cup of wine. He cut a like incision in the wrist of the young Englishman and let his blood also drip into the cup of wine. Then the wine was stirred and the bloods were mixed. The priest handed the cup to the Englishman and he drank part of it and then he handed it to the black man and he drank the rest of it. Next, they rubbed their wrists together so that their blood mingled. Now, they had become blood brothers. These two men were only substitutes, but they had bound Stanley and the chieftain, and Stanley’s men and the chieftain’s soldiers into a blood brotherhood that was indissoluble.”
There were several other things that took place afterwards, but one thing I want to stress. After these ceremonies, the priest of the tribe came forward and began to speak all kinds of curses on Stanley should he ever break the covenant. There are a couple of things I want to make sure you get from this story. First, those entering into the covenant made sure the other party would be able to keep up their end. Second, everything that the chieftain had now became available to Mr. Stanley. Mr. Stanley did not have to worry about being attacked by anyone in the tribe, no one would every harm him. He was a member of the tribe now. When they came into agreement, everything that one party had was at the disposal of the other party.
This is how the blood covenant was practiced in Africa, the continent where the human race began. The first blood covenant took place in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Later, God entered into a blood covenant with Abraham. When He did so, He changed their names to means “prince/princess”. As you may recall, this covenant was seals with Abraham’s blood that he spilled when he circumcised himself.
Read Genesis 15:5-10, 17-18. In these verses God came to Abraham and told him that He would make “His” covenant with Abraham and his descendants. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. When Abraham believed God, he gave himself wholly up to God in his commitment, forgetting about himself. God told Abraham exactly what this covenant would mean to him. God had Abraham take and kill a female goat, a ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon. He had him lay the pieces out. Later God passed among the pieces like a flaming torch signifying the sealing of the covenant – His covenant with Abraham. At this time, Abraham had nothing to offer God was in control. One of the customs during Abraham’s time was to cut an animal in pieces and lay them out when two came together to make a covenant. After which each party would walk through the pieces signifying an oath “May this be done to me if I do not keep the oath or covenant.” In other words, the party who failed to keep their end of the deal could be killed and cut into pieces.
Now here comes the good part. When god made His covenant with Abraham, everything that God had was now at Abraham’s disposal. Do you understand what this means – God became Abraham’s source. Just like the chieftain did for Stanley in my earlier example. God began to confide in Abraham and He allowed Abraham to interceded on the people’s behalf. Remember the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and how God shared with Abraham what His plans were? He did so because of His covenant relationship with Abraham. When Abraham asked God to save the cities if some righteous people could be found, God agreed, because of His covenant relationship with Abraham.
II. The New Covenant
Fast forward now to the New Testament. Remember I told you earlier that we did not have a right to the Old Covenant if we lived in Abraham’s times? Christ changed all of that when He came and gave His life for our sins. He instituted the New Covenant with His own blood which fulfilled the Old Covenant. This New Covenant was available for everyone, not just the descendants of Abraham. When Jesus said His blood was the New Covenant, this was the last blood covenant that would ever be needed. When we accept Christ by faith, He becomes our source. We have a covenant relationship. We are the weaker one, He is the stronger one. Whatever we need, He is ready to do because of our covenant relationship. We really have nothing to bring to the table, so we are the “Stanley” and Jesus is the “chieftain”. Everything that He has is now at our disposal. The blood has washed us clean. The blood in the old covenant covered (hence the use of the word atonement), but the blood of the New Covenant cleanses. It washes us clean, it is stronger than any breach. We are covenant people and you must understand that this means what Jesus has is made available to us. One more point and I will close, it is the same when we enter into marriage. Marriage is a blood covenant.
III. The Marriage Covenant
Next week I will deal with the actual marriage vows, but this morning I want to touch on the blood covenant that takes place in a marriage. It is very similar to my first example with Stanley and Livingstone. When a couple goes through the wedding vows and make the verbal commitment for what they are willing to do in this union, the official ceremony ends with both saying “I do”. The covenant now has been reached and signed – all that is yet to be done is the sealing of the covenant through blood. Now I want to say this so that you will understand this and hopefully make it clear why God’s will is that we remain virgins until we are married. After the wedding and everything has been completed, the newlywed goes off to seal the union by coming together physically. God designed the woman’s body so that “under normal circumstances” (we will talk more about this in bible study) there is a small amount of blood shed during the first time the couple comes together physically. This shedding of blood seals the marriage vows and becomes a blood covenant. Also, all of the body fluids to some degree, has some blood cells in them. You can actually sweat blood as Jesus possibly did in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22:44 (a medical condition that can happen the body is under extreme strain and anger). So whenever you enter into a sexual relationship, you are establishing a blood covenant. Do you understanding what I am saying? So this small amount of blood seals the union.
Once the marriage has been sealed and the blood shed, you have entered into a blood covenant. Remember what I said at the beginning about a reason that divorces would not exist? Remember how Mr. Stanley and the chieftain negotiated the covenant before the entered into it? If we entered into our marriage blood covenants as they did, divorces would not exist for two reasons. One, it would mean certain death because one would be breaking the covenant. And two, because the attitude of both parties is that they now have access to everything the other covenant partner has, there is total transparency. We do not enter into marriage, generally, thinking that everything my partner has is available to me and vice-versa. We now have “pre-nuptial” agreements to ensure that “when” the covenant is broken I get to keep what is mine. Our understanding of what we are doing when we enter into a marriage blood covenant is very flawed.
As I close this message, I want to ask you a question. Whatever your current situation, whether you are happily married or not, divorced and planning to remarry, divorced with no desire to marry, single and may marry one day, do you understand what it means to enter into a blood covenant? Are you willing to keep your end of the covenant? When you say, “I do”, are you willing to keep that vow? Think on these questions this week. Next week I will complete this message by reviewing with you what we agree to when we say the words of the marriage vow.
