The Eternal Covenant (Part 1)

About three years ago, I began to ask the Lord to reveal more to me about the nature of my relationship with him. I had been reading Hebrews 13:20-21, and felt that there was more I had yet to discover about the meaning of the word "covenant." The Bible continually uses that word to describe the nature of my relationship with God, yet I felt that I, a product of 20th/21st century culture, didn't fully comprehend what covenant was really all about. Sure, I knew the dictionary definition, but I felt I didn't have a handle on the meaning of the word, as a first century believer would have understood it.

So began a journey of discovery that spanned about four months in 2003. And I want to share with you what emerged from that discovery process, and what I am continuing to discover in this matter. It is, to put it lightly, a life-changing discovery. And I'm not exaggerating. When you realise exactly what kind of relationship you have entered into with God, through the blood of Jesus Christ, your view of God, yourself and the world around you will change forever!

Let's start with Hebrews 13:20-21:

"May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

I want to pinpoint three important ideas that emerge from this verse:

• "...through the blood of the eternal covenant..." - Everything in the Christian life is on the basis of an "eternal covenant" that God has made, based on the shedding of Jesus' blood. In this post, we're going to discover the nature of this "eternal covenant."

• "...equip you with everything good for doing his will..." - Unlike what most people think, the Christian faith is not just about God telling us what He expects us to do, but it's about him equipping us to do what pleases Him. And you'll notice that it is "through the blood of the eternal covenant" that we are "equip[ped] with everything good for doing his will". It's all about God "work[ing] in us what is pleasing to him..." (see also Philippians 2:13).

• "...through Jesus Christ..." - This is the key phrase that distinguishes the Christian faith from every other faith on earth. Every religion has teaching on morality and moral expectations. But only the Christian faith provides an inner power to fulfil that moral standard.

As Hebrews 13:20-21 tells us, the whole of the Christian life is founded on an "eternal covenant" based on a "through Jesus Christ" experience. If you don't believe me, just take a look at the following verses from the Bible (and these are just a few examples):

John 1:3
John 1:17
John 3:16-17
Acts 13:38
Romans 5:9
Romans 5:21
Romans 8:37
2 Corinthians 1:20
Ephesians 2:18
Philippians 1:11
Philippians 4:13
Colossians 1:19-20
Titus 3:5-7
Hebrews 7:25
Hebrews 13:15
1 Peter 1:21
1 Peter 2:5
1 John 4:9
Jude 1:25

So the starting point for understanding the biblical concept of the "eternal covenant", as described in Hebrews 13:20-21, is that it is "through Jesus." The whole of the Christian life is through Him, not through me! (note Ephesians 2:8-10). But before we move on further, let's define exactly what the Bible means when it uses the word "covenant."

If you ask the average person what he or she thinks the word "covenant" means, the answer will probably be something like "an agreement" or "a contract". In fact, this is quite accurate. This is precisely how the dictionary defines the word "covenant" (click here for an online dictionary definition).

But the biblical definition of covenant has shades of meaning far deeper than this. Our modern understanding is tainted by legal connotations, which in turn is based on the fact that we are a litigious and largely untrustworthy society. We tend to think of a covenant as being something similar to a legal contract, drawn up by lawyers and signed by two parties, that protects both parties in case of default by either party. But when the Bible speaks of covenant, it is meaning something quite different.

To understand the biblical meaning of covenant, I want to tell you the story of Henry Morton Stanley -- a man who discovered, through personal experience, the real meaning of the word "covenant." Stanley was American journalist who, in the second half of the 19th century, embarked on several expeditions of exploration in what was then known as "deepest, darkest Africa" (he is famous for one of those expeditions, which was a search for the missionary-explorer David Livingstone, who had been "lost" in Africa for a few years, and he is remembered for the now-famous greeting: "Dr Livingstone, I presume?").

In his many expeditions into uncharted African territory, Stanley would travel through regions under the control of different warring tribes. It was not uncommon to climb a hill and be faced with the spears of a hostile tribe. So how did Stanley survive his many trips through such dangerous territory? He survived because he discovered the meaning of "covenant."

And this is how covenant works. As Stanley moved into a new region, he would ask which tribe was the strongest in that region. He would then approach the chieftain of that tribe and enter into a pact -- a covenant -- with him. This always involved a ceremony called the "cutting of the covenant" -- the shedding of blood. And as I describe this ceremony, bear in mind what Jesus did on the Cross. And keep in mind Jesus' words in Matthew 26:28:

"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

Note: In the last six posts, I engaged in an exercise of "debunking" The Da Vinci Code's theory of Jesus, and in yesterday's post, I shared with you what I believe to be the true "Holy Grail" - Jesus Himself! Almost all the grail objects in the grail stories and legends were related to the blood of Jesus -- the "blood of the eternal covenant", as Hebrews 13:20-21 calls it -- and I encouraged you, in yesterday's post, to embark on your own "Grail Quest". For more details on this, read "Seek the Truth - Exposing the Da Vinci Hoax (Conclusion)".

OK, back to our story of Henry Stanley. When Stanley entered into covenant with an African chieftain, he would go through a special ceremony that involved the "shedding of blood" (note Ephesians 1:7; 2:13; Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 9:22). Stanley's arm would be sliced with a ceremonial knife, allowing his blood to flow freely. The chieftain's arm would also be sliced in the same way. Then Stanley's blood would be commingled with the blood of the chieftain. Ashes would be poured into the wounds of both men, so that a permanent scar would form -- a scar which symbolised the permanent nature of the "eternal covenant" that had been struck between the two men. Then an emblem would be exchanged -- a spear, for example, from the tribe -- that represented the identity of the tribe. From that point on, Stanley "belonged" to that tribe, just as if he had naturally been born into it. But more than that, he was now, through covenant, a "blood brother" of the tribe's chieftain himself!

When I was 10 years old, I had a best friend called Stephen Howell. One day, we were out in the bush, and one of us had the brilliant idea of becoming "blood brothers." So we took out a pocket knife. Stephen cut his thumb, and I cut my thumb, and we commingled the blood together, and pronounced ourselves eternally "blood brothers" from that point on. The only problem is, we didn't really understand the significance of blood covenant, or what it really meant to be a blood brother. In the 34 years since that day, I've only visited Stephen once, when I was 28. I knocked on the door of his house, and when Stephen came to the door and saw me, he exclaimed: "Blast from the past!" We had a great time together, reminiscing on "the old days", but our relationship is just that -- a "blast from the past". There has been no enduring quality to that relationship. Instead, our paths have diverged. We never did discover the meaning of what it meant to be "blood brothers".

So what does it really mean to be a "blood brother"? One scholar, Clay Trumbull, explains the ancient roots of the concept of "blood covenant":

"The use of covenants is traced back to an ancient Semitic rite known as blood covenanting. A form of mutual covenanting, by which two persons enter into the closest, the most enduring, and the most sacred of compacts, as friends and brothers, or as more than brothers, through the inter-commingling of their blood..."

You'll notice that the concept of the blood covenant has not so much a legal meaning as a relational meaning. As Trumbull puts it, the two people "enter into the closest, the most enduring, and the most sacred of compacts, as friends and brothers, or as more than brothers..." What does it mean to have a relationship that is "more than brothers"?

The Italians have a saying, "Blood is thicker than water," which means that the blood ties of family are stronger than any other kind of relationship or commitment. There's a similar Arabic saying, however, that reflects an even older tradition: "Blood is thicker than milk." What does this strange statement mean? It means that the relationship forged out of a blood covenant is even stronger than the natural bond between brothers nursed on the same mothers milk. In other words, the bond between "blood brothers" is stronger than the bond between "milk brothers".

When Stanley entered into "blood covenant" with an African chieftain, he became that chieftain's "blood brother." Their relationship was considered stronger than even if Stanley had been born the man's natural brother. From that point on, any attack on Stanley would be viewed as an attack on the chieftain and on the village. Stanley's identity had now merged with that of the chieftain, with whom he was now eternally in covenant. As Stanley travelled to the next region, if he was challenged by another tribe, he would show the scar of the covenant, and brandish the tribal emblem he had been given. The other tribe would know, then, that if they attacked Stanley, it was as if they were attacking Stanley's covenant-tribe. And they would back off.

Stanley realised the power of blood covenant and used it extensively throughout his travels. In fact, according to Stanley's journals, he "cut the covenant" at least fifty times during his travels through the interior of the African continent.

As you can see, covenant is much much more than simply "a legal contract" or "a binding agreement." This is a modern legal concept that has little bearing on the true meaning of covenant. No, covenant actually means the merging of two identities into one. That is why a hostile tribe, once they discovered Stanley was in covenant with other stronger tribes in the area, would immediately back off. They knew the meaning of covenant, and knew that attacking Stanley was equal to attacking the tribal chieftain with whom he had struck the covenant.

When God says that he has made a covenant with you, through Jesus, this is what He is talking about. He is not meaning that he has drawn up a legal agreement, and notarised it with his signature. It means he has entered into a covenantal relationship through the shed blood of Jesus on our behalf. You'll remember that in Stanley's experience, they would smear ashes into the wound in order to create a permanent scar? The same thing happened with Jesus. Do you realise that when Jesus was resurrected, His body was raised "glorified" (Philippians 3:21) and "incorruptible" (1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 52-54)? Yet despite the miraculous nature of this resurrection, the scars of the crucifixion remain in his hands, his feet and his side (see John 20:20 and 20:27).

Why would God keep those scars intact? Why not heal them when He resurrected His Son? Because they are the scars of the "eternal covenant", a permanent reminder to all that a covenant relationship has been entered into by two previously warring parties (note Colossians 1:21-22). The scars of the crucifixion are the eternal reminder of the covenant that God has made with you through Jesus (note 1 Peter 2:24).

I don't know about you, but this totally amazes me! I'm awestruck by the wonder of Jesus still bearing the marks of what He endured on my behalf! In the deepest reaches of eternity future, when I too will have an immortal resurrection body "without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish" (Ephesians 5:27), as a direct result of the eternal covenant I have with God through Jesus (see Philippians 3:20-21), Jesus will continue to bear the scars of the covenant -- throughout all eternity! And because of this covenant, my identity has become that of a covenantal child of God and "blood brother" of Jesus himself (Romans 8:29; Hebrews 2:10-11).

In Numbers 22, we see the power of blood covenant at work. Balaam was a "prophet-for-hire", and Balak, king of Moab, paid Balaam money to put a curse on Israel. But when Balaam tried to do this, he came face to face with the divine protection innate to God's covenant with Israel. He discovered that he could not curse those whom God had covenantally blessed. Because the people of Israel were in blood covenant with God, an attack on Israel was the equivalent of an attack on God Himself! And so Balaam declared, in Numbers 23:19-21:

"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it...[because] the LORD their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them."

This is also the strength of the covenant that you have with God through faith in Jesus Christ. It is not idly that the Bible declares that "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:37), and then goes on to describe, in Romans 8:38-39, the eternal bond of covenantal love that we have through Jesus Christ:

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Covenant, by its very nature, is an unbreakable eternal bond. But this is not the only facet of the meaning of covenant revealed in the Bible. There are deeper dimensions of meaning in the word "covenant" yet to be discovered. And tomorrow I'll explore these deeper dimensions in more detail.

Next: The Eternal Covenant (Part 2)