Our Covenant with God Week 3

">

I. Brief Overview of Previous Week

• Ephesians 2:11-13 No power in this world
• John 6:53 Eat my flesh and drink my blood or you have no part in me ---Jesus

II. Man’s Redemption Through Blood Covenant – Abram

• What happened between Genesis 3 and Genesis 12? (Linear Time)
• Adam and Eve had many children. Cain and Abel killed (Genesis 4:10) – Blood speaks
• Many descendants living almost to 1,000 years old. Noah – flood – tower of Babel
• God’s creation had turned upside down as a result of sin.
• God called Abram in Genesis 12:1 and gave him a glimpse into covenant, He made a promise to Him. From Ur, headquarters for “a god called sin” a moon diety. Its emblem was a crescent moon. Abraham was familiar with this deity. God told him to leave everyone behind cause He didn’t want him to be surrounded or influenced by idolatry. (old Jewish tradition from document not translated into English - story of god that was crushed in father’s market – Abraham you must think I am a fool, this god cannot hear, speak or talk neither can his hands move. Then my father why are you worshipping you this god.)
• Genesis 13 & 14, Abraham is getting to know God. For so long, He had been forgotten. Genesis 1-10 were merely distant stories. Abram and Lot depart. Lot goes to Sodom who gets captured by foreign Kings. Abram saves his nephew.

III. The Covenant with Abram

1. Genesis 15:1-21, God needed a way to break the union between Satan and mankind. Man was the key figure in the Fall, therefore man had to be the key figure in the redemption. So, God approached Abram and made a covenant. A covenant is cut based on strengths not weaknesses. (2 Part Covenant) Abram believed Him. If you don’t know about covenant, or believe it you have no ground to stand on. It is all about faith.
2. Genesis 15:6, “Abram believed Him.” Is very key!!! Everything in the Kingdom works by faith. Without faith you cannot obtain any of the promises of God…salvation, healing, deliverance, peace, etc.
3. Genesis 15:8, not doubt, just questioning God what the steps were going to be. Nothing shuts down God from being able to move in your life more than doubt and unbelief. How often do we pray a prayer of faith and then cancel it with words of doubt spoken right after the prayer?
4. Genesis 15:9-10, Abram cut the animals in half, vertical following the spine, because the animal would bleed better. Abram would have been standing ankle deep of the warm blood. The smell of the life pulsating out of the flesh pooling around his feet was impactful and never forgotten. (Stories of shed blood w/scars?)
5. Genesis 15:11, Birds of prey represent the devil swooping in on the benefits of the covenant. Some of us are allowing the buzzard of unbelief swooping in on your house, buzzard of unforgiveness, buzzard of disease, buzzard of rejection, (draw a tree with the root of unbelief and the fruit of various sin) (Brigdets teaching – voice of skepticism-took away more nuggets of truth – don’t shut somebody down because....)
6. Genesis 15:12-16 Abram fell in a trance, vision. God prophesies to him about the Israelites captivity in Egypt and being led out by Moses.
7. Genesis 15:17, the Lord (Jesus) passed through (walked) through the blood. Smoking oven (meaning representing the Father incubator (womb) of all life, flaming torch. (meaning Jesus the light of the world)
8. Genesis 15:18, the Lord made (cut) a covenant.
9. Psalm 80:28 “My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.” . Man’s covenant for 8 generations, but God’s covenant is to a thousand generations!
10. Psalm 89:34 “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.”

IX. The Distraction from the Covenant

• Genesis 16 Hagar and Ishmael
• God blessed Ishmael because of His covenant with Abram. God can not go back on His Word. He even has to bless bad seed.
• Muslim nation came from Ishmael
• His Word is above His Name. He swears by Himself.
• Gen. 22:16 This agreement was absolute. Sealed on both sides. He swore by Himself. He couldn’t go any higher or He would have to destroy Himself.
• Covenant remembrance, you can never forget

X. Manifestation of the Covenant – It was not fulfilled until Jesus rose. Gen. 17:1

• Genesis 17:1-5 I will make thee great - Make thy name great ---- Thou shalt be a blessing ---- I will bless them that bless thee ---- I will bless thee ----- I will curse them that curse thee ---In thee shall the nations of the world be blessed.
• Verse 5 God changed Abrams name. Added one letter “h” in Hebrew it means ruah which means spirit. Sound it makes is “haaa”. Sarai – took “I” out and put the “h” in, pit the spirit in.
• Gen. 17: 10-14 Covenant means “to cut where blood flows”, it is a contract and agreement. It was sealed in man’s flesh by circumcision.
• Gen: 18:17-33 God had a covenant with man and even changed his name to Abraham. God consulted with His covenant man about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The covenant was powerful.
• God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israel.

VI Covenant Practices (two volunteers – bread/goblet/coat/sword/chef’s hat/knife)

• Abram understood blood covenant, it would have been practiced through out pagan cultures.
• Marriage is a covenant. Ephesians 5 explains how marriage is a revelation of covenant between Christ and His church (Why else would the devil try so hard to break them up?)
• Marriages don’t work based on paper/commitment. They are cut in blood.
• Wedding ring comes from the cut made around the thumb where it would fester, be a raised scar and cause one to remember.
• Covenant is cut based on strengths, not weaknesses.
• It demands unwavering loyalty.
• In the old days, covenant was not based on what we have in common.
• Need covenant based on weakness/strengths, let’s pool our strengths together and yield our weaknesses.
• In order to work without prejudice there has to be something deeper; covenant.
• “Blood is thicker than water.” Covenant talk, Middle East they say “Blood is thicker than milk.”
• Remember is a covenant word.
• No way out, but death. If you broke your end of covenant, you were saying that no less than death would come upon you.
• If you break your end of covenant doesn’t mean I do to. If you break it you will receive a curse of death.
• Whether I like you or not doesn’t affect whether I keep my covenant, whether I enjoy you or you break my heart in two, when the dirt settles I will never forsake you nor leave you.

VII. Ancient Civilizations Covenant Ceremony – Notice the symbolism with Christ and Marriage

1. Choose a rep. from each family that represents qualities of the tribe. The family sees themself in Him.
2. Choose a sight for the covenant to take place, usually in a valley, so all could see.
3. Choose 7 stones and place them near the covenant spot. These are called the witnesses.
4. Choose animal and split it down the back. It falls open with a half on each side called walls of the covenant. Between them is the alleyway of blood.
5. Two rep. meet ankle-deep in the blood and speak or make known the terms of the agreement.
6. Exchange each other’s coats, a sign of authority. It stands for who I am and what I am, or what I do with my authority. And say, “All that I am I give to you and all authority I have I give to you.”
7. Pass each other, walk opposite of each other and circle around and meet again in the middle of the blood. “We are going to walk together, even if life takes us separate places, we will always be brought back together.”
8. Takes off His loin belt (weapons) and exchange them. All the power I have I give to you. Your enemies ore my enemies.
9. Pass each other, walk away and turn around and meet again in the middle of the blood.
10. Say, “I stand with you, just as I am standing in the blood.” Recite the terms; blessings, swear by God.
11. Wrist or hand is cut. An area that would fester and scar to cause one to “remember”. That is a covenant word. The life blood of the family is now being shed. Lev17 “the life is in the blood”, This is where we get wedding ring from. Blood shed in cup, stir it around (intermingled blood meant intermingling spiritual natures.- united spiritually – committed to one another – until death do you part) Pour it on the 7 stones as witnesses for all to see. Often would drink it.
12. Name change – either connected names (Williams-Burgs) or new name. Each person in family would be called that. Our new name is Christian “Little Anointed one of Jesus the Anointed One” Then became friends (another covenant term), love neighbor as self, a relationship has been born. I remember you are in the forefront of my mind, and eternal loving-kindness, tenderness, mercy forever.
13. Covenant Meal – feed his new covenant brother (friend) bread and say, “My body and life are yours, eat my flesh.” Offer wine to his new covenant brother (friend) and say, “This is the blood of my life, my life blood is yours.” In East, they would light a torch or in celebration of a marriage to symbolize the fire of destruction if the agreement should be broken.

VIII. Hesed

Now, they are bound to show Hesed to one another. Translates to loving-kindness, tenderness, mercy, rememberance, loyalty, service. “I serve you all the days of my life, not because of what you do for me, but because, I am in blood covenant. I do it with authority of God.” God says, “The devil can do what he wants, but because I am in covenant, I’ll see that he doesn’t to you. I am planning and plotting ways to keep you. I am bound to show you Hesed agape.”