A blood covenant was an ancient ritual practiced in Biblical times to seal a solemn agreement or pact between two parties. The most well-known blood covenant in the Bible is found in Genesis 15, where God makes a covenant with Abram.
The Significance of Blood Covenants
In the ancient world, blood covenants were considered sacred and binding agreements, usually made between friends or allies. The shedding of blood and exchange of blood represented the commitment to lay down one’s life for the other if necessary. Blood covenants provided a means to formalize relationships and were sometimes used to inaugurate treaties or alliances between tribes, kings, or nations.
The binding power of a blood covenant came from the solemn oaths and sacrifices that accompanied the ritual. Once performed, a blood covenant could not be easily broken. Even if the parties were separated by distance or time, the covenant endured. This background helps explain why God’s covenant with Abram was so meaningful.
God’s Covenant with Abram
Genesis 15 records God affirming his promise to make Abram the father of a great nation and give his descendants the land of Canaan. Abram believed God’s promise but desired confirmation, so God graciously provided a visible sign to assure Abram.
God instructed Abram to bring a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon (Gen. 15:9). Abram sacrificed the animals, cutting the larger animals in half and arranging the halves opposite each other (Gen. 15:10). Birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away (Gen. 15:11).
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep and God spoke to him in a vision, passing between the halves of the sacrificed animals and thereby solemnizing a covenant with Abram (Gen. 15:12-18). God alone walked the path between the animal pieces, making this a unilateral covenant depending only on God’s faithfulness.
The Significance of God’s Covenant Ritual
Though unusual, God’s covenant ritual with Abram included several important features common to ancient blood covenants:
– The solemn oath – God declared he was making a covenant with Abram (Gen. 15:18).
– The public declaration – God spoke openly to Abram and demonstrated his commitment visually.
– The sacrificial offerings – The animals sacrificed represented the potential cost and consequences should the covenant be broken.
– The passing between pieces – By walking between the sacrificial animal halves, God was essentially saying, “May this happen to me if I do not keep my covenant promise.”
God knew Abram desired assurance. By graciously submitting to a customary ritual, God gave Abram tangible confirmation of the promised covenant. God patiently stooped to meet Abram’s needs.
The blood covenant ritual provided lasting comfort and confidence to Abram in God’s trustworthiness. More importantly, it points forward to a new covenant in Christ’s blood (Luke 22:20). Though Abram did not yet know how God would fulfill the promise, he trusted what God foretold would surely come to pass.
Parallels Between Genesis 15 and Jeremiah 34
Jeremiah 34 provides another biblical example of a blood covenant ritual. This passage records events around 588 B.C. when Babylon was besieging Jerusalem. At this time, King Zedekiah made a covenant with the people to grant freedom to all Hebrew slaves.
The text says they “cut a calf in two and passed between the parts of it” (Jer. 34:18). This mimics the ritual in Genesis 15, confirming blood covenants were still practiced in Jeremiah’s day. However, Zedekiah and the people reneged on their oath and re-enslaved those who had been freed.
As punishment for breaking the blood covenant, God promised, “I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not kept the terms of the covenant that they made before me, the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts…” (Jer. 34:18). Breaking a blood oath had dire consequences.
Other Biblical Mentions of Blood Covenants
Beyond Genesis 15 and Jeremiah 34, we find other possible references to blood covenants in the Bible:
– David and Jonathan made a covenant sealed before the Lord by oaths, weeping, and kisses (1 Sam. 20:16-17, 41-42). This may have involved a blood ritual.
– In Exodus 24, Moses sprinkled blood from sacrificed animals on the altar and people to seal the covenant between God and Israel.
– Jesus spoke of the new covenant in his blood shed for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:28). The old Mosaic covenant was also dedicated by blood (Heb. 9:18-22).
Though details are limited, these examples demonstrate the cultural significance of blood covenants in the ancient Near East and in the biblical period.
The Superiority of God’s Covenant with Abram
While God humbly condescended to Abram’s expectations by participating in a blood covenant ritual, we must note ways God’s covenant exceeded all others:
– God alone passed through the animal pieces – it was a unilateral, unconditional covenant dependent only on God’s faithfulness.
– God swore by himself – since nothing is higher, this oath was irrevocable (Heb. 6:13-18).
– God alone made promises – Abram was passive. God pledged himself as guarantor of the promised blessings.
– God fulfilled it completely – What God swore came to pass. He kept his covenant with perfect faithfulness.
Though customary for the time, no ordinary human covenant could approach the surety and grandeur of God’s sworn oath to Abram and his offspring. The unilateral ritual pointed to the certainty of God’s promises.
Applying the Blood Covenant Today
For Abram, a blood covenant was the most solemn, binding oath imaginable in his day. Yet what God swore and predicted still came to pass in Christ, who shed his blood to inaugurate the new covenant.
Several key implications emerge:
– We can have utmost confidence in God’s sworn word. What God promises, he will do.
– Salvation depends completely on God’s faithfulness, not ours. Our hope rests on his commitment to forgive in Christ.
– We should respond to God’s grace with deep gratitude and obedience. God’s self-sacrifice demands our lifelong loyalty.
– Human covenants and contracts pale compared to God’s faithfulness. His covenant exceeds all others.
Though foreign to modern sensibilities, blood covenants were foundational societal traditions in the ancient world. God met Abram within his context but then exceeded all expectation with the certainty, scope, and fulfillment of his sworn oath by grace.
Conclusion
In Genesis 15, God graciously provided Abram a visible blood covenant ritual to confirm his covenant promise. This tied God’s word to customary practice, giving Abram tangible assurance. Yet God’s covenant exceeded all conventions in certainty, demands, and fulfillment.
Through Christ, God kept his covenant promise beyond Abram’s wildest hopes. The blood covenant pointed ahead to Jesus and the blessing of forgiveness and redemption through faith in him. It forged a bond between God and his people that not even death could break.
God’s famous covenant with Abram provides a paradigm for his relationship with believers today. Through faith in Christ, we enter God’s covenant family and gain every promised blessing. As in Abram’s day, God remains perfectly faithful to fulfill all his covenant obligations to us, giving us eternal hope.