This week, we got to see an example of a covenant ceremony. I videoed the Tuesday Morning "performance" with my iPhone (so please excuse the poor quality) but at least you can see and hear what Anne is saying as you watch the example of what entering into covenant looked like.
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We started off our time together with a review (as always!) of what we've learned so far. First, there was the exchanging of robes (which stood for the exchanging of identities). Secondly, there was the exchanging of weapons and belts (which stood for protection and strength). Thirdly, there was the walk into death (or the walk through the pieces) which symbolized dying to self and independence. The lesson picked up here, with the covenant cut.
In Leviticus 17:14a, we see that blood equals life. This is also true in our culture today. Just look at any Blood Drive campaign, and you'll see that they advertise that by giving blood, you are giving life to someone else. In the covenant cut, there was a commingling of blood, either through a cut that was then touched with the other man's cut or by drinking from a common cup. The reason the commingling of the blood is so important is because once something is in your blood, it literally infiltrates every part of your body. This testifies to both the seriousness and importance of covenant. We see this in the New Covenant in Jesus. Jesus was pierced and still has the covenant cuts on His resurrected body.
In Isaiah 49:14-16, we read:
14But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me,
And the Lord has forgotten me."
15"Can a woman forget her nursing child
And have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
16"Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.
Isn't that amazing? Anyone who has ever been pregnant knows that you can't forget your pregnant; it is constantly on the forefront of your mind. The same is true with nursing a baby. That intimacy, that relationship is used here to demonstrate how Christ remembers us.
In John 6:47-55, we see that we commingle blood with Christ through salvation and our mark is our obedience. We are now in covenant with Jesus Christ, and are therefore co-heirs, and unified, almost tucked up inside the Trinity because of it (see John 17:21-23).
The next thing that happened in a covenant ceremony was the sharing of names. On page 64 in the PUP study, we see this example played out in God's covenant with Abraham. "Some scholars believe that the change in Abram's and Sarai's names to Abraham and Sarah occurred because God took the "he" (pronounced hay) out of His sacred name, YHWH or Yahweh, and put it into their names. Notice the change Abr
aham and Sar
ah!" After that, we see that God took on Abraham's name as well; he was now referred at times as "the God of Abraham." How do we take on Christ's name in the New Covenant? Through being called a "christian" which literally means "little Christ." (See also Rev. 2:17) Did you know that "friend" is a covenant term? John 15:14 says we are called friends of Jesus if we do what He commands us to do. This requires abiding that we see talked about in John 15. Knowing that we are considered friends of God is not a relationship that is to be abused, but that should cause us to worship. Anne gave a great example: if she were to say "I'm friends with Beth Moore" we would think of her as friends with someone famous and even prideful in boasting about it. But, if Beth Moore from stage says "Anne is one of my dear, dear friends," that carries much more clout. It's the same way with God, no? It's not that we're so awesome that we are considered worthy of being His friend, it's that He comes down and entered into covenant with us, the lesser party, and calls us Friend.
We also know that possessions were listed out to each of the covenant partners because everything was now co-owned, essentially. We receive heavenly and spiritual blessings from Christ and are to hold our hands open with those blessings as they all belong to Him anyways, no "buts."
Next, we see that the share a meal, which meant that they were literally eating each other's flesh. Sounds gross, but it's what it meant (again, this is serious stuff!). The Lord's Supper is the New Covenant meal.
The last thing is that a memorial was set up. We partake of communion to remember the New Covenant. We received a handout in class of that I've attached here that show other ways covenants were remembered. Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9. You can click on the picture to make it bigger!
