Early in my walk with the Lord, I read John Osteen’s book Unraveling the Mystery of the Blood Covenant. In the book, he shared a captivating story that illustrates the power of covenant. Drawing from the explorations of two British missionaries, Sir Henry Stanley and David Livingstone, who traveled throughout Africa from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s, this story highlights God’s commitment to you.
As the story goes, Livingstone was in the African jungles so long that England began to worry about his wellbeing. When the British government sent Stanley and a search party to find him, they quickly discovered the importance of covenant.
Approaching the equator, Stanley and his team encountered a strong, hostile African tribe, who showed no signs of letting them pass through their land. That’s when Stanley’s interpreter advised Stanley to cut a covenant to avoid peril. Not knowing what else to do, Stanley agreed.
The covenant began with negotiations between Stanley’s party and the African tribe. After the terms were agreed upon, a representative was chosen from each group. These two representatives performed the blood-covenant ceremony.
After blood was drawn from each representative’s wrist and mingled together with wine, both drank from this mixture. Gunpowder was then rubbed into the wound where the blood had been drawn, creating a permanent mark. The pagan priest, who officiated the ceremony, then pronounced blessings for following the terms of the agreement and curses for violating the pact.
To seal the agreement, Stanley and the chief exchanged gifts. The chief wanted Stanley’s prized possession—his goat from England that provided milk for his weak stomach. In exchange, Stanley received the chief’s spear, bearing his insignia. At first, this seemed like an uneven swap. What would Stanley do with an old spear?
As he continued searching for Livingstone, traveling through some of the darkest places in Africa, he soon found out. When other tribes with evil intent saw Stanley holding the chief’s spear and the mark on his wrist, they knew that Stanley was in covenant with the most feared tribe in the land.
If they attacked Stanley or refused him passage, not only would they have to fight Stanley and his search party. They would have to battle this dreaded African tribe, who had vowed to fight Stanley’s enemies as if they were their own. Rather than risk their lives to oppose Stanley, these tribes allowed him to pass freely through their territories and provided him with anything he needed.
Stanley reportedly used the covenant rite at least fifty times during his travels in Africa, experiencing firsthand the mighty benefits of covenant.
Eight Common Steps in Ancient Covenants
After reading this powerful story, I developed a strong desire to study biblical covenants. Even though I was young in the Lord, I knew that our Christian faith is based on covenant. But that was about all I knew. What I found out absolutely amazed me and still does! I discovered that many of the promises and invitations the Lord gives us in Scripture are based on similar covenant practices that this African tribe employed.
As I researched covenants, I discovered that covenant making was a normal part of daily life since the beginning of human history. I also saw that the ancients, from different geographic areas and time periods, utilized similar practices and rituals to establish covenants. For example, almost every covenant involved solemn oaths, animal sacrifices, the exchange of blessings, and the giving of tokens that were signs of the covenant agreement.
As I studied the history of covenants, I saw a pattern emerge of typical covenant ceremonies. I use the word typical because not every covenant included all of the eight steps I discovered, which are listed below.
These steps are:
- The Pre-Ceremony Actions
- The Selection of the Covenant Representatives and the Cutting of the Covenant Sacrifice
- The Exchange of Robes, Belts, and Weapons
- The Walk unto Death
- The Pronouncement of Blessings and Curses
- The Seal of the Covenant Mark
- The Exchange of Names
- The Covenant Meal
A New Perspective
Because these eight steps of covenant were common cultural practices, when God employed them in cutting covenants with His people, it spoke volumes to them. It revealed how serious God takes His covenants, how serious He expects His people to view the covenant, the extent of His blessings to His people, and His faithfulness toward His covenant promises.
What do these eight steps from ancient covenants have to do with you? God used many of these concepts when He joined us to Himself in a covenant relationship.
In upcoming posts, when I connect these steps of ancient-covenant making with God’s covenant with us, it will change your perspective of what it means to be a Christian.
