The Bible is a book of Covenants. The Old Testament is really a book of several Old Covenants. The New Testament is the New Covenant in the Blood of Jesus Christ. Whether the covenant is old or a new living covenant there is one most vital thread, there has to be the shedding of blood. A covenant is cut; it is the exchange of the covenant partners’ blood, the exchange of life. When a blood covenant is cut between two people, every part of one’s life is involved in the exchange, there is not one area that is not sealed by the oath of the covenant. Blood is precious and covenants need to be honored.
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11 NKJV). The purpose of blood is to maintain life, but God gave it to His creation for atonement. The life within the blood was given so that others could live free from sin and “at-one-ment” with God. The Hebrew word for covenant is “berith,” which means determination, stipulation and |