The Ancient Blood Covenant Rite
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The Ancient Blood Covenant Rite. The practice of swearing blood oaths. Sacrificial animals. Blood Sacrifice. Eucharist. Threshold Covenant. Primitive Blood Covenant Rite.
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The Ancient Blood Covenant Rite
The Bible is book containing many covenants, and as such, there exists a kind of covenant tongue or language which we find threaded all through it's sixty-six books. Freedman writes,"Covenant is not an 'idea' to be embraced in the mind"
... "but an 'enacted reality' that is either manifested
in the concrete choices individuals make, or not".
(The Anchor Bible Dictionary)Such terminology would have naturally been more commonly understood in the days of the Old Testament, less common to the New Testament. Without having a good understanding of these covenant practices, it seems that commentators over the years have inserted much confusion where otherwise would not have been. Freedman again says this about the present day need to fully comprehend the complexity involved in thoroughly understanding such covenants.
"It follows that a covenant cannot be understood merely
by regarding it as a rigid literary form, nor can it be
understood by reducing it to a literary law code, a ritual
act, or a theological or political idea or concept. Thus
most studies of the OT covenant in the past quarter century
that have been delimited by one or another of such concepts
have largely generated a great deal of unnecessary confusion."
(The Anchor Bible Dictionary)As the years passed into even the first few centuries of the Church age, the revelation of the blood covenant seemed to begin to fade away. In the early days, no historian would doubt that by partaking of the Eucharist, the Christian was ratifying his blood oath with the Lord. After Christianity had become systematically associated with the political institutions of Rome, the practice came to be regarded as nothing more than a mere symbol. Finally, the original meaning of the Eucharist sacrament had been entirely forgotten. Because of this it began to take on new mystical forms such as a special communion with Christ, or that of a sacrifice of Christ's body. The later would become a great assistance to the clergy in their establishment of a hierarchical office of priests.
The practice of swearing blood oaths and abiding with the terms of such covenants came to be viewed as sinful based upon the warnings spoken by Christ himself. This was especially true to a covenant which might contain the actual blood of an animal or a man. Generally we would think of such practices as barbaric or savage. For this reason, it seems that man has almost forgotten the power of such a blood binding oath. For a Christian to actually participate or engage in such an act is unnecessary and unprofitable. There is no doubt that Jesus strictly warned against engaging in such practices. On the other hand, we must not allow the memory of this blood rite to escape our minds. If we do, we jeopardize our accurate understanding of the words within our own sacred book, which book is a record of our covenant with God.
But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven;
for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool:
neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Neither shalt thou swear by thy head,
because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay:
for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.( Mat 5:34-37 KJV)
If Christianity learned to view the bible as a blood covenant, this alone would eventually cause denominationalism and racism to come to an end. This is because these two seem to be directly opposed to one another. The practice of Christians being separated from one another on the basis of skin color or religious preference comes from a misunderstanding of the blood covenant which we have entered into with Christ. We do not need race or doctrines to bind us to each other, we have the power of the covenant. This is the true bind which no man has any right or authority under heaven to break. When we bind men together by such artificial methods, it might give us a perception of strength in numbers, but the reality is that we share the same weaknesses because our bonding is primarily based upon what we have in common. Blood covenants were primarily entered into on the basis of differences not similarities. As such, the results of the covenant brought new strengths to obvious weaknesses. The union would tend to make both parties stronger, this was often the purpose for the covenant.
The terms or conditions of the covenant were not arbitrarily written down. Both parties would go to great lengths to determine the needs of each party. Each party would negotiate these terms before quickly agreeing to the terms. They must consider the cost, that is their own responsibility. What will they gain or are they being deceived or cheated. The covenant was indissoluble once it had been cut. There was no way out, one the ceremony had been completed. Very often a curse or penalty would be incorporated or pronounced upon the party who might willfully default. Such curses were expected to be visited upon the guilty party by the many deity's who had been called to witness the transaction. Most often much of the curse had to do with things beyond the power of man such as sickness and disease, poverty, famine, etc. Such curses would required a supernatural power to execute and it was believed that the gods would perform such curses quickly. Similar blessing were often attached to the covenant which again would require the act of the supernatural entities to perform such as, abundant harvests, prosperity, good health, many children, etc. The blood covenant was the most serious relationship that one man could enter into with another. In many cases, his life would be placed on the line.
After the terms, conditions, and penalties were negotiated, the covenant representative would be selected from each tribe. The selection was often based upon the greatest attributes of the tribe. He would be the one person in whom the entire tribe could identify with. He would be so to speak the living image which represented that tribe to other tribes. Next a covenant site must be chosen. The site could be chosen because it had been regarded as a place of neutrality, or often because it was spacious enough for all members of either tribe to attend the ceremony and observe the cutting of the covenant between the two representatives. Sacrificial animals must then be chosen, often large animals who would shed a great deal of blood. The animals were often cut down the backbone making two separate halves. The halves of their carcasses would be laid opposite of each other to form a walkway of blood. All this was done in preparation for the sacred ceremony.
On the specific day chosen, the ceremony would begin. The representatives would walk through the walkway of blood to the center and perform the symbolic gesture of the coat exchange. The coat represented both the strength and authority of the representative as awarded or pledged by the entire tribe. By exchanging their coats, they were symbolically changing their authorities which they held among the people of their tribes. At the same time they would exchange their weapons. The exchange of weapons insinuated that each tribe would come to the aid of the other in battle. They would fight along side their covenant brother as if they were of their own tribe. All of these things, although being symbols of the covenant rite, became living realities.
Now the most important part of the ceremony would come. Each party would declare aloud the conditions of the covenant. The terms were declared in the presence of all, for every man in each of the tribes would become forever bound by these terms. Often in later days these would be written down but that was not really necessary as every man present had been considered a witness to the terms. Finally, in the midst of the slain animals, the river of warm blood often soaking all the way up to their ankles, both parties swore an oath to keep the terms of this covenant, and concluded rehearsing the curse or penalties for default for every hear to hear.
Although it is usually not so obvious, there was an understood element of the curse which was considered to be implied. At any time the sovereign from one of the tribes could declare the curse to no be in effect upon the other tribe. It was perceived that they had somehow broken the covenant. When such a case did exist, that sovereign would exercise his special role as the "agent of the avenging deities". As the ultimate curse, the avenging agent had divine authority to completely annihilate the others kingdom.
Finally, each representative had an incision made within his hand, wrist, leg, or another area of his anatomy. The blood that flowed from the incisions of each man would be captured into a small goblet to be drunken by both at the covenant meal. The incisions would be touched together, sometimes the wrists or legs being tied together with a strip of leather or cloth. The scars would be made to appear more prominent by the rubbing of gunpowder or other substances. The scar would serve to be a reminder as long as the two representatives lived that the covenant of blood had been cut between the two tribes.
After this very impressive display, which was designed to be deeply ingrained within the minds and memories of every witness, and especially upon the minds of the representatives themselves, these two would give each other a new name. Often their names had been joined together to form a new name representing both tribes. This exchange of names implied that they were becoming one new family out of the joining of the two. After all this had transpired they would never regard each tribe as being separate or distinct from each other, for now in their spirits they had become as one. Often the ceremony would end with the planting of the trees upon this very site. Trees were planted because of their long life. The trees would become a memorial from one generation to another.
The finale ceremony would be the covenant meal, normally the offering of bread and wine to each other. The bread represented the body, while the wine represented the new shared blood of both men. At least within the Assyrian loyalty oaths, there was a certain understanding that by both parties partaking the were also saying, "Just as bread and wine enter the intestines, so may the gods let this oath enter your intestines".
The blood was said to be inter-commingled and as such, the two spirit natures had now become one. Often the wine would be mixed with the blood captured during the ceremony from the covenant incision as described above, but often only wine was used in the drink. As each drank from the cup they would say, "Drink my life's blood as I drink your life's blood." "I see you fulfilling all the terms of the covenant as I fulfill your life." Then they reached over the table, both taking a piece of the bread, and lifting to each other's mouth they recited, "Take me - all that I am. Eat of me, I am yours."
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