The Blood Covenant | Part 1

Are we using the word friend too lightly?

Listen to Adrian Rogers. God made with us through Jesus. What is the blood covenant exactly?

Well, this is a Biblical principle that permanently unites two people together in friendship. How did the blood covenant play into the history of King David and Jonathan's descendants? And how does it play into our relationship with God today? If you have your Bible, turn to first Samuel chapter 18 as Adrian Rogers begins the message, the blood covenant. Well, we're coming into the Christmas season, and I'm beginning today a series of messages entitled God in Human Flesh.

Today I want you to find an Old Testament passage of Scripture, first Samuel chapter 18, and in a moment we're going to be reading verse 3. The Lord Jesus came in the flesh to make for us a blood covenant. And what we're about to read here is the story of the blood covenant.

And you need to understand the blood covenant because it has been my observations that most Christians talk better than they walk. They're not living in victory. They boast of victory. They sing of victory, but their lives are not victorious. A tiger met a lion as they sat beside a pool, said the tiger to the lion, Why are you roaring like a fool?

That's not foolish, said the lion with a twinkle in his eye. They call me the king of all beasts because I advertise. A rabbit heard them talking, ran home like a streak. He thought he'd try the lion's plan, but his roar was just a squeak.

A fox came to investigate, had his lunch in the woods. And so, my friend, when you advertise, be sure you've got the goods. Now, there are a lot of Christians who are advertising, but they have more in the showcase than they have in the warehouse. They don't have the goods and their so-called roar is just the squeak of a little rabbit.

How would you like to have the goods? How would you like to live up to what we profess and what we sing about? Well, if you want to do that, you need to learn what I'm going to call the blood covenant. First Samuel chapter 18 and verse 3, look at it. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he, that is Jonathan, loved him, that is David, as his own soul. Now, we're talking about God in human flesh, and God in human flesh came to make a blood covenant for you and for me.

The three things I want to lay upon your heart that I want you to do. First of all, I want you to understand the blood covenant as a biblical principle. Understand the blood covenant as a biblical principle. Now, the Bible says that Jonathan and David made a covenant.

The word covenant comes from a root word which means to cut, and it literally has the idea of a blood covenant, and many of us have known about the blood covenant since we were kids. When we used to go to the movies and see the old westerns, the cowboy and the Indian would make a covenant. Now, the cowboys and Indians would be fighting, and then there came a time when the cowboy and the Indian chief would get together and they'd decide there'd be no more war, and so they're going to make a covenant, and what they would do, each one would make an incision on his right wrist until the blood would ooze out. The cowboy would cut himself, the Indian would cut himself, and then they would join their hands together and let the blood mingle and lift them to heaven in a promise and a covenant.

There will be no more war. We are now what? Blood brothers.

You understand that? Blood brothers. It was a commingling of lives that the Bible teaches that the life of the flesh is in the blood, and now this blood covenant is something that the cowboys got from their forefathers and the Indians got from their forefathers. It goes all the way back to Bible times.

Now, many times after they would make a covenant, they would take something like black powder, sometimes gunpowder, and rub it in the wound, and so when the wound would heal, the scar would be very evident there. That scar would be called the mark of the covenant, and it'd be very evident that you could see it from there on, and then those who were in covenant were called friends. Now, we use the word friend today very lightly, very loosely, but the word friend in the Bible was a very significant word.

For example, in the Bible, Abraham was in covenant with God, and what was Abraham called? The friend of God, and there's a new attitude that comes. For those who are in covenant one with another, that attitude in the Bible is called loving kindness. Never forget it, loving kindness. Remember David said to God, Lord, have mercy upon me according unto thy loving kindness. Now, what does loving kindness mean? Loving kindness means I will do you good regardless because we are in covenant together.

You can call upon me as your friend, and I will show you loving kindness because we are now blood brothers. We have made together a blood covenant, and now this covenant not only is between the two who make the covenant, but it continues down to their offspring. The children of those in covenant are a part of the covenant. If they will ratify the covenant, it can be a part of them. Now, I said what we need to do is to understand the blood covenant as a biblical principle. Let me tell you something.

Listen very carefully. The blood covenant is the subject of the Bible. That's what the whole Bible is about, blood covenant. Our Bible is divided into two halves.

What? The Old Testament and the New Testament. Now, friend, listen. The word testament and the word covenant are the same word. It is the old covenant and the new covenant. That's what the whole Bible is about. It is the subject of the Bible, and not only is it the subject of the Bible, friend, it is the secret of blessing. All of the promises in the Bible are covenant promises.

The Bible says the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant. When the Lord Jesus Christ met with his disciples for that last supper, he said in Luke 22, verse 20, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. It's the blood covenant. This cup, when we come to the Lord's table, we are celebrating the blood covenant. This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.

It's the subject of the Bible. It, friend, is the secret of blessing. Now, listen, it is the source of boldness. When you understand the blood covenant, when you understand who you are and what you have in the Lord Jesus Christ, from then on, no longer do you live under the tyranny of your emotions. No longer, friend, are you bound to your feelings, but now you can stand with boldness with the blood covenant. Now, there were some solemn symbols of the covenant. You're there if you have your Bibles open to 1 Samuel chapter 18. We read a few verses.

Let's read some more. And it came to pass, I'm reading verse 1, that when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Now, they have become soulmates. And Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

The word soul literally means life. And Saul took him, that is, David, took him that day and would let him go no more to his father's house. That is, King Saul, who was Jonathan's father, said, David, I want you to be my son also.

You come to my house. And then notice in verse 3, then Jonathan and David made a covenant. We've already read that. That actually means cut a covenant because he, Jonathan, loved him as his own soul.

Now, watch this. We're talking about the symbols of the covenant. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it to David and his garments, even to his sword and to his bow and to his girdle.

Now, you have to get the background. Saul is the king. Jonathan is the king's son.

Therefore, Jonathan is the heir to the throne, very much like the crown prince of England. But Jonathan loves David. He admires David. David has come fresh from Bethlehem with a victory over Goliath.

He has come fresh from the father. He has the oil, the fresh oil of anointing upon him. And Jonathan knows that David is God's anointed and appointed king.

He knows that David is really the rightful heir to the throne, even though Jonathan is the king's son. And when Jonathan sees the beauty of David, he wants to yield his life over to David, and he makes a blood covenant with David, and then he symbolizes it. Now, notice, first of all, he gave David his robe. Do you see that there in verse 4, that he gave David himself?

He stripped himself of his robe. His robe is what marked Jonathan out as the king's son. It speaks of his position, and he is saying, uh, I am yielding my position over to you.

I want David in my place. And that ought to be true of every follower of the Lord Jesus Christ with whom we are in blood covenant. That is, Lord, I yield my position in life over to you. But not only did Jonathan give David his robe, he also gave him his garments. That is his clothing. Now, the robe spoke of his position. His clothing spoke of his possessions. The Bible says in chapter 18 and verse 4, he stripped himself of his garments even and gave those also to David because what he's saying to David is, David, I'm in covenant with you, and all that I have belongs to you because if it were not for you, I really wouldn't have anything.

You won the victory for me. What he was saying is, David paid it all, and all to him I owe, just like we sing Jesus paid it all, and all to him I owe. But not only did he give his robe, which speaks of his position, and not only did he give his garments, which spoke of his possession, he gave his sword and his bow. Look at it again in chapter 18 and verse 4, to his sword and his bow and his girdle. His girdle is what he hung his weapons on. Now, when he gave his sword and his bow to David, what he is saying, this represents my power, my power.

I know how to use this bow, but I have no longer any right to self-defense. I yield that over to you, and David, your battles are my battles. My weapons of war now belong to you.

My position is yours. My possessions are yours. My power is yours.

I give it over to you. We are now blood brothers. That's what the covenant meant, and now they are in covenant because covenant and commitment, listen, covenant and commitment go hand in hand. Now, what we're talking about now is the biblical principle of the blood covenant. Let's move to the second point.

You ready? All right, now, listen. I want you to not only understand that principle, but I want you to see how the blood covenant is a steadfast promise.

Emphasis on the word steadfast, steadfast. That is, when you're in covenant, that is an unbreakable covenant. Now, let me tell you what has happened. At first, Saul loved David, but then when David received so much praise, Saul became insane with jealousy, and now Saul the king wants to kill David, and so there goes out a royal edict that David is to be killed. Now, Jonathan hears about that, and Jonathan tells David, he says, David, you hide yourself.

My father wants to kill you. All right, just go to the 19th chapter and look at your will in verses 1 and 2. Then Saul spake to Jonathan his son and to all his servants that they should kill David, but Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David, and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul, my father seeketh to kill thee. Now, therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning and abide in a secret place and hide thyself. Now, remember now that Jonathan is in a closer relationship to David than he is to his own natural father, just as we in Christ are closer many times to our brothers and sisters in Christ than we are to those who are natural members of our family. And so Jonathan says, David, my father wants to kill you.

Hide yourself. And if you read that story now, David is hunted like a wild partridge on the hills of Judea, and Saul is out there, and all of the emphasis of the kingdom is put to a narrow focus. Find David, kill David, find David, kill David, find David, kill David, and David now is fleeing for his life. But there's a battle, and Saul and Jonathan are both slain, and David, who is God's anointed and appointed king, comes to the kingdom. He is now appointed king. When this happens, there is blind panic in the kingdom.

Can you imagine? Up until this point, everybody's saying, find David, kill David, kill David, kill David, and now David is the king. And they're wondering, when now is the retaliation about to begin? When is the retribution about to begin? When is David going to take vengeance on his enemies?

Now, in the change of kingdoms, there's panic, I say, in the royal household. And there's a nurse there who sees Jonathan's son. Now, remember that David has made a covenant with Jonathan. This nurse in the royal nursery chamber sees this little baby boy there. His name, a strange name, I've never heard a child name this name, Mephibosheth.

Hard to say even, Mephibosheth. He is Jonathan's son, and Jonathan and David are in blood covenant together, but now Jonathan is dead, David is the king. This nurse, all she knows is that there's another king, he's going to come, and he's going to take vengeance. So she takes the little baby out of the crib and begins to run to hide the baby. Now, she trips and falls, and her body falls on this little baby. And the little baby's legs get twisted beneath the weight, and he is crippled.

There's no orthopedic surgeon there to set the little limbs and make them straight. And so she runs with this child, now crippled, but she wants to hide him from David and from the vengeance that David would have. And she goes out to a place, the name of that place is Lodibar, L-O-D-E-B-A-R, which literally means a place of no pasture.

You can use your imagination. It was a dry, dusty, dingy hideaway on the backside of nowhere because she's trying to hide this little baby, and this baby grows up, crippled. Why am I here, nurse? You're here because there's somebody trying to kill you.

Why am I crippled? Because we were running from him. What's going to happen?

You just better hope he never finds you. And there he is growing up with this lesson, fear David, hate David, fear David, hate David. And there he is dragging his crippled limbs behind him, eating dust, breathing dust, a prince in exile. And now David is king, and then David says something extremely interesting. David knows that he must fulfill the covenant that is made with Jonathan. So look, if you will now, in 2 Samuel this time, just fast-forward to 2 Samuel chapter 9.

And notice these amazing words. Now David is now the king. Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, is in exile. And David said... I'm reading 2 Samuel chapter 9, verse 1. And David said, Is there any yet that is left of the house of Saul? Now here's the key word.

Watch it. That I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake. And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he. And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul? About this time they were thinking, uh-huh. Here it comes. I was wondering when the purge would begin. Is there not any left of the house of Saul?

But now listen to this. That I may show the kindness of God unto him. And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet. David wants to show kindness, the kindness of God to Mephibosheth. He'd never met him before, but he is in covenant with Mephibosheth's father Jonathan. And so David says, Go fetch him.

Go bring him. And so they send a royal entourage, the king's horses, the king's men, out to Lodibar. I can see Mephibosheth as he drags his crippled limbs to the wind and he looks out. They're the king's men.

They're the king's horses. There it all is. He says, Oh, he's found me.

They come push open the door. Are you Mephibosheth? Yes. Come.

Why? The king wants you. He says, This is it.

I've had it. He's brought before King David. He casts his crutches aside. He falls on his face and he begins to tremble like a bird in a trap, caught.

There he is on the floor. And David says to him with a note of love in his voice, Look, if you will, in 2 Samuel 9, verse 7. And David said unto him, Fear not, fear not, for I will surely show thee kindness, now watch this, for Jonathan thy father's sake, and I will restore unto thee all the land of Saul thy father, and thou shall eat bread at my table continually. Here's what he said to this man who's expecting death. I want to restore your inheritance. I want you to dine at my table.

I want you to be like my son. When Mephibosheth hears this, he can hardly take it in. He can't understand it. Look in verse 8, and he bowed himself and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I? I am a dead dog.

I am as good as death. Why would you want to give me back my inheritance? Why would you want me to eat at your table? Why would you want me to be as your son? I can imagine David explaining it and saying to him, Now, Mephibosheth, I want you to understand, it's not a matter of your worthiness.

As a matter of fact, I'm not even doing this for your sake. I'm doing this for the sake of your father, Jonathan. I am in a blood covenant with Jonathan.

I am bound by a blood covenant. Now, at this moment, Mephibosheth has a decision to make. He, up to this point, had seen David as an enemy and as a threat, and he's been running from him.

Now he has a decision to make. If he wants to, he can ratify the covenant. No longer is David an enemy. Now David is a friend. No longer is he out of fellowship with David. He's in fellowship with David. No longer is he running from David.

He is running to David. He must change his mind about David, and he must accept the covenant by faith. Now notice, he must change his mind about David, and he must accept the covenant by faith.

You know what that is? It's the terms of salvation in the New Testament, repentance and faith. Repentance means a change of mind. When we change our mind, we take a new king into our lives, and his name is Jesus.

That's what it's all about, changing our mind and receiving this new king into our lives, King Jesus. If you have questions about how to do that, about who Jesus is, about how to receive the forgiveness that he's offering you and the mercy and the grace that he wants to pour into your life, oh, go to our Discover Jesus page at the website right now. LWF.org slash radio is that site. You'll find resources there, materials, a video from Adrian Rogers that will answer questions you may have about your faith. Again, go to LWF.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus. Now, if you'd like a copy of today's message in its entirety, call us to order at 1-877-LOVE-GOD and mention the title, The Blood Covenant. This message is also part of the powerful Christmas series, God in Human Flesh.

For the complete collection, all four dynamic messages, call that number 1-877-LOVE-GOD or go to LWF.org slash radio or you can write us to order at Love Worth Finding, box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Well, thanks for studying with us in God's word today. And if you have taken King Jesus into your life, if you have ratified the blood covenant for yourself, the one that God has freely offered, give him thanks today and join us for part two of the blood covenant tomorrow, right here on Love Worth Finding. Well, we love hearing your feedback about these messages and a Facebook friend recently shared this, Dr. Rogers was so gifted to take deep theological truths and explain them in such a simple yet powerful way that is clear and easy to comprehend. His ministry has truly impacted my life for time and eternity.

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