[0:00]Hello and welcome to the reading of the book, The Blood Covenant, by Dr. E.W. Kenyon. The new Covenant in my blood, chapter one. For years, I was convinced that there was something in the Lord's table that I did not understand. The silence of the disciples when Jesus introduced it, saying, this is my blood of the new Covenant, which is poured out for many unto the remission of sins, and then told them to eat the bread, which was his body, and to drink the wine, which he declared was his blood. I say the very silence of the disciples indicates they understood what he meant. I did not, and it confused me. For a long time I asked the question, what is the underlying principle involved in this strange ordinance? The very language of Jesus when he said, verily, verily, I say unto you, except you eat of the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves, added to the confusion. What did he mean by it? Then there was placed in my hands a book by Dr. H. Clay Truble, the old editor of the Sunday School Times, in which he showed there had been a blood covenant practiced by all primitive peoples from time immemorial. It proved that this blood Covenant was the basis of all primitive religions. He gave data from all parts of the world showing that even to this day in Africa, India, China, Borneo and the islands of the sea, men are practicing a blood covenant very similar to our Lord's table. It was degenerated, but nevertheless, it had the marks of an original revelation from God. In Stanley's books of exploration in Africa, he tells us that he cut the covenant more than 50 times with different tribes. Livingston calls attention to it as do other explorers and missionaries in Africa. Perhaps it might help us to understand if we look at the Hebrew word for Covenant. It means to cut. It has the suggestion of an incision where blood flows. In practically every place where the word is used in the scripture, it means to cut the covenant. We find that Abraham cut the Covenant with some of his neighbors before he ever entered into the Covenant with Jehovah. Chapter two, the origin of the blood Covenant. The blood covenant or what we call the Lord's table is based upon the oldest known covenant in the human family. It evidently began in the Garden of Eden. It is evident that God cut the Covenant or entered into a covenant with Adam at the very beginning. The reason I believe that is because there isn't a primitive people in the world, as far as we know, that has not practiced the blood covenant in some form, showing that it had a God-given origin and so man has practiced the covenant through all the ages. Today, hundreds of tribes in equatorial Africa cut the covenant. Stanley cut the covenant 50 times with different tribes. Livingston cut the covenant. Missionaries have seen it enacted, but didn't understand the significance, thinking it was some heathen right and not realizing that the blood covenant practiced in Africa today, would open the doors in every tribe for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. If any missionary who understands the language of any of the tribes would explain to them the Lord's table and let them see what it meant out of what it grew, it would at once open the door to the gospel to them. The whole redemptive plan swings about the two covenants. You remember we have an old covenant and a new covenant. Perhaps I had better illustrate to you what this ancient covenant means because it is practically the same among all peoples. Reasons for cutting the Covenant. There were three reasons for men cutting the Covenant with each other. If a strong tribe lives by the side of a weaker tribe and there is danger of the weaker tribe being destroyed, the weaker tribe will seek to cut the covenant with the stronger tribe, that they may be preserved. Second, two businessmen entering into a partnership might cut the covenant to ensure that neither would take advantage of the other. Third, if two men loved each other as devotedly as David and Jonathan or as Damon and Pytheus, they would cut the covenant for that love's sake. The method of cutting the Covenant. The method of cutting the Covenant is practically the same the world over. Although there are differences, of course, some places, it has degenerated into a very grotesque, almost a horrible right, but nevertheless, it is the same blood covenant. That which is practiced by the native tribes of Africa, by the Arabs, by the Assyrians, and by the Balkans is this. Two men wish to cut the Covenant. They come together with their friends and a priest. First, they exchange gifts. By this exchange of gifts, they indicate that all that one has, the other owns if necessary. After the exchange of gifts, they bring a cup of wine. The priest makes an incision in the arm of one man and the blood drips into the wine. An incision is made in the other man's arm and his blood drips into the same cup. Then the wine is stirred and the bloods are mixed. Then the cup is handed to one man and he drinks part of it, then hands it to the other man and he drinks the rest of it. When they have drunk it, ofttimes they'll put their wrists together so that their bloods mingle or they will touch their tongues to each other's wounds. Now they have become blood brothers. The sacredness of the blood Covenant. Mr. Stanley said he never knew this Covenant to be broken in Africa, no matter what the provocation. Dr. Livingston also bears witness saying that he never knew it to be broken. In other parts of the world, it is claimed that they never knew the blood covenant to be broken. It is one covenant that is perfectly sacred among all primitive peoples. In Africa, if one was to break the Covenant, his own mother or wife or his nearest relatives, would seek for him, his death, would turn him over to the hands of the Avenger for destruction. No man can live in Africa who breaks the Covenant. He curses the very ground he walks on. The vilest enemies become trusted friends as soon as the Covenant is cut. No man takes advantage of the Covenant or breaks it. It is so sacred that the children to the third and fourth generations revere it and keep it. In other words, it is a perpetual covenant, indissoluble, a covenant that cannot be annulled.
[26:50]Chapter eight, the new Covenant.
