A Covenant Written in Blood

Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises. (Romans 9:4)

In the ancient world, a covenant was nothing like the casual agreements we make today. It was serious enough that breaking one could cost you your life. Covenants were usually sealed in blood; the two parties would cut their hands or wrists and mingle their blood as the binding sign that the deal was done.

God entered into that kind of covenant with Israel. Within that covenant, He made provisions for their healing. Healing was a binding agreement that carried real weight for every person who belonged to it. Israel's covenant relationship with God gave them actual legal standing to expect healing, because it was part of what God Himself had committed to provide.

But Hebrews reminds us that believers today have something even better: a covenant established on better promises, sealed not by the blood of animals or the mingling of human blood, but by the blood of Jesus Himself. Old Testament covenants were sealed with lesser blood and still secured promises for healing. That should tell you and me how much more the covenant sealed with Christ's own blood secures that same provision for us today. What they received by covenant, you receive through an even greater one.

Practical Application

You have a covenant relationship with God, sealed by the blood of Christ. It is greater than any promise of the past. So stand on your healing, provision, and every promise of God with confidence.

Jeremiah 31:31; Luke 22:20