The Friend That Sticks Close

The Friend That Sticks Close
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Last month we discussed the term covenant and that it meant a binding together by the shedding of blood. Another thing we covered was the fact that the words covenant and testament mean the same thing.

Covenant refers to the old shedding of blood or the old cutting of a covenant and testament refers to the new shedding of blood or the cutting of a new covenant.

Another point we covered is that covenants are established on the foundation of love. This is the reason why two people join together their lives, their assets, and their liabilities. When we entered into a covenant with God, He took all our liabilities and we were given access to all his assets.

Another important covenant word is friend. There are two different words used for friend in the Bible. One of them is used quite often and the other rarely. The first is found in Proverbs 17:17 (entire verse).

This particular word for friend comes from the Hebrew word rea which means associate. This is the friend who loves you at all times and is one you can depend upon to always be there.

The second word for friend is found in Proverbs 18:24 (entire verse). Here friend is the Hebrew word ahab. Ahab is found only four times in the Old Testament. It means an intimate, blood-covenant friend.

Ahab is used once again in Proverbs as well as in II Chronicles 20:7 and Isaiah 41:8. These last two scriptures refer to Abraham as being the ahab or wherever we go we have God stuck to us? He's a friend, a blood-covenant intimate friend that sticks closer than any brother on this earth. He loves us at all times. We have somebody that sticks with us no matter where we go. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. Our friend is the Lord Jesus Christ. The New Testament equivalent of that word friend is found when Jesus said, "I no longer call you servants, I call you friend." We have entered into this special blood- covenant friendship with intimate friend of God. Also, these scriptures are being quoted when Abraham is called the friend of God in James 2:23.

Abraham was not merely an associate of God's; Abraham was a blood- covenant friend of God's! They entered into an intimate relationship. We have that same kind of relationship with God. Isn't it nice to know that Jesus Christ. There is a saying in Eastern countries where the blood covenant is still practiced that, "blood is thicker than milk." This is the same idea as we find in Proverbs, that "milk brothers" who are born of the same mother and drink of the same milk are still not as closely tied as blood-covenant friends.

In I Samuel 18 we learn about two friends, Jonathan and David, who entered into a blood covenant relation- ship. We're going to find that, first of all, they were rea friends, and then, through a blood covenant, they became ahab friends.

In I Samuel 18:1, David has just come back from slaying Goliath. King to make a covenant valid, but these nine are documented in the Word as having been done.

What is the importance of garments? In most cases, clothes reflect what level of society a person is in, and they reflect his income.

Therefore, when David and Jonathan exchanged coats, they were indicating that they were exchanging everything of their status or their position in life.

In this exchange, David had Saul wants him to come into his own court and live there. (I Samuel 18:1-entire verse).

The Scripture tells us that David and Jonathan loved each other. An intimate friendship developed and they wanted to become blood covenant brothers.

(I Samuel 18:3-entire verse). Here is that word covenant which means to cut where blood flows. Jonathan and David became blood brothers, or made a covenant, because, "...he loved him as his own soul."

(I Samuel 18:4-entire verse). The fact that Jonathan gave David his garments is significant because it is one of the nine things that those entering a covenant could do. (However, they did not have to do all nine things everything to gain, and Jonathan had everything to lose. What kind of coat do you think David gave Jonathan? A shepherd's coat! It probably smelled like the sheep, looked like the sheep, and had hay sticking out of it here and there.

On the other hand, what kind of robe do you think Jonathan gave to David? A royal robe! A king's robe! After all, Jonathan was next in line to take over the throne. He was Saul's son. Yet, he loved David so much that he was willing to lay down the whole kingdom, his position in society, the throne itself, even all of Israel itself for David. Remember, the overriding factor in a covenant is love. A covenant means that a person is willing to lay down everything for the love of a friend.

Another thing those making a covenant could do is exchange belts. You say, "Well, big deal, belts just hold up your pants." But, in the ancient world, men didn't wear pants. A belt was for something totally different. Belts were used to hold weapons. So, this exchange is saying in effect, "if someone attacks you, they also attack me."

When Jonathan and David exchanged belts, what did Jonathan get? A slingshot! But, what do you think Jonathan had on his belt? He probably had all kinds of weapons that David had never even seen before, weapons of a king. Thus, by giving his belt to David, Jonathan was saying, "David, if they attack you, they attack me. Furthermore, when they attack me, they attack the king. When they attack the king, they attack the whole nation. In other words, all of our military stands behind you."

On the other hand, by this exchange Jonathan is also saying, "David, when they attack me, I want you to stand up and defend me. When someone attacks me, consider it an attack on yourself."

A third thing those entering a covenant often did was to take an animal and cut it in half. They then took the two parts of the animal and laid them on the ground far enough apart so that both parties of the covenant could walk in and out of the two pieces. As the two people walked, they formed a figure eight around both pieces of that sacrifice. By doing this they were recognizing the fact that the animal had been slain in substitution for them.

By walking in a figure eight pattern, they not only walked around the outside of the animal, they also walked through the inside of the animal. This signifies that both parties had now become one in the body of the substitute animal.

Another interesting thing is that these Hebrews did not know that the pattern they were making represented infinity. However, they did know that the pattern represented the everlasting, endless covenant they had just drawn up. The covenant would continue generation to generation. Even the children that were in their loins, their children's children, and their grandchildren's children could be part of that covenant.

Furthermore, the children who wanted to enter into the covenant no longer had to participate in the shed- ding of blood. They could enter into the covenant their forefathers established simply by accepting it, because the covenant was everlasting and endless.

This is why God kept telling Abraham, "I'm drawing up with you an eternal covenant, an everlasting covenant which will be to all generations after you, and your seed will be as the stars of heaven and as the sands of the sea. I'm making an everlasting covenant between you and me." This covenant was ratified by the shed blood of Jesus, once and for all, on the cross. Today, all we have to do to enter into it is accept the shed blood and the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The fourth thing those entering a covenant could do was cut themselves. They either cut their palms, or wrists and then mingled the blood together. Pagans would probably mingle their blood into wine and drink it, but since this was forbidden in the Word of God, the Hebrews mingled the blood together either by a hand shake or by rubbing parts of the body together. The mingling of blood was the mingling of life.

In the fifth step, ashes were rubbed into the cuts so that when the cuts healed, a permanent scar was left. This scar was a visible reminder of the covenant. In David's case, if some Philistine attacked him, all he had to do was show the blood covenant scar which said, "Philistine, you attack me and you attack all of Israel! The king and all the military stand behind me. This scar proves it."

In the same manner, when Satan starts to attack us, all we need to do is show him the scars of our covenant with God. When we remind Satan of the covenant that we have with God and that to attack us is to attack Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, he doesn't want to attack. He dealt with Jesus one day in the pits of hell; he lost and he doesn't want to do it again! That's why the Word of God says to resist the devil and he'll walk away from you. One translation says "to run as if in terror."

The sixth step involved the exchange of names. If I were to enter into covenant with someone, our names would be exchanged. My name becomes part of his name; his name becomes part of my name. The benefit of this exchange is that the name is the right of attorney. I now have the right of attorney to all of his possessions, his bank account, his credit cards. Everything that he has, as far as possessions, is now open to me. Likewise, he can sign my name and he has the right of the power of attorney with my name.

I want you to know that when I entered into covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ, I gained His name. I have power of attorney in heaven through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ so that when I say, "Jesus," all of heaven's assets are opened unto me. He promised to supply all of my needs, according to His riches in glory by the covenant name, Jesus Christ. That's why He says that all things are given unto us.

In the seventh step, they read the covenant terms to each other. An example of this is found in the story of Jacob and Laban. They entered into a covenant with each other. Jacob went to work for Laban because he was in love with Laban's daughter Rachel. Laban agreed to give him Rachel if he worked for him for seven years.

At the end of the seven years, Jacob married Laban's daughter, but as he lifted her veil to kiss her, he found that he had married Rachel's sister, Leah. Jacob knew he had been tricked, but he was willing to work another seven years for the beautiful Rachel. At the end of the second seven years Laban began to get a little upset. He thought, "Jacob really has a case against me if he wants to get nasty about it." He and Jacob didn't trust each other, so they drew up a covenant to protect themselves.

In Genesis 31:50-53 we read that the two entered into covenant with each other and read the covenant terms. The covenant terms include not only the blessings of keeping the covenant, they also include the curses of not keeping it. It would have been dangerous to break this covenant.

Likewise, it's a dangerous thing to go against the Word of God, against the covenant that God has established. When you do, you remove all protection. God is your protector as long as you walk by the terms of the covenant. However, when you defy the covenant, God has no alternative but to remove his protection and you open yourself up for the attacks of Satan. This also includes your family, your children, and their children, right on down the line.

Number eight is that a covenant meal was eaten. Verse 54 of Genesis 31 tells us of the meal Laban and Jacob ate (entire verse).

This verse tells us of only one of the elements, but there is another element that was included - wine. All covenant meals, whether in heathen nations, Christian nations, nations that honored God, or pagan nations, included bread and wine. Why? Because the bread speaks of the fact that those making the covenant were one in body and one in flesh. The wine spoke of their assets and their very life being mingled together. And so, the blood was spoken of and the flesh was spoken of through the bread and the wine.

The ninth ritual in establishing a covenant was to plant a tree as a memorial. An example of this is found in Genesis 21. In this chapter, Abraham is going to draw up a covenant with Abimelech, the leader and king of the heathen nation of the Philistines. This covenant was to protect each other against enemies. (Genesis 21:22-26.)

After Abraham and Abimelech drew up the covenant and followed some of the previously mentioned covenant rituals, they named the place " Beersheba; because there they sware both of them" (Genesis 21:31). Also, '"...Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God" (Gen- sis 21:33).

Actually, the Hebrew says that Abraham planted a single tree, not a grove. This is significant, because the two of them came together and planted one tree as a visible, continual reminder of their covenant. Furthermore, a tree is a type of the covenant, because it grows larger and stronger with the passage of time.

This growth is a type of the fact that a covenant does not end with the death of the individuals who originally made it, but that it continues into succeeding generations. We will go into this in more depth in our next issue.

We have covered nine rituals involved in cutting a covenant, and although they are interesting, what is their significance for us? The good news is that Jesus has completed all of them for us. Let's take a look at what he has done for us.

Number One

Garments were exchanged. The day we took off our robes of self-works, Jesus clothed us with the robe of righteousness. This robe represents all of God's position, His power, His throne, and His kingdom. We gained them all when we received Jesus as our Savior.

What's more, God has a big closet filled with many robes! Throughout the New Testament, Paul says to take off the old man and put on the new which is renewed in righteousness. This act which is beyond the decision of the New Birth, involves a daily decision to put aside the works of the flesh and say, "I am going to walk in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ today."

The Word also says that we are to exchange our spirit of heaviness for a garment of praise. This is not any harder than changing coats - just do it.

Number Two

Belts were exchanged. Remember, the belt carries the weapons. God got our slingshots. In return, He gave us the sword of the Spirit, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation. We also received the gospel of peace for our feet, and truth with which to gird our loins. With these weapons we can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

Number Three

A substitute animal was slain and divided down the middle. When Jesus went to the cross, was slain, and was cut in two, God walked with us between the pieces of this covenant that was established for eternity.

Number Four

The covenant makers would cut themselves. This is represented by circumcision in the Old Testament; however, we have a circumcision of the heart. When we entered into a covenant with God, He cut away all the excess of our hearts (Romans 2:29).

Number Five

Ashes were rubbed into the wound so that a scar would be made. While we may not rub ashes to create a scar, we have the marks of the Lord Jesus on our bodies (Galatians 6: 17). Therefore, when Satan attacks, all we have to do is show him the marks which are a reminder that to attack us is to attack God.

Number Six

Names were exchanged. Now we have the right to the name of the Lord Jesus. In Mark 16:17, Jesus says to the disciples, "In my name shall they [those who believe] cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues."

In verse 18, He goes onto say that by the use of His name, "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly things, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover."

This name of Jesus unlocks the throne room of heaven. It is our power of attorney to all the treasure that Heaven has to offer.

Number Seven The covenant terms were read. We can read the terms of our covenant with God any time because they have been set forth in the Bible. The Word says that we are to study to show ourselves approved (II Timothy 2:15).

Number Eight

A covenant meal was eaten. Our covenant meal is communion. Jesus left us a memorial, the bread and the wine. In speaking of the bread and the wine, Jesus told His disciples, "...this do in remembrance of me" (Luke 22: 19). "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28).

Number Nine

A tree was planted. God planted a tree for us. His tree was Jesus' cross. This cross is a reminder throughout the generations that Jesus shed His blood and became a substitute for us. It is also a reminder that any man can become part of this covenant by receiving Jesus as his savior.

Bob Yandian

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