Marriage: Entering a Blood Covenant

Some steps used in the past to enter a blood covenant.

Exchange coats – Coat represents me, I am pledging myself to you.
Exchange belts – (the belt where the weapons were carried) – I am giving you my strength.
Exchange names – Abram became Abraham. God’s name is Yahweh and He took two of the letters out of His name and gave it to Abram making him Abraham. You carry the name of Jesus.
Exchange blood – people would cut hands or wrists and mingle blood representing two lives becoming one life.
Exchange blessings and cursing – I think about all the good things and bless them to you and the same with the bad, saying as long as you remain good to me then all the good would come back to you, and the opposite with the bad. (Read Deuteronomy 28)
A memorial – a sheep or a plant was exchanged. It would remind them of the covenant they had with the other person, all the things they would be involved in.
Have a covenant meal. They would take bread and break it, then feed it to one another, symbolically saying “I am taking His body into my body”. This repeated with the wine, representing blood. My blood runs through you. (See 1 Corinthians 11:23-30)

Compare these seven acts with a marriage relationship.

A covenant is a binding and a solemn agreement made by two or more individuals, to do or keep from doing a specified thing.

When you entered into marriage with your husband or wife you were saying;-

1.  “Do you take” – you are pledging yourself to one another. There is not 50% in marriage, it is 100% you give to each other. Symbolically you have changed coats.
2.  “To have and to hold” – you are protecting them, pledging your strength.
3.  You carry the name around with you – Share name.
4.  Shedding of blood – when marriage is consummated, medical science says there is a part of a woman’s body that serves no purposes at all. The hymen. When the marriage partners first make love there is often shedding of blood. You are fulfilling the covenant.
5.  “From this day forward, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, till death us do part.” This is symbolic of the blessing and cursing. The sickness, poorer, worse would be the cursing. You avoid the curses when you keep in line with your covenant with the Father, written in the Word of God. (Read Deuteronomy 28)
6.  The memorial – the rings are a constant reminder of your covenant.
7.  You take the breaking of bread, or it can be the drinks and cake afterwards.