Blood Covenant Origins

Biblical Retellings

De: C.A. Gray

Narrado por: James R. Cheatham

One of the most common arguments against Christianity is that the God of the Old Testament seemed so drastically different than the God of the New Testament. In the Old, many claim He seemed cruel and capricious, while in the New, He suddenly became a God of love and tolerance. Yet Jesus said, “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father” (John 14:9), and the writer of Hebrews tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). If God hasn’t changed, how do we explain the apparent difference? The answer lies in a long-forgotten word: covenant.

Covenants play little to no role in our world today, but in ancient times, they were all-important. Treaties between individuals, tribes, and kingdoms took the form of blood covenants. These were much stronger than our modern concept of a contract, which can be broken by finding clever legal loopholes or sometimes simply by a decision not to honor one’s word. By contrast, covenants were bonds broken only by death, and at times extending to the progeny of the two making the original agreement. Ancient covenants entailed unending loyalty and faithfulness, and often included the union of all assets, liabilities, and responsibilities between the parties. Most cultures had such a concept. They got the idea from God, who keeps His covenants to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7:9). But in order to make such treaties with mankind, God had to find a willing human participant.

This collection of biblical retellings explores the covenants between God and Adam, Noah, and Abraham, and how these covenants (or the lack of them) affected His dealings with mankind at various times. Each chapter begins with a fictionalized retelling, followed by an afterword discussion of commentaries and why I made the choices I did in the stories. Finally, they include the original scriptures. God’s ultimate goal was always love and grace for all mankind, and yet He had to balance this with justice, as well as with honoring His own original word. Blood Covenant Origins is the story of how He began the process that ultimately led to the cross.

©2021 Lauren Deville Baden (P)2021 Lauren Deville Baden

Excellent retelling of the Bible covenants

The doctor does such a good job of putting the reader right there in the story. You can see the story as if you were there. She just brings it to life. Then she goes into an explanation of how the story/covenant fits into Gods plan. The final touch is to read the actual scripture from the Bible.
I recommend this to all ages and anyone that wants a better understanding of God's word.

Not Biblically Accurate

I was very attracted to this ttle because of its description regarding covenants and how the Lord's interactions with mankind are based on covenants He has made. I understood this would not be strictly Scripture, as the stories are being retold in a more narrative form. 45 minutes in and I am not going to bother listening to the rest. God is portrayed as choosing to set His omnipotence aside when walking on earth with man and woman in the garden of Eden. I think I might have made an exception to keep listening, but shortly after that was stated, God was proteayed as not knowing where Adam and Eve were when they hid from Him in the garden. When He asked where they were, He was portrayed as being upset with them. I just found it too hard to swallow.

I believe Scripture never indicates God the Father as being anything other than all-knowing, at all times. I believe, personally, that God chose to ask Adam and Eve questions He already knew the answer to in order to show them how much He values communication. God knew where they were and what they had done. He does get angry about sin, but He has a heart of compassion and clothes them.

This book was slower/sleepier than I prefered and with these unique interpretations the author made, I don't have a desire to continue the book.