A Message in Blood

The news feed is full of the atrocious actions of ISIS and their claim of making a ‘message signed in blood’ by beheading  twenty-one Coptic  Christians.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were to hear even greater coverage of the original Blood Covenant that was made between us and the Creator of the Universe?  You know, the One who sent His only begotten son to die for our sins so that we could be reconciled to Him again?  To which message signed in blood do you want to ascribe; one at the hands of evil men, or one commanded by the Father who loves us?

The contrast between the two ideologies is profound and convicting.  ISIS is all about death, and our Creator is all about Life (and life more abundantly)

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I have come that they might have life, and have it abundantly! (TLV)

ISIS worships the god of death, destruction and lies.  Who is described by these terms in the Bible?

John  8:44  You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks lies he is just being himself—for he is a liar and the father of lies.  (TLV)

 WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MESSAGE AND A COVENANT?

Terrorists thrive on delivering ‘messages’ awash in the blood of innocent people whose only crime is that they believe in the King of the Universe and His instructions found in the Bible.  We can agree to disagree on what obedience to our Father looks like, but we all can certainly recognize when a group is fighting against all that is good, holy and righteous.

A Covenant was made between men and YHVH.  I believe it was made from the beginning; some think it was made at Mt. Sinai, and others believe it all began with the account in Acts Chapter Two.  Regardless of where you fall out in your understanding of the covenant relationship we have with the Father, it is probably safe to say we could agree that those who ascribe to ISIS (and those who do not condemn their mission) do not recognize YHVH (GOD, LORD, Jesus, Yeshua etc.) as the Creator of the Universe.

What was the covenant made with man?  We see that Adam and Eve, instead of being killed on the spot, were covered by an animal skin after they sinned (blood was shed).  Noah renewed the covenant with YHVH with a blood sacrifice after the flood.  The door posts were painted in blood from sacrificial lambs at the Passover in Egypt.  Moses sprinkled the book of the Law and the Israelites with blood when the covenant was again re-newed.  The Tabernacle was dedicated with the blood of animals.  Furthermore, the crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus) detail another renewal of the covenant relationship between YHVH (GOD) and man with the spilling of His Own Blood!

And that is the primary difference between the true GOD of Heaven and Earth (YHVH is His Name) and the pitiful deity that ISIS claims as their reason to kill.

Contemplate this:  OUR GOD (YHVH) Loves us enough to want a relationship with us.  He doesn’t command us to go out and kill people who don’t come to Him or follow His Law…He’s perfectly capable of doing that all by himself (see Noah and the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah).

He doesn’t even require us to go beat on doors to bring people into the fold (see Paul’s vision on the road to Damascus)!  Unless someone has received a direct instruction, we are only to be a light to the nations (by doing His will as codified in His Law) and be ready with an answer to the hope that we have when questioned!  He certainly is not so weak as to require His people to force conversions upon others at the point of a sword or at the torture of their loved ones.

I guess you see that there is plenty of blame to go around with regard to forced conversions.  In that regard, we need not get on our ‘high horse,’ as someone recently said.  The Christian church (Roman Catholic Church) has a similar history of forced conversions and murder for their ideology, but that isn’t the point of this article.  Much of Nazi ideology claimed to be ridding the world of ‘Christ-killers.’  You can look that up for yourself and sift that for what lesson is to be learned.  The larger picture seems to be that the ‘religious spirit,’ for lack of a better description, is not in keeping with the spirit of YHVH.  It comes from Man not from GOD.

IT IS SIMPLE  

YHVH uses blood to remind us that our death is the penalty for not being obedient to His instructions for life.  When a man was involved in order to renew that covenant in His blood, it was His Own Son who died…not a line of orange-clad victims.

Our Father is not about Death.  He is all about Life and Loving Him and our Neighbor as our self.  These terrorists apparently feel they are acting on behalf of a god that demands blind obedience and those who reject that culture need to die.  Those terrorists are serving a very weak god indeed.  Just as Elijah humiliated the priests of Ba’al  (see 1 Kings chapter 18), the priests were not killed until after YHVH demonstrated his power and might before their eyes.  They were unable to call the god, Ba’al, to do anything no matter what they tried!

The GOD I serve is a Mighty God.  He parted the Red Sea, He removed the Israelites from Egypt, He vaporized the soaked altar before the eyes of the priests of Ba’al, and He raised His Son from the grave to sit at His Right Hand!   You either believe that, or you don’t, but I find it absurd the amount of loyalty and depraved religious fervor that is generated for a god that is so weak he has never done anything other than inspire men to kill other men.

I’ll take my LORD over the weak and puny god of ISIS.  YHVH is worthy of praise!  He spilled His Own Blood for me with the promise of eternal life with Him.  He is all about Love and obedience to His Wonderful Law.  The very law that Moses sprinkled with blood to codify our covenant with the Creator of the Universe!  The very Law that Yeshua came to demonstrate and restore in His own blood…not the blood of martyrs (although I am persuaded that those martyred for HIS glory will be rewarded for their faith).  That is the message in blood I will cling to.