From Genesis to Revelation: The One Story – The Golden Thread that Explains Everything – Part 12

By Andre Eksteen

God did not begin with a nation — He began with a man.

One man. In the middle of a world full of gods, temples, and idols.

Abram.

He had no church, no Bible, no priest — only a voice that spoke to him. And that voice was different.

Not a god who shouted commands, but a voice that called him by promise:

“I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” (Genesis 15:1)

That is where everything begins again.

Not with a nation or a law — but with a relationship.

God speaks, and a man listens.

But Abram is honest — just as you and I would be in his place. He says:

“Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless?” (Genesis 15:2)

In other words: “Lord, I hear what You are saying, but I see nothing happening.”

That is the voice of faith struggling to understand.

And what does God do? He takes him outside.

He says: “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. So shall thy seed be.”

And then comes that single line that tears open heaven:

“And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)

There.

For the first time since Eden, a man is declared righteous — without priests, without laws, without sacrifices.

Just faith.

But now you must look carefully. Faith had to be sealed.

Because a covenant without a seal is only words.

And God chooses to seal it with blood.

And this is where many modern people stop understanding.

They read about blood and say: “This is cruel! Why would a loving God require blood?”

Because they look with human eyes, not with the eyes of the Spirit.

Blood is not cruelty. Blood is life.

God says it Himself in Leviticus 17:11:

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood.”

That is the language of creation.

When sin entered Eden, death entered the blood of man. And from that day onward, life had to pay for life — because only life can redeem life.

That is why God speaks in blood.

Not because He wants death, but because He wants restoration.

Even the ancient writings understood this.

Enoch says the earth cried out over “the blood of the innocent poured out upon it,” and that God decided to cleanse it “through the blood of the righteous.”

The Book of Jubilees says Noah offered sacrifices after the Flood “to cleanse the earth from the blood of violence.”

Levi writes that blood is “the seal of the oath of God” — the language of life between heaven and earth.

And in 2 Baruch God Himself says: “Blood is the seal of eternal things.”

In other words: it is not cruel — it is holy.

Blood has always been God’s signature.

Not on paper — but in life itself.

And so Abram stands there, at night, under the stars.

No temple, no altar — only dust and silence.

God says to him:

“Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” (Genesis 15:9)

He brings them, cuts them in two, and lays the pieces opposite one another.

This is how a blood covenant is made — you walk between the pieces and declare:

“If I break this oath, let it be done to me as to these animals.”

But notice this — Abram does not walk.

The Bible says:

“And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.” (Genesis 15:12)

He lies there — powerless. And then it happens.

“And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.” (Genesis 15:17)

Not Abram. God Himself.

Not two walking together — One.

Not human faithfulness — divine oath.

He swears not by a man, but by Himself.

“For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself.” (Hebrews 6:13)

God walks alone through the blood, and in that moment He is saying:

“I Myself will pay the price if this covenant is broken.”

And centuries later, when the sun darkened again and the earth shook, He walked through blood once more — this time between two pieces of wood.

The same God.

The same oath.

The same love.

The One who walks through blood in Genesis hangs between heaven and earth on a wooden cross in Luke — the Creator fulfilling His own oath with His own blood.

And this is where people today are blind again.

They look at the cross and ask: “Why did He have to die?”

For the same reason He walked through the blood of animals — to show that He will keep His word, even if it costs Him His life.

He does not judge because He hates — He judges because He protects.

He does not shed blood because He is cruel — He sheds it to buy life back.

Blood has always been His language of righteousness and mercy.

The world does not understand this, because it does not understand the war of seed against seed.

It does not understand the death in the blood that can only be overcome by blood.

They read the promises to Abraham and say: “This is for everyone!”

But it was not. Not then.

God chose — not out of favouritism, but out of purpose.

He said: this line, this blood, this people.

Because through them the Redeemer would come — and only after Golgotha would the door to the nations be opened.

And to make that covenant visible, God instituted circumcision.

Not as a medical ritual, but as a mark of ownership.

“This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.” (Genesis 17:10)

Not written in ink — written in flesh.

Not a request — a command.

God says: “I swore My oath in blood; now I mark it in your blood.”

That mark was not pride — it was identity.

A sign that this people did not fall under the princes of Babel, but stood under God Himself.

They were not better — just set apart.

The world had gods, rituals, and priests.

Israel had one sign — blood.

And one God — the One who established it.

Until that day the nations remained under their princes.

But one people belonged directly to God.

Not by their own righteousness,

but by the promise of Him who swore by Himself —

and who cannot lie.

And it is exactly here that the world still stumbles today.

Because when people do not understand who the covenant belongs to,

they also do not understand the laws.

They read them with human eyes, not with the Spirit —

and so they break them proudly,

while thinking they honour God.

In the next part we will look at the laws God gave to Moses —

why He gave them,

what He was protecting through them,

and why the modern church still misunderstands them today.