The Blood Covenant

Blood Covenant Overview

In this powerful message from NTC Ministries, the preacher continues a deeply rooted series on the blood covenant, presenting what he considers the foundational thread running through the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. This particular installment focuses on heaven’s protection and the blessing of Judah, exploring how praise is not merely a religious practice but a covenant weapon. Drawing from Genesis 29, the story of Leah’s journey from desperation to genuine gratitude reveals why God chose Judah, the tribe of praise, to carry the lineage of King David and ultimately Jesus Christ. The sermon weaves together Psalm 8:2, Psalm 24, Psalm 78:67-68, Psalm 108:8, Psalm 114:1-2, Genesis 49:8-12, Judges 20:18, and 1 Chronicles 28:4 to build a compelling case that praise is God’s scepter of authority in the believer’s life. Through vivid illustrations including a missionary encounter in Egypt, the story of Jehoshaphat’s army, and everyday analogies about sowing and reaping, listeners are challenged to stop living enslaved to their five physical senses and instead lift up those gates to the King of Glory, allowing heaven’s strength, protection, and presence to flow through radical, exuberant praise.

Blood Covenant Outline

• 0:00 – The Blood Covenant Series Context: The preacher recaps the ongoing series, reminding listeners they have been redeemed from spiritual death, sickness, and poverty, and redeemed to eternal life, divine health, and prosperity through the blood covenant.
• 8:30 – Two Kingdoms: Corrupted vs. Incorruptible: An examination of the divided kingdom of this world versus the undivided kingdom of heaven, using Galatians 6:8 and 1 Corinthians 15:50 to contrast corruption and incorruption.
• 18:00 – Psalm 24 and the Five Gates of the Soul: A deep dive into Psalm 24:7-10, teaching that lifting up our heads means surrendering our five physical senses, the eye gate, ear gate, and others, to God so the King of Glory can enter.
• 28:00 – Praise as Ordained Strength: Using Psalm 8:2, Matthew 21, and the example of Jehoshaphat, the preacher shows how God has ordained praise to still the enemy and the avenger, and why believers must stir themselves up regardless of how they feel.
• 38:00 – The Story of Leah and the Birth of Judah: A detailed retelling of Genesis 29:31-35, tracing Leah’s three self-centered sons and her transformative shift to pure gratitude with the birth of Judah, whose name means praise with extended hands.
• 47:00 – Why God Chose Judah: An exploration of Psalm 78:67-68, Genesis 49:8-12, Judges 20:18, and 1 Chronicles 28:4, demonstrating that God chose the tribe of praise to lead armies, carry the scepter, and bring forth the Messiah.
• 55:00 – Judah as God’s Scepter and Sanctuary: Drawing from Psalm 108:8 and Psalm 114:1-2, the preacher declares that praise is God’s staff of authority in a believer’s life, making the person a holy sanctuary where His government and power are made evident.
• 1:02:00 – The Egypt Testimony: Praise Under Persecution: A personal account of a prayer conference near Alexandria, Egypt, where Somali Christians were stoned and the Egyptian pastor responded not with sorrow but with explosive praise, demonstrating covenant power in real persecution.
• 1:08:00 – Practical Call to Daily Exuberant Praise: A direct pastoral exhortation to cultivate a lifestyle of daily praise at home, at work, and in every environment, explaining how praising God changes atmospheres, advances believers, and invites the presence of God into every area of life.

Scripture References

Genesis 29:31-35, Genesis 49:8-12, Psalm 8:2, Psalm 24:7-10, Psalm 76:1-2, Psalm 78:67-68, Psalm 108:8, Psalm 114:1-2, Proverbs 11:24-25, 1 Chronicles 28:4, Matthew 21, Galatians 6:8, 1 Corinthians 15:50, Judges 20:18

Key Takeaways

• Praise is not a peripheral spiritual activity but the very covenant weapon God ordained to still the enemy and the avenger, as declared in Psalm 8:2.
• God specifically chose the tribe of Judah, whose name means praise with extended hands, to carry the lineage of King David and the Lord Jesus Christ, revealing how deeply He values a lifestyle of praise.
• Surrendering the five physical senses, the eye gate, ear gate, mouth gate, nose gate, and feeling gate, to God through praise is what opens the door for the King of Glory to enter every area of your life.
• Leah’s story in Genesis 29 teaches that self-centered giving with an expectation of human reward yields nothing, but turning to thank God purely for who He is and what He has done releases His special favor.
• Praise is God’s scepter of authority in Psalm 108:8, meaning that the believer who praises carries the representative power and ruling authority of God in their circumstances.
• Just as Jehoshaphat sent praisers before his army against a force four times larger and watched the enemy destroy itself, praise today still creates the atmosphere where God fights on behalf of His people.
• Sowing to the spirit through praise, financial giving, time in the Word, and listening prayer produces an incorruptible harvest of life, strength, and blessing, while sowing only to the flesh produces corruption.

Blood Covenant Notes

Blood Covenant Frames Everything

The sermon opens by grounding its praise teaching inside the larger blood covenant series. The preacher insists that most believers possess a theoretical knowledge of their covenant rights, like knowing a million dollars sits in a bank account, but never actually draw on what is theirs. Redemption is always a two-directional transaction: redeemed from spiritual death and redeemed to eternal life, redeemed from sickness and redeemed to divine health, redeemed from poverty and redeemed to prosperity. Understanding this exchange is what motivates genuine, aggressive praise rather than passive religiosity.

Leah’s Transformation Changes Everything

The heart of the message is the birth narrative of Judah in Genesis 29:31-35. Leah named her first three sons Reuben, Simeon, and Levi out of a painful self-focused longing for Jacob’s love. Each name essentially said: now he will see me, now he will hear me, now he will be attached to me. None of it worked. When Judah was born, something shifted: she said simply, now I will praise the Lord. That single act of turning her eyes from human approval to divine worship so pleased God that He chose this son’s line to carry the scepter of Israel and ultimately to bring forth the Messiah.

Praise Silences the Enemy Practically

Using Psalm 8:2, the preacher makes a case that praise is not emotional self-expression but a divinely engineered weapon. The word Jesus quoted in Matthew 21 from Psalm 8:2 replaces the word strength with praise, showing they are interchangeable in God’s economy. When a believer chooses to praise despite exhaustion, financial pressure, or physical illness, they are initiating a covenant transaction: their weakness is exchanged for heaven’s strength. The result, the text says, is that the enemy and the avenger are silenced, not weakened but silenced, indicating that praise establishes a realm where demonic opposition loses its voice.

Judah Leads the Armies of Israel

The preacher draws on multiple Old Testament battle texts to show that praise was always given the front position in Israel’s military strategy. In Judges 20:18, God told Israel that Judah, the tribe of praise, must go first against the Benjaminites. In 2 Chronicles, Jehoshaphat sent singers and praisers ahead of soldiers, and the enemies destroyed one another before Israel ever engaged. These are not poetic metaphors but documented military outcomes flowing from a covenant principle: praise dislocates enemy coordination and releases the Lord of Angel Armies to fight on behalf of His people.

Building a Personal Atmosphere of Praise

Toward the end of the sermon the preacher moves from biblical history into personal discipleship. He urges believers to establish a dedicated prayer place where accumulated praise builds a tangible atmosphere, so that even on the worst day, returning to that space means returning to where God’s presence already dwells. He also connects praise to tithing and giving, arguing that every area of covenant life, finances, health, relationships, operates on the same exchange principle: give your best to God first, and heaven releases what you need back into your life. The Egyptian pastor’s prayer under persecution sealed the illustration: refuse to let enemies see tears; let them only see shouts of joy.

Why Churches Must Recover Exuberant Praise

The preacher closes with a pastoral concern that many churches have become indistinguishable from the world precisely because they have abandoned exuberant, uninhibited praise. Quiet reverence that originates from personal comfort, he argues, is closer to eastern mysticism than biblical worship. True peace, he says, is not the absence of war but the presence of God in the midst of war, and that presence comes through the King of Glory entering through lifted gates. He calls every believer, regardless of age, energy level, or circumstance, to muster whatever strength remains and give it to God, confident that the exchange will produce supernatural replenishment and open doors of advancement.

Frequently Asked Questions