The Blood Covenant: Our Inheritance, Part 2 — Mephibosheth at the King’s Table

The blood covenant is an inheritance. Everything God has, He makes available to those who belong to Him through the blood of Jesus. In this message, Dr. William P. Hohman teaches part two of his study on our inheritance in the covenant, and he tells it through the story of David, Jonathan and Jonathan’s crippled son Mephibosheth, who was carried out of a desert place called Lo Debar and seated at the king’s table. This is the sixth week of the series and continues from The Blood Covenant4.

Below you will find the full video, a structured summary of the sermon, the Scripture behind each point (linked to the New King James Version on Bible Gateway), a timestamped outline, and practical steps for living as an heir of God this week.

Sermon at a Glance

This message was preached at the New Testament Church in Merrill, Wisconsin, on the last Sunday of January 2021 and was also carried on Facebook Live and radio. The service opens with worship and an encouragement to be doers of the word.

He recaps the earlier weeks: the origin of the covenant, the washing of the blood, the value of the blood, the conscience and the blood, and part one on inheritance. Most Christians, he says, have no idea what the blood covenant is, and this message is meant to change that by showing what the heirs of God actually receive.

What the Blood Covenant Means: Cut Until Blood Flows

Pastor Hohman begins with the words themselves. The Bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament, and he explains that “testament” and “covenant” are interchangeable. He teaches that the Hebrew word for covenant means to cut until blood flows, and that the Greek word, diatheke, carries the ideas of a disposition, a contract, a will, a compact and, most importantly for this message, an inheritance.

The Old Testament, he says, is a type and a shadow of the New. Without being born again, there is a veil over the eyes when the old covenant is read; once a person is born again, the veil is taken away and he can see what God was doing all along. The covenant with Abraham was made with blood, and the law given through Moses was sealed with the blood of animals.

The new covenant is sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ, which he calls the blood of God Himself, and it was made between the Father and the Son. Under the old covenant the blood made atonement, which he explains means to cover (Leviticus 17:11). Sin was covered but kept piling up; the blood of Jesus took it away.

That is why the new covenant is far superior. Hebrews 8:6 says Jesus mediates a better covenant established on better promises. The Lord had him name the church the New Testament Church, founded on Philippians 1:26–27. At a gathering of local churches, a woman asked him whether he did not believe in the Old Testament.

He answered that of course he does, but the New Testament is a covenant in God’s own blood with far greater promises. It showed him how little the church knows about covenant. He connects that to the warning that God’s people perish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). The more we understand it, he says, the greater life we will have.

Covenant Love Is Proven by Action

When we understand the blood covenant, Pastor Hohman says, we face life’s challenges head on instead of cowering, because perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). When God acts on our behalf, it bolsters our love for Him, just as a husband standing up for his wife builds her love for him, or friends who protect one another grow closer.

Jesus came to show His love, not just talk about it. He then said that we would show our love for Him by doing what He tells us: “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14). Pastor Hohman calls that covenant talk. Love in a covenant is proven on both sides.

There is not one ounce of work involved in being saved, made a new creation and translated into the kingdom of God. Salvation comes by believing in Jesus Christ alone. But once we are saved, works matter, because covenant is a relationship. We are saved to do good works, and he teaches that the garment the bride wears at the marriage supper of the Lamb will reflect the righteous acts of the saints (Revelation 19:7–8).

Yes, every believer receives a robe of righteousness, and those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life (Romans 5:17). But he warns against the teaching that God does everything and we do nothing. He does not know of any relationship that works that way. God proved His love to us, and we show our love back by serving Him.

David, Goliath and Covenant Confidence

To show what covenant confidence looks like, Pastor Hohman turns to David. He describes a 17-year-old shepherd bringing bread and cheese to his brothers and finding the whole army of Israel, even King Saul, hiding in their tents from a giant he describes as about 13 feet tall.

David told Saul that he had killed both the lion and the bear, and that this uncircumcised Philistine would be like one of them, seeing he had defied the armies of the living God (1 Samuel 17:36). Pastor Hohman imagines David had studied God’s covenant with Abraham and knew Israel could not be defeated.

In 1 Samuel 17:43–47, Goliath cursed David and threatened to give his flesh to the birds. Pastor Hohman calls it the voice of intimidation, the same voice the world uses against the church. David answered, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts.” He added that all would know “the battle is the LORD’s.”

“What knowledge of covenant! What confidence covenant gives,” Pastor Hohman says. David killed Goliath with the giant’s own sword, and Israel chased the Philistines for miles. Soon afterward Saul made David the general of the army. Grasp the strength of your covenant, he says, and God will elevate you to positions where you make right decisions in His name.

David and Jonathan: A Covenant That Reached the Children

When David brought Goliath’s head to Saul, he met Saul’s son Jonathan. 1 Samuel 18:1–4 says the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David and that the two made a covenant. Pastor Hohman teaches that it was sealed with blood, as they cut their palms or wrists and mingled the blood as they clasped hands.

Then Jonathan took off his robe and gave it to David, with his armor, sword, bow and belt. Pastor Hohman explains each exchange. The robe meant that all his possessions now belonged to David; as heir to Saul’s throne, Jonathan was acknowledging that David was the rightful king. The armor meant all his strength was David’s, and he would fight for him even to death.

Jesus did the same for us. He gave us the full armor: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet shod with the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:14–17). He clothes us with a robe of righteousness, and all His strength is ours.

The friendship was tested when the women sang that Saul had killed his thousands and David his ten thousands. Saul turned jealous, hurled a javelin at David and later even at Jonathan. Pastor Hohman reminds the church that Jesus warned the world would hate His followers, but told them to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world (John 16:33).

At their last meeting, in 1 Samuel 20:41–42, David and Jonathan wept and swore loyalty in the Lord’s name, for themselves and their descendants forever. Pastor Hohman draws three points: the covenant was made before God as witness; children not yet born were included; and the two who make a covenant become covenant heads. Jesus, the firstborn from the dead, is the covenant head of the church.

Mephibosheth: From Lo Debar to the King’s Table

Saul and Jonathan were later killed in battle. Saul had pursued David for 13 years, yet David spared his life in a cave. When news of the deaths came, the nurse of Jonathan’s five-year-old son Mephibosheth fled in fear, and the boy fell and became lame in both feet (2 Samuel 4:4).

Why was she so afraid? Pastor Hohman points to everything she had heard about David. He says the name Satan means scandalizer, and lies about David drove them away. Mephibosheth grew up in Lo Debar, which he teaches means pastureless in Hebrew, a place where nothing grows. Lo Debar, he says, represents hopelessness, and that hopelessness was instilled in Mephibosheth for years.

Years later, with his kingdom at rest, David remembered Jonathan and asked, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (2 Samuel 9:1). Pastor Hohman notes that a study Bible margin ties David’s kindness to the covenant he made with Jonathan. Ziba, Saul’s servant, told him there was still a son of Jonathan who was lame in his feet, living in Lo Debar.

Pastor Hohman pictures the royal chariot thundering into the desert and Mephibosheth, afraid all his life that David would find him, being carried out. In the palace he fell on his face, and David said, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake.” Mephibosheth called himself a dead dog. David restored all of Saul’s land to him.

The table below follows Pastor Hohman’s reading of what each sign of the covenant meant for Mephibosheth and what it means for believers today.

David also gave him Ziba, Ziba’s fifteen sons and twenty servants to work the land, which Pastor Hohman counts as 36 servants. They farmed so his wealth would grow, since the king fed him at his own table. He imagines Mephibosheth, flooded with inferiority as David’s sons stared, pulling back David’s sleeve to show the covenant scar. That wound was speaking. It said he had the right to be there.

Your Inheritance in Christ

The blood of Jesus speaks better things than the blood of Abel, Pastor Hohman says (Hebrews 12:22–24). Jesus said, “I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom” (Luke 22:29–30).

The scar also said Mephibosheth had the right to the pleasures of the palace and the protection of Israel’s armies. For believers, that means we can “come boldly to the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16). It means no evil will befall the one who makes the Most High his dwelling place, and He gives His angels charge over us (Psalm 91:9–11). Angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who inherit salvation (Hebrews 1:13–14).

Ephesians 2:4–7 says God, rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ when we were dead in trespasses and seated us with Him in heavenly places. Just as David loved Jonathan, Pastor Hohman says, God brings us out of Lo Debar, hopeless and unproductive, into His kingdom, and all the promises in the Bible are ours.

Yet many born-again, Spirit-filled Christians still live in Lo Debar. They battle sickness, heaviness, loneliness, inferiority, fear and lack, like Israel’s army hiding from Goliath. But a David came, and His name is Jesus Christ. He defeated principalities and powers on the cross, and now He sends His chariot. He says, as the Spirit and the bride say, come.

We are children, “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16–17). A joint heir, he explains, does not get a little while Jesus gets a lot; everything He has, we have. Jesus became poor so that through His poverty we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9), and a will takes effect only after the death of the one who made it (Hebrews 9:16–17).

Pastor Hohman shares that his wife Pam once received a call from an attorney about a relative she had not seen since she was a small child. He had died without other relatives, and she was his heir. Because we are sons and not slaves, God has made us His heirs (Galatians 4:6–7). But no one can stay in Lo Debar and demand that the king bring everything there. Mephibosheth had to come to the castle.

Living Your Blood Covenant Inheritance

Pastor Hohman closes with communion, an invitation to receive Jesus and a prayer for healing and financial breakthrough. He reads Jesus’ words to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:27–29), and reminds the church that God, who did not spare His own Son, will freely give us all things (Romans 8:32).

Here are the practical steps drawn from this blood covenant message:

• Leave Lo Debar. Reject the lies that you are worthless or a dead dog. Those are the same lies that kept Mephibosheth afraid for years.
• Come boldly, not as a beggar. A servant begs, but a son comes to the throne of grace with confidence and receives what the covenant provides.
• Be a doer of the word. Salvation takes no works, but covenant love is shown by obeying Him, giving faithfully and serving others.
• Read the Bible in light of covenant. Read it as the will that names you heir, not as a religious duty.
• Stand when you are scandalized. When people talk badly about your faith, refuse to cower and keep doing what God says.
• Share the teaching. Pastor Hohman urges listeners to pass this message on and help raise up giants of faith everywhere.

Timestamped Outline

• 7:26 Doers of the word and the tithe
• 33:21 Recap of the Blood Covenant series
• 34:56 The Hebrew and Greek words for covenant
• 38:18 A far better covenant: Hebrews 8:6
• 39:19 Why it is the New Testament Church
• 42:22 Covenant action bolsters love
• 44:22 Saved without works, then working for Him
• 46:27 David faces Goliath
• 50:08 In the name of the Lord of hosts
• 52:08 Jonathan and David make a covenant
• 54:14 The robe and the armor
• 56:47 Saul’s jealousy
• 1:00:56 The last farewell: 1 Samuel 20
• 1:05:10 Mephibosheth is crippled
• 1:07:35 Lo Debar, the place of hopelessness
• 1:08:54 David remembers the covenant
• 1:13:11 Do not fear: 2 Samuel 9:6–7
• 1:16:26 At the king’s table
• 1:19:00 The covenant wound speaks
• 1:21:25 Boldness and angel armies
• 1:26:04 Out of Lo Debar: Ephesians 2
• 1:29:46 Heirs of God: Romans 8
• 1:35:40 Communion
• 1:42:35 Prayer for healing and breakthrough

Blood Covenant Series

This message is part of a long teaching series at NTC Ministries. Start from the beginning or continue where this one leaves off:

• First message: The Blood Covenant
• Previous: The Blood Covenant #4
• You are here: The Blood Covenant: Our Inheritance, Part 2 — Mephibosheth at the King’s Table
• Next: The Blood Covenant Part 7: God Reveals His Plans to Those in Covenant

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does every message in this series end with communion?

Pastor Hohman explains that he wants believers to act on the truth in the moment they receive it. Taking communion becomes the action of faith that lays hold of what God has given. At the Last Supper, recorded in Matthew 26:26–29, Jesus said He would not drink of the vine again until He drank it new in His Father’s kingdom. Because He has come into His kingdom, he says, we eat with Him now as covenant partners.

How can I know whether I have entered the covenant?

Pastor Hohman compares it to circumcision under the old covenant. In the new covenant the heart is circumcised, cut on the inside by the Spirit of God. If someone says he believes in Jesus but does not know whether he is born again, Pastor Hohman says, then he is not; you would know if you had been cut. Knowing about Jesus, reading the stories or going to church is not the same as giving Him your life.

Why does it matter that Mephibosheth was lame?

Pastor Hohman points to the fine white linen on the king’s table. Once Mephibosheth was seated, the cloth covered his feet, and no one could see his weakness or imperfection unless he spoke of it. In the same way, he says, a believer seated with Christ is the righteousness of God in Him. That is how Paul, who once persecuted the church, could say he had wronged no one.

Scripture References

All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:

• 2 Samuel 9:1–13 — Mephibosheth at the king’s table
• 1 Samuel 18:1–4 — the covenant of Jonathan and David
• 1 Samuel 20:41–42 — a covenant that includes the children
• 1 Samuel 17:43–47 — the battle is the Lord’s
• Hebrews 8:6 — a better covenant on better promises
• Hebrews 12:22–24 — blood that speaks better things
• Luke 22:29–30 — eating at His table
• Romans 8:16–17 — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ
• Ephesians 2:4–7 — seated with Christ

How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.

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