A review of God and The LORD, plus Genesis 12

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A review of God and The LORD, plus Genesis 12

At this point, I'm reading both Young's Literal Translation and  the New Revised Standard Version. Before, I've made frequent distinctions between "God," of Chapter 1, and the being known as "Jehovah God" or simply "Jehovah" in Young's. This "Jehovah God" name is translated as "The LORD God" or simply "The LORD" (all capital letters) in the NRSV.

Early on I would refer to this character as Jehovah because, in our mind, that sounds quite distinct from "God." Then I started writing "Jehovah/The LORD" to distinguish the name from "God." From here on out I think I'll just use the NRSV's "The LORD." 

One reason I've emphasized the distinction between "the LORD" and GOD is because, throughout my life, the names "the LORD" and "God" were treated as indistinguishable. But the use of the different names seems important to the story even if this didn't seem all that important to my Bible teachers (in Sunday School, confirmation classes, and college, though the latter did make greater note of it).

I made this example previously, but will elaborate. Imagine the history of the automobile written from the perspective of the automobile. Chapter 1 says the human built the automobile, and in Chapter 2 it says Karl Benz the Human built the automobile, and it refers to "Karl Benz the Human" for a while, then just mentions 'Karl Benz."  

Let's say in Chapter 1 the human speaks in the first-person plural:we, us, our. This is something we can grasp; humans don't do this stuff individually. In Chapter 2 and later Karl Benz also speaks the same way: we, us, our. This is very easy to grasp, because we assume he must have had a team of engineers, craftsmen, and business partners. 

This could be a bad analogy, but it seems fitting by what we know so far, and if we forget what we think the Bible says later on, or ideas we've read or heard about God by other writers or the general culture.

The Chapter 1 God seems in one sense an abstraction and a collective idea, in the same way we would say "the human invented the wheel." In Chapter 2 and up through Chapter 10 we've mainly seen "The LORD" as the primary character, (although "God," NOT "the LORD,"
speaks to Noah in Chapter 6).

In another analogy, it seems that God conceived and designed the universe of a video game, whereas The LORD actually created the game and its rules. With the Flood, God directly intervened to change the basic design of the game. 

But, game-changing events before and after the flood, (cursing the ground Adam worked, limiting how long humans could live, dividing the people at Babel) was the LORD's work. As if the LORD wasn't just the maker (and changer) of the game's rules, but an interactive if more powerful player/character in the game..

Now on to Genesis 12.

In verse 1 the LORD tells Abram to leave the house and land of his father to go someplace new, which the LORD will show him. In Verse 7 the LORD appears to Abram, promises Canaan to his offspring, and Abram builds an altar to the LORD.

It's indicated that Abram is of great wealth and possessions. Whether the people working for him were servants or slaves, we could just say he had a large staff. Building an altar, presumably to offer a sacrifice to the LORD, sounds like an expression of thanks or gratitude for the abundance, and faith that it will only increase.

Post-flood, Noah had cursed Canaan (the man or tribe) and now Abram is to occupy the land of Canaan. I wonder if this is a metaphor for redemption in which righteousness supplants unrighteousness or cleanses a curse. What's ironic is that Abram himself doesn't act righteously.

The land faces a famine and Abram flees to Egypt which,like Canaan,is populated by the descendents of Ham. The text doesn't say that the LORD told him to go to Egypt; it seemed to be Abram's own idea. Then Abram pimps his beautiful wife, whom he claims is his sister, and hands her over to Pharaoh in order to be in good standing with him. This doesn't work out, and Pharaoh kicks Abram out of Egypt.

What I see is, I think, the first instance in the book of a man, Abram, acting in fear of another man, Pharaoh, and relying on this other man, and NOT the LORD, for his well-being and security.

Did the LORD personally send plagues to afflict Pharaoh's house on account of Sarai, Abram's wife? Or did Abram's fear and deceitfulness create negative energy that "plagued" all those around him, even though they were innocently unaware Abram and Sarai were married?

Maybe this is the nature of the "game;" the LORD tells your consciousness one thing, but your eyes - external appearances - tell you can be secure and prosperous through currying favor with other men, even if you aren't honest with yourself or others.

You can't serve Pharaoh and the LORD. You can be a "slave" to Pharaoh (the external world) or you can be free in your own consciousness. What your eyes tell you is the safer choice, is actually the riskier one.

Abram was fortunate to get out of Egypt alive.

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!

(Photo credit: TyshkunVictor)