Continuing the Journey. Genesis 12:1-9

May the mumbling commence!

Life is a journey.  We are to answer the call of the Lord in our lives.  Read how Abram and Sarai answered that call.  From Peterson’s The Message:

God told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.

I’ll make you a great nation

                and bless you.

I’ll make you famous;

                you’ll be a blessing.

I’ll bless those who bless you;

                those who curse you I’ll curse.

All the families of the Earth

                will be blessed through you.”

                So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him.  Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.  Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and sound.

                Abram passed through the country as far as Shechem and the Oak of Moreh.  At that time the Canaanites occupied the land.

                God appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your children.”  Abram built an altar at the place God appeared to him.

                He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east.  He built an altar there and prayed to God.

                Abram kept moving, steadily making his way south, to the Negev.  (Genesis 12:1-9)

Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:

The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 

"I will make you into a great nation

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing. 

I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you." 

So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.  He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. 

Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.  The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.  Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.  (Genesis 12:1-9)

There are a few differences between the NIV and Peterson’s work.  Most are good updates of the language.  I especially like the praying to God in place of calling on the name of the Lord.

However, I miss the deliberate acknowledgement when Abram built an altar to the Lord.  That part is missing from Peterson’s work.  He would do well to include it, because many gods could be worshiped at an altar.

Because Abram was continuing the journey that his father had started.  His father had set out for Canaan but only got as far as Haran.  It was leaving behind the gods of his father.  

Enough mumbling for now…  

Peace Out