Genesis 15

What is righteousness?

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GENESIS 15

I'm reading both Young's Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

A preliminary point: I don't know what to make of cutting the animals in two. I know the heifer (Taurus), ram (Aires), and goat (Capricorn) are associated with the Zodiac.The Zodiac itself isn't necessarily occultic or "demonic." Reading the skies is how pre-literate and illiterate peoples marked months, seasons (it told them when it's time to plant crops), years, and epochs, and they used earthly symbols and stories to help them remember the meaning they found in the night sky. But I don't know if or how Abram's ritual with these animals relate to the Zodiac, or if there is some other meaning to it that the writers and first readers of Genesis would understand.

Now, the main point as I see it.

"And he believed the Lord; and the LORD] reckoned it to him as righteousness."

So "righteousness," according to the LORD, is belief in the LORD. Nice. If taken literally and the LORD is an external being, it's yet another example of the LORD's egoism. But if the LORD is your own consciousness, something else is going on in this story.

The LORD tells Abram while he's in a deep sleep that his descendants will be slaves in another land but will return after 400 years, "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

The Amorites were among the descendents of Canaan, Ham's son, who was cursed some chapters ago, and who I've interpreted as a representation of the "flesh" or material world. The way I'm understanding it, Abram came to redeem the land of Canaan with a spiritual consciousness, but for some reason Abram's descendents have to leave Canaan before they come back. 

It's as if the LORD wants the situation in the land of Canaan to really deteriorate, for the Amorites to be really bad, before Abram's descendents can come in and take over. Although Abram is himself quite the warlord as the previous chapter indicates, his people - the descendants of his own seed and of his servants - won't be able to coexist in Canaan with the natives for the time being.

I don't know how I'd feel if I'm told I'll be the father of a great nation, but first they're going to be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years.

Then again, we all have a great calling. 

• What if Gandhi was told he'll be the father of a peaceful world, even if the peace won't be fulfilled for another 400 years?

• What if Martin Luther King Jr. was told he'll be the father of a just world, even if it wouldn't be  manifested for another 400 years?

• What if Mother Theresa was told she'll be the mother of a compassionate world, even if it wouldn't be seen for another 400 years?

What if, upon hearing these messages, they gave up before they started? "If I won't be alive to see the work completed, why start?"

Well, we'd have generations who would not have been inspired by them, who would not be continuing their work.

Maybe that's why believing the LORD really is "righteousness." Because believing the LORD, your intuition or inner voice, is the first step in the great work you will do.

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)