Rekindle Righteousness
32Then he said, “May the LORD not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
33When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home. (Genesis 18:32-33, NIV)
I have started to reread the Christian Holy Bible. I did some GOOGLE research for a new Bible, as I wanted a Bible that would teach me something new from the text. I had grown tired of reading other people’s interpretations and wanted a Bible whose footnotes were filled with nothing but facts and history. GOOGLE recommended The New Oxford Annotated Bible. It is almost what I was looking for. I mean, do not get me wrong, I have been learning all kinds of new insight into the authors and texts of the Bible. I have spent these last three weeks soaking in the Book of Genesis. This Oxford Bible is a nerd’s Holy Grail for a study Bible. For example, I was unaware of the four different narratives woven together that form the Holy Bible most Christians are familiar with. These narratives are known as J, E, D, P. Here is a GOOGLE AI breakdown of the four:
The Four Sources (J, E, D, P)
- J – The Jahwist (or Yahwist) Source
- Estimated Date: c. 950–850 BCE (Solomonic or early divided kingdom period).
- Origin: Southern Kingdom of Judah.
- Key Characteristic: Refers to God by the sacred personal name Yahweh (often translated as “The LORD”) right from creation.
- Style & Theology: Highly narrative, vivid, and poetic. It features an anthropomorphic God who walks in the garden, speaks face-to-face with humans, and experiences human emotions like regret. It focuses heavily on the patriarchs and Judah’s prominent role.
- E – The Elohist Source
- Estimated Date: c. 850–750 BCE.
- Origin: Northern Kingdom of Israel.
- Key Characteristic: Refers to God using the generic plural abstract noun Elohim (translated as “God”) until the burning bush incident, where God reveals the name Yahweh to Moses.
- Style & Theology: More abstract and less anthropomorphic than J. God communicates indirectly through dreams, visions, and angels. It emphasizes the fear of God, covenant loyalty, and prophetic leadership (like Abraham and Moses).
- D – The Deuteronomist Source
- Estimated Date: c. 620 BCE (associated with King Josiah’s religious reforms).
- Origin: Jerusalem/Judah.
- Key Characteristic: Comprises almost the entirety of the book of Deuteronomy (and heavily influences the historical books that follow, like Joshua through Kings).
- Style & Theology: Highly rhetorical, sermonic, and hortatory (“preachy”) style. Its core theology centers on centralized worship in Jerusalem, conditional covenant (blessings for obedience, curses for disobedience), and intense love for God.
- P – The Priestly Source
- Estimated Date: c. 500–450 BCE (during or just after the Babylonian Exile).
- Origin: Jerusalem priestly circles.
- Key Characteristic: Focuses heavily on genealogies, dates, measurements, and ritual law. Like E, it uses Elohim (and El Shaddai) until the Exodus.
- Style & Theology: Formal, repetitive, precise, and structured (e.g., the rhythmic six-day creation account in Genesis 1). God is transcendent, majestic, and holy. It emphasizes the Sabbath, circumcision, the Tabernacle, and the sacrificial system as ways to preserve Israelite identity without a king or a homeland.
*five narratives found in the pentateuch – Google Search
Now, I think you might understand why I called this a “nerd’s” Holy Grail. Nerd is not a very kind or fair term for what this Bible provides. Scholarly is a more accurate description, and it makes the most sense as this is a Study Bible created by some of the world’s greatest scholars. Throughout Genesis, the footnotes often highlight the different narratives and have brought insight forth that I had never explored before. It is interesting to consider that the Holy Bible translations we are used to come from four different time periods and are all interlaced together. You have to wonder how much of these translations were changed over time.
But that is neither here, nor there. I recommend this Bible if you are looking to dive deeper and strengthen your knowledge of the Good Book. What I was looking for was a Bible that gave me historical footnotes. Like when the author(s) of Genesis write: “The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre”(Genesis 18:1), what I was looking for in this new exploration of the Bible was a footnote about historic facts regarding the “oaks of Mamre”. I mean a simple GOOGLE search provides several websites with descriptions of sites believed to be where these terebinths stood. Now, obviously, the internet is endless and the research available is quick and sometimes questionable. But this is an example of what I was looking for. A footnote for the Bible I was hoping for was to read Genesis 18:1, then follow the research number down to the bottom of the page and read something along the lines of “Historians and Biblical Archeologists believe this location to be located within Hebron, Mamre is set in the Judean Mountains about 20 miles (32 km) south of Jerusalem.” That is, unfortunately, not what the footnote in the Oxford Bible gives me. I am going to continue to read this new Bible (cover-to-cover) and share what I am learning with y’all here. For those that have been following this page since its inception, you may remember that this is what started the CSR Devotional. As I read through the Holy Bible, I would pick out key verses and give my “common sense” analysis of what I am reading. Well, my dear readers, we are starting the journey all over again! I am excited. I hope you are as well.
I chose to highlight the verses above from when Abraham was reasoning with God and attempting to have the LORD spare the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham’s bartering started with fifty righteous men, with God settling on just ten righteous men needed in the cities, and God would spare them from destruction. Well, ten could not be found. If you do not know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, two angels go to Sodom to visit Abraham’s nephew, Lot. While at Lot’s home, the men of Sodom attempt to break down Lot’s door to bring the angels (who are described as just “men who came (with Lot) tonight”) outside for all the men of the city, “young and old”, to sodomize the men, or to gang rape the men in layman terms. Lot offers his two virgin daughters as substitute for the angels, but the men of Sodom insist on the angelic men, who in turn blind all the men of the city so Lot and his family can escape. Most homophobic Christians use this story to say it is distinctly about the “sin” of homosexuality, but most mature and scholarly Theologians recognize that the baseline for Sodom’s judgement is it’s treatment of foreigners, where the act of sodomy is a form of punishment, not necessarily the inherent sexual desire of the men. This quote from a great resource puts this in better perspective:
“As this presence and role are acknowledged, I further assert that it is more logical to assume that the sexual orientation of the men and women of Sodom and Gomorrah is heterosexual rather than homosexual. In arguing this, I wish to undercut the dangerous understanding that the “sin” of Sodom is homosexuality in need of annihilation in our society. Instead I assert that the wickedness of these cities is the inhospitable treatment of resident aliens and sojourners at its worst, through the sexual humiliation of rape, linked with the wickedness of idolatry.2“
I have been wanting to sit down and write out a post with the current news that has broken about the “Cornell Seven”. I am sure I do not have to provide the details of the disgusting acts of seven frat boys from Cornell University, and the 57 silent cowards who allowed it to happen. Following this story as it developed, I could not help but think of Abraham begging God to spare Sodom if ten righteous men could be found. Well, here we are in 2026, and out of a fraternity from a prestigious Ivy League American College, not a single righteous man existed to step forward to try to stop, or even report, this violent sexual assault on a young woman. John Pavlovitz wrote a brilliant post about this last month that you can read by clicking here. Pavlovitz’s article, titled “One Good Man”, was the catalyst to make me compare this gang rape to the attempted gang rape described back in Genesis.
If the LORD and Abraham were looking down at Cornell University on that horrific night in October 2024, in that fraternity house, not one righteous man would have been found. Cornell would have been a smoldering pile of ash. I wonder if God and Abraham were looking down on America right now, could they find ten righteous men? Probably. Ten is a low threshold for our entire country. But fifty? That is a different story. I mean, you look at the rapist/child sex predator that is currently sitting in the Oval Office, who is “leading” this country, if he is the president, finding fifty righteous men may be a stretch. And just to remind any naysayers, righteousness means living your life in the way that is pleasing to God. I would dare to say most of the Christians in America seem to have no idea what true righteousness is. I have linked a great Study Bible for you to purchase if you need clear insight on how to live a life that is pleasing for Jesus and the God that Jesus points us to.
Luckily for the unrighteous, Jesus came to earth and offers salvation, mercy and grace. So, no more fire from the sky, unfortunately, not at least until Jesus returns. Until His return, I pray that we have a rekindling of righteousness in America, and around the world: that we love everyone, we do everything we can to help the marginalized in society, that we prioritize the environment, stop starting new wars and work at ending all wars, we eliminate poverty and world hunger, we spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and we refocus on being good Disciples and not just lost puppets distracted by the world. I really feel like we could do it, if we just tried. Do you want to get to Heaven comfortable, or do you want to get there out of breath? Lace up those shoes, and run the race.
