Abraham and Jehovah

It is interesting in the account of Abraham's testing in Genesis 22 that the word God (Elohim) and Lord (Jehovah) were used. Note the transition when Abraham referred to God from Elohim to Jehovah. To understand why the transition, one needs to know the context and culture of Abraham's time. It was a time when child sacrifice to the gods was common. Abraham did not know the true God of Israel. He only knew about the gods that his generation worshipped. When Abraham received the command to sacrifice Isaac, his thought must have been, "so you, Elohim, are just like other God!" That was the only god that he knew. Same for Isaac. He might have lost a buddy to child sacrifice, thus there was little exchange between father and son. There was fire, wood, but no sacrifice. When asked, Abraham answered in verse 8 that god (Elohim) would provide, not the Lord. Elohim is not the name of God (Jehovah) which is God of Gods, above all gods. Elohim is not God’s name. In verse 14, when Abraham finally knew who God (Jehovah) was, a different God, a God who cares, he called Him Lord (Jehovah). This is a story about Abraham discovering that the Lord is not like the other gods. He thought God was like all other gods, but when he got to the top of the mountain, he learned that God was different, He is anti-violence.