Bible Journaling - Genesis 8 & 9

We started the story of Noah in Genesis 6 already and we continue it in today's blog when we look at Genesis 8 & 9. In Genesis 6:11 we read that mankind had become more evil than God was willing to overlook: "Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence." He then decided to wipe everyone out, aside from Noah and his family, so that He could start over with what He had started in Genesis 1. In Genesis 7 we see that Noah and his family entered the ark he had been instructed to build, along with a whole lot of animals, where they waited for seven days before anything happened. I can just imagine the derision and scorn this poor man must have endured during those seven days, from even his own family! We are familiar with the story of the flood that wiped everything and everyone out. We pick this story up in chapter 8 today.

I insert a page in the Bible when I do today's blog. It is not because I wish to add anything to the Bible. It is simply so that I can include a poem I had written on the Flood back when I was still in university. The poem is called Ark-eology.

God had a plan with the ancient world
He made it into a big round mould
He sat back and smiled at a job well done
Along came Satan and he spoiled the fun

Noah's time was a big disaster
People didn't heed the voice of the Master
Genesis six tells us the story
of how God saw the world and how He felt sorry

He decided to wipe the people from the earth,
when He noticed Noah and He saw a new birth.
God signed the blueprint for a total destruction,
then He wrote the plot for a new redemption.

Noah built an ark, forty-five feet high
Then he entered in and waved the people goodbye
God opened the taps in an abundant way
and "head above water" was the order of the day

Now what can we learn from such a bad ending?
That God saved the world from a danger pending.
But how can you say a thing like that?
He actually let them burn in their fat.

He did this in order to save all men.
Yes, every single last one of them.
He knew that they would live in sin
So He wiped them out, so He could start again.

Now I understand what you're trying to say.
If God didn't do it, we would go astray
With Noah alone the only righteous one
The days of goodness were as good as gone.

an original poem by Miekie (Marietjie Uys)

Genesis 8 and 9 look like this in the Inspire Praise Bible.

I prepare the pages with Zellen Clear Gesso.

Once dry, I use pastel pens to colour the picture in the right hand margin.

I colour the banners with metallic water-soluble colouring pencils, which I then paint with water.

I outline the writing inside the banners with a fine liner.

The finished picture.

I find a paper that seems to suit the theme. It is slightly to big, though.

I crop the page to the desired size.

I then use three fountain pens with different colour inks to rewrite my poem on the page.

I stick some transparent stickers on the page to put the finishing touches on it.

I then realize that this page has not yet been treated for bleeding. I hastily treat the back of the page with normal white gesso, as this page is stark white at the back.

I then draw a picture of the stranded ark on top of a mountain peak in my Bible. The mountain is still surrounded by tumultuous waters. This is because Genesis 8 recounts the story of how everyone was released from the ark after the earth had dried sufficiently.

I colour the ark with Inktense pencils, which I paint with water. I alter the shape of the ark slightly to make the picture slightly more comical. This is not done to take away from the gravity or seriousness of the chapter. It is simply a more interesting picture to look at than the normal depiction of the ark. I am not concerned with rendering the ark accurately. I will leave that to those who consider themselves experts at this sort of thing.

I colour and paint the mountain.

Lastly, I colour and paint the water.

I now move into chapter 9 with my drawing. In this chapter God makes a covenant with Noah, his family and the animals that He will never again destroy the whole earth with a flood, killing everyone on it. As a sign, He placed a rainbow in the sky. This was to serve as a reminder of the covenant God has with mankind. I draw the rainbow on the page.

The rainbow is then painted in water.

I now find some shiny blue tape with which to fix the additional page to the Bible.

It is carefully stuck in place so that it won't cover any of the Bible's text.

I also found this pretty transparent sticker of a dove with a leaf in its mouth among my stickers. I put the sticker in the Bible.

These pages are now done.

When I turn the page over, my layout now looks like this.

When Noah exited the ark, he started planting and growing food. We are told that he planted a vineyard. When he had made wine, he got drunk and passed out naked in his tent. Conflict arose in Noah's house as a result of his Canaan's reaction to this and Noah ends up cursing Canaan. This becomes important later on when we learn that the Israelites are to establish themselves in the land of Canaan after the exodus from Egypt. The Israelites trace their ancestry back to Shem. I choose to depict Noah's endeavours in agriculture and wine-making in a picture. However, I borrow from the Holy Communion when I depict this, because I want this picture to double up as a reminder of the covenant that God had made with mankind, as both of these events are told in chapter 9.

I use Artists' Pitt pens to colour the picture.

Further colouring.

As my colours are limited, I also make use of ProMarkers.

When I colour the cup, I leave some spaced white to create the illusion of light being reflected off the cups.

I colour the leaves on the bunch of grapes.

The grapes are also sure to reflect light.

I then colour the background with a Derwent Inktense pencil and paint it in water. I paint a very faint blue on the opposite page as well.

The completed page.

The completed page when I turn one page back.

You can watch a short compilation video of the steps above on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/YV5GZHwG17Y

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2005,2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois, 60188. All rights reserved.

Inspire PRAISE South Africa edition copyright 2017 by Christian Art Publishers, PO Box 1599, Vereeniging, 1930, RSA. All rights reserved.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.
You may prefer to follow the traveling blog, A Pretty Tourist.
For more crafty ideas and great product reviews, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
If you are in a literary mood, follow Miekie's musings, stories and poetry on A Pretty Author - Miekie.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making life PRETTY.
You can subscribe to any of these blogs and receive regular updates by email. Simply register your email address at the top of the applicable blog.

Bible Journaling - Genesis 6 & 7

In just a couple of pages, although many more years/centuries, we have moved from a scene where everything was created fresh and new and perfect, to a state where depravity has reached a peak. God had made humans as companions for Himself. Now, when He looked for a companion, none was to be found, except for one man - Noah. This is the topic we deal with today, as we look at Genesis 6 and 7 in our Bible Journaling journey.

Genesis 6 and 7 look like this in the Inspire Praise Bible.

I prepare the pages with Zellen Clear Gesso.

The pages look like this once dry.

I use artist Pitt Pens to colour the picture with.

As I do not have a blue in the Pitt pens, I use a Staedtler permanent marker to colour the water.

The coloured picture, when done.

Once I had finished with chapter 5, from the previous blog, my pages look like this.

The opening verses of chapter 6 must be a description of the climax of the depravity the world had reached. Verse 5 summarizes it well: "The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth and saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil." When discussing Genesis 2 and 3 already, I had talked about how people's thoughts were what led them to do what was wrong and believe what was wrong. We truly need to learn to guard and control the thoughts we entertain. A fleeting thought is only that, We do not need to invite it to linger and fester and sprout new thoughts. Squash those wrong thoughts as soon as they enter your mind, and control where you allow your mind to wander. Be selective with what you allow to enter your head, the conversations you partake in, the company you keep, the shows you watch, the entertainment you indulge in, the books you read... I am not saying that you should avoid these things altogether, but I am telling you that unless you spend an equal amount of time (actually more) with God, and thinking about Him, these negative inputs will control your thoughts, actions and life. Please don't fool yourself into believing that you are ministering to the world, or preparing to do so, or should know what goes on in the world if you wish to do so, or that you are engaged in a battle, or whatever other weak excuse you can come up with. God is not interested in using you for ministry or battle until you have learned to subdue your own thoughts  and actions. You have to be the master of your life. If you are submitting to the inputs and influences of some form of screen and the filth it spews at you in constant bombardment, you are not yet in a place where you have conquered and mastered your own thoughts. Switch off and shut down, so you can spend time with God. Do not assume what He wants, find out! I chose to depict God's regret for having made the world, as a single large tear. I start by drawing the tear in pencil.

I then outline it in blue Derwent Inktense.

Then I paint it with water, leaving the centre white, as this is where light reflects off the tear.

Lastly, I shade the bottom of the page in the same blue. I made sure to use the same Iris Blue that I have also used when painting the flower at the top of the page. This ensures continuity and is soothing to the eye.

I now turn my attention to the opposite page. As there already is an ark printed in the margin, I opt not to draw my own. Instead, I borrow an idea I saw on Pinterest and draw the head of a giraffe upside down, as it is hanging over the waters, as if peeking over the side of the ark. I rather like the idea of the upside down giraffe, as this also helps to establish the concept of a world that has been turned on its head, with confusion reigning supreme.

As the giraffe covers my text, I can not use a very dark black, or I will not be able to read the text. For this reason I choose to use a marker that is transparent to colour the black areas on the giraffe.

I then colour the body of the giraffe.

I also place a leaf in its mouth.

Finally, I outline the giraffe with a black fountain pen.

I then turn my attention towards the water, colouring this blue with Derwent Inktense and painting it in water afterwards.

The finished pages.

You can watch a short compilation video of the steps above on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/dz6x5BfDQ3c

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2005,2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois, 60188. All rights reserved.

Inspire PRAISE South Africa edition copyright 2017 by Christian Art Publishers, PO Box 1599, Vereeniging, 1930, RSA. All rights reserved.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.
You may prefer to follow the traveling blog, A Pretty Tourist.
For more crafty ideas and great product reviews, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
If you are in a literary mood, follow Miekie's musings, stories and poetry on A Pretty Author - Miekie.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making life PRETTY.
You can subscribe to any of these blogs and receive regular updates by email. Simply register your email address at the top of the applicable blog.