Bible Journaling - Genesis 38

When we last left off on the story of Joseph, Jacob's son, we saw him being sold into slavery by his own brothers. In Genesis 38, this story is interrupted for the seemingly inconsequential look into the life of another one of Jacob's sons, namely Judah. We learn that two of Judah's sons died without becoming fathers. Then, blaming his daughter-in-law for what had happened, he attempts to deceive her. She outsmarts him though, and the result is that he himself becomes the father of her baby. We learn of a custom that our modern way of thinking finds completely unacceptable, yet it was very common to the region at the time. Whatever we may think of the methods and means used in the story, it is certainly not as inconsequential as it would appear. The importance of this story only becomes clear when David is crowned king of Israel, for this Canaanite woman, is one of his direct ancestors. It becomes even more important a couple of centuries later, when Jesus is also born from this same bloodline.

The story once again spill over onto the following pages where we learn about the birth of two twin boys, Perez and Zerah.  One pushed his hand through first, and the midwife tied a red string around it. However, then he pulled his hand back and his brother was born first. One can not help but realize that this must have been a very difficult birth for the poor mother.

Genesis 38 looks like this in the Inspire Praise Bible.

I coat the pages with Zellen Clear Gesso before I start. I have since been given two bottles of Clear Gesso to pretest, before marketing and manufacturing, which are much superior products, but I am not yet at liberty to disclose more on this topic, though I would advise you to keep your eyes peeled in future blogs, as I am very impressed with the results from one of these test samples.

By the time I return to these pages, I have already journaled the previous chapter, and my pages now look like this.

When journaling the story of Judah's dealings with Tamar, I decide to focus in on his identification seal, which he had left with her as promise of payment to follow later. It was customary for temple prostitutes to 'sacrifice' themselves to patrons of the temples at least once in their lives. This was a custom in many parts of the world and certainly not restricted to the Middle East. However, it is important to note that it was never a part of Judaism, nor of Christianity. Do not confuse the practice as one being condoned by God, who explicitly prohibits the practice in the later Mosaic laws. I decide to draw a wax seal in pencil, writing the name 'Judah' in the centre of the seal.

I use Mont Marte Adult Colouring Duo Markers to colour the seal. Remember to leave some white lines to make the seal appear brilliant, as wax would reflect light off its shiny surface.

When I am done, my pages look like this.

I then turn the page to continue the story on the next page. These pages have already been treated with gesso.

This time I use the markers to draw the baby's hand as it reached out and had a red string tied around it.

When I am done, my pages look like this.

I page back to get an overview of the rather short chapter.

You can watch a short compilation video of the steps above on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/WrR8_Hi_SeM

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.

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