Bible Journaling - Genesis 2 & 3

I have often heard people argue that the story of creation is inaccurate and that the two accounts found in the first two chapters of the book of Genesis are contradictory. This is not how I interpret this at all. I rather see the first chapter as interested in detailing the sequence of events, while the second chapter concerns itself with placing the story of creation in context of time and place. There is a clear shift in focus between the first and the second chapters. The first chapter speaks of the creation of the universe and the earth as a whole. The second chapter narrows the scope by concentrating our attention on a specific setting and a garden that is established in the east of this place. Then, once the wider setting has been established, the author focuses in on an even smaller scale, by drawing our attention to the people who are at the centre of this tale. By doing so, the author ensures that all of the attention is directed to the formation and creation of man and ultimately, woman. In chapter one, the focus was placed on them, by leaving them to the last, but they still simply remained part of a long list of things created. Now, they enjoy the prominence hinted at in the last verses of the previous chapter where they were blessed by their Creator.
Chapter 3 then picks up the story line when more detail about the actions, choices and characters of the key role players are revealed. This chapter also sees the introduction of a new character, which becomes more pivotal to the unfolding of the story of the Bible as a whole. The character of Satan is introduced as the antagonist to the creation. This is also the first hint we receive that the seeming heroes of the story are not the actual true main characters, but that God Himself will fill the role of perfect protagonist. This sets the scene, not only for the rest of Genesis, but also for the rest of the Bible. And if one pays very close attention, also for our daily lives today and into the future. In today's blog, I share my illustrative notes on Genesis 2 and 3 with you in my Bible Journaling journey.

Genesis 2 and 3 in the Inspire Praise Bible look like this.

I prepare the pages by coating it with Zellen Clear Gesso.

I use highlighter pens to colour the journaling on the page. The wording here deals with Genesis 2:18 and reads as follows:
It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him. This concept is key to the story told in chapter 2 and certainly deserves the prime attention paid to it by the Inspire Praise Bible. However, it also means that I will not devote much attention to this aspect of the story in my own treatment of the chapter, as I feel it has received its due attention here already. Instead, I will focus on some other aspects of the chapter that may be become obscured by the main story line.

I use Mont Marte Duo Markers to colour the remainder of the picture.

When I am done colouring the words, the page looks like this.

In verses 1-3, we are told that God opted to rest on the seventh day of creation, however long that 'day' was, as time that marked day and night, was only created on the fourth day of creation. The first half of the chapter is concerned with setting the scene. Here we are told a brief version of the creation story as told in Genesis 1. The author moves on quickly to tell us about the place and the rivers surrounding it. Then he tells us that the garden of Eden was established in the east of Eden. I use two shades of blue Gellatos to draw rivers with small waterfalls in them. I use a fan brush to paint the waterfalls. I once more find that the gesso I am using is not ideal. Instead of holding the paint, it seems to be resisting the mediums, making it really difficult to paint the waterfall.

I decide to rather use watercolours, but once again I find that the pages seem to resit the mediums I paint on it. I struggle to layer the paint on the gesso. This is contradictory to the reason why one would choose to use gesso on a surface - it is supposed to prepare a surface to accept mediums, not resist it. This gesso seems to only serve as a seal, and even then it has proven to fail in its task.

I continue working at it, but find that I have to wait for long periods of time, so that previous layers will have time to dry, before I continue on to more layers.

While waiting for the layers to dry, I turn my attention to the second half of the chapter. We learn that there were two important trees in the garden of Eden. Verse 8 tells us that among the other trees, there were also the Tree of knowledge of good and evil, that most of us know about, but also the Tree of Life. The man was only prohibited from eating of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil, not from the Tree of Life as well. This is key to the unfolding to the story of the Bible. It was God's intention that mankind should have life in abundance, in perfect harmony with God. Sin disrupted that harmony and fouled the relationship between man and God. God then removed man from access to the Tree of Life so that he would not have to live forever in this fallen state of sin. But this separation did not last forever. We encounter this tree again in the book of Revelations, where those who have received eternal life, once again have full access to it. Revelations 22:1-5 has references to more things that are part of the creation story, than merely the tree of life. It is important that one should be aware that the story of the Bible has a beginning and an end, even though we are part of the middle of the story line, although not being written into it per se.

I finally gave up on trying to gain the brush definition I should have been able to arrive at in the waterfall. Instead, I define the waterfall with the Duo Markers.

I use Derwent Inktense pencils to draw the tree. I then paint the pencil with water.

I add leaves to the tree.

As the fruit of the tree are essential to the story, I make sure to paint these in a bright red.

I then devote my attention to the creation of Adam and Eve. I use a fine liner to write the words Adam ♥ Eve.

I then place a clear sticker on top of these words, in the shape of a heart, shaped by hearts. Along with the journaling in the margin of the Bible, this is enough space devoted to this aspect of the story.

This then concludes the story of Genesis 2, making it time to move on to Genesis 3.

Right at the opening lines of the chapter, we are introduced to Satan. He arrives at the woman in the form of a serpent. One should not misinterpret the significance of this. You see, he will disguise himself in many shapes that we find commonplace and familiar. The woman would not have had any reason to fear a snake at this stage in the history of mankind. It posed no danger. Or at least, no obvious danger. If each of us were to investigate our own lives, we will also be able to distinguish the voice of Satan when he approached us disguised in the shape of a familiar voice or person. The word Satan literally means accuser or adversary. At one stage, Jesus addresses Peter as Satan when Peter placed himself directly opposite the will of God (Matthew 16:21-28). Is Satan an actual entity, or is it simply a name for those who oppose God? There is some controversy surrounding this in the Christian religion. I don't care to explore this question in this blog. Suffice it to say, that the study of Revelations would seem to indicate that  he is an actual entity. For now, I will leave off and simply tell you that I incorporated this new character by drawing him in pencil, as a snake wrapped around a branch.

I then painted the drawing in Inktense pencils.

I developed the detail of the painting.

I then used watercolours to paint the background blue.

Finally, I added more detail to the illustration with Duo Markers.

When I turn the page, I discover that my pens had bled through the page, despite the fact that I had treated both sides of the page to a coating of gesso before I even started.

I decide to draw the flaming sword that guarded the entrance to the garden of Eden in the left margin of the page. I start by drawing a very simple sword in pencil.

Then I draw flames surrounding the sword. I leave this picture be for the moment to devote some more attention to the events that preceded the banishment from the garden.

The most devastating consequence of Adam and Eve's disobedience, is the fact that it made them aware of their own fallibility as humans and that this knowledge brought separation from God. The relationship of carefree and guilt-free companionship, had been tarnished by their new-found knowledge. Not only did this affect their relationship with God, but also with each other. See the words God spoke to them. The perfect unity that existed between them, would never be the same again. But even more, their relationships with themselves had been affected, as well. They could no longer look on themselves as before; they now felt ashamed of their nakedness, saw shortcomings in themselves and hid themselves. This reminds me of what Jesus identified as the greatest commandment, when prompted to do so: Love the Lord your God. And second and equal to this: Love your neighbour... as you love yourself. You can read more on this in Matthew 22:37-40. My Afrikaans readers may wish to read more on this topic in a previously published blog called Om mure te bou en te herstel. I wish to depict Eve's shame at this point in my journey. I will show you how to draw this seemingly difficult drawing step by step. I start with her drawn up legs.

I add a head, the other side's protruding buttocks, and some facial details and hair. As I am doing this, my thoughts wander on about the knowledge of good and evil, an how it is too often our own thoughts that trip us up in life. My mind then skips ahead to Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 10:5 where he also addresses the battle takes place in the mind: "We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ."

I then draw the first arm. This means that I need to erase the lines of the legs so that the arm appears to be in front of the legs, rather than making it seem as if the arm is transparent.

I draw the second arm and again I erase the necessary lines. I realize that I need to move her hair out and do so.

I also wish to remind myself that shame in ourselves is what causes us to hide from those who love us. It strips us of our confidence and condemns us. This too often means that we blame others for condemning us, which causes us to shun them. It is for this reason, that it is so very important that we should have a healthy self-concept. Who and what we really are, can only be discovered in our Creator. I invite you to visit with Him in prayer, submitting your own thoughts and imaginations to the truths that are to be found in Him. In the meantime, I draw a couple of leaves surrounding Eve.

The stems and veins of the leaves are coloured in two shades of Derwent Inktense colours.

I then use the same green as above to colour the edges of the leaves.

Then I paint these colours with water, using my aqua brush.

I outline Eve in an reddish earthtone. This time I use Derwent Watercolour pencils.

I colour Eve's body in two shades of pink.

Then I paint these colours in water.

I use two reddish browns to colour her hair. I also colour the facial features a dark brown.

The hair is painted with water.

I fill the centres of the leaves with a pale green and add a shadow under Eve's body.

This too is painted with water.

After God had announced the curse that mankind, and the snake/Satan, had brought upon themselves, He banished them from the Garden of Eden, in order to prevent them from eating of the Tree of Life. Death is grace for mankind, as this means that he can rise to live eternally in a restored relationship with God, after the interventionist steps taken by Jesus a couple of thousand years later. The curse directed at the serpent hints at this, as this is a foreshadowing of the battle that is to follow between Satan and Jesus Himself. In the meantime, two cherubim are placed at the entrance to the garden to prevent re-entry after the banishment. These cherubim, we are told, wield two flaming swords, going back and forth. I now start to colour the sword I had drawn. I colour the handle in two shades of Inktense pencils, which I then paint with water.

I use Derwent Metallic pencils to colour the outlines of the metal pieces of the sword.

I fill the centres of these pieces in with a lighter shade of the metallic pencils.

Then I paint the sword with water.

I outline the flames in bright red and paint it with water. I wait for the paint to dry, before proceeding, as Inktense can not be lifted again once dry. I do not wish for my colours to mix here.

I add a bright orange and once again paint the flames with water. I once more wait for the paint to dry, before proceeding.

I add a bright yellow to the flames closest to the sword. I paint this with water.

What my page looks like when I am done with this chapter.

The completed layout of the page, when I page back to where I started.

You can watch a short compilation video of the steps above on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/AkF1YpJG7IM

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:
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