Bible Journaling - Genesis 17 & 18

We have reached Genesis 17 and 18 on our Bible Journaling journey. These are chapters filled with covenants and promises, as well as renewal of promises. It is also the first time where we encounter serious intercession in the Bible, when Abraham intercedes with God on behalf of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. I have to wonder if this was not the reason that God called Abraham His friend. Here was a man who carried the lives of others at his heart. He prayed for them and wished them good, even though they were what we would call 'the scum of the earth,' as we learn in the following chapter. I use a lot of symbols and cartoon style illustrations in today's journal entry.

The chapters continue onto the next page, and so will our journaling for these chapters.

When we first encounter Genesis 17 and 18 in the Inspire Praise Bible, the pages look like this.

I seal the pages with Zellen Clear Gesso.

This is what the pages look like once dry.

I use Faber-Castell Artist's Pitt pens to colour the illustration in the right margin.

I continue building up the colour.

I stick to a monochromatic colour scheme.

Depth is created by using darker colours.

Further development of the picture.

I finally move slightly away from the colour scheme, although still sticking very close to it. This time I use a ProMarker.

When I return to the pages, I had already journaled the overflow from the previous chapter and my layout now looks like this.

When we start reading in chapter 17, we discover that Abraham is now 99 years old. God reaffirms His covenant with Abraham, promising to make ancestor to many descendants. He again confirms that the land of Canaan is to belong to Abraham's descendants. During this conversation, God also changes Abram's name to Abraham. I draw a papyrus scroll to represent Abraham's ID document and write both names on the scroll. I then draw a line through Abram, to illustrate the name change. I use ProMarkers for the illustration.

A couple of verses on, we discover that Sarai's name is also changed. She will now be called Sarah. It is at this time that God reveals to Abraham that the blessed child is to be born from Sarah, not any other woman, such as Hagar. I draw a second scroll with two names and once again cross out the old name.

Wedged in between these name changes, is the introduction of the circumcision of all of Abraham's male descendants, as a mark of the covenant that God had made with him and his descendants. This rather awkward to illustrate, yet so important that I do not wish to shy away from it. I finally decide to simply draw a baby with a very concerned expression on his face. I start my drawing in pencil.

I use ProMarkers, Sharpie Markers and Mont Marte Adult Colouring Duo Markers to colour the baby. I add a white dot to the eyes with a white Artline Paint Marker.

After Sarah's name is changed and God appoints her as the carrier for His promises to Abraham, Abraham laughs in disbelief, for Sarah was already ninety years old. God confirms what He had said and continues to tell Abraham that Sarah would give birth to Isaac. Isaac, God informs Abraham, will be the father (forefather) of twelve princes, or rulers. We also learn that Abraham wasted no time. On that very day, he had every male in his household circumcised, both free and slave, including himself and his son Ishmael. I illustrate the princes that are to be born through this bloodline by drawing a crown. I use a ProMarker and Sharpie Markers to colour the crown.

I then use metallic pens to put some sparkly 'gems' on the crown.

At the beginning of chapter 18, we read that Abraham convinced his visitors, which we now learn are three men, to stay for refreshments. In the ensuing conversation, the men (God?) inquires after Sarah's whereabouts. He then informs Abraham that when they return in a year's time, Sarah will have a son. Sarah overhears this conversation and laughed silently to herself when she heard this, for she knew well that she was no longer able to fall pregnant. At ninety, we can safely assume that she had already passed through menopause. However, the Creator of the Universe had no problem restoring an old woman's ability to bear children and He was adamant that she would bear a son. As a woman, I find this passage particularly endearing. It was not only Abraham who was important to God, but also Sarah. We already saw with Hagar's story that God concerned Himself with the well-being of a woman. Now, He again pays particular attention to a woman, Sarah. He knows where she is and what her thoughts and reactions were. When she denies her own emotions and thoughts, He looks them squarely in the eye. It is not necessary to lie to God about how we feel, or what we think. He already knows. Simply trust Him with your innermost thoughts and emotions and let Him do for you what you yourself can never bring about. I draw a laughing old woman on the page, using a fountain pen. I then colour this picture with the Mont Marte Duo Markers.

My page now looks like this and the rest of the story continues on the next page.

In the last half of chapter 18, we find that the men leave Abraham to go to Sodom and Gomorrah. One stays behind - the LORD. He reveals His intention of destroying the cities to Abraham. In verse 20-21 we read that God said: "I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant. I am going down to see if there actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know." God is going to investigate and search for a reason to save them! He wants to know if there is reason to save them. One can easily miss this. We then find that Abraham is of a like mind to God. His nephew, Lot, was living among these people and we know that Abraham had had dealings with them. It can be no surprise to him that these people are wicked. He desperately intercedes for them with God. To illustrate this, I draw a man on his knees in prayer.

I colour the man in shades of grey to illustrate the gravity of the matter, as well as to reinforce the idea of Abraham's age at this point.

I then find a sticker with the words Prayer List on it and stick it in the margin of my Bible. This serves as a reminder that we are to constantly bring people to God in prayer. I also use a fountain pen to write the numbers of people that Abraham had mentioned to God, as he tried to convince Him to save the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. He starts at 50 and slowly and methodically works his way down to 10. Even Abraham must not have thought that it was possible that there were fewer than 10 righteous people living in the cities. He must have thought that was as low as a man needed to go, and he stopped praying. I have often heard Abraham criticised for not praying more and lowering the number even further. The truth is that God would not see a single righteous person destroyed. We have no idea whether Lot and his daughters were saved for their own sake, or for the sake of Abraham, but we do know that 'the men' held back God's wrath until the ones He chose to save, were safely out of the city.

I draw a speech bubble with the word Intercede written in it. This is to remind myself that the fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much, as James 5:16 confirms. We need to pray for the lost and dying, for prayers can save lives, both physical as well as spiritual.

My second page looks like this when I am done.

Turning back, the pages we did look like this.

You can watch a short compilation video of the steps above on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/xta52W8po6Q

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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