Bible Journaling - Genesis 20 & 21

Genesis 20 challenges us if we believe that it fits chronologically into the rest of the story, for we would then need to believe that a ninety year old woman was still so desirable that her ninety-nine year old husband felt the need to conceal the fact that she was his wife from Abimelech,  a ruler, in order to save his own life. Whether it is chronologically correct or not, is not really at the heart of this story, though. What is more important to take note of, is the fact that Sarah was true to Abraham, making him,without a doubt, the ancestor of the bloodline God chose to reveal Himself through. We look at this story, as well as the birth of Isaac and the start of the friction in the Middle East, in today's Bible Journaling blog.

Genesis 20 and 21 look like this in the Inspire Praise Bible.

I coat the pages with Zellen Clear Gesso.

When the pages are dry, I begin to develop the illustration in the right margin.

I colour the background.

I use Giotto markers to colour the flowers.

When I use the fine point on the Giotto Turbo Dobble markers, I find that they bleed into the background, making the writing appear differently from what I had hoped to achieve. This is a disappointment, but fortunately I will still be able to work with this. Most of the problems I encounter in my Bible Journaling journey, seem to centre around the Giotto markers. I am not sure whether blame belongs with the markers or the gesso that I prepare the pages with, but the combination certainly does not appear to be a good one.

My pages now look like this.

Sadly, when I turn the page over, I find that the Giotto markers have bled through to the reverse of the page. This is a problem that I continuously encounter with the Giotto markers and I am now seriously considering banning them from my Bible Journal mediums, unless I can find a better surface protector than the Zellen Clear Gesso.

I manage to cover the bleeding with white gesso.

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

I am uncertain if chapter 20 can truly fit chronologically into the story. This is almost harder to believe than it is to believe that Sarah fell pregnant and gave birth at the ripe old age of ninety. Still, the rest of the story of Genesis is told in chronological order, so we would have poor excuse to simply make this chapter off as being 'out of order,' despite our misgivings. That Sarah must have possessed rare beauty and attributes to be desired is undeniable. Twice, Abraham felt the need to conceal the fact that she was his wife. Was it because he trusted her impeccably, or was it because he did not care for her? Taken in context, their relationship rather hints at the first suggestion being the case. Certainly, it is confirmed to us that Sarah never cheated on Abraham with another man - not even with his permission. The same can not be said for Abraham. Though, I am bringing modern values and thinking to an ancient text when I reason like this, and it may not be fair to the characters at the heart of the story. What we do know, is that God appeared to King Abimelech in a dream at night and warned him not to take Sarah as his wife. This was the woman who carried the seed of God's promises in her body. There should be no hint of suggestion that perhaps Isaac was born from another man. God Himself guarded jealously over the fulfillment of His promises. I draw a man sleeping in bed, with a dream bubble protruding from his head. I use a fountain pen to make this drawing.

I then draw the figure of a woman, with a definite cross drawn over the figure, to indicate that she was off limits.

I use Sharpie Markers and Mont Marte Adult Colouring Duo Markers to colour the illustration. I add sun rays shining through a cloud, to indicate God's intervention in the matter.

In the first lines of chapter 20, we find out that Sarah did indeed give birth to a boy and that she named him Isaac, as instructed by God. I draw a baby swathed in a blanket, using a fountain pen.

I use the Mont Marte Duo Markers to colour the illustration.

Hagar and Ishmael made fun of Isaac and Sarah demanded that Abraham send them on their way. This was the birthplace of the conflict in the Middle East which rages to this day. Ishmael's descendants believe that the land of Canaan was promised to them, as Ishmael was Abraham's firstborn son. However, God has often disregarded birthright when I came to the fulfillment of His promises, and the blessings He announced. Isaac, was the one He chose for His salvation plan. When I was traveling in England a number of years ago, I bought a sheet of rub-on stickers that I had never used. These stickers included a beautiful well. When Hagar and Ishmael was expelled from their home, they found themselves wandering in the desert, thirsty and on the brink of dying. God intervened and provided a well to nourish them. I am sure it looked nothing like the one in my sticker, but I like the idea of including my travel memories in my Bible and disregard the accuracy of the depiction completely.

Sadly, as soon as I had rubbed the sticker into place, I discovered to my horror that it was not nearly as transparent as I had believed it to be. This meant that I had now covered a large part of my text, something I had determined not to do in my Bible Journaling ventures.

I contemplated removing the sticker, but decided against it, as I thought I might do even more damage to the Bible in the process. It was a rather sad outcome though, which left me less than thrilled with myself.

The chapter continues on the next page with a covenant, or agreement, reached between Abimelech and Abraham. These were two powerful men living in the same region and friction arose between them. They needed to find a way to live alongside each other in peace and harmony. They concluded a peace treaty of sorts to make this possible. This was an official acknowledgement of Abraham's presence in the region. We see that he concludes this occasion by bringing praise to God. I decide to focus on the attributes of Abraham's character that would make him God's chosen one, and that would bring him to this point in life.

I find a sticker that summarizes some of these attributes. Be prayerful. Be humble. Be grateful. Be Clean. Be true. Be positive. Be still. Be smart. Be involved.

The addition of the sticker has not altered the next page much.

The previous pages have been altered quite dramatically.

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

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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