Exodus 19:10-11
Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
'The Ten Commandments',
Illustration from a Bible card published by the Providence Lithograph Company, 1907
Exodus 17:3-6
"What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!"
Exodus 16:17-18
Manna from Heaven.
Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770) - The Hebrews Gathering Manna in the Wilderness (c. 1740), oil on canvas, 92 x 67 cm. This amazing painting appears to be a study for a later work, The Gathering of the Manna (1738-42). The study buzzes with energy missing from the latter.
It only took three days.
And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.
Painting by Nicolas Poussin, 1628 - Moses Sweetening the Bitter Waters of Marah.
Exodus 14:26-27
So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.
Painting by one of my all-time favourite martime artists Ivan Ayvazovsky (1817–1900), 'Passage of the Jews through the Red Sea', 1881, oil on canvas. Ayvazovsky also painted the extraordinary painting of The Flood, 'Deluge', which is the banner picture in my profile.
Exodus 14:21-22
The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night - and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
Exodus 12:37-39. Exodus from Egypt.
The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste... So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks.
Painting by David Roberts - The Departure of the Israelites out of the Land of Egypt, 1829. Oil on canvas. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, U.K.
Exodus 12:29
The Tenth Plague of Egypt.
At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.
Illustration from a painting by J.M.W. Turner - The Tenth Plague of Egypt, 1802, oil on canvas.
Turner was 27 years old when this was first exhibited.
Exodus 12:12-13
The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are.
And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
Illustration from a watercolour by James Tissot (1836-1902) - Signs on the Door, c.1896-1902. Detail.
Exodus 9:23-24
The Seventh Plague.
Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven,
and the Lord sent thunder and hail,
and fire ran down to the earth.
And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
Illustration by John Martin - The Seventh Plague, oil on canvas, 1823.
The design for the painting, in ink and watercolour on paper, is a similarly impressive piece of art.
Exodus 9:3-4
The Fifth Plague of Egypt.
Illustration from a painting by J.M.W. Turner - The Fifth Plague of Egypt, 1800
Exodus 3:4-5
He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
Exodus 2:1-3
Moses' basket placed in the reeds.
When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank.
The Finding of Moses
Alexander F. Loemans (French, 1816-1898)
Genesis 50:18-20
His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Genesis 49:11 Israel's Promise to Judah.
He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
Genesis 26:4-5
I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
"Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on— since you have come to your servant.”
So they said, “Do as you have said.”
And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”
Abraham Serving the Three Angels by Rembrandt.
1646 oil-on-panel painting.
16cm × 21cm.
The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.
From a painting by possibly my favourite artist of all time, Ivan Ayvazovsky (1817–1900) - Descent of Noah from Ararat, c. 1889, oil on canvas, 130cm x 215cm.
Genesis 9:14-15
Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.
Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
Genesis 2:23
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
From an oil on canvas painting by Auguste Levêque (1864-1921), ‘Hymne d'Amour’ (Love Hymn), 1901
Genesis 1:26-28
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Were it not for the fall, we would have filled the earth, and subdued it, being the true image bearer of God on Earth - His human family, working the earth in it's fullness.
This remains our destiny in the new earth, when His Kingdom comes.
Genesis 17:4-5
Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates"
Abraham's Vision, 1853
John Linnell (English, 1792-1882)
There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.
Revelation 21:1-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away... And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
'The Last Judgement' by John Martin.
The first element of the triptych, The Last Judgement, is the central piece, intended to be displayed between the peaceful landscape of The Plains of Heaven to the left and the turbulent scene in The Great Day of His Wrath to the right.
