DAWN
Daily Arts Web Nucleus
Discover the Arts! Each day a different image from the Literary, Performing, or Visual Arts representing a portion of Scripture plus an explanation with links and a discussion forum 2013 October 26
Image 1: Eliezer of Damascus (1860)
William Dyce (1806-1864)
Nazarene and Pre-Raphaelite Blended Style
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Image Credit: St-Takla.org
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Image 2: Birds Attacking: Detail of the Portrait of Dr. Johannes Cuspinian (c. 1502)
Lucas Cranach the Elder (c. 1472 - 1553)
German Renaissance Style
Oskar Reinhart Collection, Winterthur, Switzerland
Image Credit: Web Gallery of Art
Explanation: Genesis 15 contains two visions in which the LORD reassured Abram about his future. In the first vision the LORD told Abram that he was his "exceeding great reward" (1). In reply Abraham asked who would be his heir since he had no child and his steward Eliezer of Damascus was in line to be his heir (2-3). The LORD said that he would give Abram an heir from his own bowels and told him that his seed would be as numerous as the stars (4-6). The LORD also promised to give him the land of Canaan. When Abram asked for a sign, the LORD told him to make a sacrifice; he did so, cutting the larger animals in half, but had to drive the birds away from the carcasses (7-10). When the sun went down a deep sleep came upon him, a horror of great darkness fell upon him, and the LORD gave him a second vision. In this vision the LORD told him that his descendants would be afflicted in a foreign nation for 400 yeas; but afterward the LORD would bring them out with great substance; and Abram would go to his fathers in peace (11-15). After this reassurance, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between the pieces of the sacrifice, symbolizing that if the LORD broke the covenant he would be cut n pieces like the sacrifices on the altar. The LORD then said that he had given the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates to Abram's seed (17-21).
Genesis 15
1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
PARTICIPATION: We have 7 areas available (via email) for your participation. We are accepting contributions for Prose, Poetry, Writers, Visual Artists, Music, DAWN, and ILLUMINATION. DAWN, the page you are presently visiting, features a new image daily and invites discussion of the artist, style, or Biblical subjects depicted. ILLUMINATION features a compact, Illuminated Bible for which we are accepting visual, auditory, musical, and written contributions on any Biblical passage or theme. Our goal is to have a community-made, online, Illuminated Bible.
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copyright 2013, Scott Souza
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