The Bible In Paintings, #36: MT. SINAI #4 – 10 COMMANDMENTS!

Bing Images | c. 2000 BC -- c. 90 AD | Father, Son & Holy Spirit

[Hebrews 11:6]

GOD GIVES THE LAW

E X O D U S . . 2 0
New International Version, emphases added
Abridged – the complete text is in your Bible

1 And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God...

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

. . . .

18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

EXODUS 24
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.”

15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

EXODUS 31
18 When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

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AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, artists have been eager to portray God giving His Ten Commandments to Moses. With more than 100 images to show you, which is far too many for one installment of this series, here is the second of four posts focusing on the Decalogue.

There are several distinct varieties of images, so for viewing coherence they're grouped into like kinds. Today we continue with

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S T A I N E D . . . G L A S S

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St. Paul Cathedral, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Temple De Hirsch Sinai, Seattle, Washington

Rollins Chapel, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire

Ripon Cathedral, Ripon, North Yorkshire, England

by MASTER GERLACHUS
“Moses receives the tablets” - c.1150, Munster Landesmuseum, Munster, Germany

Detail, Church St Etienne Fecamp, Normandy, France

Holy Trinity Cathedral, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Peterhouse Chapel, Cambridge, England

by LAWRENCE SAINT
Pharaoh, Moses and Aaron – Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.

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Again, here is the Bing page "MOSES STAINED GLASS”,
showing various glassmakers’ conceptions.
Several shown here are serious works worthy of interest,
by unknown artists except as noted.

Also, here are links to compendia of three masters
who painted Biblical scenes prolifically:

REMBRANDT van RIJN

GUSTAV DORÉ
(241 wood engravings for
La Grande Bible de Tours)

JAMES TISSOT

Finally, here are links to the
PREVIOUS 35 POSTS IN THIS SERIES

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SPECIAL THANKS
to FReeper left that other site,
who allowed God to make her His conduit
for incomparable enthusiasm, encouragement,
education, advice and technical assistance!

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SNEAK PEEK: Next time,

10 COMMANDMENTS, AGAIN

[Hebrews 11:6]

Off to the punitentury!

[Ezekiel]

Surprise is the trigger of humor

Insightful in its simplicity and obviousness (is that even a word?). Thanks!

Okay, that reminded me of what Clark said to Cousin Eddie:

"Oh, Eddie.. If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am now."

:)

The God of Abraham is the *living* God after all, sew everyone should know how He rolls.

"Your surprise is waiting."

Luv it, and all the artwork. Keep it coming!

[Hebrews 11:6]

Keep it coming!

Seems to me this is now the second time you have so encouraged me. God willing, that is my intent, Thru the Bible.

God gives me fresh inspiration and blessing every day through this. Because an unexamined project is foolhardy, I'm going to think aloud here about those gifts, emulate Browning and count the ways (also known as revealing how the sausage is made):

* the thrill of the hunt, as true online as afield

* the continual surprises in finding artwork new to me--each one is like opening a present

* the energizing mental stimulus of dozens of daily decisions

* the responsibility for faithfully and accurately and fully representing Scripture

* the challenge of organizing and maintaining the data

* the fun of creating new forms to suit the message

* the daily confirmation that God prepared me specifically for doing this and enables me

* the hilarious enjoyment of cooperating with God on His project, being carried along by His Spirit (the goofs, blunders and foolish mistakes are mine, obviously, and the bright ideas His)

* the deeper understanding of Scripture prompted by the art and by the commenters

* the opportunity of praying for both viewers who respond and silent viewers who do not, and then interacting with all the Ezekiels who chime in

Undoubtedly there are other blessings which I didn't think to mention or which I will discover, for He has no end of them.

[TheConservativeParty]

Thank you for the ping! Wonderful stained glass. 🙂

[Hebrews 11:6]

They are a visual and spiritual treat.

[Ezekiel]

the hilarious enjoyment of cooperating with God on His project

That's it right there. Is Isaac is Abraham's seed called.

Sincere, honest, whole-hearted people -- each with their unique talents and artistic impressions and placement in this world -- can get a whole lot accomplished just by taking their own one-of-a-kind "temple" blueprint, and running with it. It's not any work at all if it is love.

Everyone arrives in life with a special mission designed especially for him (or her). The miracle is that somehow all these "oddball" pieces (assignments) are designed to fit together effortlessly. The Messiah is the chief "oddball" as the maverick solution to business.

That's pretty funny - the pattern is actually quite flexible -- that what's good is golden so it'll work. Get 'R Done. On your mark, get set, paint!

The God of Abraham is the God of the living. :)

Keep having fun!

[Hebrews 11:6]

Beautifully apprehended and stated. Thank you.

[Ezekiel]

I just noticed this pun so I wanted to add it to this artwork collection, the "mosaic" law of the little pieces arranged together:

THE LAW permutes to WEALTH.

The Law is associated closely with "ten" because there they are. Ten.. ten Commandments thanks to Mel Brooks.

In Hebrew, the word ten is eser [עֶשֶׂר], the same spelling as the word osher [עֹשֶׁר] meaning wealth.

THE LAW = WEALTH; ten = wealth

These three letters also permute to rasha [רָשָׁע] a wicked person, ra'ash [רַעַשׁ] noise, eres [עֶרֶשׂ] cradle.

Good people don't wig out and pull out their se'ar [שֵׂעָר] hair -- they choose wisely and keep on the sunny side, which leads them to the correct sha'ar [שַׁעַר] gate.

I think I'm in for a life sentence without the possibility of parole for that one. These puns, they get loose and self sow like Johnny Jumps.

Well no wonder, as they are a type of punsy. Cute little faces, gotta love 'em! I think I'll name the places they jump up "Puniel", because I have faced off with God pun-to-pun, and my soul is preserved.