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At the Holy Spirit's prompting, I am surveying "Bible art" to give God glory, as many of these artists have done, and for my own amusement and learning; and I thought others might enjoy it and be blessed by it, too. My plan is to proceed methodically from left-to-right, Genesis to Revelation, as the Lord wills. Back soon with another.

The Bible encourages us to meditate on it (Ps. 1:1-3, 119:11-16, etc.); these artists have done so, and their works can assist us and enrich our own thoughts about biblical characters, incidents and concepts, and increase our faith in He who is behind it all. As you encounter and consider these images and the related Scriptures and the Spirit enlightens your understanding, please share it with us!

But it is not only oil-on-canvas that can so help us; I refer to the astonishing video series The Chosen, which strolls through the four Gospels at the most leisurely pace. The eight episodes of Season 1 are finished, and the second of a planned seven seasons is being filmed right now. I say "leisurely" because after an entire year's viewing Jesus still has only seven of the apostles (although He's preparing to call up Thomas from the minor leagues--but Thomas is skeptical, of course). Anticipating a canvas of fifty-plus hours instead of a movie's paltry two hours, The Chosen turns the characters (especially including Jesus!) into three-dimensional humans and brings the Gospels alive--you have never seen anything even remotely like it! Here is the Official Trailer.

Here is a link for free viewing of The Chosen: "Works with your phone, tablet, and you can cast to your Roku or Chromecast." Last fall I paid $34.98 for DVDs and ongoing internet access—best 35 bucks I've ever spent (I don't recall how much our marriage license cost, but then it was 43 years ago).

Throughout the Scriptures we see how the things men intend for evil, God turns things around, upon them.

Joseph was sold into slavery because his brothers were jealous of him, and they finally found a way to get rid of the teachers pet.

20 years laster, they are the one’s staring into the possibility of imprisonment at best, and death at the worse. Joseph elevated, they are humbled, just as his dream so many years earlier predicted. What they meant for evil, God turned it into a blessing for His people.

Pharaoh calls for the death of the first born, but God turned the table again. Instead, it was all the first born of Egypt, even the Pharaoh’s own sone died. Yet, none of the Israelites lost their first born.

Moses who was supposed to be killed as a child by the Pharaoh’s father, instead survives to witness the death of the grandson of the man who decreed he should die. Both the Father and son decreed an evil thing, yet God turned both of their evil desires into a blessing for the Israelites.

Moses is elevated to Prophet status, by those who revere him. To this day the Jews consider him second only to God, because they rejected their Messiah. Pharaoh is never to be heard from again. That is until we found the remnants of his chariots at the bottom of the Red Sea.

In all these instances, pride plays a part. Before the fall, always comes pride. Haman had a massive ego. He delighted in the respect of men. He delighted in controlling people. He delighted in his riches, in his power, in his position, and in his clever schemes. He fancied that he would be the downfall of all the Jews.

Had he only practiced love for others and humility, he wouldn’t have found himself hanging from the gallows he had built for his enemy, Mordecai. Instead, his hated enemy, assumed his position.

We always reap that which we sow. The good things that Haman planned for himself, such as his idea of how to honor the one whom the king appreciated, he ended up having to do for Mordecai. The bad things he planned for his enemies, the towering gallows for Mordecai, God used to execute him. God turned his evil plans onto a blessing for His people.

When O’ Lord, when. When will men ever learn that their schemes always turn upon themselves. Even if it seem for a Season that a scheme brightens one’s life, You O’Lord will not be mocked, for You will exact the price for their evil schemes. You O’Lord will always lift up the righteous by setting them above those who’s end is the final death. A death where the worm never turns, and the fire is never quenched. Holy be thy name O’Lord, and happy are they whom You bless with Your anointing love.