Readings from Genesis 18 - Exodus 6
Our artistic journey through the Old Testament continues. Below, you'll find our selected artworks and commentary to accompany this month's Come, Follow Me readings. Remember, you can also subscribe to get email reminders when new artworks are ready or follow along weekly on Instagram or Facebook. We hope that art-lovers everywhere will be inspired by these artworks as they complement their gospel study, family discussions, and church classes with fine art from around the world.
February 23 - March 1
Abraham and Isaac are often written about, spoken of, and depicted together. Their close bond as father and son—and the posterity it promises—is what makes the sacrificial commandment so daunting, and perhaps a little confusing. In this sculpture, the artist Randolph Rogers isolates Isaac’s experience, omitting Abraham altogether. Full of pathos, Isaac kneels bravely alone, his serene expression belying the terror of his situation. Though his hands are bound, his legs remain unrestrained, suggesting he could flee but stays as a consenting offering. Upon the altar that in moments could be his final resting place, he looks up—both willing and willful. It is perhaps the arrival of the angel the sculptor signals in Isaac’s upward, confident gaze.
March 2-8
Our closest, most intimate relationships are important to the Lord. At the end of his life, Abraham became concerned with finding the right companion for his son. Eliezer, Abraham’s faithful servant, was tasked with the difficult responsibility of finding a suitable wife for Isaac.
To accomplish this, Eliezer turned to the Lord for help and presented a plan. He “made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water” (Genesis 24:11). He proposed that the young woman who would offer to give water to both him and his camels would be the one chosen by the Lord to be the wife of Isaac. Considering a camel’s water capacity of eight to fifteen gallons, Rebekah’s kind consideration of a weary traveler and his ten camels was a testimony of her character.
How have you been blessed by the patient service of family and community members?
March 9-15
Given to Joseph as a gift from his father Jacob, the coat of many colors symbolized many things. For Jacob, it was a generous gift, crafted with the finest materials. For Joseph it was a physical manifestation of his father’s favor and a priestly emblem of his gift of dreams. For his brothers, however, it was a painful reminder of Joseph’s chosen status, disrupted family dynamics, and a lack of equal affection. Stripped from Joseph after his brothers sold him into slavery, the blood-stained coat was also used to convince Jacob of his death.
It is hard to believe that there could be a happy ending for this family, but as scripture records—after many ups and downs—there comes a day when all of the brothers are reunited and past harms are healed. Although the coat is never mentioned again, this print by John Whitesell reminds us that no dream, relationship, or person is beyond repair.
What does the work of “repair” look like for you in your own family or community?
March 16-22
In the Old Testament, we see not only Divinity but humanity on full display. This panel from a gilded replica of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise on view at the BYU Museum of Art, collapses key moments from the story of Joseph into one cohesive plane. As the eye wanders, we see:
- Joseph sold into slavery (top right),
- an arched grain market with buyers and sellers (center right),
- the planted silver cup discovered in Benjamin’s sack of grain (bottom left),
- Joseph revealing his true identity to his brothers (center left), and
- Joseph’s brothers loading up their caravan with grain (bottom right).
Although 22 years had passed between the first and last of the events depicted, the positive and negative interactions of this family contributed to a greater whole and lead to the ultimate salvation of the entire household during famine. During their reconciliation, Joseph’s derives his capacity to forgive from his belief in the Lord’s ability to consecrate all of his experiences: “God meant it unto good” (Genesis 50:20).
How have your own life experiences been consecrated for your good?
March 23-29
As a wagon train moves slowly and boys on horseback guide a herd of cattle, women and children pause at a stream to cool off and wash the dust of the trail from their faces. Fascinated by the pioneers’ exodus, Minerva Teichert painted many scenes celebrating the lives of early Latter-day Saint settlers in search of their own “promised land.” Her use of bold brushstrokes and bright colors lend a lighthearted feeling to an otherwise harrowing journey. Despite the hardships and heavy burdens of both Old Testament and modern-day people searching for home, we too can draw upon their examples of faith and trust in the Lord’s promise: “I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under [your] burdens” (Exodus 6:7).
