Jesse Tree – Day 2

December 3, 2019December 3, 2019 Karina Tabone 0 Comments Adam and Eve, Advent, Creation, God, Jesse Tree, Scripture

First! A quick note for anybody with small kids that needs to hear this: combining the Jesse Tree devotional with the Advent calendar with its chocolate goodies seems to be a Big Hit with my kids. So, we’ll do the scripture reading and then all the kids get chocolate.

So, let’s just say our official Advent calendar looks a little bit like this now:

The official Advent calendar -- revised! — Notice the placement of the Jesse Tree ornaments, haha. I’ll let them play with the ornament during the reading and then the ornament goes up when the sock gets emptied. Win!

Also, I shipped some books today (mwhahaha, yes, here’s an obligatory link to my shop where I am personally selling my books for Advent!) and guess what? Apparently, the post office nearby actually gives lollipops to small children. And so, thank you for getting books. 🙂 And, my kids appreciate it as well!

Anyway! Onward with the Jesse Tree devotional!

This is the next ornament:

Why, yes, I strategically placed my cat in the photo! World, meet Buddy. Buddy, meet the world.

As you can see, the symbol for today is the world. So, as you might guess, the story is about Creation.

Now! I read a very much abbreviated version to my kids, since I have very squirmy kids, ages five and under, who do not have the greatest attention span… to put it mildly.

But, I have about five million religious artworks of Creation in my stash. And so let’s illustrate this scripture, shall we? 🙂

Creation, Illustrated!

NABRE

Genesis 1

1In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth—2 and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters—3Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light.

Creation of Light, by George Richmond, c. 1826. Tate, London, United Kingdom.

NABRE

Genesis 1

4God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” Evening came, and morning followed—the first day.6Then God said: Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other. 7God made the dome, and it separated the water below the dome from the water above the dome. And so it happened.

The Creation, by James Tissot, c. 1896-1902. Jewish Museum, New York, New York, United States.

NABRE

Genesis 1

8God called the dome “sky.” Evening came, and morning followed—the second day.9Then God said: Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear. And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared. 10God called the dry land “earth,” and the basin of water he called “sea.” God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said: Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And so it happened:

Creation of Plants Icon, c. 15-16th centuries. Private collection.

NABRE

Genesis 1

12the earth brought forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw that it was good. 13Evening came, and morning followed—the third day.14Then God said: Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the seasons, the days and the years, 15and serve as lights in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth. And so it happened:

God Creating the Sun, the Moon and the Stars in the Firmament, by Jan Breughel II, c. 17th century. Private collection.

NABRE

Genesis 1

16God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night, and the stars. 17God set them in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth, 18to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 19Evening came, and morning followed—the fourth day.20 Then God said: Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky. 21God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of crawling living creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw that it was good, 22and God blessed them, saying: Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth.