The Art of Life Bible - Flipbook - Page 7
welcome
the art of life
The captions offer practical and scientific information
about the people, plants, or animals pictured. In each
caption, you will find concrete information about the
item, important truths to think about and apply to life,
and recommended Bible passages to read that show the
item within the flow of Scripture.
Many of the plants pictured appear numerous times in
Scripture. For example, the olive tree and its fruit are mentioned over two hundred times in the Bible. It would be
impossible to illustrate and comment on each occurrence,
but for the olive tree we have placed illustrations and
captions at seven locations, and in each context we have
highlighted how the olive tree is used to teach God’s truth.
These olive captions conclude with page numbers pointing to the related captions, making it easy to explore the
rich meaning that arises in the various Scripture contexts.
People of the Bible
Portraits of important people in the Bible will help you
picture them in the real world and reflect on the Scriptural accounts of their lives. These were people who walked
this earth, who looked like people we know; perhaps
some of them looked a lot like us. The artist sought to
capture aspects of each person’s physical appearance
and character through facial features and expressions.
And as we look closely at these people, it gives us an opportunity to learn things about ourselves. In the face of
Cain, can you sense your own anger or bitterness? In the
eyes of David, can you see something of your pride? In
the hopeful eyes of Naaman’s servant girl, can you sense
a desire in your own heart to help someone in need?
Animals of the Bible
In the creation account, we are told how God populated
the sky, sea, and land with an amazing array of creatures. We have sought to illustrate and describe many of
these animals, birds, fish, and insects in the Bible texts
where they are mentioned. The captions provide scientific names and facts about the Bible’s rich and varied
animal life, describe the environments they live in, and
show how they play a part in the Bible’s story of life.
The captions give the meanings of people’s names, point
to Scripture passages that tell their stories, summarize important events of their lives, and then share lessons we can
learn from their lives. Through the lives of God’s people
from past generations, we can discover who we are as God’s
children, discover some of our strengths and weaknesses,
and catch a vision for our own calling in God’s world.
As with the plants, some animals appear often in Scripture and play a meaningful part in Scripture’s teachings. The sheep is one such animal, so there are four
illustrations and captions (two in the Old Testament, two
in the New Testament) to explore the truths associated
with them. Such animals are given multiple captions
and pieces of art, and clearly linked together, so you can
easily explore the role they play in the Bible’s teachings.
Plants of the Bible
Like a guidebook to Bible plants, this Bible gives detailed artwork and physical descriptions of the plants
mentioned in Scripture. The captions provide scientific names and facts about each plant’s growth patterns,
ecology, and practical uses in Bible times. The captions
also explore how the biblical writers used these plants
to illustrate God’s truth through their mention in stories,
as metaphors for teaching and preaching, or in poetry.
The presence of these plants in Scripture places their
associated biblical events on the hills and in valleys of
the ancient Near East, a world we can scientifically explore even today. God has revealed himself to us through
events that took place in our world, not just a world of
the imagination.
Art of Life Panoramas
Through its many accounts and prophecies, poems and
songs, the Bible tells one grand story—and it is our story.
It is a story that reveals our beginnings in the beautiful garden of God’s good creation, where people lived in close
friendship with God and his world. But the story takes a
dark turn as the man and woman disobey God’s instructions and choose their own way, making decisions that lead
to a wilderness of conflict, suffering, and death. Thankfully,
though we find ourselves still living in this wilderness, God
has taken steps to redeem what was lost and reconcile his
broken relationship with humanity. He has begun a process through the sacrificial death and resurrection of his
Messiah, Jesus, that will ultimately lead to the world’s restoration and the return of God’s wise and loving rule. Though
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