Redemption
Painted on Givat Hanania, Jerusalem, Israel, June, 2010
This painting is a visual meditation on Isaiah 35:
Joy of the Redeemed
" 1 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.8 And a highway will be it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."
In this passage I was captivated by the very deliberate, decisive action of the Redeemer, bursting up like an unstoppable fountain, out of the barrenness and hopeless scene of the broken, weak, and fearful-hearted. I have pictured the moment of the coming of the Redeemer as He tears through the fabric of desolation and pain, coming "with a vengeance" and "with divine retribution" to save.
His action lifts the needy one up and away from lifelessness, lifts her instead into a rainbow, a place where the promises of God are a banner of life and love over the Redeemed.
Trustingly, the object of the Redeemers’ affection sits in His powerful-yet-gentle nail-scarred hand; she is dressed in the restored innocence and purity His wounds have purchased; her eyes and hands are lifted in wonder and praise. In awe, she is reaching up, her fingers touching the beautiful high ways of God spread above her.
Below her, from the pierced side of the Redeemer, a stream of living water is beginning to flow over the barren ground of the past; it will change the landscape and make a place of life and joy in the desert; and "sorrow and sighing will flee away."
This original painting was done for the dedication of an underground prayer room and safe house for at-risk women in a Middle Eastern country where domestic violence was reported by the U.N. to be an issue in 70% of the homes in the region.
Joy of the Redeemed
" 1 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.8 And a highway will be it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."
In this passage I was captivated by the very deliberate, decisive action of the Redeemer, bursting up like an unstoppable fountain, out of the barrenness and hopeless scene of the broken, weak, and fearful-hearted. I have pictured the moment of the coming of the Redeemer as He tears through the fabric of desolation and pain, coming "with a vengeance" and "with divine retribution" to save.
His action lifts the needy one up and away from lifelessness, lifts her instead into a rainbow, a place where the promises of God are a banner of life and love over the Redeemed.
Trustingly, the object of the Redeemers’ affection sits in His powerful-yet-gentle nail-scarred hand; she is dressed in the restored innocence and purity His wounds have purchased; her eyes and hands are lifted in wonder and praise. In awe, she is reaching up, her fingers touching the beautiful high ways of God spread above her.
Below her, from the pierced side of the Redeemer, a stream of living water is beginning to flow over the barren ground of the past; it will change the landscape and make a place of life and joy in the desert; and "sorrow and sighing will flee away."
This original painting was done for the dedication of an underground prayer room and safe house for at-risk women in a Middle Eastern country where domestic violence was reported by the U.N. to be an issue in 70% of the homes in the region.