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After Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, years went by, and many events happened: Isaac's tribe traveled, settled in various places, and Esau even married two local women. As time went by, Isaac was so old that he became nearly blind. He began to get his affairs in order, and it was time for him to pass on his blessing. Blessings would be given to each of his children, but the most important blessing was always given to the firstborn.

In our last iBIBLE "Behind the Scenes," we looked at the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. We know that Rebekah was unable to bear children, so Isaac cried out to God for help. After nearly 20 years of marriage, by the grace of God, Rebekah became pregnant with twins. However, the children struggled in Rebekah's womb. She said, "If it is thus, why is this happening to me?" (Gen. 25:22, ESV) and went to the Lord in prayer. And the Lord said to her: "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger." —Gen. 25:23

Isaac was 37 years old and without a wife when his mother Sarah passed away. After her death, Isaac's father Abraham sought to obtain a wife for him. Abraham did not want Isaac to marry one of the Canaanites (they were not God's chosen people), but wanted him to take a wife from his father's family that had remained in Haran instead.

God had referred to Isaac as Abraham's "only son, whom you love." He knew how hard this command to sacrifice his son would be to carry out. Now the time had come. As Abraham and Isaac arrived at the mountains of Moriah, Abraham instructed the men who were traveling with them to remain behind, and asked Isaac to carry the firewood for the burnt offering. Isaac and Abraham began climbing the mountain together.

Abraham had waited 25 years for God's promise of a son to be fulfilled. Sarah, Abraham's wife, miraculously gave birth to Isaac at 99 years old! God had promised that Abraham's descendants would be like the stars of the sky and sands of the sea. How could this test from God possibly make sense to Abraham? Wouldn't it contradict all that God had previously promised if he were to obey and sacrifice his son? However, Abraham knew God's voice well, so he proceeded without delay to carry out the task that God had asked him to complete. He had total trust in his Creator.

25 years after God gave Abraham the promise, it was fulfilled! Abraham was 100 years old when his wife Sarah, age 90, gave birth to a son: The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. —Gen. 21:1–5 [ESV]

Last week, we introduced the story of Hagar, the Egyptian servant of Sarai. Sarai had given Hagar to her husband Abram to serve as a surrogate mother. Once pregnant with Abram's child, she began to treat Sarai with contempt. This led to a conflict between Sarai and Hagar, and resulted in Hagar fleeing into the wilderness. There, an angel of the Lord spoke to her: "Return to your mistress and submit to her…I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude…Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction." —Gen. 16:9–11 [ESV] excerpted

It's hard not to wonder what went through the minds of Abram and Sarai while they waited, year after year, for the son God had promised. How would God fulfill this promise? Every year Sarai advances in age, making it (humanly) less likely, or even impossible to bear a child. We know that at a certain point Sarai goes to Abram with a solution: she offers her servant Hagar as a surrogate mother: Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went into Hagar, and she conceived. —Gen. 16:1–4 [ESV]

To faithfully illustrate the promise of God to provide Abram with a son, we begin by mapping out a 25-year timeline. The first indication of the promise is when God calls Abram out of Mesopotamia. Abram is 75 years old at this time: Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." —Gen. 12:1–4 [ESV]

As Abram returned from the attack, he was met by two kings: the king of Sodom, and the king of Salem. The king of Salem, Melchizedek, was called a priest of God Most High. Not much is known about Melchizedek, though he is mentioned a few times in Scripture. Most notably, he uniquely serves as both a king AND a priest.

After emerging from the ark and receiving the new covenant from God, Noah settles down and begins to work the land. In iBIBLE Chapter 4, we see this event come to fruition. Though Noah is most famously known for the story of Noah's Ark, there is another part of his story that is often not told. He is also the subject of the first story of intoxication.

As the descendants of mankind begin to populate the earth, we see creativity and ingenuity come into play. In iBIBLE Chapter 3, we encounter the first musical instruments. Instruments will be a recurring theme in iBIBLE. Many well-known characters in Scripture used instruments in spontaneous praise of God, in daily temple worship, and even in battle.

From script to animatics, from animation to final render, there are many steps that go into a single page of the iBIBLE. Today, we will give you an overview of the workflow and creativity that is necessary to produce one single page spread (left and right hand page).

When we read the story of Cain and Abel, we can't help but feel devastated at the reality of sin—that mankind had fallen so far in just one generation that a murder would occur. The task of the iBIBLE team is to bring this story to life with Biblical accuracy. In this case, not a lot of information about the specifics of the first murder are given. We do know that Cain attacked his brother and killed him, but the question for our team was: how do we depict this in iBIBLE? This is a difficult subject to delve into, but in order to accurately portray the stories in iBIBLE, we have to consider all of the factors that would be shown in the animation carefully.

When illustrating this narrative for Chapter 5 of iBIBLE, we had to consider these questions: Why was God so opposed to the Tower of Babel? How was it made? And, where was it made?

Over the past few weeks, we have looked closer at the tribulation of Job in chapters 6 and 7 of the Behind The Scenes of iBIBLE series. This week is the conclusion to this series. In review, Job's three friends tried to convince Job that he had sinned, and that his sin had resulted in his suffering. They contended that God would never let a righteous man suffer. Elihu comes on the scene and doesn't agree with Job's three friends, stating that Job's failure came when he attributed righteousness to himself, rather than to God, his Creator. It is then that God speaks and challenges Job, who had dared to question God. Job responds to the Lord in repentance.

In the past weeks, we looked at the conversation between Job and his friends. So many questions, hypotheses, and thoughts are given about why God allowed Job to suffer in this way. In the end, Job actually states that he wants the Almighty to answer him!

Over the past few weeks, we have presented a behind-the-scenes look at the creation and animation of Job in iBIBLE. This week we will look at Elihu. We do not know very much about Elihu, but we do know that he is younger than the others, and that he is the son of Barachel the Buzite of the family of Ram. We do not know when he arrived to speak to Job, or when he departed, and interestingly, there is no record of him being rebuked by God as Job's other three friends were. Naturally, this brings about many questions: was Elihu a fourth friend of Job? Was he a type of Christ? Was he God's messenger? Or, was he someone else altogether? The best part of producing the Biblical narrative is that we don't necessarily have to answer these questions. We reserve these difficult questions and answers for pastors, teachers, and theologians. Our job in producing iBIBLE is to present the narrative: the events that happened as revealed in Scripture.

Job has suffered immensely, and his friends have gathered to support him. We looked first at his friend, Eliphaz who believed that God was punishing Job for his sins. Let's take a look at Job's friends Bildad and Zophar as they also try to understand what happened to Job and argue that suffering is punishment for sin and prosperity is reward for righteousness.

Job's friends have seen him suffer horribly, and they gather to try to comfort him. From chapters 4 to 31, Job conversed with his friends about the meaning of suffering. Ultimately the theories of his friends were unsatisfactory and aligned with some of the same theories people often have today.

As the book of Job opens, we see a "blameless and upright man, one who feared God, and turned away from evil." If suffering is intended as a punishment for evil, Job would not be a recipient. The first chapter of Job is not even finished when Job's calamity begins. Within the realm of a single day, all Job had was in ruins and his world thrown upside down. His ten children and most of his servants were dead. His 11,000 head of livestock, gone. Yet, in all of this, Job's integrity did not fail him.

Setting the stage for the story of Job that is about to unfold, we see a scene that challenges our understanding: an exchange between God and Satan; with the fate of a man in the balance. The Scripture sets the stage: the angels present themselves before the Lord. One thing is immediately clear. God is taking an active and involved role in specific situations on earth.

As the story of Job unfolds, we clearly see a man that suffered at the hands of Satan. The extent of his affliction includes losing his wealth, his children, his reputation, and even his health. But what of Job's wife? Some who recall the story have assumed she dies along with their children, or that she was angry and defiant to God.

As the story comes to life in iBIBLE chapter 9, we see a compelling scene playout: a battle between many different armies in a rich valley surrounded by hills ... with tar/bitumen pits.

When reading the genealogy of Jesus, truth be told, many of us see a puzzling list. It's easy to skim over it searching for the real story of Jesus' grandness to begin. We know the names were people, but perhaps we don't know about their lives or even struggle to pronounce their names. The story of Jesus though doesn't begin with the nativity. It begins in Genesis - and understanding the grandeur, grace, and greatness of our God comes in knowing the story that has unfolded throughout the Old Testament.

In Genesis chapter 14 we read of the war of nine Kings, in which Sodom is defeated. After their defeat, the city was looted, and the inhabitants were taken away to be slaves. One of those inhabitants was Abram's nephew Lot.

As Jesus spoke of the cataclysmic events that would take place in the end times, he brought to our attention the destruction of a city destroyed in the book of Genesis: Sodom. Specifically, he called on his disciples to "remember Lot's wife" who was transformed into a pillar of salt when she looked back at the destruction befalling Sodom.

A strange declaration by the inhabitants of Sodom. Was Lot a judge in Sodom, or was this just their way of saying "you think you're better than us"? This is a question the team asked as we animated iBIBLE chapters 9 and 10.

Abraham walked, talked, sacrificed, fought, rescued, prayed, defended, and forged his faith throughout his journeys nearly 40 centuries ago. In iBIBLE chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11, we travel with Abraham, and we cover a lot of ground!

When Jacob left Haran, he was in a hurry. He knew that he needed to get as much distance as possible between himself and Laban. But he was not alone. In Chapter 14 of iBIBLE we had to answer a big question. How did Jacob cross the Euphrates river, with all he brought as he fled from Laban?

Abraham's relationship with God was of such intimacy that he thoroughly understood His character and purpose. He knew God, because he had relationship with him. We see this relationship play out in iBIBLE chapters 9 and 10.

Two great creatures, Behemoth and Leviathan, are described by God in Job. Some commentators have suggested Behemoth was an elephant or hippo, but the description simply doesn't match. In iBIBLE chapter 07 the second half of the book of Job comes to life. How then did we determine the design of the mighty Behemoth?

In the time period of the patriarchs, there are few locations that carry as much of the story as the city of Haran. Terah, Abram's father, passed away and was buried there. Isaac's wife, Rebekah, lived in Haran, and Jacob stayed in Haran for over two decades working under his uncle, Laban.

As we bring the iBIBLE to life and animate the story of Jacob, the well is a key component to uncover. What did the wells look like? How did they operate? What was the purpose of the large stone Jacob rolled away? How did a person water their flock at a well? Did the animals drink from a bucket, was there a trough nearby, or was there some part of the well that allowed the animals to drink?

The story of Rachel, Leah and Jacob unfolds in Genesis Chapter 29. In their story, we see the importance of bearing children. When Rachel sees Leah has mandrakes, she trades her night with Jacob in exchange for them.

When we read Job's response to his suffering, our hearts marvel at his trust in God and his acceptance of a loss that is so deeply painful, almost unimaginable. The task in front of the iBIBLE team is to bring this to life, with Biblical accuracy, for the people of the world. And the questions we wouldn't think to ask must now be explored.