Jesse Tree: the Story of God's Call in the Night

Samuel was a young boy who served God in the temple under the direction of Eli, an aging priest.  One night Samuel heard a voice call him by name in the darkness, "Samuel!  Samuel!" and he said, "Here I am!" and rushed to see what Eli wanted.  But Eli had not called him.  This happened three times.  "Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy," so he told him next time to answer, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."  And the next time Samuel heard his name called in the night, he answered to God, and was given a vision of the future.

1 Samuel 3:1-18

Potential ornaments for the Jesse Tree: an oil lamp, a candle

Jesse Tree: the Story of Ruth

Long after the Israelites had settled in the land God gave them, another famine struck.  An Israelite woman named Naomi moved with her husband and two sons to the land of Moab to find food.  Her sons married Moabite women.  Then Naomi's husband and both sons died, so she prepared to send her daughters-in-law back to their own families and to go back to the land of Israel alone.  One of her daughters-in-law, Ruth, insisted on going with her, however.  She said, "Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God."  So Ruth went with Naomi into the land of Israel, and there she met a relative of Naomi, named Boaz, as she was gathering grain in his fields.  Ruth and Boaz were married, and their firstborn son was grandfather to the great king David.

The Book of Ruth

Potential ornament for the Jesse Tree: a stalk of grain, ear of corn

Jesse Tree: the Story of Rahab's Willingness to Help

The Israelites wandered forty years in the desert in search of the land God had promised them.   During all this time, God looked after them, feeding them with manna from heaven.  Moses died just before the Israelites finally entered the Promised Land, and Joshua became the new leader of the people.  Joshua sent two men to look over the city of Jericho within the Promised Land.  The king of Jericho found out about the coming of the Israelites and planned to have them killed, but  Rahab, who was a prostitute in Jericho, hid the two Israelites in her home.  She even helped them escape.   Having heard all that God had done for the Israelites when they came out of Egypt,  she said, "The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below."  The Israelites promised that if she would tie a crimson cord in her window, she and her family would be spared when they took over Jericho.  And that's what happened.  When the walls of Jericho tumbled down and the Israelites took over the city, "Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, Joshua spared.  Her family has lived in Israel ever since.  For she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho."

Joshua 2:1-21 and 6:22-25

Potential ornaments for the Jesse Tree: a red ribbon, yarn, or string

Jesse Tree: the Story of God's Promise and Aaron's Blessing

After the Israelites had escaped from slavery and were safe from their pursuers, the Lord chose Aaron and his descendents to serve as priests.  God said to Aaron, "I will dwell among the Israelites, and I will be their God.  And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God."  After Aaron had made offerings to God, he "lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them...and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people."

Exodus 29 and Leviticus 9:22-24

Potential ornament for the Jesse Tree: a hand (for blessing)

Jesse Tree: the Story of Moses Parting the Sea and Miriam's Song

When the fleeing Israelites reached the Red Sea, "Moses stretched out his hand over the sea.  The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land....  The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left."  In the morning, the sea closed over the pursuing army and drowned them, and the Israelites were safe on the other side.  "Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing.  And Miriam sang to them:

          

˜Sing to the Lord for the glorious triuimph;

            horse and rider have been thrown into the sea."

Exodus 14:21-15:21

Potential ornaments for the Jesse Tree: a tambourine or other musical instrument (we have a banjo), a dancer

Jesse Tree: the Story of the Exodus from Egypt

God had compassion on the suffering of the enslaved Israelites, and so God chose Moses to free the people from slavery.  Terrible plagues ravaged Egypt, and in the midst of them, Moses led the Israelites out of the land of bondage.  "The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night."  Then, even though Pharoah had said that the Israelites could go, he changed his mind and sent an army to capture them and bring them back to slavery.  The pillar of cloud and fire moved behind the Israelites to protect them from the pursuing army.

Exodus 3-14

Potential ornament for the Jesse Tree: a pillar of fire or a cloud

Jesse Tree: a Story of Civil Disobedience by Two Midwives

Because of a severe famine, all of Joseph's eleven brothers and their families and even his old father Jacob ended up moving to Egypt where there was still food, so the family was finally reunited.  As years went by, "the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them."  After many, many years, a new king of Egypt decided that there were too many of these outsiders and he made the Israelites work as slaves.   He even told Puah and Shiphrah, two Hebrew midwives, to kill all the boy babies born to the Israelites.  "But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live."  They followed their conscience, not the command of the king. And so the number of Israelites in Egypt continued to grow.

Exodus 1:1-21

Potential ornaments for the Jesse Tree: a baby, two women, a raised fist

Jesse Tree: the Story of Joseph's Coat and His Brothers' Jealousy

Jacob, who dreamed of the ladder, had twelve sons of his own; he loved his son Joseph in a special way "because he was the son of his old age," so he had a long coat made for him.  Joseph's brothers were jealous of the fancy coat their father had given Joseph, and when Joseph began telling them about his own dreams of glory, "They hated him even more because of his dreams and his words."  One day while all the brothers were tending their father's flock of sheep, the older brothers turned against Joseph and sold him to a caravan headed to Egypt, dipped his robe in goat's blood, and told their father that Joseph had been killed by wild animals.  Actually, although at first Joseph had a very hard life in Egypt, later "he became a successful man." Long years later, the story had a happy ending when all his brothers came to Egypt. Jacob even got to see Joseph again and to know that his son was still alive!

Genesis 37:1-36

Potential ornament to make for the Jesse Tree: a many-colored robe or coat

Jesse Tree: the Story of Jacob's Ladder

When Isaac grew up, he married Rebekah; they had twin sons named Esau and Jacob.  One night after the twins had grown up, Jacob went on a journey to visit his uncle Laban. The first night on the road, he slept outside under the stars, using a stone for a pillow.  As he slept, "he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it."  After this dream of the angels going up and down the ladder between heaven and earth, God spoke to Jacob and blessed him: "Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go."  In the morning Jacob used the stone that had been his pillow to mark the place as holy ground.

Genesis 28:10-22

Potential ornament to make for the Jesse Tree: a ladder

For those who might like to read more about angels, here are two links:

from Season of Angels website: http://www.seasonofangels.com/background.html

from Friends of Silence newsletter: http://friendsofsilence.net/email/december-2013

Jesse Tree: 2nd Sunday in Advent review and invitation

Review: So now we're a week into Advent, and for those of you that may have missed the Nov. 25 background on using the Jesse Tree as an Advent activity at home, here is a portion of that posting:

When my kids were little, the Jesse Tree ritual helped counter the cultural pressure to see Christmas as nothing but "What do I get? What will be under the tree for me?"

By making "ornaments" to symbolize stories from Scripture and then hanging them on a small branch we cut ahead of time, we found the Jesse Tree to be a family ritual which gave the gift of Scripture to our children and allowed the old stories to etch themselves into their memories. It's a fine companion to the traditional Advent Calendar, an additional buffer to the commercial kidnapping of Christmas.

Incorporating the Jesse Tree into Advent simply involves retelling a story from Scripture each day (or on those days you can make time) during Advent, and then making some sort of symbol to represent that story (an "ornament") to hang on the branch. Our "ornaments" were construction paper, or felt and glue, or found objects -- we were not an artistic bunch. Some families create much more elaborate (or at least attractive) Jesse Tree ornaments...  



Next, the Invitation: send photos of your Jesse Tree or of some of your homemade ornaments! Mine are pretty primitive (as you can see from our "world," our bundle of sticks, and Jacob's ladder); I love them, but it would be fun to see what others of you are doing. 

Jesse Tree: the Story of Abraham and Isaac

When Isaac was still a boy, God again tested Abraham's faith: "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on the mountain that I shall show you."  Once again, Abraham obeyed God.  Giving Isaac the kindling to carry, he took him to the mountain that God showed him.  He built an altar, laid the kindling on it, then placed Isaac on top.  When God saw that Abraham would obey even this, God sent an angel to stop him.  "Do not lay your hand on the boy," the angel said.  Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in a thicket, and he offered it instead as a burnt offering to God.

Genesis 22:1-14

Potential ornaments to make for the Jesse Tree: a bundle of sticks, a ram

Jesse Tree: the Story of Sarah's Laughter

Sarah knew of God's promise to her and to Abraham that they would be parents to a new nation, but she grew to be an old woman, ninety-nine years old, and she still didn't have any children! One day, Abraham invited three travelers to dinner; hospitality was very important in the land where Abraham and Sarah pitched their tent because there weren't any restaurants to feed travelers.  Sarah began immediately to bake fresh bread for these visitors, who were actually angels of the Lord.  As she was working, she overheard one of the strangers say to Abraham, "I shall visit you again next year, and your wife will then have a son."  Sarah laughed out loud when she heard that, because she was too old to have children, but the stranger insisted it was true.  And sure enough, within the year Sarah gave birth to a son.  She and Abraham named him Isaac, which in Hebrew means "laughter."  

Genesis 18:1-15 and 21:1-7

Potential ornaments to make for the Jesse Tree: a loaf of bread, an angel

Jesse Tree: God's Promise to Abraham

Abraham grew up among people who worshiped other gods.  But God called to Abraham and said, "Leave your country and your kindred and your father's house for a land that I will show you.  I will make you the father of a great nation; I will bless you...so that you will be a blessing."  Abraham listened to God.  As hard as it was to leave home, he packed up his tent and all his belongings and went where God led him.  Abraham spent much of his long life wondering how on earth he could be the father of a great nation when he and his wife Sarah didn't have any children, but he kept on trusting in God's promise that his descendents would be as many as the stars in heaven. 

Genesis 12:1-4a and 1:1-16-1

Potential ornaments to make for the Jesse Tree: a tent, a star 

Jesse Tree: the Story of the Flood and the Rainbow

Genesis also tells the story of Noah and the flood.  Noah was a good man, but most people at the time he lived were behaving very badly indeed. God was sad because of the violent ways people treated each other, and so God told Noah to build an ark -- a kind of ship -- and to take his family, along with two of every kind of animal, into the ark.  Then it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, and the earth was flooded with water. Only Noah's family and the animals he brought on board survived. Then the rain stopped, the sun shone, the earth dried out, and Noah's family and all the animals went out of the ark onto dry land. God blessed them, and to symbolize the promise never to flood the whole earth again, God said, "I set my rainbow in the clouds and it shall be a sign of the Covenant between me and the earth." Every time we see a rainbow, we can remember God’s blessing of the Earth and all its creatures.

Genesis 6:5-9-17

Potential ornaments to make for the Jesse Tree: a rainbow, a boat, animals of any kind (we made giraffes)

Jesse Tree: The Story of Leaving Eden

Genesis also tells a story about Adam and Eve and the beautiful Garden of Eden where they lived.  God's own breath had given life to human beings. Fruit trees in the garden provided all the food they needed, and they were very happy.  But a sneaky serpent tempted them to disobey God. One tree grew fruit that God had forbidden them to eat, but the serpent told them it was the most delicious fruit in the garden, and besides, if they ate it they would gain knowledge of good and evil, and be just like God.  So Adam and Eve ate the fruit.  They knew right away that they had done a very bad thing--and so did God.  Because of their disobedience, they had to leave the Garden.  

Genesis 2:4-3:24

Potential ornaments to make for the Jesse Tree: an apple, a snake