Burnt Offerings

Burnt Offerings as a biblical concept, is alien to us. With the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, this form of sacrifice, as an act of worship, ceased.

Click on the images to enlarge.

It is inconceivable to our modern minds, to imagine what it must have been like, when animals were continually offered up to God, as a voluntary act of worship.

Animals without blemish were the offering of choice in Levitical times. However, the most notable burnt offering that God asked for in the Old Testament gives us a clue to His intent.

God asked Abraham for his beloved son, Isaac, as a burnt offering!

Isaac symbolized all that Abraham was – the substance of his faith thus far, and his hope for the future. While it may seem harsh, God’s request gives us an important insight.

The ultimate test of faith, is a voluntary and complete offering of ourselves. A willingness to be totally consumed by God.

The savor that is ‘sweet’ to Him, is the savor of total surrender.

Isaac was redeemed, as we are, when we make a similar offering, in unconditional surrender to Him.

For this polymer clay relief, the face was lightly drawn on conditioned clay with a stylus. Some changes were made later, as you can see. I did not want to make the artwork too elaborate, because of the scale. This work is only 5x7” in size.

I placed the copper foil on the conditioned green clay, and ran it through the pasta machine to stretch it out. It also firmly fixed the foil on the clay.

Then some gold polymer clay was smeared very thinly over the brown clay, and scraped away. That is what gives it the two-toned effect. I also took care not make the relief too high.

The face was made prominent just by pressing down the areas that I wanted to emphasize.

When I was satisfied with the woman, I cut out the shape and placed it on the clay with the foil, weaving some of the pieces in and out of the work, like a collage.

When all the parts we firmly pressed together, it was fired to make it firm. I applied a thin coat of acrylic clear glaze over the work, after it had cooled, to make the foil permanent.

While this work was simple to execute, the actual offering of myself to God and His purposes, is a lifetime act of voluntary worship for me, as I suppose it will be for you!