Jesse Tree Day 19 Samuel and Eli

Day 19 – December 3 (December 16 OC)

Ornament - Candle/ lamp

Materials - Already had a small string of twinkle lights that look like candles, also had some metal tree clips that hold real candles, so used one of those, also (figure the twinkle lights will stop working eventually).

Read 1 Kingdoms [1 Samuel] 3:1-20

(Troparion, Tone 2)

You were given as a precious gift to a barren womb, And offered as a fragrant sacrifice to your Lord.

You served Him in truth and righteousness; Wherefore we honor you, O Samuel prophet of God,

As an intercessor for our souls. 

(Troparion of the Prophet Samuel, Tone 4)

Thou didst blossom as a scion of righteousness from a barren mother, O great Prophet Samuel./ Thou

didst reveal beforehand the blessings we should receive;/ from childhood thou didst serve the Lord in

the priestly office./ As a prophet thou anointedst kings;/ ever remember those who acclaim thee.

(Kontakion of the Prophet Samuel, Tone 8)

Thou wast a precious gift to God before thy conception;/ thou didst serve Him from infancy like an

angel/ and wast granted to foretell future events, wherefore we cry to thee: / Rejoice, O Samuel, thou

Prophet of God and great high priest. 

See also Law of God, Sacred History Chapter 33, Saul, First King of the Israelites,

http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/law_of_god_slobodskoy_1.htm#_Toc36163705

Jesse Tree Day 18 Birth of Samuel and the Prayer of Anna

Day 18 – December 2 (December 15 OC)

Ornament - Horn  
Materials - Oven-hardening clay, gold paint, toothpick and twine.

A note on why the symbol for Samuel is a horn (because I didn't quite understand it, myself, at first) - here's a passage from the Matthew Henry Commentary: "He (God) sends him (Samuel) to Bethlehem, to anoint one of the sons of Jesse, a person probably not unknown to Samuel. Fill thy horn with oil. Saul was anointed with a glass vial of oil, scanty and brittle, David with a horn of oil, which was more plentiful and durable; hence we read of a horn of salvation in the house of his servant David." Luke 1:69.

Read  1 Kingdoms [1 Samuel] 1:1-2:10

-St Romanos the Melodist - Vol. 2, On the Nativity of the Virgin
“O mystery brought about on earth!' After the birth Anna prayed To our God and Maker Who knows all
in advance `Thou hast heard me, O Lord, as Thou hast heard Hannah who was accused by Eli of being
drunk. She promised Samuel after his birth to the Lord To become a priest. Just as formerly, Thou hast
given me, too, a gift, The barren woman gives birth to the Mother of God, And the nurse of our life.

(Orthodox Study Bible p. 321-22)
St. Cyprian sees the praying Hannah as a type of the Church pouring her heart out in prayer silently and
modestly. Hannah is a type of Mary, as Samuel is a type of Christ, because as St. Cyprian states,
“Samuel [was born] not according to the order of generation, but according to the mercy and promise
of God.” ...The word horn had become a symbol for strength, honor and power.

-St. Cyprian
We must boast in nothing, since nothing is our own.

From the Prologue from Ohrid, by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich, December 19
For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore also I
have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord (I Samuel 1:27-28).
Besought of God and dedicated to God, Samuel was a prophet and leader of the people of Israel. The
blessed Hannah, his childless mother, besought him from God with tears and sacrifices. And she gave
him, her one and only greatest blessing, to the service of the Lord from his infancy. A wise mother does
not consider her children as her own, but rather as God's. They are God's both when God gives them
and when He takes them, but they are mostly God's when a mother herself dedicates them to Him.
God's gift is returned to Him as a reciprocal gift, for we have nothing of our own to give to Him but
only that which we receive from Him. The young Samuel lived in the Temple among the iniquitous
sons of Eli the high priest, and he did not become corrupt. The Lord would not reveal Himself to the
sinful elders, but He appeared to this pure child: for Samuel did the will of God, and did let none of his
words fall to the ground (I Samuel 3:19). Samuel was a judge of the people of Israel from his youth to
old age and committed nothing wrong either before God or before the people. God gave him the power
to prophesy and work miracles. He defeated all of God's enemies and the enemies of the people, and he
anointed two kings, Saul and David. When he grew old, he called the people together and asked them if
he had ever committed any violence against anyone or accepted a bribe from anyone. And the people
replied with one voice: Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of
any man's hand (I Samuel 12:4). Behold, such a man was he, who was given by God and given to God
as a reciprocal gift, and who grew up with the blessing of God and the blessing of his mother. Let
mothers benefit from the example of the blessed Hannah; let judges and rulers of the people benefit
from the example of the righteous Samuel.

Jesse Tree Day 17 Ruth

Day 17 – December 1 (December 14 OC)

Ornament - Heart with Shock of Wheat
Materials - Inexpensive wooden shape from Hobby Lobby (I think there may have been something printed on it), some red paint, hot glue, piece of wheat from dried flowers, electric drill to make hole, twine

 Read Ruth 1:1-11, 1:14-17, 1:22-2:3, 2:8-4:17

From the Prologue from Ohrid, by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich, December 18
Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God … naught but death shall part thee and me (Ruth 1:16,17).
These are wonderful words, whether they are spoken by a son to a father, a daughter to a mother, or a
wife to a husband. But they are three times more wonderful when a daughter-in-law says them to her
mother-in-law. Blessed Ruth spoke these words to Naomi, her sorrowful mother-in-law. When both of
Naomi's sons died in the land of Moab, where they lived as immigrants, the aged mother wanted to
return to Bethlehem, her native land, and there to lay her bones to rest. And Naomi, noble in her grief,
counseled her young daughters-in-law to remain in their own land and to remarry. Orpah remained, but
Ruth said: Naught but death shall part thee and me. Behold a most beautiful example of how a mother-in-law
can tenderly love her daughters-in-law, and again how a daughter-in-law can be wholeheartedly
devoted to her mother-in-law. But in Bethlehem someone had to feed these two souls. Who would feed
them? God and the diligent hands of Ruth. Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn (Ruth
2:2), said the daughter-in-law to the mother-in-law. And Naomi replied: Go, my daughter (Ruth 2:3). In
a strange field, with strange reapers, she had to glean the ears of grain. That was not only toil but also
shame. However, Ruth took upon herself both toil and shame out of love for her aged mother-in-law.
The All-seeing God saw these two sweet souls and rejoiced. Their Creator rejoiced and rewarded and
glorified them, as only He knows how to reward and glorify those who fear Him. And God, in His
providence, provided that Ruth should enter the field of the wealthy Boaz to gather the gleaned ears of grain, and Boaz saw Ruth and asked Naomi for her hand in marriage. Of this marriage was born Obed,
the father of Jesse and grandfather of David the King. So it was that Ruth had humbled herself to being
a beggar but God made her the ancestress of the great king (David), from whom came many kings and
finally the King of kings, our Lord Jesus Christ.

See also Law of God, Sacred History Chapter 32, The Story of Ruth,
http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/law_of_god_slobodskoy_1.htm#_Toc36163705
(excerpt below):
Naomi and Ruth, coming to the land of the Israelites, settled in the town of Bethlehem and lived on the
wheat which Ruth picked up from the harvested fields. This was enough for sustenance, since it is
written in the Law of God, "And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the
corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest; thou shalt leave them for the
poor and the stranger" (Lev. 19:9-10).
The Lord God rewarded Ruth for her attachment and respectfulness towards her mother-in-law. The
Israelites had a law: if one of them died, not leaving children, then the nearest relative had to marry the
widow of the person who died, and the children from this marriage were considered the dead man’s
children. This law was called the Levinite Law.
At this time in Bethlehem there lived a rich man, Boaz, a relative of Ruth’s dead husband. According to
Levinite Law, Boaz married the poor Moabite Ruth. When a son was born to them, Obed, women said
to Naomi, "Blessed be the Lord, Who hath not left thee this day without a kinsmen, that his name may
be famous in Israel." Naomi rejoiced and was Obed’s nurse.
In fact Obed’s name was glorified in Israel, for he was the father of Jesse, the father of King David

Jesse Tree Day 16 The Giving of the Commandments

Day 16 – November 30 (December 13 OC)

Ornament - Stone Tablets

Materials - Oven-hardening clay, tooth pick, twine

 Read Exodus 24:12-18

The Royal Hours of the Nativity, Epistle of Paul to the Galatians (3:23-29)

Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be

revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified

by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children

of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on

Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:

for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according

to the promise.

 (Vespers of 13th Sunday after Pentecost)

O Christ God, Who once on Mount Sinai didst inscribe the tablets, now in the flesh in the city of

Nazareth Thou hast Thyself received the book of the prophet to read of God, and, unrolling it, 

Thou didst teach the people so as to fulfill that which was written concerning Thee.

-St. Ephraim the Syrian

Great misery exists where life is not guided by lawful rules. 

-St. John of Kronstadt (My Life in Christ, Part 1; Holy Trinity Monastery; pgs. 33-34)

Begin to fulfill the commandments relating to small things, and you will come to fulfill the

commandments relating to great things: small commandments everywhere lead to great ones. 

-St. Maximus the Confessor, Century 1

He that loves Me, saith the Lord, will keep My commandments; and 'this is My commandment, that

you love one another.' He therefore who does not love his neighbor does not keep the commandment.

Nor is he that does not keep the commandment able to love the Lord. 

-St. Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses

The true Lawgiver, of Whom Moses was a type, cut the tablets of human nature for Himself from our

earth. It was not marriage which produced for Him His 'God-receiving" flesh, but He became the

stonecutter of His own flesh, which was carved by the divine finger, for 'the Holy Spirit came upon the

Virgin and the power of the Most High overshadowed her.' When this took place, our nature regained

its unbroken character, becoming immortal through the letters written by His finger. The Holy Spirit is

called 'finger" in many places by Scripture. 

See also Law of God, Sacred History Chapter 27, God Gives the Law on Mt. Sinai,

Jesse Tree Day 15 Water in Wilderness

Day 15 – November 29 (December 12 OC)

Ornament - Moses' Staff

Materials - Stick, tiny eye screw, raffia

 Read Exodus 15:22-16:1

 (28th Sunday After Pentecost, Third Antiphon)

Moses, stretching out his arms on the mountain, prefigured the Cross and thus conquered Amalek.

Receiving it with faith as a mighty weapon against the demons, we all cry out: “Remember us also in

Thy kingdom!”

(Third Antiphon, 15th Sunday after Pentecost)

Of old Moses prefigured in himself an image of Christ’s most pure sufferings, standing between the

priests; for, forming a cross with his outstretched arms, he raised up victory, vanquishing the might of

the destroyer Amalek. Wherefore, let us hymn Christ our God, for He hath been glorified! 

 (Vespers of 5th Sunday after Pentecost)

With a pillar of fire, O father, God manifestly guided thee to salvation, to the calm harbor, to the

mountain of dispassion; and by thy prayer thou didst make water gush forth, didst cause the blind to see

and the lame to walk aright.

Stichera from Vespers for the Feast of the Life-Giving Spring, The Pentecostarion 

Marvellous and most strange things the sovereign Master of Heaven from the first accomplished in

thee, O thou all-blameless one; for perceptibly He came down from on high like rain in thy pure womb,

and He thus proved thee, O Bride of God, a fountain gushing forth every kind of blessing and all good

things; as well as a flood flowing with lavish benefactions of remedies unto all that ask thee for

strengthening of soul and for the health of body, which thou dost grant to them through the water of

God's grace. 

-St. Gregory of Sinai

If Moses had not received from God the rod of power, he would not have become god to pharaoh and

would not have punished both him and Egypt. In the same way the mind, if it does not wield in its hand

the power of prayer, will be unable to conquer sin and the powers of the enemy.

-St. John of Damascus, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith

For since death was by a tree, it was fitting that life and resurrection should be bestowed by a tree.

Jacob, when He worshipped the top of Joseph's staff, was the first to image the Cross, and when he

blessed his sons with crossed hands he made most clearly the sign of the cross. Likewise also did

Moses' rod, when it smote the sea in the figure of the cross and saved Israel, while it overwhelmed

Pharaoh in the depths; likewise also the hands stretched out crosswise and routing Amalek; and the

bitter water made sweet by a tree, and the rock rent and pouring forth streams of water, and the rod that

meant for Aaron the dignity of the high priesthood: and the serpent lifted in triumph on a tree as though

it were dead, the tree bringing salvation to those who in faith saw their enemy dead, just as Christ was

nailed to the tree in the flesh of sin which yet knew no sin. The mighty Moses cried, You will see your

life hanging on the tree before your eyes, and Isaiah likewise, I have spread out my hands all the day

unto a faithless and rebellious people. But may we who worship this obtain a part in Christ the

crucified.

See also Law of God, Sacred History Chapter 26, The Hebrews Pass Through the Red Sea and Other

Miracles 

http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/law_of_god_slobodskoy_1.htm#_Toc36163705

(excerpt below):

At the time of the Hebrews’ journey out of Egypt into the Promised Land, the Lord worked many other

miracles as well. Once the Hebrews came to a place where the water was bitter. They could not drink it

and complained against Moses. The Lord showed Moses a tree. As soon as they had placed the tree in

the water, the water became sweet.

This tree which took the bitterness from the water was a foreshadowing of the tree of the Cross of

Christ, which took away the bitterness of life — sin.

When the Hebrews had used up all the bread they had taken from Egypt, the Lord sent them bread from

Heaven — manna. It looked like little white crumbs or pieces of hail and had the taste of bread with

honey. This bread was called manna, because when the Hebrews saw it for the first time, they asked

each other, "man-na" or "What is this?" Moses answered, "This is the bread which the Lord has given

you for food." Manna covered the earth in the morning around the camp of the Hebrews, for the entire

time of their journeying, on every day except the Sabbath.

When the Hebrews came to the place in the desert called Rephidim, where there was no water at all,

they again began to complain against Moses. At God’s command Moses struck a stone cliff with his

staff and water flowed from it.

Manna in the desert and water from the stone cliff, which saved the Israelites from death, foreshadowed

the true food and drink for us, which is the Body and Blood of Christ, which the Lord gives to us in

Holy Communion, saving us from eternal death.

In Rephidim, desert dwellers, the Amalekites, attacked them. Moses sent out Joshua, the son of Nun,

with an army. Moses then went up to the nearest mountain with his brother Aaron and with Hur and

began to pray, lifting both arms to Heaven, forming a cross.

Aaron noticed that when Moses held his hands up, the Hebrews prevailed over their enemies, but when

he let them fall out of weariness, the Amalekites overcame the Hebrews. To ensure victory Aaron and

Hur placed Moses on a stone and held his arms stretched out. Thus the Hebrews conquered the

Amalekites.

Moses, when he was praying with his hands stretched forth, foreshadowed the victorious Cross of

Christ, by whose power faithful Christians now conquer visible and invisible enemies.

  

Jesse Tree Day 14 Israel Passes through the Red Sea

Day 14 – November 28 (December 11 OC)

Ornament - Parted Sea

Materials - Paper/ wave printed card stock from Hobby Lobby, a square of sand paper, hot glue, twine

 Read Exodus 13:20-22, 14:1-31,15:1-19

 (Vespers of 22nd Sunday after Pentecost)

Once the image of the Bride who knoweth not wedlock was inscribed in the Red Sea. There it was

Moses who parted the waters; and here Gabriel is the minister of a miracle. There Israel traversed the

deep dry-shod; and now the Virgin giveth birth unto Christ without seed. The sea remained impassable

after Israel had crossed; and the immaculate one remaineth incorrupt after the birth of Emmanuel. O

God Who hast appeared as a man, Who existeth and hast existed from the beginning: Have mercy

upon us!

(Ode I, Eighth Tone, Paraklesis to the Most Holy Mother of God)

Traversing the water as on dry land, and thereby escaping from the toils of Egypt's land, the Israelites

cried aloud. Proclaiming unto our God and Redeemer, let us now sing. O Most Holy Theotokos, save

us. 

See also Law of God, Sacred History Chapter 26, The Hebrews Pass Through the Red Sea and Other

Miracles 

http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/law_of_god_slobodskoy_1.htm#_Toc36163705

(excerpt below):

The Hebrews’ passing through the Red Sea, whose waters separated and delivered the Hebrews from

iniquity and bondage in Egypt, foreshadowed Baptism by which we are freed from the power of the

Devil and slavery to sin.

Jesse Tree Day 13 Plagues of Egypt

Day 13 – November 27 (December 10 OC)

Ornament - Frog
Materials - Plastic sun catcher from Hobby Lobby painted by my son with paints I had on hand.

 Read Exodus 6:29-7:6-;7:14-22;7:24-8:15;11:1;12:1-13,28-32

-St John Climacus, "The Ladder of Divine Ascent”
Run from places of sin as from the plague. For when fruit is not present, we have no frequent desire to
eat it.

(The Orthodox Study Bible, p. 74)

Egypt's gods were lords of Egypt, but the Lord is the Lord of all the earth. Therefore, the gods of

Egypt were not lords in any sense, but Pharaoh was too arrogant to acknowledge the true Lord. After
the Lord became incarnate, His parents took Him to Egypt, where as a baby He destroyed the idols of
Egypt and brought the nation to Himself.

See also Law of God, Sacred History Chapter 25, Pascha (Passover) and the Exodus of the Hebrew
People From Egypt (excerpt below):
http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/law_of_god_slobodskoy_1.htm#_Toc36163705
Six hundred thousand men left with Moses, not counting women and children. Moses took with
him the bones of Joseph, as Joseph himself had instructed in his last will. As soon as the Hebrews left
Egypt, a pillar appeared before them in the form of a cloud in the daytime and fire at night. It guided
them in their journey.
The day of the Hebrews’ deliverance from bondage in Egypt forever remained in their memory.
On this day the Lord established the main feast of the Old Testament, which He called Pascha. The
word Pascha means "passing by," "passover," or "deliverance from misfortune" — the angel of death
passed over the Hebrew dwellings. Every year on the evening of this day the Hebrews slaughtered and
prepared the Paschal lamb and ate it with unleavened bread. This feast lasted for seven days.
The Paschal lamb, by whose blood the first born of the Hebrews were delivered from death,
foreshadowed the Saviour Himself, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, Who took upon Himself the sins of
the world, Whose blood delivers all the faithful from eternal death.
The Old Testament Hebrew The Old Testament Hebrew Pascha prefigured our New Testament Christian Pascha.
In the Old
Testament Pascha, death passed over the dwellings of the Hebrews. They were liberated from bondage
in Egypt and given the Promised Land. Thus also in the Christian Pascha, the Resurrection of Christ,
eternal death has passed over us. The Risen Christ, having freed us from the slavery of the Devil, has
given us eternal life.
Christ died on the Cross on the day when the Paschal lambs were slain, and He rose
immediately after the Hebrew Pascha. This is why the Church always celebrates the Resurrection of Christ after the Jewish Passover and calls the feast Pascha.