Season VII - Episode XXII
Fortunately, We Are Us, and this is not a moment for which We Are unprepared. Though the people and kings of Israel have failed in the North, the Abraplan has not. Though Judah and Jerusalem still stand, Ahaz and his escapades will leave little behind to Hezekiah; and though he will be a good king, only one of the seven to follow him will have the same faith in Me. So it should come as no surprise that Judah’s days are numbered as well. And yet, though the people fail Me, I will not fail them. Or you.
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Season VII - Episode XX
We’ve already pointed out that Isaiah is getting a mighty rare experience here. We Are not going to do the same with you. Not that We Are out of the revelatory vision business altogether, mind you, but the Full Yahveh Treatment is reserved for Isaiah-level commissions. We have a call on you as certain as his, but We Are revealing Ourselves to you in other ways. For one thing, The Owner’s Manual was still a work very much in progress in Isaiah’s time; it is a finished product in yours. That’s why We Are walking you through it like this as one of your primary (though not exclusive) interactions with Us.
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Season VII - Episode XXI
Hoshea, Hoshea, Hoshea. If only you would have listened to your kindred sound-alike prophet’s final pleas[1] and turned and placed your trust in Me instead. If only someone in the generations before you had turned and placed their trust in Me instead. No, you have all acted as if I do not even exist, walking in the steps of generations before you, and I Am thus required by Our covenant with the people of Israel to finally fully enact the consequences that are contractually required of Us.
[1] On the heels of predicting a final and brutal destruction of Samaria at the end of Hosea 13, the last chapter of the prophet’s scroll is one last plea for Israel to return to Me and be forgiven: an amazing offer, given all that’s gone before, yet still ignored.
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Season VII - Episode XIX
Isaiah is a wordsmith if ever there was one. He possesses the broadest Hebrew vocabulary in all the Manual, and uses at least 25 words that appear solely in his prophecy.[1] Doubling down on the theme of tragically missed opportunity, Isaiah shifts easily from love song lyrics to a raft of poetry denouncing the gluttonous hoarding of resources, censuring the pursuit of drunken revelry instead of the pursuit of Me. One of the most terrible sentences[2] of all TOM says, “Therefore My people go into exile without knowledge” with their gluttony replaced by hunger, their drunkenness by thirst, their bounty by destitute vagrancy.[3] I have made available to them a bounty unassailable, but they have exchanged it for a cheap imitation.
[1] E.g. 3:16 where Isaiah’s Hebrew word taphaph is translated as “strutting” or “mincing,” or 57:20 where rephesh brings more colorful “mire” along with the mud. If you’re a seminarian patting yourself on the back for knowing the schmancy term for something appearing only once in the Manual, humility looks better on you.
[2] Both kinds. Of sentence, that is.
[3] Isaiah 5:13
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Season VII - Episode XVIII
The Book of Isaiah is the most powerful of all The Owner’s Manual, and thus of all that has ever been or shall ever be written,[1] a fitting distinction for someone whose name means “Yahveh is salvation.”[2] His is a grand work, with the first 60% warning of judgment and the latter 40% promising comfort and hope.[3] Isaiah handily summarizes his message in a compact five-chapter introduction[4] that sets out his primary themes. He and We weave them together masterfully, leaving no relevant metaphor unexplored, starting with what We’ve all along been leaning on most: Israel is My child; My beloved, now rebellious child that has spurned its Father’s compassionate wisdom and has stubbornly insisted on turning its back on Me in favor of a degenerating life of corruption and sin. My children are now such brats that they lack the common sense of the ox and donkey, who at least know who their Master is and that their Master is the one who puts food in their stomachs.
[1] Let that sentence move you to set aside this Saturday morning to read it all in one sitting.
[2] Somebody shout “Amen!”
[3] It’s currently popular to assign another author to the latter, and though We’ll not spend the time to argue over such a detail by comparing similar phrasing on either side, etc., you may rest in certain faith that the Book of Isaiah you have in your hands is exactly the text I want you to have, whether it have one, two, or twenty contributors.
[4] Do you really need Me to say it would be good to read those now before going on?
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Season VII - Episode XVII
The themes We’ve mentioned are woven together throughout Hosea’s lecture. Israel will suffer judgment and exile because over and over she has slept with other gods. This is more than mere metaphor, for the worship of the various pagan fertility gods includes having “worship sex” with temple prostitutes.[1] The people of Israel are chastised for placing their trust in the strength of Assyria instead of in the One who holds real power and healing.[2] Israel is taken to task not only for playing the whore with other gods, but for offering Me sacrifices empty of any true acknowledgment or allegiance, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” Sound familiar?
[1] Hosea 4:11-19
[2] Hosea 5:11-15
[3] Hosea 6:6.
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Season VII - Episode XVI
Listen to Our reproof when We send it your way. You may be sensing one now through Amos. Are you part of the problem today? Are you so privileged like Israel that you don’t even realize there is a problem, much less that you’re part it? Do a life check with some questions you don’t ever ask yourself about your attitudes and actions. Discuss them with someone you trust who is On The Way. If you’re in business of any kind, check the ethics of what you’re doing and the impact it has on everything from individuals to neighborhoods, society, and planet earth itself. And hear again the call to not trust in your neighbors’ gods just because they seem to be more successful than you right now. We will not tire of reminding you of that bit because you don’t tire of being tempted to place your trust in something that is not Me.
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Season VII - Episode XV
Because you’ve turned into spoiled brats and haven’t had the sense to listen to My earlier, much easier to handle corrective measures, prepare to meet your God. And in case you forgot, that would be Me – the One who forms the mountains and creates the wind, turns morning to darkness, treads on the heights of the earth. You remember Him: Yahveh, Almighty God of Angel Armies? Yeah. Here He comes. Brace yourselves.
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Season VII - Episode XIV
Instead of letting the boom fall, though, I Am the parent that gives one last chance. Several times. We are now moving past the brief admonitions from Our single use prophets, past even the powerful appearances by Elijah and his protégé. We are shifting from the Repeated Stern Warning Protocol to the I Don’t Think You Realize How Serious This Is lecture format. Therefore, We Are now sending long-lecturing prophets to both the North and the South; a sequence of them, in fact, over time. Each kingdom gets its own lecturing prophets in measured succession. And just to make sure that what We have to say to either kingdom doesn’t get missed and dismissed, the prophets’ lectures are going to be transcribed: preserved in writing so the kings (and those that come after them [ahem]) can handily reference Our words to them.
If you want to split hairs in terms of timing, the prophet Amos[1] is sent to Israel first, though We commission Isaiah to confront Judah not long thereafter. The North is a much bigger mess, though, so their lecture begins earliest.
[1] Welcome back to those who’ve skipped ahead!
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Season VII - Episode XIII
It’s been some time now that the writers of both Kings and Chronicles have been assuming (along with Us) that you’ve caught on to the cycles of faith or faithlessness and their covenantal consequences being repeated in the kingdoms of the North and the South. At this point, the writer of Kings is getting hand cramps from it all and resorts to a two sentence summary of the sixteen year reign of Jehoahaz’s son, Jehoash.[1] If you’ve been tracking in TOM with Us, you’ve seen it enough to stop reading six words in.
He also did what was evil in the sight of Yahveh; he didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam[2] son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to sin, but he walked in them. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash...[3]
[1] “Yahweh has given,” another king who doesn’t notice his name’s message. In addition, like once earlier, both Israel and Judah end up with a king of the same name in close time proximity. Jehoash now, Ahaziah before.
[2] He’s the one that got the whole northern kingdom off to a terrible start by putting those two bulls up at the borders when Israel cut ties with Judah and Our temple down there, remember?
[3] II Kings 13:11-12
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Season VII - Episode XII
After the six years are over (and you’re noticing that all that’s next is happening in the seventh year, right?), High Priest Jehoiada sets his plan in motion. He has secretly been building an alliance with army commanders and other leaders of Judah…
[1] II Chronicles 23
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Season VII - Episode XI
I promised to keep the southern Jehoram’s line – remember, he’s a direct descendant of David – on the throne forever. So to honor David and My promise to him, I must maintain the ancestral line (though Jehoram did not spare his own brothers) because it is David’s, even though it is now corrupted with the blood of Ahab and Jezebel. I still let the Philistines in, though, who come on a raid surgically targeted right at Jehoram’s house. They take away everything but his youngest son so that the line of David will continue. Jehoram won’t though. He dies in misery after two most miserable years of diarrhea. He has done loads of damage, damage that is crystal clear to the people; so much so that the Chronicler says that king Jehoram dies “to no one’s regret” and is not even buried in the tombs of the kings, so great is their disdain for him. And the generations roll on…
[1] II Chronicles 21:16-20
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Season VII - Episode X
I can’t be bought, friend. You can’t trade with Me as an equal, which is what Naaman tries to do at first. He begins in pride seeking to negotiate with Me his healing, but it is when he is humble and obeys My simple command that he is healed. That healing comes from My pleasure to do so on his behalf, not because he has earned My favor. Humble obedience is the path he finds to healing from Me, not negotiation. Reread that last sentence a couple times.
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Season VII - Episode IX
The Jordan is a lesson not only in My keeping My promises, but also in the need for you to persevere in your faithfulness until Our entire mission is accomplished. You may not be securing a literal Promised Land, but I have still commissioned you for significant and specific purpose in which you must remain faithful. If that doesn’t make sense to you yet, it will. Stay on course, friend. Remain On The Way with Us, and you will reach your own Promised Land. I have guaranteed it.
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Season VII - Episode VIII
The Abraplan’s intended flow of influence is from Our people out to the nations, not vice versa; and therein lies a host of problems. Therein lies the heart of the choice that is set before every king of Israel or Judah. Or you. Will My people trust in and follow Me so that My love and care is evident to all who are close enough to witness them? So that knowledge of Who I Am will spread as a result of their faithful choices? Or Will My People look to the cultures that surround them to seek for solutions and meaning? Will My people positively impact the world around them, or will they be dragged into the shifting chaotic mire of the nations’ ways? Will your identity spring from and rest in Me, or their habitat?
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Season VII - Episode VII
Something that may make perfect sense to you is not the way to go if I have told you otherwise. We can’t unpack it all for you, but just remember, I have more information than you do. In the end, you need to trust that the calls I make for and on you are based on two very big things: all that I know, and all My love for you. Both are infinite. So trust Me already.
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Season VII - Episode VI
Self-centered pride that thinks it’s got everything under control will dismiss even the glaring platter of rebuke I serve Ahab there on Carmel. And so, like I do with you, I give him another chance to recognize Me and repent, another chance in an entirely different style to increase the likelihood of getting through. Did you notice this point? Probably not. Ahab didn’t either. Check I Kings 20:13 and following and see what I do for Ahab there – the part where I give him…
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Season VII - Episode V
Examine the path you’re placed on. Look at the circumstances handed to you by the ones who’ve gone before you, whether they be your parents, the freshly retired boss whose place you’ve just taken, the class that graduated the year before yours – whoever’s shoes you find yourselves walking in. Some of them are very fine shoes and only need a bit of attention and polish. Others, as those inherited by Ahab, could use a complete replacement. He could have made the change but didn’t. He just went on anachronistic autopilot and kept on doing everything the same way. If you’re going to keep cruise control running in your life, make sure it’s because you’ve intentionally chosen to do so because you think that’s what I’d want for you. Otherwise, ask Me how to make a few modifications to get more fully On The Way.
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Season VII - Episode IV
I reveal to Elijah a new side of Myself, if you will. The softer, gentler side. The side that speaks to you in the time of quiet and silence. There will be times to shout at you during energetic and dramatic circumstances – times of turmoil of some kind, mostly. But there are also moments where you have to be listening for My voice in order to hear it. When you have to be still awhile, away from tumult and distraction. There are things to hear from Me in the quiet – quiet which you will have to deliberately seek and guard – which you will be unable to hear in the midst of busy clamor – the clamor to which your life will default unless you intentionally will it otherwise. So make sure you make quiet happen regularly so you can hear Me.
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Season VII - Episode III
If you’re in a drought right now, this is the perfect time for a heart check, friend. If you’ve been letting another “god” onto the throne of your heart, you may be experiencing a bit of truly friendly parental discipline to get you to wake up and smell the smoking remains of an altar to a false god you’ve erected in your heart. You want purpose in life past your own comfort and entertainment? Follow Me.
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