The First Escape

Book Review: The First Escape

By G.P. Taylor

The First Escape is the first of Taylor’s Dopple Ganger Chronicles. The book stars three young orphans: two girls, namely Sadie and Saskia Dopple, as well as their male accomplice Erik Ganger. The trio starts out at Isambard Dunstan’s School for Wayward Children, but early on in the story, Saskia is adopted by an eccentric old woman, Muzz Eliot, who decides that her sister Sadie doesn’t have teeth that merit adoption, so the twins are parted. Erik and Sadie battle Isambard Dunstan’s staff, the police, and a mad magician complete with an arsenal of exploding chickens in their quest to find Saskia. Meanwhile, Saskia stumbles upon a mystery that may result in her own murder.

Overall, The First Escape reads like a great piece of Victorian fiction; think Charles Dickens or Emily Bronte. There are elements of the supernatural strewn throughout the story, as well as action/adventure and mystery. While it took a while for me to get invested in the story, by about the middle of the book, I couldn’t put it down. One of the characters is an angel, and there are some broad hints at God as well. I can see future story lines developing this part of the series quite well.

Story aside though, what is amazing about this book is its use of the illustronovella genre. Part novel and part graphic novel, The First Escape, nearly seamlessly combines comic-book graphics, poster art, and full text to create an original reading experience unlike anything I have encountered before. The comic sections aren’t amazing; they are reminiscent of Nickelodeon’s cheap, blocky animation, but combined with the poster art and the full text, they really add something spectacular to the story.

All in all I would definitely recommend the book for a good story and an engaging use of art in the telling of it.

A review copy was provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.

The Genealogy of Christ (Matthew)

Oh man, those genealogies in the Bible are rough going. So and so begat so and so, who begat so and so, on and on. How many times have we skipped over them. Sure we recognize their importance in tracking the lineage of the tribes of Israel, and in the New Testament in showing that Jesus had a rightful claim to the throne of Israel, but that doesn't make it any more interesting.

A while back, I got interested in what the names mean, and I heard that the lineage of Adam to Noah actually gives a little prophecy about Christ:

"Man is appointed mortal sorrow, but the Blessed of God will come down teaching that his death shall bring the despairing rest and comfort."

Adam = Man

Seth = Appointed

Enos = Mortal

Cainan = Sorrow

Maleleel = The Blessed of God

Jared = To Come Down

Enoch = Teaching

Methuselah = His Death Shall Bring

Lamech = Despair

Noah = Rest and Comfort

I thought, wow that's pretty neat, I wonder if that continues for the rest of the genealogy. This is what I came up with after studying it out. I've had to add in some verbs and prepositional phrases, but that's mostly translational.

Man is appointed mortal sorrow, but the Blessed of God will come down teaching that his death shall bring the despairing rest and comfort. He will be a renowned healer, possessing a mission that joins division. God’s shepherd will twine the branches, through the exhalation of His spirit. The father of a great multitude laughs; he prevails with God through the praise of the Lord breaching divisions. Rise up; my people is liberated by a helper that rewards a servant with strength, a gift well-beloved who pays the price to enlarge the people. The father of the lord is the physician. The Lord is judge elevated with strength from God. He is the perfection, the faithfulness, the fire, and the stability of God. He was asked of God to break up confusion. He is the father of praise, the resurrection of God. In court, He is just in His preparation, His vengeance, and His confirmation. God is His praise. In the courts of God, His gift undermines wrath and increases salvation.

Jesus = Salvation

Joseph = increase, addition

Jacob = undermines, supplants, the heel

Matthan = Gifts, rain

Eleazar = help of God, court of God

Eliud = God is my praise

Achim = preparing, revenging, confirming

Sadoc = just

Azor = A helper, a court

Eliakim = resurrection of God

Abuid = father of praise

Zorobabel = break up confusion

Shealtiel = asked or lent of God

Jechoniah stability of the Lord

Josiah = the fire of the Lord

Amon = faithful

Joatham = the perfection of the Lord

Ozias = strength from the Lord

Joram = elevated

Jehoshaphat = The Lord is judge

Asa = physician cure

Abia = father of the lord

Roboam = enlarges the people

Solomon = peaceable; perfect; one who recompenses

David = well-beloved

Jesse = a gift

Obed = in strength

Boaz = a servant

Salmon = he that rewards

Naasson = a helper

Aminadab = my people is liberated

Aram = Rise up

Esrom = divisions

Phares = to breach

Judah = the praise of the Lord

Jacob = (changed to Israel) one who prevails with God

Isaac = Laughter

Abram = (changed to Abraham) father of a great multitude

Terah = dove or spirit

Nahor = exhale

Serug = twining branch

Reu = his shepherd

Phalec = division

Heber = joins

Sala = A mission

Cainan = To Possess

Arphaxad = Healer

Shem = Renown

Noah = Rest and Comfort

Lamech = Despair

Methuselah = His Death Shall Bring

Enoch = Teaching

Jared = To Come Down

Maleleel = The Blessed of God

Cainan = Sorrow

Enos = Mortal

Seth = Appointed

Adam = Man

Jesus embodies Israel

Israel’s history makes no sense apart from Jesus, and Jesus makes no sense apart from Israel’s history, and God cannot be understood clearly apart from Jesus.

This is why He is called “the light”.

Without light, you cannot see, and it is this One who makes sense of everything.

Matthew[‘s Gospel] is full of all these text proofs, where he says, “and this was fulfilled, and this was fulfilled, and this was fulfilled,” but . . . most of those texts were not written as messianic prophecies. Matthew takes them, and he puts them in there, and he applies them to Jesus.

What’s the point?

Here’s the beautiful point. Jesus didn’t come and tick all the boxes off on the messiah checklist. “Alright, I’ve got 78 old testament prophecies here. I got to ride in on a donkey. Gonna cover that one. I got to go down to Egypt. I got to come back up. Alright.”

Those weren’t even written about messiah, not all of them. Here’s the point. He wasn’t checking off this checklist of messiah. Instead, He wasn’t just fulfilling; He was filling full the entire story of Israel.

He was recapitulating it.

In a concise, 33-year old life, He Himself was Israel, living all the righteousness and fulfilling all of their story.

· He is the new Adam—the prototype of new humanity.

· He is Noah—the ark of salvation

· He is Abraham—the inheritor of all the nations

· He is Moses—the bread of life come down, the one who goes into Egypt and comes back up. He is the one who gives the new Deuteronomy.

· He is Joshua—that is His name, Yeshua, to give the Promised Land.

· He is David—the king who will sit on the throne forever.

· He is the temple himself—He walks around and does what the temple does, “I’m the meeting place of Heaven and Earth, and you now be forgiven.” He’s upstaging the temple! He’s saying, “I’m the temple. I am all of your story wrapped in one embodiment.”

He’s not checking off fulfillment; He’s embodying, He’s incarnating, and fleshing out the entire story of the Bible and walking it out and fulfilling it, living the life we could not live and Israel could not live, dying the death all of them should have died, and raising from the dead to overcome all of the story that had plagued them with the imposter, sin, and death.

This is Jesus! This is what Matthew is saying. He is living the entire story of Israel. He is the Son, Israel.

(Transcribed from a sermon by Adam Cox)