“Isaiah’s Legacy” by Mesu Andrews
Sequel to Isaiah’s Daughter//Biblical Fiction
Releases February 18th
My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
About the Book:
At eight years old, Shulle has known only life in a small village with her loving but peculiar father. When Uncle Shebna offers shelter in Jerusalem in exchange for Shulle’s help tutoring King Manasseh, Judah’s five-year-old co-regent who displays the same peculiarities as her father, she’s eager to experience the royal court. But Shulle soon realizes the limits of her father’s strict adherence to Yahweh’s Law when Uncle Shebna teaches her of the starry hosts and their power.
Convinced Judah must be freed from Yahweh’s chains, she begins the subtle swaying of young Manasseh, using her charm and skills on the boy no one else understands. When King Hezekiah dies, twelve-year-old Manasseh is thrust onto Judah’s throne, bitter at Yahweh and eager to marry the girl he adores. Assyria’s crown prince favors Manasseh and twists his brilliant mind toward cruelty, beginning Shulle’s long and harrowing journey to discover the Yahweh she’d never known, guided with loving wisdom by Manasseh’s mother: Isaiah’s daughter, the heartbroken Hephzibah. Amid Judah’s dark days, a desperate remnant emerges, claiming the Lord’s promise, “Though we’re helpless now, we’re never hopeless–because we serve El Shaddai.” Shulle is among them, a girl who becomes a queen through Isaiah’s legacy.
My Thoughts:
What a beautiful book. Going into it, I knew that it might be bit heavy, and more…hard to read as it showed the depravity of the nation under pagan worshipping, and how wicked Manasseh had become. And it was hard in that aspect. But by no means did this story ever drag on or have cause for me to want to put it down.
Brilliantly written, we are thrust into the characters lives and connected so deeply, that the things that cause them pain echo pain in our own hearts just from watching. Likewise, the joy – at the end especially – finds rest upon our soul.
I loved the message of this book. That no one is ever too far for Yahweh to reach, to redeem, to call back home to Him. And King Manasseh’s story is an exceptional tale of this. And not only his, but Meshullemeth’s (Shulle) – her story equally wrote itself upon my heart and touched me deeply. I am still pondering the truths found in this story, and how everything Yahweh promised was fulfilled – just maybe not in their preferred timing. Isn’t that so often the case? We want immediate results, and it’s so easy to doubt when we don’t see His immediate provision or answer…but sometimes those answers don’t come right away. But that doesn’t mean the fulfillment won’t come eventually, right at the time Yahweh desires it to come. Like I said, this theme especially is one that I am personally pondering in my own life, and I am thankful for the corresponding truths in this book to bring it to light.
Oh yes, there was a great deal of pain, a great deal of sorrow in Isaiah’s Legacy. Watching it all play out was hard, but it was also necessary, and it only amplified the redeeming end all the more.
The two books in this series, Isaiah’s Daughter and Isaiah’s Legacy now are definitely two of my most favorite books by this author. They are beautiful and full of meaning, and I look forward to going back over them again.
Quotes:
This book is full of so many good quotes/sections I tabbed, and I wanted to make them intor graphics but our computer has been too slow to do so. =/ But here they are typed out. Maybe eventually I can make them into graphics.
“Why did others ridicule what they couldn’t understand?”
“I don’t know why Yahweh gave me only fifteen more years. But I do know this. Though we don’t always understand God’s plan, we can trust His goodness for a future we can’t yet see.”
“Every man – especially a king – must search his heart to discover what he believes about Yahweh, my love. Nasseh is no exception. He’s simply forced into these decisions younger than most.”
“The blacker the darkness, the brighter God’s spark.”
“There is only one God, my queen, who loves His people enough to pursue you with such powerful detail. Yahweh must have a mighty plan for you, indeed.”
“We learn the Truth in daylight so we can walk in darkness.”
“I don’t believe Yahweh is angered by sincere questions or even when we express anger, but He commands our trust, my king. I hope someday you can trust Him.”
“We’re helpless in this moment, Shulle, but we’re never hopeless. Not as long as we serve El Shaddai, the Almighty One.”
“My God is good. He has a plan. And His victory will somehow be bigger than our sorrow.”
“Never begin a sentence with ‘Yahweh can’t’. Our minds are too small to imagine what He can do.”
“Marvel at the moon and stars, Manasseh, but worship the God who hung them in the sky.”
“No place on earth is beyond Yahweh’s reach – including a man’s heart.”
“Yahweh doesn’t hate you. No matter how many Yahweh followers you kill, we’ll scream forgiveness from our graves…May Yahweh deal with you as gently as you’ll allow, while He draws your heart back to Him.”
“Can you trust My love when you don’t know My plan?”
*I received a copy of this book as apart of the launch team; I was not required to write a positive review.
