From the early stages of planning Gift of the Tiding Bearer I knew I wanted three main characters, each with a defining flaw, something that would direct their whole arc as a character. I was elated when I found the perfect set of evils, conveniently packaged as a trio, in Jeremiah 9:23-24. I call it, “The Jeremiah Factor,” and each of the main characters has one. It has a nice ring, don’t you think? Here’s the verse so you can follow along in this discussion:

Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know Me and understand that I am the Lord Who demonstrates unfailing love and Who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things.

We boast about what we have confidence in, so this passage could be rewritten to say:

Don’t put your confidence in wisdom, in power, or in riches. Instead, put your confidence only in knowing the Lord’s unfailing love, justice, and righteousness.

It was when I read this passage that I knew exactly what my characters’ arcs would look like and the kind of culture they would be coming from. I made a simple diagram of what the arcs would be, using those three “don’t boasts” as the foundation:

Errol: wisdom (pride → humility)

Doran: power (violence → mercy)

Mavis: riches (greed → generosity)

Many times, throughout my writing journey God put a verse in my path that perfectly summed up my next step, and this is the greatest of those verses—so great that I put it at the front of my book! Now when you read it, you’ll know it refers to Errol, Doran, and Mavis.

From this point on, I saw this trio of sins all over the Bible, anywhere I looked. Pride, greed, and a hunger for power, leading to violence, are condemned all throughout scripture and the three are interrelated, each encouraging or leading to the others. Ezekiel 28:4-5 shows this progression:

With your wisdom and understanding you have amassed great wealth—gold and silver for your treasures. Yes, your wisdom has made you very rich, and your riches have made you very proud.

And of course, it could be added that wealth and wisdom make a person pretty powerful, so the trio is present here too. Why is this such a potent combination? And why does it receive so much attention from prophets, poets, and apostles alike? I believe the answer is found in that confidence thing I mentioned a minute ago. Confidence in wealth, wisdom, and power leads to self-sufficiency and this is the greatest threat to our salvation. Why? Because it is only through recognizing our total helplessness and turning to Jesus as our only hope that we can be saved. These three vices, which encourage us to rely on our own resources, understanding, and influence, put us in danger of being lost. Peter points out this danger in his warning to the Laodiceans in Revelation 3:17—

You say, “I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!” And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

He pleads for such people to “be diligent and turn from your indifference” (verse 19) so they may be saved.

In the book of Proverbs, this kind of self-trust is called “foolishness” and throughout the book it’s the constant antagonist of God’s wisdom and a life-changing knowledge of Him. Because Gift of the Tiding Bearer is an allegory about the search to know God, giving Errol, Doran, and Mavis these three traits make them their own worst enemies, just like we often are when it comes to accepting Jesus’s gift of life.

Our intrepid trio still have a long way to go when it comes to learning to trust only in Jesus, but they make marked progress in the story, each of them faced with challenges and choices that force them to grow and teach them how little they really have to boast about in themselves. Next week I’m launching a three-part series in which I’ll be expanding on Doran, Mavis, and Errol’s creation, development, and growth. It’ll feature some fun facts about the characters as well, so keep your web browsers tuned to this station!