Let's Bust a Recap : A Lineage of Grace

Hi there! Summer is finally upon us (still a little weird living in a place where there are actual seasons) and I am loving it. Is it summer where you live and what are your favorite summer activities? Do you even like summer? Maybe we should get on to the recap. When I started working through Teresa Whiting's DisGraced study, I decided it would be a great time to revisit Francine Rivers' Lineage of Grace series. The first three women Teresa covers in her study are Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheba, all of whom are in the lineage of Christ. So as I was working my way through DisGraced, I also took time to read through these five novellas by one of my favorite authors. 

This first book in the series brings the story of Tamar to life and was first published in April of 2000. You can read Tamar's story in Genesis 38. She's also mentioned in Ruth, 1 Chronicles, and, of course, in the lineage of Jesus in Matthew. Tamar's story is one of the harder ones to read about in Scripture. It's what I would call a rated R narrative, and even though culturally we're so far removed from what was acceptable in Tamar's day, it's hard to wrap your head around seducing your father-in-law and then bearing his twin sons. 

What I like about Francine Rivers' attempt to bring these women to life is that she starts each book with a note encouraging the reader to check out the actual Biblical account—with references—and she keeps the fictionalization to a minimum. Obviously, we can't know any details about these women beyond what the Bible provides, but I think Rivers does a good job of towing the line and not creating too sensational of a backstory or additional characters. In the case of Tamar, the thing that really stopped me in my tracks was the fact that they were literally dragging Tamar out to burn her alive when she sent Judah the proof that he was the father. Sometimes, when I'm reading a very familiar Bible story, I don't stop to think about how these real people were really feeling. How terrifying for Tamar, probably a very young woman in her 20s if not still a teenager at this point, to literally be staring down death and not even sure that Judah would relent once he received his things from her. My heart can't help but go out to her in her desperation. What a story. 

The second woman named in the line of Jesus is Rahab. This installment of Rivers' series was published just five months after Tamar's in September of 2000. Rahab's story can be found in Joshua 2 and 6, and she's also commended in Hebrews and James for her great faith. 

Rahab's is one of the more famous Bible stories. She was the Canaanite prostitute who hid two Israelite spies and, as a result, was saved from the destruction of Jericho when the walls collapsed. The thing that intrigued me about Rivers' picture of Rahab's life is the idea that she was looking out for the spies. I never gave it much thought as a child, but as an adult I've often wondered how the spies ended up at the home of a prostitute. I honestly don't think they were there for her *ahem* professional services, but why were they there? The idea that she was looking out for them in the hope that she could be rescued from the destruction to come seems plausible. Another interesting notion that Rivers posits is that Rahab ends up marrying one of the spies. From my reading of Scripture, we don't know the identities of the men who went into Jericho so it's something to consider. 

Now Ruth is one of only two women in Scripture who has an entire book of the Bible named after her and dedicated to her story. Francine Rivers' novella about her life was published in February of 2001. 

What came alive for me for the first time when I read Rivers' Unshaken was the connection between Rahab, Boaz, and Ruth. Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute was Boaz's mother. Of course Boaz would have an extra measure of compassion for outsiders. In fact, could the reason Boaz was an older unmarried man in Israel possibly be connected to the fact that his mother was Rahab? Perhaps Israelite fathers weren't keen to make that unsavory association. It's all very compelling to think about. The question this little novella raised for me was whether Rahab was still alive when Boaz married Ruth. I imagine that if she was, she lived in Boaz's house. Did Rahab and Ruth have a relationship with one another? Obviously, Ruth and Naomi were very close, but was Ruth able to develop an intimate relationship with her second mother-in-law? One that would offer her untold encouragement and support living as a Moabite woman among the people of Israel? I wonder. 

The fourth book in this little series is called Unspoken and it details Bathsheba's life as imagined by Francine Rivers. It was originally published about six months after Ruth's volume in August of 2001. You can read about Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 and 12 and 1 Kings 1 and 2. She is also mentioned in 1 Chronicles 3 and you can get even more insight into her life by reading Psalm 51, the psalm David famously wrote after committing adultery with her.

I think of all the books in the Lineage of Grace, Rivers takes the most license with Bathsheba's story. She starts with Bathsheba as an eight year old girl with a massive crush on the young giant-killer David. I don't think it's too big of a stretch to imagine that young Bathsheba idolized David—he was the biggest celebrity of his time—but to posit that her obsession with him continued even to the day of her wedding and beyond is maybe a bit much to believe. While I don't agree with the line of thinking that David raped Bathsheba, I also don't agree with Rivers that Bathsheba knew that David was watching her bathe and brazenly displayed herself to him. 

When I first read this novella as a young adult, I was intrigued by the idea that because of Bathsheba's situation, her friends and family may have shunned her, never speaking her name again. This thought becomes even more fascinating when you actually read the lineage of Jesus and see her referred to only as the wife of Uriah. 

Reading it this time around, I was more interested in Bathsheba's familial relations—her father being one of David's mighty men along with her husband Uriah, and her grandfather being one of David's trusted advisors. I even did a little fact-checking on this in Scripture and it all seems to track. I never made the connection that Ahithophel was Bathsheba's grandfather, and it's intriguing to think about how his granddaughter's relationship with David may have been a factor in his betrayal of David. 

Anyway, Bathsheba's story is pretty wild and I think Francine Rivers definitely gives her reader plenty to think about with the way she presents it. 

Ahhh, Mary. Sweet virgin mother of Jesus. Certainly the most famous woman in Scripture and arguably the most famous woman to ever live. This last novella in the series was published in October of 2001 meaning all five books in the series were published in the span of a year and a half. It's hard to pick out just a few passages about Mary to refer you to her story in the Bible when her life was so intimately intertwined with the life of Jesus, but some key references include Luke 1-2, Matthew 1-2, John 2, Mark 6, Matthew 12, John 19, and Acts 1. 

I think of the five novellas in the Lineage of Grace, I read Mary's with the most caution. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Francine Rivers herself is quick to point the reader back to the Biblical accounts of these women's lives and it's a reminder that bears repeating. But having said that, I think Unafraid may offer the reader the most to think about and discuss. While we can't possibly know for sure if Rivers is right in her depiction of Mary's understanding of Jesus' purpose or her impatience in wanting him to assert himself as the promised Messiah, everything she writes in this little novella is extremely plausible, and Mary's thoughts and attitudes are natural human responses to the situation she found herself in. There's so little we know of Jesus' growing-up years on earth, and Rivers does a fantastic job of sparking the reader's imagination in thinking about what those years may have been like. I especially liked her depiction of Joseph's relationship to the Christ-child and how she imagined Jesus with his brothers and sisters. I hope we get to know more about Jesus' earthly life when we get to Heaven. It's something I wonder about often. 

All in all, I would recommend the Lineage of Grace series with the exhortation to read them as companions to the original Biblical accounts, keeping in mind that these are just ideas of what it may have been like for these women. I'm a fan of anything that makes me think more deeply about Scripture and I love when something can make Scripture come alive for me. I think this series by Francine Rivers does a great job of both. But ultimately, it's the Word of God that will never pass away and I can't emphasize enough how important it is to keep His Word central when we're consuming Bible-based media and entertainment. 

Is there a particular story from the Bible you wish you could have witnessed? Or a person from the Bible you wish you could have lunch with and pick his or her brain?