Book Review: A Lineage Of Grace
How has the new year been? Pretty awesome, right? And I thought of what better way to start this year than with a book review.
I got to read this book, last year after I read someone’s commentary on the book of Esther which spurred me to look for other stories or commentary about women in the bible. While I was searching for another book, I stumbled on a work of fiction by Francine Rivers(FR), “The Lineage Of Grace”. She did a retelling of this story based on biblical accounts but filling in the outline of those stories with dialogue and helping us take a step back in time and to understand the culture and environment these women find themselves in and how they ended up being the only women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.
Unveiled: The story of Tamar(Genesis 37:1-38:30).
She started the story by giving us a backstory of Judah. Tamar was a Canaanite married to Judah’s son, Er. She was faithful in service to her new family, to the point of embracing their religion. Her husband died, and they married her to the second son according to the tradition of the land. The second son, Onan, also died after refusing to give her a child. Judah sent her back to her family until his third son, Shelah, was old enough. We learn later that Judah didn’t intend to keep his word, so she pretended to be a prostitute and have Judah himself to sleep with her. She also collected his staff and mantle in place of payment, and that was a very smart decision she made. When Judah heard that she was pregnant, he sent words that she should be burnt. She then sent his mantle and staff back to him, informing him that the owner of those items handled her pregnancy. Judah realized that he was wrong and apologized for that. She had twins, Perez and Zerah, for Judah and became one of Jesus’ ancestors.
I loved the way FR showed the struggle Judah found himself in, especially after selling Joseph into slavery and how Tamar’ faith and dedication helped him.
Unashamed: The story of Rahab(Joshua 2, Joshua 6:1-25).
Joshua sent two men to spy the land of Jericho. Rahab, a prostitute hid them in her house under bundles of flax and lied to the king of Jericho that they had gone another way. She had such faith and told the spies she believed their God had given them Jericho, and they should save her and her family’s life when they come back to conquer Jericho. A scarlet cord was hung outside her window as a sign that she was there, and anyone found in that house would be left alone. Something I found interesting about the spies and that story was that the information they got that night was useless. It was not needed, especially since Jericho itself was destroyed. She married one spy, Salmon, and we are told she remained in Israel.
Her faith was so exceptional that she helped the enemies and told them she was aware God was going to give them the land. One lesson I learnt here is that God is ready to use any situation to bring to himself his people. Rahab desired to serve this God she heard of and follow a people she had only heard of, and God himself created a way to graft her into the lineage of Jesus, his son.
Unshaken: The story of Ruth(Ruth 1-4).
Ruth is quite popular. We know her as the woman that followed her mother-in-law and vowed to be with her until her dying days. She was a Moabite who married Mahlon, Naomi's son. After Naomi lost both her husband and two sons, she returned to Bethlehem and Ruth followed her, despite the pleas. She gleaned from Boaz’s farm so that both women would have something to eat. Boaz was their family redeemer and Naomi came up with a crazy plan to get Boaz to notice Ruth and also get Ruth married. The plan worked, and she got married to Boaz. She gave birth to Obed, who was the great-grandfather of King David.
Her story is a reminder that God rewards people’s sacrifice and loyalty. It also shows how God cares and makes provision for people as seen in the instruction concerning harvest so that the widows and the destitute can have something to eat. The beautiful thing about this retelling has to be the marriage scene where FR showed Ruth removing her veil and draping it over Boaz's shoulder, the people said, “the government shall rest upon his shoulder” which signifies to me the willingness to give someone the authority over your life. It brings me back to Isaiah 9:6, the prophecy of Jesus, and how the church is supposed to willingly surrender its authority to Christ.
Unspoken: The story of Bathsheba(2 Samuel 11, 12:1-25, 1 Kings 1: 11-48, Song of Songs 3: 11).
One thing I hate whenever people mention Bathsheba is that she had an affair with King David and nothing else. So this story was refreshing, and it helped me see how much more Bathsheba could achieve.
King David saw her bathing, sent for her, had a one-night stand, she discovered she was pregnant and sent words to him. David and Uriah the Hittite, Bathsheba’s husband, back from the war front and tried to make him go home to his wife. Uriah was a man of honour, slept at the palace entrance, which ended with him returning to the war front with his death warrant. After the death of her husband and her mourning period, David had her move into the palace. The child from the entanglement died. The next time we see Bathsheba was after she gave birth to Solomon and also when she challenged David to remember his promise of making her son Solomon king.
FR telling of this story also shows us the family dynamics at play and how she suffered for the decision she took and how God restored her. Her story shows us that no matter how much we erred if we turn back to God and ask for his grace to start again, he would turn our mistakes into something beautiful for his glory.
Unafraid: The story of Mary(Luke 1:26-38, 2, Matthew 2:10-15,19-21, etc)
She is the mother of Jesus. God highly favoured her and obedient to God’s word. She received the message without question, was humble. I believe she didn’t know the full picture of what God wanted to do, but she fully trusted God in every step. FR retelling shows us how possible Mary’s struggle with how she believed God’s plan was going to turn out to how it actually turned out. It tells us that when we accept God’s plan, we may never know the full journey or how we are going to get to that destination, and it is okay. God is faithful enough to take us through. Mary’s story is one of bravery, understanding and saying God’s will be done. It begs the question if it doesn’t turn out the way we expect, are we still going to keep on that path and hold on to what God said?
One thing I love about the telling is how it accommodates stories that most people would normally not be familiar with. If you ask anybody bible characters that they know, they most likely mention men before the women and I am saying it is anyone's fault. The women you most likely hear would be Esther, Mary, Ruth, Deborah, but no one is going to mention Tamar or Rahab and that excites me about this book, putting the spotlight on these women we don’t talk about often. The dialogue and vivid pictures she created in each story makes you feel like you are right there as the story is happening(talk about time travel). I also love the last chapter after each story she titled seek and find, which allows you to go back to the bible and read the stories for yourself.
Have a beautiful week.
The Estherian
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