A Lineage of Grace Series

Title: A Lineage of Grace Series
Author: Francine Rivers
Major Themes: Women, Biblical Fiction
Synopsis: Five separate novellas tell one continuous story of the coming of Jesus, told through the lives of the five women who are named in His genealogy. 

Last year, I read the Sons of Encouragement series aloud to my sons. We really enjoyed these novellas. We found them accurate as far as sticking to the Scriptures, and they really made the Bible come to life. When I saw a book advertised containing all five of Francine Rivers’ books in the A Lineage of Grace series, I immediately bought it. I soon decided that this was not a series to read aloud to my sons, but they are good for women and older girls to read.

Unveiled is the story of Tamar. There is one chapter in the Bible that tells her story. She married one of the sons of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah, and God killed her husband because he was evil. So, the next son married her—and refused to let her have a child for his brother, so God killed him, too. Then, because Judah wouldn’t give Tamar to his third son, she ended up tricking Judah into making her pregnant. Amazingly, one of the sons born to her through this act became an ancestor of Jesus! How did Tamar learn to trust the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

Unashamed tells the story of Rahab the harlot in Jericho. Why did she invite the two spies into her house and then give them information and help them to escape? This story shows her as a woman who had faith in the God she had heard of from people who were terrified of His power in parting the waters of the Red Sea and making it possible for His people to conquer the kingdoms of Sihon and Og. After hearing those stories, Rahab desperately wanted to become part of the nation of Israel—but would they accept her?

I loved the retelling of Ruth’s story in Unshaken. Naomi remained faithful to God while her husband and sons turned to the gods of Moab, and Ruth learned to love Naomi and her God. When Naomi returned to her hometown of Bethlehem as a destitute widow, Ruth went with her and cared for her despite the animosity of the people around them. She found herself gleaning in Boaz’s fields, and we all know the end of the story. One thing that really stood out to me was a possible reason that Boaz was attracted to her; he was the son of Salmon and Rahab, who was also a foreigner.

Unspoken is the story of Bathsheba. She loved David from when she was a small girl, but ended up married to another man. As anyone who has read the Bible knows, she committed adultery with David and he ordered her husband murdered as a result. One thing that really stands out in this story is the results of adultery. This is a sin that not only affects the people immediately involved, but everyone around them—and the results, in David’s family, were disastrous. Could Bathsheba ever find forgiveness for her terrible sin?

Unafraid wraps up this collection of stories. This one tells the story of the coming of Jesus through the eyes of his mother, Mary. Mary was astounded and found it almost impossible to believe when the angel announced to her that she would be the mother of the Messiah. She believed her son would set the nation of Israel free from the Roman yoke, and found herself constantly frustrated that he was not doing what she expected him to do as soon as she thought he should. Then, when he did begin his life’s work, he did not act as she thought he would, still. How could she convince him to hurry up and free their people from Rome?

These five novellas make up one continuous story, A Lineage of Grace. Tamar was drawn to what she had heard of the God of Jacob, who had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of her grandfather Abraham. Though she was a Canaanite, she believed in God and became part of Jacob’s family. Rahab, too, had heard of the works of the God of the Israelites, and she desperately wanted to become part of them, too. Ruth saw God in the life of her mother-in-law Naomi, and knew that she wanted to be with Naomi’s people, even if they rejected her for being a Moabitess. Bathsheba was already part of the people of Israel, but she desperately wanted to be in David’s family. Although she sinned and brought much trouble to David’s family, God used her to continue the line that would eventually lead to Jesus. And we all know how Mary was used by God to bring Jesus into the world.

Francine Rivers has done an excellent job of bringing the stories in the Bible to life and showing how God works even in the lives of the most unlikely people, people who have done bad things or who are looked down on and rejected. The stories in A Lineage of Grace are very accurate as far as sticking to what the Bible says, although they are very fleshed out, of course. The one thing I noticed that is not Biblically accurate, as far as I am concerned, was in the story of Mary. In this story, one of Mary’s daughters is sick, and when Jesus puts his hands on her she immediately becomes well. This is when he is a young man, many years before his public ministry begins. He also kept their family from being hungry by multiplying their food during times of want. I have an issue with this because John 2 clearly says that turning the water into wine was the beginning of miracles.

WARNING: Unveiled: Occasional mentions of temple prostitution, references to marital intimacy (no more than the Bible describes), and description of a birth. Unashamed: As a harlot, Rahab took men into her bed—this is the extent of the description. Unspoken: as many mentions of sleeping with each other and rape as the Bible makes, with very little more description. Unafraid: as stated in the last paragraph.

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Judah’s Wife Shelter of the Most High Hadassah: Queen Esther of Persia Gods and Kings