A Lineage of Grace
Page 1
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A Lineage of Grace
Unveiled and Unashamed copyright © 2000 by Francine Rivers. All rights reserved.
Unshaken, Unspoken, and Unafraid copyright © 2001 by Francine Rivers. All rights reserved.
A Lineage of Grace © 2002 by Francine Rivers. All rights reserved.
“Seek and Find” sections written by Peggy Lynch.
Cover illustrations copyright © 2009 by Robert Papp. All rights reserved.
Designed by Jessie McGrath
Edited by Kathryn S. Olson
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rivers, Francine, date.
A lineage of grace / Francine Rivers.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-8423-5632-9 (sc : alk. paper) 1. Women in the Bible—Fiction. 2. Christian fiction, American. I. Title.
PS3568.I83165L56 2009
813′.54—dc222009014398
© All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publishers, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.
Build: 2012-11-20 09:10:16
Unveiled is dedicated to those who have been abused and used and yearn for justice.
Unashamed is dedicated to women who think a past of mistakes ruins any chance of a joy-filled future. Turn to Jesus and experience the wonders He has waiting for you.
Unshaken is dedicated to my mother-in-law, Edith Rivers, whom I admire and adore.
Unspoken is dedicated to women who feel they’ve lost their reputation forever. God can make beauty from ashes.
Unafraid is dedicated to Jane Jordan Browne, a woman of faith.
Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Book One: Unveiled Setting the Scene
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Epilogue
Seek and Find
Book Two: Unashamed Setting the Scene
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Epilogue
Seek and Find
Book Three: Unshaken Setting the Scene
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Epilogue
Seek and Find
Book Four: Unspoken Setting the Scene
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Seek and Find
Book Five: Unafraid Setting the Scene
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Seek and Find
The Genealogy of Jesus the Christ
About the Author
Foreword
Dear Reader,
You are about to read five novellas on the women in the lineage of Jesus Christ. These were Eastern women who lived in ancient times, and yet their stories apply to our lives and the difficult issues we face in our world today. They were on the edge. They had courage. They took risks. They did the unexpected. They lived daring lives, and sometimes they made mistakes—big mistakes. These women were not perfect, and yet God in His infinite mercy used them in His perfect plan to bring forth the Christ, the Savior of the world.
We live in desperate, troubled times when millions seek answers. These women point the way. The lessons we can learn from them are as applicable today as when they lived thousands of years ago.
Tamar is a woman of hope.
Rahab is a woman of faith.
Ruth is a woman of love.
Bathsheba is a woman who received unlimited grace.
Mary is a woman of obedience.
These are historical women who actually lived. Their stories, as I have told them, are based on biblical accounts. Although some of their actions may seem disagreeable to us in our century, we need to consider these women in the context of their own times.
This is a work of historical fiction. The outline of the story is provided by the Bible, and I have started with the facts provided for us there. Building on that foundation, I have created action, dialogue, internal motivations, and in some cases, additional characters that I feel are consistent with the biblical record. I have attempted to remain true to the scriptural message in all points, adding only what is necessary to aid in our understanding of that message.
At the end of each novella, we have included a brief study section. The ultimate authority on people of the Bible is the Bible itself. I encourage you to read it for greater understanding. And I pray that as you read the Bible, you will become aware of the continuity, the consistency, and the confirmation of God’s plan for the ages—a plan that includes you.
Francine Rivers
Acknowledgments
No project is ever completed without the help of many people. I want to acknowledge my husband, Rick, who has supported and encouraged me from the beginning of my writing career. Thank you for our prayer time and talks in the morning before the sun comes up. Those times are precious to me and set the tone for the rest of the day. Thank you also for sharing your office, building the fire on cold mornings, brewing the coffee, and pausing in your own hectic business schedule to spend time listening.
Thank you, Ron Beers, for sharing your vision.
Thank you, Jane Jordan Browne, for your constant encouragement and friendship through the years. I’ve always been able to depend on you.
Special thanks to you, Scott Mendel. I appreciate the historical information, resources, and insights you have shared with me. Thank you for your willingness to respond (quickly!) to so many questions.
Thank you, Kathy Olson, for your fine editing and passion for Scripture and for your willingness to dive in and challenge me. I would like to also extend my thanks to the entire Tyndale staff who have continued to follow Dr. Kenneth Taylor’s mission of glorifying the Lord—and who have encouraged me as I strive to do likewise. I have felt blessed over the years to be part of your team.
I’m also grateful to Liz Curtis Higgs and her husband, Bill, for sharing their extensive bibliography, and to Angela Elwell Hunt, my favorite superwoman. When I grow up, I want to be just like you.
I extend special thanks to Jim and Charlotte Henderson for their gracious Washington State–style hospitality and to John and Merritt Atwood for the loan of their beautiful cottage on Whidbey Island for a brainstorming session with my dear friend Peggy Lynch, who is writing the “Seek and Find” sections for these novellas.
I would also like to thank Peggy for her willingness to be part of this project—and for making me dig deeper and deeper into Scripture to find the jewels waiting there. Peggy, you have been a blessing to me from the day I met you. You have always held up the lamp of God’s Word. Your life is a living testimony of faith.
Jeffrey Essmann, thank you for sharing historical information, lists of resources, Web sites, and insights on Mary.
I extend special thanks to Rick Hahn, pastor of Sebastopol Christian Church. I always know whom to call when I can’t fin
d the Scripture passage rolling through my head. Thank you to Kitty Briggs for sharing materials about Mary. And special thanks to Gary and Patti LeDonne, who brainstormed with me. Thank you, Peter Kiep of Interfaith Books in Santa Rosa, for pointing the way to valuable resource books and sharing your thoughts on Mary.
The Lord has blessed me through all of you. May those blessings return upon each of you a thousandfold.
BOOK ONE
UNVEILED
SETTING THE SCENE
Genesis 37:1–38:6
So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived.
This is the history of Jacob’s family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks with his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing. Now Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day he gave Joseph a special gift—a beautiful robe. But his brothers hated Joseph because of their father’s partiality. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.
One night Joseph had a dream and promptly reported the details to his brothers, causing them to hate him even more. “Listen to this dream,” he announced. “We were out in the field tying up bundles of grain. My bundle stood up, and then your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before it!”
“So you are going to be our king, are you?” his brothers taunted. And they hated him all the more for his dream and what he had said.
Then Joseph had another dream and told his brothers about it. “Listen to this dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”
This time he told his father as well as his brothers, and his father rebuked him. “What do you mean?” his father asked. “Will your mother, your brothers, and I actually come and bow before you?” But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father gave it some thought and wondered what it all meant.
Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are over at Shechem with the flocks. I’m going to send you to them.”
“I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied.
“Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along,” Jacob said. “Then come back and bring me word.” So Jacob sent him on his way, and Joseph traveled to Shechem from his home in the valley of Hebron.
When he arrived there, a man noticed him wandering around the countryside. “What are you looking for?” he asked.
“For my brothers and their flocks,” Joseph replied. “Have you seen them?”
“Yes,” the man told him, “but they are no longer here. I heard your brothers say they were going to Dothan.” So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there.
When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance and made plans to kill him. “Here comes that dreamer!” they exclaimed. “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into a deep pit. We can tell our father that a wild animal has eaten him. Then we’ll see what becomes of all his dreams!”
But Reuben came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. “Why should we shed his blood? Let’s just throw him alive into this pit here. That way he will die without our having to touch him.” Reuben was secretly planning to help Joseph escape, and then he would bring him back to his father.
So when Joseph arrived, they pulled off his beautiful robe and threw him into the pit. This pit was normally used to store water, but it was empty at the time. Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they noticed a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking spices, balm, and myrrh from Gilead to Egypt.
Judah said to the others, “What can we gain by killing our brother? That would just give us a guilty conscience. Let’s sell Joseph to those Ishmaelite traders. Let’s not be responsible for his death; after all, he is our brother!” And his brothers agreed. So when the traders came by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver, and the Ishmaelite traders took him along to Egypt.
Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the pit. When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in anguish and frustration. Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, “The boy is gone! What can I do now?”
Then Joseph’s brothers killed a goat and dipped the robe in its blood. They took the beautiful robe to their father and asked him to identify it. “We found this in the field,” they told him. “It’s Joseph’s robe, isn’t it?”
Their father recognized it at once. “Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s robe. A wild animal has attacked and eaten him. Surely Joseph has been torn in pieces!” Then Jacob tore his clothes and put on sackcloth. He mourned deeply for his son for many days. His family all tried to comfort him, but it was no use. “I will die in mourning for my son,” he would say, and then begin to weep.
Meanwhile, in Egypt, the traders sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard.
About this time, Judah left home and moved to Adullam, where he visited a man named Hirah. There he met a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua, and he married her. She became pregnant and had a son, and Judah named the boy Er. Then Judah’s wife had another son, and she named him Onan. And when she had a third son, she named him Shelah. At the time of Shelah’s birth, they were living at Kezib.
When his oldest son, Er, grew up, Judah arranged his marriage to a young woman named Tamar. . . .
ONE
When Tamar saw Judah leading a donkey burdened with sacks and a fine rug, she took her hoe and ran to the farthest border of her father’s land. Sick with dread, she worked with her back to the house, hoping he would pass by and seek some other girl for his son. When her nurse called her, Tamar pretended not to hear and hacked harder at the earth with her hoe. Tears blinded her.
“Tamar!” Acsah puffed as she reached her. “Didn’t you see Judah? You must return to the house with me now. Your mother is about to send your brothers after you, and they’ll not take kindly to your delay.” Acsah grimaced. “Don’t look at me like that, child. This isn’t of my doing. Would you prefer a marriage with one of those Ishmaelite traders on his way to Egypt?”
“You’ve heard about Judah’s son just as I have.”
“I’ve heard.” She held out her hand, and Tamar reluctantly relinquished the hoe. “Perhaps it will not be as bad as you think.”
But Tamar saw in her nurse’s eyes that Acsah had her own grave doubts.
Tamar’s mother met them and grabbed Tamar by the arm. “If I had time, I would beat you for running off!” She pulled Tamar inside the house and into the women’s quarters.
No sooner was Tamar through the doorway than her sisters laid hands upon her and tugged at her clothing. Tamar gasped in pain as one yanked the cover carelessly from her head, pulling her hair as well. “Stop it!” She raised her hands to ward them off, but her mother stepped in.
“Stand still, Tamar! Since it took Acsah so long to fetch you, we must hurry.”
The girls were all talking at once, excited, eager.
“Mother, let me go just as I am!”
“Straight from the fields? You will not! You will be presented in the finest we have. Judah has brought gifts with him. And don’t you dare shame us with tears, Tamar.”
Swallowing convulsively, Tamar fought for self-control. She had no choice but to submit to her mother and sisters’ ministrations. They were using the best garments and perfume for her appearance before Judah, the Hebrew. The man had three sons. If she pleased him, it would be the firstborn, Er, who would become her husband. Last harvest, when Judah and his sons had brought their flocks to graze in the harvested fields, her father had commanded her to work nearby. She knew what he hoped to accomplish. Now, it seemed he had.
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“Mother, please. I need another year or two before I’m ready to enter a household of my own.”
“Your father decides when you’re old enough.” Her mother wouldn’t look her in the eyes. “It’s not your right to question his judgment.” Tamar’s sisters chattered like magpies, making her want to scream. Her mother clapped her hands. “Enough! Help me get Tamar ready!”
Clenching her jaw, Tamar closed her eyes and decided she must resign herself to her fate. She had known that one day she would marry. She had also known her father would choose her husband. Her one solace was the ten-month betrothal period. At least she would have time to prepare her mind and heart for the life looming before her.
Acsah touched her shoulder. “Try to relax.” She untied Tamar’s hair and began to brush it with long, firm strokes. “Think soothing thoughts, dear one.”
She felt like an animal her father was preparing for sale. Ah, wasn’t she? Anger and despair filled her. Why did life have to be so cruel and unfair?
“Petra, bring the scented oil and rub her skin with it. She mustn’t smell like a field slave!”
“Better if she smelled of sheep and goats,” Acsah said. “The Hebrew would like that.”
The girls laughed in spite of their mother’s reprimand. “You’re not making things better, Acsah. Now, hush!”
Tamar grasped her mother’s skirt. “Please, Mother. Couldn’t you speak to Father for my sake? This boy is . . . is evil!” Tears came in a rush before she could stop them. “Please, I don’t want to marry Er.”
Her mother’s mouth jerked, but she did not weaken. She pried Tamar’s hand from the folds of her skirt and held it tightly between her own. “You know I can’t alter your father’s plans, Tamar. What good would come of my saying anything against this match now other than to bring shame upon us all? Judah is here.”