“This is the family history of Jesus the Messiah… Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah. (Their mother was Tamar)…Salmon was the father of Boaz. (His mother was Rahab) Boaz was the father of Obed. (His mother was Ruth)…David was the father of Solomon. [His mother was Bathsheba]…Jacob was the father of Joseph. Joseph was the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah.” (Matthew 1:1, 3, 5-6, and 16, ERV)

Women played an important part in the total compassionate man Jesus was during His earthly ministry. In the five novellas that are part of A Lineage of Grace: Five Stories of Unlikely Women Who Changed Eternity, Christian author, Francine Rivers portrays five unlikely women who changed eternity when they were faced with extraordinary (even scandalous) challenges. Each female took great personal risk to fulfill her calling. Each was destined to play a key role in the lineage of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.

In Unveiled (book one), Tamar is betrayed by the men who controlled her future. She fought for her right to believe in a loving God. In Unashamed (book two), Rahab is a woman with a past to whom God gives a future. In Unshaken (book three), Ruth gave up everything, expected nothing, and God honored her for that. In Unspoken (book four), Bathsheba’s beauty stirred the passions of a king. Her pain moved the heart of God. In Unafraid (book five), Mary waiting for this moment, and she responded in simple obedience to God’s call.

“The measure of a woman’s character is not what she gets from her ancestors, but what she leaves her descendants.” (Anonymous)

Each of the five women in this book were in no way sinless. (We are all sinners.) They were among the least likely to be in the lineage of our Jesus. When we submit ourselves totally to our loving Heavenly Father, He does a wonderful thing in our life by turning our weaknesses into our strengths. The Almighty used the humble, imperfect origins of these ladies because He knew they would accept His abounding grace more freely because of where they’d come from in their past (even Mary, the mother of Jesus).[i]

Have you ever thought about the ancestors before you that made up who you are today? What about those in generations to come that will be affected by the decisions you make today? Here is a poem (“If You Could See Your Ancestors” by Nellie Winslow Simmons Randall) that will give you an interesting perspective on this idea.

If you could see your ancestors
All standing in a row,
Would you be proud of them or not?
Or don't you really know?
Some strange discoveries are made
In climbing family trees.
And some of them, you know,
Do not particularly please.

If you could see your ancestors
All standing in a row,
There might be some of them perhaps
You shouldn't care to know.
But here's another question
Which requires a different view -
If you could meet your ancestors
Would they be proud of you?

[i] Sources used:

· (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lineage-of-grace-francine-rivers/1100317203)

· “A Lesson Learned: Lineage of Grace” by Jenae

I recommend with any historical biblical fiction novel that the reader be aware of the true story from the Bible so they easily distinguish fact from the author’s imagination.