Many Bible readers, if theyre honest, will admit to skimming over, if not totally skipping, the genealogies included in scripture. How could a long list of hard-to-pronounce names contain anything that could keep a Christian on mission?
In the five-book A Lineage of Grace series, award-winning novelist Francine Rivers draws our attention to the human ancestry of Jesus, as recorded in the first chapter of Matthew. What makes this list unique is the inclusion of not one, two or even three, but five names of historical womenTamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary.
In Unveiled, Rivers sculpts a novella from biblical facts and her own vivid, informed imagination of Tamar, Judahs daughter-in-law. Set in a male-dominated, ancient culture whose customs we find hard to understand in our liberated new millennium. Tamars story, nevertheless, reveals Gods unwavering character and the central characters commitment to telling others about Him.
A six-part Bible study on the life of Tamar is a surprising, but welcome, addition to a work of fiction.