Rahab, the Grafted

As some of our readers know, I am generally not much on Christian Fiction.  In fact, I can count the number of Christian lit books I have read on one hand.   But there is one writer who has a knack for putting it all together and still making it read well.  Francine Rivers is the author of Redeeming Love, perhaps the best modern Christian lit book.  I read it last year and could not put it down and could barely stop crying as I read it.  Yes, there are drastic differences in her writing from that of the authors I normally read.  Yes, it is Christian Romance fiction and I have never read a romance novel (secular) in my life.  So it is outside the norm for me.  But, my mother-in-law loves all things Christian lit and was so excited that I read Redeeming Love that she gave me Francine Rivers Lineage of Grace last year for Christmas.  It is a collection of novellas about five of the women in the Messianic family tree:  Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. 

Rivers takes the Biblical accounts of these women and breathes life into the flesh and bones outlines of these women.  Where the Bible is silent on the emotions of most of these women, Rivers ponders the struggles with temperament these women in extraordinary circumstances might have had.  In Rahab's story, Unashamed, the result is a greater picture of the scope of salvation, the hope of the coming Lord, and unwavering faith in a God who is able. 

Rivers is a little more heavy handed in Rahab's story than I remember her being in Tamar's story.  It feels almost constrained by the Biblical account, where Tamar's story expanded it.  That is not to say that the Biblical account is something that should be brushed off in the pursuit of poetic licence.  Rather, Rivers seemed to use the paintbrush lightly on this one.  She just added touches around what was already a masterpiece.  Where Tamar's tale illuminated the cultural significance of certain Biblical events, Rahab's story did not.  Rivers, instead focused on broader Biblical themes of waiting on the Lord, trusting His power and His plan, and the grafting in of Gentiles. 

Another accomplishment of Unashamed is the hypothetical wrangling Rivers does with the facts.  She provides the answers to: How did that happen?  For those who question the veracity of the Biblical account of the walls of Jericho simply falling at the sound of trumpets and the marching of feet, Rivers offers an interesting explanation.  For those wondering how a Gentile harlot wound up in the lineage of the Christ, Rivers offers a most unlikely romance. 

I recommend the reading of these novellas after reading the Biblical accounts.  They breathe new life into the Hebrew stories of redemption for a modern world that barely understands the ancient culture and customs.

Rating: 4.6 of 7

-L

Tamar's Trouble

Remember what I said in an earlier post about Christian fiction? Well, I have only found one modern Christian author I like and that was only one book.  Granted the book was one of the best I have ever read and I highly recommend it to anyone who will listen (Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers).  Please listen - you will not be disappointed.  But enough about a book I have already read...

So another book I got for Christmas this past year was another Rivers book.  It is a set of novels called A Lineage of Grace.  Each of the five novels tell the story of some woman in the lineage of Christ.  They offer an imagained fuller account of their lives based on the sparse Biblical renderings.  With Drew's permission, I will review each of these as though they were separate novels in their own right.  First up is Unveiled the story of Tamar.  For the Biblical account of Tamar (the one married to Judah's sons, not the sister of Judah) you can go to Genesis 38. As for Rivers' retelling of her story, I come down on the side that she was faithful to the Biblical account, which is good in my book. 
The best part of reading Rivers' version is the historical emotional context you gain from her.  The book of Genesis, by its very nature as a historical account, leaves out much of the emotion and cultural context of the actions of the major players.  More than once whilst reading Unveiled, I found myself pondering the deeper emotion Tamar must have felt and the way God truly worked a miracle through Tamar's actions.  I have always been kinda weirded out by the story in Genesis, but the historical, cultural backround really helped to paint a picture expressing Tamar's devotion to her new family in a culture only offering her shame and derision.  I found myself remembering the promise to come to Judah later in Genesis, "the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from beneath his feet until Shiloh comes," and thinking how narrowly Judah missed the hope of promise by the way he dealt with Tamar.
For those reasons, this is a good book to read.  I would never tell anyone to shirk God's account of Tamar, but I do feel that once one has grasped all there is in the Biblical account, Rivers' story is a good companion.  To that end, the book includes a study of sorts to dig deeper into the Word above all Words.  For that I am appreciative to Mrs. Rivers and look forward to reading the other stories in her book on the family of Christ.

Review: 5.5 out of 7

-L