A Lineage of Grace

Francine Rivers is an incredible author. The amount of research she does and her attention to the little details is amazing. This book is a collection of five stories on the five women mentioned by name in the lineage of Christ: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary.
I was challenged to think more about these women then I thought possible and found myself reading their biblical accounts deeper than ever before. One of the biggest view changes was Bathsheba.
I had always thought of her as a temptress and also a weak character but now I am inclined to think a little differently. For example, who would you say had the biggest influence on Solomon? I would argue that his mother did and I believe some of her influence can be seen in Proverbs 31. 
​While we don't know for sure, I tend to believe that King Lemuel was Solomon and that the godly advice was given by his mother Bathsheba. I have pondered on this thought and believe that the Virtuous woman mentioned here in proverbs is none other than Ruth, David's great grandmother. If you think about it for a moment it all fits both time wise and literally.  Bathsheba was arguably David's favorite wife and it is possible that he would have mentioned the incredible story of how his great grandmother came to live in Israel and became one of them. Perhaps as Bathsheba listened she realized that this was the kind of woman she wanted for her son, a woman who would make a great queen. If you do some comparing you will find that Ruth matches the Virtuous woman almost line for line. "Her husband is known in the gates", Boaz was known for sure. "She works willingly with her hands", no doubt Ruth did that more than once. "She reacheth forth her hands to the needy" Ruth was a woman of compassion. In fact Ruth is the only woman in scripture that was given the title, "Virtuous Woman" which would then make sense for that title to be used to describe the kind of woman a good man should look for, especially a king. 
​Bathsheba's story is just one of five in this book and several of the others were also very insightful. While Francine Rivers adds dialogue and additional details I believe she strove to remain true to the biblical account and time period. She also leaves her readers with a thought in each story, like Bathsheba's. She was a woman who was sorry for her sin and sought to be forgiven and restored, a request that was granted by the One who remembers our sins no more.

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