12/06/2021
Story time!
A couple of years ago I painted this after reading for Advent beginning in Matthew. Matthew begins his gospel with the lineage of Jesus. He uses this to show us that Jesus was indeed the Messiah who the prophets spoke about, coming down through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and eventually King David. He is the ONE they have been waiting for. Curiously, Matthew mentions four women in this lineage: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba (the wife of Uriah). If we think about what Matthew’s day to day life looked like, we know that he traveled as a disciple with Jesus as well as with other women followers. (Luke 8:1-3) Did his relationships with Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna cause him to see the value of including women in the genealogy of Jesus? The four women mentioned were all gentiles. They are faceless in the painting because so often their stories are not told from their perspective. What pieces of the promised Messiah did they know? What stories of God were passed along to them? Did each of these women expectantly wait for the promised one to Eve? Was every birth a hopeful experience for the one they had been waiting for?
Eve –
I included Eve in this painting though she is not mentioned by Matthew. It is through Eve, the mother of all living, we learn of the first promise of the Messiah. God lovingly covers her in skins of grace foreshadowing the sacrifice of Christ. It is here Eve learns that her offspring will crush the enemy’s head. Throughout scripture pieces of the Messiah will come together like a puzzle. With each story we read, we are handed another piece, learning what his lineage will be, where he will be born and other details. Scripture paints a picture of the coming Messiah, each word another brush stroke until it finally comes into focus on Jesus.
Tamar –
Remember Abraham, then Isaac, and Jacob? Jacob (renamed Israel) had sons that became the twelve tribes of Israel. Judah was one of those sons and after participating in selling one of his brothers into slavery he left his family and settled in Adullam. There he got married and had three sons. Tamar, found in Genesis 38, married into Judah’s family by way of his oldest son. She lost her first two husbands because they were wicked. Due to the law of the Israelites when a man died the woman was to marry his brother if he had one as to preserve the lineage. With one son left, it became clear that Judah was not going to give his youngest son to her in marriage. So she disguised herself as a pr******te, tricked Judah to preserve the lineage, and took his seal, cord and staff as collateral. Spoiler alert, she became pregnant, and Judah, not knowing it was his child, wanted her (and her baby inside) burned alive. Steep punishment for a man who just sold his little brother into slavery! Tamar told him she was pregnant by the man who owns the seal, staff, and cord she possessed. Ouch! Judah declared her “more righteous than I” and it is here we begin to see a change in Judah’s life, eventually leading to reconciliation with his brothers. Was Tamar not only advocating for the lineage of her deceased husband but that of the potential Messiah too? Had she heard about the promised one and possibly wondered if she would be the one to bear the Hebrew Messiah? She risked her life for new life, was proclaimed righteous and received a double blessing through twin boys, preserving Judah’s lineage as well as the future Messiah.
Rahab –
She had great faith in God despite being an outsider. She lived in Jericho right before Joshua and all of Israel were coming to claim the Promised Land. There is a fair amount of academic discourse on whether she was a pr******te or “innkeeper” as the word in sometimes translated. Even the Jewish historian Josephus translates it innkeeper. We aren’t sure, but either way she is redeemed by the blood of Christ and her belief in the God “who is the God in Heaven and on Earth below”. She, a gentile, told the spies what the Lord had done for them in Egypt and then prophesied to them that he would give them the land. She hid the spies, and in turn they saved her later when she hung a red cord out her window during the siege. A quiet reminder that one day his blood would cover us. She was also the first person in the new land to join Israel and proclaim here faith in God. Get it girl! Interestingly, she is listed as the pinnacle of the “by faith” chapter in Hebrews 11. We see the author of Hebrews build through the patriarchs, then say, “by faith the walls fell” and next we expect to hear “by faith Joshua” but it’s Rahab instead! A subtle reminder that God loves to use the unexpected, in this case a gentile, woman, and potential pr******te. She went on to be the mother of Boaz making here Ruth’s mother-in-law.
Ruth –
Ruth lived in the perilous time of the Judges when everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Sticking with her mother-in-law, they both lost their husbands. Naomi is often compared to a female version of Job. I think Ruth, rather than Job’s friends, shows us a better picture of what it means to walk as a friend with someone who is grieving. She was no doubt, grieving herself and yet did not run from the pain, but sat with her mother-in-law and cared for her. A quiet reminder that the Lord had not forgotten Naomi. They move back to Bethlehem and Ruth begins working in a field, gleaning the leftover grain. Once again, God provides and the man who owned the field, Boaz, ends up marrying Ruth. She is declared a woman of strength and valor. When you think about the story from their perspectives it makes sense that Boaz’s mom being Rahab, gave him eyes to see a Moabite woman like Ruth; reminding us again that the blood of Christ is open to all. He was not prejudice. Together they became great grandparents of King David.
Bathsheba –
She is often labeled an adulterer because of her relationship with King David. He was on his roof, home, when his men were fighting in battle. It’s important to note, despite popular belief, it was not Bathsheba on the roof, it was David. Nothing in the text says she was bathing in an inappropriate place. He looks down, sees Bathsheba, and ends up sending servants to “take” her and sleeps with her. She becomes pregnant, David panics and ends up sending her husband to the front lines, telling the men around him to draw back so he will be killed. I don’t think adultery is a right assessment of the story and here’s why. We don’t know the details about what occurred, but nothing in the text suggests that Bathsheba asked for it. When David sees her, he asks a servant who she is and they respond, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” (2 Sam 11:3) Even the servant subtly reminds David who she is married to. 2 Samuel 11:4 says, “He took her” and “he lay with her,” not they lay together. She appears to be passive and is never condemned in the text, but instead it is David that Nathan confronts. Nathan never blames Bathsheba and even uses the singular, masculine 2nd person pronoun “you” when showing David his sin. Nathan doesn’t ask her what she was wearing, or why she was bathing on the roof. He doesn’t suggest that she wanted it. When David’s men summoned her, she did not have a choice. If she even cried for help, who is going to stop the king? There’s a massive power imbalance in this story. Matthew calls her “the wife of Uriah” reminding us of David’s sin and that all of us, even King David, need a savior. It matters how we teach this story. David already had seven wives at this point. Not many women I know would want their husbands killed so they can in turn marry the murderer to become his eighth wife. Not exactly a romantic tale! It also matters how we tell this story when we remember that statistically if 100 women read this post, roughly 17 of them have been victims of sexual assault. If that’s you, I want you to remember Nathan doesn’t interrogate her, blame her, or ask her why she was alone, she is the lamb in the story. The lamb that, despite the horrific way she got there, is brought into the lineage of Christ through her controversial marriage to King David.
Mary –
I often hear an old Christmas song this time of year called Mary Did You Know? Reader she knew! The angel told her, “So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:35 She goes on to sing “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me holy is his name.” Luke 1:46-49 She proclaims in her song of God’s mercy, his mighty deeds, and his bringing down rulers from their thrones. As Scot X. McKnight puts it, she went “toe-to-toe with Herod the Great.” She screamed the battle cry on sin through her worship that echoed in the walls of their home and in the heart of her son. She sang, “He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” Luke 1:54-55 You see Eve, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba all knew of this promise. His mercy came!
As we sit in this darkness of advent, we look for the light. Just as we see the picture of the Messiah grow through scripture, the light of our advent candles burn brighter and brighter. Maybe your story involves some difficult things just like these women faced. Maybe you feel like God has forgotten you this season. There is light friends and his name is Jesus. He sees these women's faces and he sees yours. He knows their stories and he knows yours. He came for them and he came for you. His mercy is here and one day the darkness we are in will be no more.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” Isaiah 9:6-7
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