A Lineage of Grace

I started a new book series last week and I haven't been able to put it down. You're going to think I'm crazy when I tell you what I'm reading. Old Testament fiction. Ha! I get so bogged down in Old Testament when I'm reading each day and I have to admit that I sometimes think it's a bit boring. I just worked my way through Exodus and I'm now in Leviticus and all of the measurements...I might have skimmed!

But this new series is fantastic. I heard about it on another blog (Caroline in Texas!) and looked on Amazon to read a little more about it. The product description says:

In this compilation of the five books of the best-selling Lineage of Grace series by Francine Rivers, we meet the five women whom God chose--Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. Each was faced with extraordinary--even scandalous--challenges. Each 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.

I read the first book - Unveiled - over the past few days and I could not put it down. Tamar's story comes straight from Genesis 38. I couldn't get over how scandalous Genesis was and I never noticed it!

Genesis 38:

At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah. There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and lay with her; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah....
Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the Lord's sight; so the Lord put him to death.
Then Judah said to Onan, "Lie with your brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother." But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord's sight; so he put him to death also.
Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Live as a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up. For he thought, "He may die too, just like his brothers." So Tamar went to live in her father's house.

There is much, MUCH more to Tamar's story. Francine Rivers takes the scripture and fills in the gaps with dialogue. I love it. It sounds so strange to say that I love Old Testament fiction, but I think it's fantastic!

What's really great is that on Amazon each individual story is $10. The 5-in-1 copy is only $12 and the Kindle version is $10! Great deal!