Five Women Who Found Grace in God

Five women are mentioned in the lineage of Christ, although there are dozens more involved in the creation of Our Lord. And these women are extremely complex and unique.
 (And, as an interesting note, five is considered the number of grace.)


The Five Women Are:


Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary.


Similarities:


Tamar, Ruth and Bathsheba had all been married before (and they were married to Israelite men). They were widows when they married the men who were of the lineage of Christ (the way they became widows was an entirely different story).

Rahab's marital status was unknown, but we presume single, and Mary was engaged.



Tamar, Rahab and Ruth were non-Israelites.


Tamar, Rahab and Bathsheba had premarital sex.

Tamar and Rahab were seen by men as prostitutes (Rahab was a prostitute for living, Tamar disguised herself as a temple prostitute).


Tamar, Bathsheba and Mary got pregnant out of wedlock (Mary's, of course, was pure, but still). We are not told about Ruth, but we assume she is childless and remains so until she marries Boaz; we are not told about Rahab, either, but we assume she did not have a child out of wedlock.

Four were not virgins. 

Ruth, Tamar and Rahab all had to plan their own lives after someone else failed them. They did not become victims - they made their own plans. They were wise and clever.

They all had to put up with public humiliation (Ruth was thrown rocks at for being a foreigner, Tamar was nearly burned for getting pregnant, Rahab was a prostitute, Bathsheba was an adulteress and Mary was almost divorced).

All the women were said to have been lovely.

These are the women God chose to include - by name! - in the lineage of His Son in Matthew 1. God was saying that no one is perfect, but he uses broken, repentant people to create a lasting legacy of salvation and redemption.

He was not saying that He hates women, but He was saying that if your heart is right, He will use you in great ways just like He used Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary. Who knows? Maybe your descendants will be someone great too! And if anything, you will have lived your life knowing that God's grace really is enough, and we can do nothing to earn it. The women did nothing to earn it; in fact, their culture would have said they didn't deserve it. But they got it in a huge way, and God is still willing to pour out his mercy, love and grace on all of us, if only we open our hearts to it.


Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel