Forty generations are recorded from Abraham to Joseph, but Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and “Uriah’s wife” (Bathsheba) are the only Old Testament women mentioned. Why these women? Why not Sarah, Rebekah, who are often highlighted in Jewish writings and who were also Jesus’ ancestors? Do these four women have anything in common? How do they connect with Mary, Jesus’ mother? Where did Jesus come from?
1. These women were all outsiders.
Perhaps the most prominent feature connecting these women was that none of them were Jewish.
~ Tamar’s unusual story is told in Genesis chapter 38. She was not related by blood to Jacob’s family. She was a local Canaanite.
~ Rahab was a Canaanite living in the city of Jericho. Her story is told in Joshua 2 and 6:17-25.
~ Ruth was from Moab and Moabites were expressly prohibited from joining the Israelite community (Deut. 23:3). So her acceptance by the Israelites in Bethlehem and her inclusion in Jesus’ genealogy was especially noteworthy.
~ Bathsheba was the daughter of Eliam, a Gilonite (2 Sam. 23:34; cf. 1 Chron. 3:5). Giloh was a town in the Judean hills. This doesn’t exactly tell us about her ethnicity, but perhaps information about her husband does. Before she was assaulted by King David, she had been married to Uriah who was a Hittite.
Now, Mary was Jewish. But many significant and faithful women that preceded her were not. Whatever we might make of chosenness, always remember that that is determined by the gracious God who chooses and includes. Is it any wonder that Jesus had a habit of including those that made others bristle? Is it any wonder that he would highlight the faithfulness of a Roman soldier or a Canaanite woman? Or tell a story where the hero is a non-Jew? No – Jesus learned from his parents – that outsiders, even ones that some Scriptures condemn, are faithful family. Belonging and inclusion were family traditions.
2. These women were all daring and courageous.
Another feature of these four women is that they all took courageous risks in a patriarchal and dangerous world. They didn’t sit idly by waiting to be rescued.
~ Tamar went to extraordinary lengths to disguise herself as a prostitute, putting herself in danger of death, to have a child with her father-in-law Judah. The story is complicated, totally Rated-R, and I don’t have time to give it justice. In effect, she was calling in a legitimate debt that Judah owed her and her legal right under Levirate law. Having a son was Tamar’s best chance for a secure future and she risked everything for it.
~ Rahab was a prostitute who committed treason against her own people in Jericho when she helped their enemy Israel. At great peril to herself, she hid two Jewish scouts from the King of Jericho, helped them escape, and cut a deal with them in order to save herself and her entire family. She was a principle architect of Israelite military success in the Promised Land and became a member of the community of God’s people.
~ Ruth voluntarily left her homeland of Moab to help her mother-in-law Naomi―and they settled in Bethlehem, among a people whose own religious text denied her inclusion. Then, in another daring move, she effectively proposed marriage to Boaz in a clandestine meeting. Her aim was to save herself and Naomi from destitution. Israelites were forbidden from marrying Moabites, but Boaz recognized Ruth’s virtue and married her anyway (cf. Ezra 9:10-12).
~ Bathsheba was essentially sexually assaulted by King David (1 Chron. 3:1-5). When David was old and nearing death, she was encouraged by the prophet Nathan to make the bold move to ask for her son to become king. She did this knowing that palace politics could be dangerous, even deadly. She secured the throne for her son Solomon instead of David’s oldest son, Adonijah.
All of these women were outsiders, politically and ethnically. They had little personal power and made seemingly deadly choices in order to secure a better future for others as well as themselves. When Jesus stood silent and powerless before Pilate – did he think of these women? When Jesus included women as a critical part of his discipleship cohort did he do so intentionally, remembering his own ancestral line of female faithfulness (BTW Do you remember that it was only women who pretty much watched him on the cross?)
Did these women’s stories steel Mary’s own courage? Did she agree to Gabriel’s risky plan which placed her in real jeopardy because Joseph had recounted a matrilineal line of which she was becoming a part? Her willingness to take the risk made it possible for all humans to be rescued: to have a better, more abundant, life in her son Jesus, as well as a wonderful hope and future. Her life-altering “yes” in the face of danger was a family tradition.
3. These were righteous women in a broken world.
Some say these four women in Matthew’s genealogy were immoral in some way, or that they each suffered disgrace because of the role of sex, which says more about us than them. Because “immoral” is not how the Bible describes them. In fact, you will not find one negative thing said about any of these women.
~ Tamar was forced to deceive and through trickery have a child because Judah was wrongfully harming her. When Judah discovered the truth of Tamar’s actions which led to her pregnancy, he declared her more righteous than himself (Genesis 38:26). She is spoken of positively in a blessing to Ruth ( Ruth 4:12).
~ Rahab, despite continuing to be identified as a prostitute, is commended in both Old and New Testaments. The Bible only says good things about her. A quick aside – prostitution was hardly an element of choice for women in the Bronze age but one foisted upon them by men. Her plight, in other words, was a male choice not a female one. James writes that Rahab is an example of someone who practiced faith and deeds (Jas. 2:24-25), and she is included in the list of faith heroes in Hebrews 11:31.
~ Ruth will take the upper hand by meeting with Boaz in a clandestine way, at night, alone, and offering all of herself to him. And he has this to say about her: “All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character.” (Ruth 3:11, 13-14).
~ Bathsheeba may be the one caveat in all of this for her connection is clearly because of sexual wrongdoing but not her own but by David. In 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12, David is held fully responsible for the actions surrounding Bathsheba’s wretched entrance into palace life (cf. 1 Kings 15:5). And friends, that wretchedness is sexual assault. Interestingly, she is nameless in the Greek text of Matthew 1 and is identified only as “Uriah’s wife.” Some interpreters have argued that this was to distance Bathsheba from David’s crimes. Well, our culture is different – say her name.
These four women and Mary were righteous even if they don’t appear that way to the casual or narrow-minded observer. All four, as well as Mary, could have been accused of sexual immorality. Judah initially ordered Tamar to be burnt to death because he first thought she had acted immorally (Gen. 38:24). Mary could have been stoned to death for being pregnant by someone other than Joseph. Some of these women, especially Bathsheba, continue to be maligned yet each of them were shrewd responders to a patriarchal culture which sought to deny their dignity and harm them.
The women in Matthew’s genealogy all have difficult stories about how they came to be mothers of children (Tamar, Mary) and wise women in the community of Israel (Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba). The stories all have the potential to scandalize, but each woman was considered righteous.
The title for our Advent series comes from the famous 19th century Women’s Rights advocate and evangelical Christian Sojourner Truth. In a famous speech titled, “Ain’t I a Woman” in 1851, she said: “Then that little man in black there, he says ‘Women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman!' Where did your Christ come from?,” she asked. “Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.”
And today we we’ve seen in a broader sense how Jesus’ own origins and the foundations for his ministry echo way back to brave and courageous women who followed God amidst incredibly trying circumstances. Where did Jesus come from? From women who refused to be marginalized. And men we’re going to need to confess all of the ways that we have been that “little man in black.” So in order to best live into the Kingdom genealogy of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, I invite the women to stand for a blessing and the men to join me in this blessing and confession:
Receive this blessing: Women of faith – of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheeba and Mary. Go forth into the world as gospel agents of redemption, blessing and good news. Bring in the outsiders. Be courageous, and forgive us for the ways that we have through effort and neglect hampered your faith, harmed your pursuits, and sinned against you. We will seek to repair the damage and be faithful and equal partners you with for the sake of Jesus, his mother, and God’s Kingdom. Amen.
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