She Would Not Be Forgotten: The Women Who Brought Us the Savior-- a concert of Biblical stories

 (This performance aired on Facebook Live on Friday, November 6, 2020, 7 pm CST.)

Program notes

The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:1-17 is a list of 41 men who “begat” sons. While we know they did not accomplish this feat solo, the names of the mothers are mostly left out, even forgotten. No Sarah, Rebekah, Leah or Rachel; and the line doesn’t run through Moses, Aaron, or Joshua. But there are 5 interruptions in this masculine lineage, names of women who would not be forgotten, though a neat, unblemished family folklore may prefer they were.

TAMAR (Gen. 38:1-30) This story follows a tradition of Levirate marriage prescribed in Deuteronomy 25:5-6, obligating a brother to take his sister-in-law as wife if the brother dies; we’ll see this again in Ruth. However, Deuteronomy happens several centuries after the setting for this story, a reminder that these stories were not “reports” of something that happened in real time, as much as a shaping of the identity of a people despite chronology. If you remember the story of Joseph being sold into slavery in ch. 37, you’ll notice some interesting parallels as the tables are turned. Judah had used clothing to deceive his father, and now Tamar dresses to deceive Judah. A goat is slaughtered and blamed for the “death” of Joseph, and now a goat is the price offered from Judah to the “prostitute”. Temple prostitutes in Canaanite religion served a religious function, different from our modern, Western connotation of the word, although why Judah, only one generation removed from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was practicing that particular form of religiosity (ahem!) is unknown.

RAHAB (Joshua 2:1-21, 6:15-25) The book of Joshua is about the conquest of Canaan, since the land God had promised to the wandering Israelites was already occupied. In order to find Rahab in the story, I’ve pieced together the two segments in which she appears and left out the details of preparation for the conquest. Interestingly, while she’s named in the genealogy, Rahab is the only one of our featured women who does not birth a child in her story; nor is she linked with a husband named Salmon. She is an independent businesswoman—whether her “prostitute” function is religious or not, she brokers a deal with the Israelite spies to save her family, and is taken into the house of Israel for this loyalty. The red cord ties her story to Tamar’s.

RUTH is known as a sweet love story that offers a stark contrast to the violence of the book of Judges, set at the same time. Judges ends with “In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes”, sort of an explanation for how terrible “right in their own eyes” can be (read the book—it’s awful!) But by starting my telling of Ruth with this line, I hope to offer a different version of “right in their own eyes”, as an outsider is brought in and celebrated for her loyalty to her Hebrew mother-in-law and to the God of Israel. It is indeed a sweet story, but not without some risqué scenes, as we see at the threshing floor. While Naomi’s plan feels less manipulative than others have been, it is indeed cunning, and using the power and advantage available to her, little though they be, to secure a future for herself and her daughter-in-law.

BATHSHEBA (2 Samuel 11:1-18, 26-27; 12:20-24) Yes, her name is Bathsheba—we hear it only twice in this story: before she has anything to do with David, and after her husband and child are dead. Otherwise she is referred to as “the wife of Uriah the Hittite”.  It is a grim story, especially from Bathsheba’s perspective, who is objectified, silenced, and subject to suffering the punishment for David’s sin. While sometimes cast as a torrid love affair, I read this story as a rape—a woman is required to appear before the king, who has all the control: he sends for her, she is fetched, she comes to him, and he lays with her. The scene is terse, but no less violent for its brevity. The bulk of the story demonstrates David’s desperation to undo this wrong, and I’m always impressed (negatively) by how many commandments he manages to break in these few episodes. The redemption happens, I think, in the naming of the child: /shalomo/, peace. (Verse 25 tells us that David gave him a different name: Jedediah, “beloved of the LORD”.) In the interest of time, and to keep the focus on Bathsheba, I have omitted the familiar scene of accusation between Nathan and David.

MARY (Luke 1:26-56, 2:1-21) We can’t get all the way to Jesus without Mary! In the spirit of her kindred mothers before her, I portray her as being in charge of her own situation, which includes the option of saying NO to the angel’s proposal. Once she’s in, she’s all in, but I don’t take her yes for granted. While the other women may have known the customs of the time, Mary clearly knows the promises of God, and sings of them. In what might seem inconvenient or even bad news (this unplanned pregnancy) she sees fulfillment of what her people have long awaited, and sets aside fear and convention to be part of what God is doing.

I believe that stories that are odd or embarrassing are the work of the Holy Spirit, who will not let us forget what God wants us to know: God will work in and through anybody, and everybody, to set God’s love loose in the world—no boundaries, limitations, or prerequisite qualifications. God even works through our sinfulness, healing the brokenness that would keep us apart from God. In Christian tradition, these Hebrew stories carry the savior to us, Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

Thanks for joining me in this storytelling. I pray these stories will bring hope and healing, and bring God close to you. – Lori