School Chaplain’s Advent Reflections 2025, Week 1 – Hope – Tamar

In the first of her Advent series, which explores different stories of Old Testament women, our School Chaplain, Revd Dr Karen Hyde, reflects on the story of Tamar. 

For her own personal devotions during Advent 2024, the Chaplain attended an online series run by the Carmelite Community in Oxford. The guest speaker, Kathleen MacInnis Kichline, based her reflections on her 2022 book ‘Why these women?’ in which she invites us to consider that we miss something important if we skip over the ‘anomalous presence of four women in the all-male line up of ancestors that opens the New Testament’.[1] It was the subtitle that piqued my interest – ‘Four stories you need to read before you read the story of Jesus’ [Italics mine] – before – why, I wondered? And so, my Advent journey began taking hold in a way that I didn’t expect and becoming the basis of this year’s Chapel series for Advent 2025.

Delving into the stories of Old Testament women is fascinating, and these women kindled in me a sense of kinship with the 2023 series entitled ‘Unveiled’ that Revd Clare Hayns wrote on ‘Women of the Old Testament and the choices they made’.[2] At that time, Clare and her son Micah (the artist who produced the paintings for the book) spoke to school about their collaboration, and the portraits used here (with their permission) are from that series.[3]

‘Why these women?’

Each of these women – Tamar, Bathsheba, Ruth, Rahab, and then Mary – holds a unique place in biblical tradition and finds echoes or parallels across other faiths and cultures. Their stories reflect themes of justice, redemption, loyalty, and divine favour that resonate far beyond Christianity.

• They break norms: Each woman defies cultural expectations – Tamar through bold justice, Rahab as a foreign protector, Ruth as a loyal outsider, Bathsheba rising from scandal, and Mary as a young virgin chosen by God.
• They represent grace: Their inclusion shows that divine purpose often works through the marginalized, the unexpected, and the flawed.
• They connect traditions: Their stories echo across Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and global folklore, showing shared human values like loyalty, courage, and redemption.

As I journeyed through Advent with these women, I found my own reflections taking a poetic form as I inhabited their stories and walked in their footsteps: ‘waiting patiently in expectation for God to come again now’. This refrain wove throughout my Advent reflections as each year we prepare ourselves afresh for Jesus’ birth at Christmas. Recognising these women’s part in the genealogy of Jesus, each poem connects and projects the protagonist forward into Jesus’ lifetime and asks “Does He remember me? When…” thinking of specific events that we may be more familiar with from the Gospels.

Whilst considering Advent themes for 2025 I realised the ways in which the stories of Tamar, Bathsheba, Ruth, Rahab, and Mary connect well with the Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, Love and Light, and how they might invite students to reflect on their own lives by asking:

“Where in your own life – your friendships, your family, your choices – might God be growing something beautiful, even if it’s hidden, messy, or unexpected?”

This question encourages students to see these ancient stories not as distant history, but as mirrors for their own experiences: moments of courage, forgiveness, loyalty, risk, and trust. It helps them consider how Advent isn’t just about waiting for Christmas – it’s about noticing how God is already at work in them and around them.

So please enjoy this journey through Advent in the footsteps of four indomitable female ancestors of Jesus and let them speak anew to you.

[1] ‘Why these women? Four stories you need to read before you read the story of Jesus’, Kathleen MacInnis Kichline. (Sistersinscripture.com, 2022)

[2] ‘Unveiled. Women of the Old Testament and the choices they made.’ Reflections by Clare Hayns. Artwork by Micah Hayns. (Bible Reading Fellowship, 2021)

[3] https://micahhayns.com/

Week 1 – HOPE – Tamar

Tamar’s story:

Genesis chapter 38 recounts the story of Tamar and Judah. Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, is twice widowed and then denied her right to marry Judah’s remaining sons. At that time, this law was God’s protection and should have given Tamar safety and provision. So, she takes matters into her own hands and disguising herself as a prostitute, tricks Judah into sleeping with her and becomes pregnant. When her identity is revealed, she is in possession of Judah’s signet and staff as a pledge, so Judah acknowledges his wrongdoings and her righteousness, sparing Tamar’s life. Tamar then gives birth to twin boys, Perez and Zerah. The inclusion of Perez shows how even complex and morally challenging stories are woven into the genealogy of Jesus and highlight’s themes of redemption and divine providence.

Reflection:

Tamar’s story is messy, painful, and often overlooked. She was wronged, silenced, and cast aside. Yet she refused to be erased. Through courage and cunning, she secured justice – and became part of the lineage of Jesus.

Advent begins in the dark—with longing, waiting, and hope. Tamar reminds us that hope isn’t passive. It’s fierce. It fights for restoration. Jesus comes from a line that includes the broken and brave. Tamar’s story says: no situation is beyond redemption. Where in your life do you need this kind of fierce hope?