October 15, 2023
Reading: Genesis 38
Focus: Genesis 38:26 – Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.
Father God, we praise Your name. We are thankful for Your love and mercy. Help us to see how You work in our lives even when we do wrong. Help us to see how You bring us back to You. In Jesus Name, Amen.
This chapter seems out of place, but it really isn’t. It is essential for us to understand just why the Israelites needed to spend over 400 years of national purity. It’s not just a spicy story, showing us the weakness of Judah and the wickedness of his sons. Up to now, the sons of Israel were exposed to the Canaanites, their women and religions. The Israelites tended to choose their own way rather than God’s way. So, to keep the Israelites spiritually pure, they had to be isolated from idolatry and other customs so that they could focus on God and his ways. Thus, the trip to Egypt. The Egyptians would not marry with the Israelites because they were shepherds. Shepherds were detested by the Egyptians.
The story goes that Judah left his brothers and apparently went to make his own fortune on his own. He became friends with a man named Hirah, an Adullamite. There is nothing more said about the man, but it does seem that the man was not a good influence on Judah. It appears that whenever Hirah is mentioned, there is trouble with and for Judah. Judah’s age is not mentioned here but given that Joseph was seventeen when Judah suggested that they sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites, he may have been in his 20s.
While in the company of Hirah, Judah saw the daughter of Shua and wanted her. Nothing much more is said about her. It may be much the same way as Shechem and Dinah. Judah saw her, took her and went in to her. The difference seems to be that he took her to wife before the fact, rather than after. There is no mention of love. The union was possibly the result of lust for a beautiful woman. No more, no less. Judah’s marriage was not arranged by Israel as it should have been, nor does it appear that God was even considered here. There were three sons from this marriage. Er, Onan and Shelah. Judah chose Tamar as wife for his firstborn, Er. There is no explanation of the wickedness of Er. Suffice it to say that it was so horrible in God’s eyes, that God killed Er. Not a position I would want to be in.
Now, let me explain a little before we go on. It was common practice in those days for a brother of a deceased man to marry his brother’s widow and have a son with her. This son would be considered the son of the deceased man, not that of the natural father. The deceased brother’s inheritance would be passed to that child and the name of deceased would not disappear from the family. This is called a “levirate” marriage. This was codified by God in Mosaic Law later on in Deuteronomy. Judah knew this and his sons knew this. The penalty for not following this was pretty severe. The woman could go to the elders and state her case. If the brother still would not comply, she could take his sandal off his foot, spit in his face and say, “Thus it is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.” The man’s family would be called “The Family of the Unsandaled”. Not a good reputation. Probably would make it hard to find spouses for that man’s children. The continuance of family lines was of primary importance.
This is where Judah stood. When Er died, Tamar was given to Onan as wife. Onan knew that the firstborn son would not be his son but would be known as his brother’s child. As a result, the birthright of the firstborn would go to that child, not to him. So, he practiced birth control. Rather than completing the act, he pulled out and spilled his seed on the ground. Onan’s sin was threefold. First, what he did not was not a natural conclusion to the act. He used Tamar for sexual gratification but refused to allow her to conceive a child. The whole purpose of taking Tamar to wife was to continue the deceased brother’s line. It was an insult, not only to Tamar but to his dead brother. Second, Onan was disobedient. His father had commanded it by giving Tamar to him as wife. He was also disobedient to God. God had told them to multiply. Onan refused. He did not want to have to raise a child that would be the child of his brother rather than his own. Third, Onan’s motive was evil. He sinned against his father and Tamar but ultimately against his dead brother. He didn’t want his dead brother to have the inheritance that he felt was due him and he didn’t care whether his brother’s line continued or not. Onan’s wickedness was the reason God took his life too.
Judah has now lost two sons because of their wickedness. For all he knew, it was Tamar that was responsible for the deaths of his sons. He was very hesitant to give her to Shelah. So, he sent her back to live in her father’s house until Shelah was “old enough”. But to himself, Judah’s reason was to keep his youngest son from dying as well. He was unfair to Tamar. There was still one brother whose responsibility was to sire a child in the name of his brother, Er. Judah knew it and Tamar knew it. Now, we are looking back on this story and know that Jesus was born from Judah’s line. At this point, there are no grandchildren for Judah. How will this be resolved?
Time passed and Judah’s wife died. After his mourning, Judah went to Timnah during sheepshearing with his friend Hirah. Here’s that troublemaker again. After the work, it was time to celebrate. Tamar had learned that Judah was in Timnah. She had realized, by this time, that Judah was not going to allow Shelah to marry her and give her a son for her dead husband’s legacy. She was in limbo. A widow with no children and a brother-in-law that would not be given to her as husband. So, as a couple of her predecessors, she decided to take things into her own hands.
Tamar knew that Judah was never going to give her to Shelah. So, she formulated a plan to ensure a child to be raised as Er’s child. She was a part of the religion that Israel practiced. She probably revered God but, at the same time, Judah’s refusal to give her Shelah was more than she could deal with. If Shelah would not father a child, she was going to seduce Judah. She took off her widow’s robes, dressed like a prostitute and sat in the gates of a city on the way to Timnah. Judah saw her but did not recognize her because her face was covered. She took advantage of the fact that Judah and his men were celebrating after all the work of shearing the sheep. He may have been drinking but the Bible does not tell us that.
Regardless, Tamar knew Judah. She knew that Judah was not the most moral man around. It seems obvious that Judah was familiar with prostitutes. He assumed that she was a temple prostitute. He was evidently practiced in negotiating with prostitutes for favors. They came to terms and Tamar insisted on some sort of guarantee that she would be paid. Payment was not her goal. Her goal was to conceive a child under levirate law and then, proof of who was the father of the child. Judah willingly gave his seal, the cord and his staff. All three items were unique to Judah. His seal probably included his name and some symbol that represented himself. The cord was a piece of personal clothing and his staff was probably carved by his own hand. Separately, they still would have identified Judah as the owner. Together, there was no way to mistake the owner of the items. Tamar sinned in what she did, but so did Judah. He was guilty of fornication as well as sleeping with his daughter-in-law. Both were sins in the eyes of God.
Judah attempted to pay the prostitute, but Hirah could not find her. The people at the gate of town on the way to Timnah said that there had never been temple prostitute there. Then Hirah returned the kid goat to Judah with the news that he could find the prostitute. Judah had to be a little nervous about the missing seal, cord and staff. There was no way the items could be anyone else’s but he blew it off saying that she could just keep them. For anyone else to know would make him a laughingstock. He chose to ignore the sin and the loss of those items rather than face any possible embarrassment. Well, just wait. It’s going to come back to bite him.
Several months later, a gossip tells Judah that Tamar is pregnant. Judah was angry. She was, technically, the wife of his son Shelah, even though she had not been given to him as wife. She was guilty of adultery! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! He demanded that she be brought out to be burned. What that burning actually was to be has a few possibilities. Some believe that she was to be burned to death. This was a very harsh punishment. Mosaic law states stoning for such a sin. Other possibilities are that she would be branded as an adulteress. Judah’s anger burned hot. He was guilty of the sin of fornication, which probably made his anger more unreasonable that it should have been.
There is also the thought that this even would end the problem of giving her to Shelah as wife. If he could get rid of Tamar, he could resolve the issue of the levirate marriage. However, Tamar had evidence of who the father was. Judah, himself. She produced the seal, chord and staff and said that they belonged to the father of her child. I can just imagine the chill that washed over Judah when he recognized his possessions. Busted!! Not only was he caught out in his own sins of fornication but he was caught out in his refusal to follow the levirate marriage for Tamar to Shelah. Judah confessed his sin and recognized that Tamar was more righteous that himself. Both of the twins that Tamar bore are named in the ancestry of Jesus. Judah repented of his sins and did not return to them.
This one-night stand is a black mark on the life of Judah, but the tribe of Judah is from whom Jesus was born. The tribe was that of the kings of Israel and Judah. Jesus is called the Lion of Judah. Judah is not included in the description of God – the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. In spite of his sins, Judah is still the ancestor of Jesus. He had no idea that he would be an ancestor of the Messiah. We have no idea how God will use us or our children. We should live our lives committed to righteousness. God has a plan and He will work that plan through us or in spite of us.
Which do you prefer?
Food for Thought
- Why do thing Judah was so worried about giving Tamar to Shelah?
- Do you think that Onan was greedy or just selfish? Why or why not?
- Why do you think that Tamar just didn’t go to Judah instead of tricking him?
- Why do you think that people judge others harsher when they are guilty of the same sin?
- Do you judge others? Do you think you should? Why or why not?
