Infidelity in the Land

Transcription

1 III. Theme: Infidelity in the Land 19-Jun-05 Genesis 38:1-30 Tamar the Canaanite proves more righteous than Judah because she displayed concern for the continuation of the Seed line while Judah did not. Key Verse: Genesis 38:26 26 So Judah acknowledged them and said, She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son. And he never knew her again. Review Last week, we looked at Genesis 37, the first two panels of the Joseph Story. In the first panel, we were introduced to Joseph and his family. Joseph is contrasted with his ten other brothers (excepting Benjamin). The tension of the story is immediately set up by repeated references to the brothers hatred of Joseph. They hated Joseph because he was godly and they were not. They hated Joseph because Jacob lavished special attention and love on him, including a glorious tunic that exempted him from manual labor. They hated Joseph because he reported their evil deeds to Jacob. They hated Joseph because he was put in a position of authority and heirship over them. And they hated Joseph because he brought the Word of God to them through his dreams, a word that indicated that God had also chosen Joseph over them. And so their hatred of Joseph grew and matured, until at last in the providential timing of God, they saw an opportunity to eliminate their problem. Joseph came checking up on them, all alone and 65 miles away from home and safety. Ultimately, the brothers took Joseph and sold him to traders who carried him away into slavery in Egypt. But they could not get rid of the grief of Jacob so easily. Jacob s grief was beyond their imagining, and it stayed with the family for the many years of Joseph s separation. At the root of this family drama is rebellion against God. The brothers heard the Word of God and they rebelled against it. Their envy, jealousy, and hatred towards Joseph were really a rebellion against God. And their attack on Joseph was an attempt to thwart the will of God. However, the sinfulness of man is no match for the providence of God. And though Joseph was gone, he was not forgotten. Despite being stripped of his expensive tunic, Joseph has not been stripped of his character. Though exiled from his family, Joseph still remains close to God. Introduction Just when the Joseph Story is getting good, just when we are asking ourselves the question, What will happen to Joseph in slavery in Egypt?, we have a detour. The story of Judah and Tamar interprets our drama. Why is it here? What does this very unusual and unflattering story have to teach us? Before we look at the text in detail, let me suggest a number of reasons that Joseph s story has been interrupted at this point. First, like any good story, this insertion creates suspense. It delays our knowledge of what is happening to Joseph, but that makes us want all the more to know what is going on in Egypt. At the end of the book The Two Towers, Frodo is captured by Orcs and Sam is left helplessly behind. Will Frodo survive? Will Sam rescue Frodo? Has the mission to destroy the Ring failed? Turning eagerly to the opening pages of the sequel, The Return of the King, you learn that the story returns to the companions in the west, and that Frodo s fate lies unanswered for 200 more pages! Suspense an effective technique in narrative. Genesis IV Notes. Doc p. 30 DSB 9-Sep-05

2 Second, this story demonstrates a passage of time. The events of Genesis 38 take at least 20 years if not more. Joseph is in Egypt for 22 years before being reunited with his family. And so, Genesis 38 gives us a picture of what is happening in the Land during the entire time of Joseph s exile. Third, this story illustrates the necessity of separation from Canaan. Joseph had left Canaan (albeit unwillingly) and the rest of the family would eventually follow. Staying in Canaan was too dangerous for the people of God. The temptation to intermarry with the pagan Canaanites and adopt their culture, as Judah does in Genesis 38, has to be avoided if God s people are to grow and mature into a separate and holy nation. Egypt would be that incubator. Fourth, Genesis 38 has deliberate links with Genesis 37. Judah is forced to identify his ring and staff in a similar way that Jacob was forced to identify Joseph s tunic. Just as Jacob deceived his father Isaac and is in turn deceived by his sons, so Judah has deceived his father and is now deceived in turn by his daughter-in-law. Wenham points out that in all three episodes (Genesis 27, 37, 38) goats and items of dress are used in the deception. Fifth, Genesis 38 provides another contrast between righteous Joseph and the unrighteous brothers. As we will see in Genesis 39, Joseph avoids the temptation that Judah succumbs to. While Joseph is being faithful outside the land, Judah is being unfaithful in the land. Boice says: If Joseph was God s man in Egypt, Judah was certainly man s man in Canaan. The placement of Genesis 38 here thus serves as a parallel panel to the events of Genesis 39. Sixth, the Genesis themes of childlessness and the Seed line are continued. The men of this story, Judah and his sons, are not concerned with the promises of God and the continuation of the promised Seed line as originally given to his great-grandfather Abraham. Ironically, it is the Canaanite woman, Tamar, who shows more concern for the promises. Through her actions, she is indelibly linked to the Seed line and is in good company with another foreign woman who allied herself to God s people and to the Seed line Ruth. Thus, the chapter provides vital background for later history of the Seed line. Tamar s son Perez will become the ancestor of Boaz (husband of Ruth), David, and ultimately the promised Seed, Jesus Christ. Seventh, Genesis 38 continues the theme of the younger replacing the older. Judah and his brothers had sought to eliminate the younger son Joseph so they would not have to bow down and submit to him. But God shows Judah in his very own family this Genesis principle. His older sons are killed and replaced by younger ones at the end of the story. And even then, in the birth of Tamar s twins, we see another replacement as the younger twin Perez overtakes his brother Zerah. Wenham says the double reinforcement of this principle in chapter 38 is an assurance that Joseph s dreams will ultimately be fulfilled. Finally, this passage gives us some insight in Judah s character and forms the background for his later change. In these early chapters of the Joseph Story, Judah is a disreputable character. He sells his brother Joseph into slavery; he marries a Canaanite woman and adopts their customs; he doesn t mourn the deaths of his sons (compare that with Jacob s mourning over Joseph); he seeks out a prostitute; and he callously orders his daughter-in-law to be burned alive for apparently committing the same sin he is also guilty of. Yet what a different Judah we meet in 41: Clearly, Judah is a changed man, and this story shows the beginning of the transformation when he admits, She is in the right, not I (38:26) (Wenham). Genesis IV Notes. Doc p. 31 DSB 9-Sep-05

3 Structure of Panel 3 This is the third panel of the Joseph Story, and like all of the other panels, it can be organized into a chiastic structure. a Judah s children by his first wife (38:1-5) b Tamar s husbands killed for their (sexual) wickedness (38:6-10) c Judah s promises to Tamar unfulfilled (38:11-12a) d CENTER: Tamar seduces Judah; he lays with her (38:12b-18) c Judah s promise of payment to Tamar unfulfilled (38:19-23) b Tamar to be killed for her apparent sexual wickedness (38:24-26) a Judah s children by Tamar, his second wife (38:27-30) The hinge of the story is the interaction between Tamar and Judah. With this introduction, let us look at the text of Genesis 38. A. Judah s Family (38:1-5) 1. Judah (38:1) After the events of Genesis 37, Judah separates himself from his brothers. In a certain sense, this echoes the separation of Joseph from his brothers, although that separation was forced while this one is voluntary. Judah had assumed a mantle of leadership over the brothers after all, it was his plan to sell Joseph that was adopted by the others. Perhaps the events of Genesis 34 and 35 have occurred, and Reuben, Simeon, and Levi have been disqualified from leadership and heirship. So our attention is turned to Judah as he separates himself. Right away, we should be on the alert how will Judah behave in his separation? Where does Judah go? He departed or literally went down to the caves of Adullam, better known as the area where David would later take refuge from Saul (1 Sam. 22:1-2). Although Judah physically drops in elevation from the hills of Hebron to the area of Adullam, Eveson points out that he went down in more ways than one. His physical descent is a picture of his moral descent which is to come. 2. Marriage (38:2) While he is at Adullam, he visits his friend Hirah. More importantly, he sees the daughter of a certain Canaanite named Shua. Judah is fascinated by Shua s daughter. Look at the sequence of verbs in 38:2: Judah saw the unnamed Canaanite woman; he took her (better translation than married her); and he went in to her. He saw and took. Where else in Genesis have we seen that combination? Well, we can go back to Eden where Eve saw that the fruit was good, took it, and ate (3:6). How about the culture before the flood, where the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose (6:2)? The first instance led to the Fall of Humanity; the second instance led to the destruction of the world. The third instance should have been near and dear to Judah s heart it involved his sister Dinah: And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her (34:2). Here in chapter 38, Judah is portrayed as not a lot different than Eve, or the sons of God who intermarried sinfully, or Shechem who raped his sister Dinah. Genesis IV Notes. Doc p. 32 DSB 9-Sep-05

4 Already, we have verbal cues that there will be tragedy to follow: The Fall, the Flood, and the Slaughter of Shechem. Judah has separated himself from his brothers, but he has allied himself with the Canaanites. He has intermarried with them. He has taken a wife that he should not have taken. And there will be bitter consequences to follow in the coming years. 3. Sons (38:3-5) But for now, everything seems fine. In rapid succession, Judah s unnamed wife conceived and bore and called or named three sons. The staccato nature of these verses seems to indicate that the boys were born in quick succession. This is also supported by the overall timeline of this chapter, which needs to occur within a 22-year period. B. Judah s Sons (38:6-10) 1. Tamar (38:6) Now we fast-forward the story about fifteen years or so. Judah s firstborn, Er, is perhaps 18 at this time, and Judah seeks a wife for him. I find it interesting that he is taking this parental duty upon himself when he did not wait for Jacob to do the same for him. Judah does not look far afield for his son s wife; he chooses another Canaanite woman. At least, this Canaanite woman has a name Tamar. Tamar s name means date-palm, suggesting that she had a lovely figure (cf. Song 7:7) (Baldwin). As we will later learn, she also has a lovely character, unlike that of the family she marries into. 2. Er (38:7) Poor Tamar! Her marriage to Er was not destined to be happy or last long. The Scriptures say that Er, Judah s first-born, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD killed him (38:7). In Hebrew, Er spelled backwards is the word for evil. Wenham captures the pun in Hebrew by translating Er did evil as Er erred. Whatever Er did, it seems clear from the context that Tamar was innocent she is not involved in the sin, and she is spared God s judgment. We don t know what Er s sin was, but it must have been grievous for God to smite him. Er is just one more link in the chain of God s righteous and holy judgment against wickedness. God destroyed the world in Noah s day because of the wickedness of the earth (Gen. 6-8). He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness (Gen. 19:1-29). Here he strikes down Er because of his wickedness. Later on in the history of the children of Israel, God will strike down the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10:1-2). And who can forget how God struck down Ananias & Sapphira for lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-11). The story of Er reminds us that all sin is wickedness, and that all wickedness deserves death according to the righteous justice of God. Was God just in striking Er down? Of course He was! It is only through God s mercy that He does not strike us all down for wickedness. 3. Levirate Marriage (38:8) So there is Tamar, a widow almost before she is a bride. Fortunately for Tamar, social custom provided a solution for her dilemma. This social custom, later codified in the Law of Moses (Dt. 25:5-10) is called the levirate marriage. The term comes from the Latin word levir, which means brother-in-law. In this practice, a man who died without issue or heir could have his Genesis IV Notes. Doc p. 33 DSB 9-Sep-05

5 brother marry his widow and produce heirs of the dead man s estate. In this way, the name and line of the deceased would not fail. Here again is another link between Tamar and Ruth. Just as Tamar enters into a levirate marriage with the second son of Judah, so does Ruth with Boaz, the descendent of Tamar. 4. Onan (38:9-10) Now Onan, the second son of Judah enters into the scene. Apparently the fruit didn t fall far from the tree Onan seems cast in the same mold as his brother Er. Why are both of these brothers wicked? Could it have been the influence of the Canaanite mother? In any event, Onan didn t want anything to do with raising up a seed for his dead brother Er. Onan was the second born, and apparently he wanted to be the heir. He knew that if he provided an heir for his dead brother, the inheritance would pass him by and follow the line of the elder brother. Thus, he spilled his seed onto the ground. The Hebrew word translated when in vs. 9 really carries a continual sense and is better translated whenever. Onan didn t sin just once, he continually sinned. However, we need to be careful to understand what the sin was. Onan s sin wasn t the practice of birth control, per se. This story is not condemning birth control. Rather, the crux of the matter is redemptive and theological. Onan s sin was the deliberate rebellion of refusing to provide a legitimate heir for his dead brother. Although Er was dead by God s hand and unworthy of an heir, that did not justify Onan s selfish actions. Onan showed contempt for the will of his father and the will of God, who had destined the promised Seed to come through the line of Judah. By refusing to impregnate his wife Tamar, Onan was attempting to destroy the Seed line and thwart the will of God. And thus, God does to Onan what He did to Er He strikes him down in judgment because of wickedness. Er and Onan were great-great-grandsons of Abraham, but they didn t live like the father of faith, and so they died without faith. C. Judah s Promises (38:11) Poor Tamar! Two husbands, two divine retributions! No wonder Judah began to consider Tamar unlucky. Judah had one more son Shelah who by levirate custom would also be pledged to marry Tamar, but Judah understandably seems reluctant to commit his last son to this marked woman. So Judah sends Tamar away, back to her father s house until his third son is grown. But we already remarked how close in age the three brothers must have been, and so this move seems more like a delaying tactic than a sincere request. Out of sight, out of mind was Judah s motto. Note that Judah still is her father-in-law, and even though Tamar will be living in her father s house, she is not free to remarry at will. She is bound by law and custom to her father-in-law Judah. He is the one who determines her next marriage, not herself or her father. Thus, Judah continues to exercise considerable power over Tamar. As we will see, Judah appears to have no intention to marry his third son to Tamar, and so his promise to Tamar is cruel and inexcusable. D. Judah s Sin (38:12-19) I ve entitled this section the heart of the story as Judah s sin, but we ve already seen several other sins of Judah: first, his separation from his family and his union with the Canaanites through marriage and custom; and second, his deception of Tamar with regard to her Genesis IV Notes. Doc p. 34 DSB 9-Sep-05

6 future prospects with his third son. But here in these verses, we have the third sin, the sin in the chiastic structure of this section upon which the story turns and starts to reach resolution. 1. Sheep Shearing (38:12-13) Well, tragedy wasn t only confined to Tamar s marriages, and so it happened that Judah s unnamed wife died. Again, it doesn t seem that Judah is any more upset by this event than he was by the deaths of his two sons. While it is true that Judah observed a period of mourning, perhaps as much as one year, it seems like he is more interested in going to the sheep shearing festival with his Canaanite buddy Hirah than he is in mourning his dead (unnamed) wife or in marrying his third son to Tamar. Why was Judah in a hurry to go to the Timnah County Fair and Sheep Shearing Festival? Well, for one, it sounded a lot more fun than sitting around and mourning an unnamed wife. It was the spring time, a time of renewal, a time of new life, a time of ritual prostitution in the Canaanite culture in which Judah had immersed himself. Judah was lonely, and maybe Judah would get lucky. 2. Tamar (38:14) What s a girl to do? Tamar by this time had figured out that Judah was not going to honor his promises. Shelah was grown, and Judah had made no indications that he would marry him to Tamar (v. 14). So Tamar takes matters into her own hands and launches the plot described in this section. Let us step back from the story a moment to evaluate Tamar, her actions and her motivations. How are we to regard her? Is she a sinful, immoral woman who engages in a wicked act of deception and lewdness? Or is she a sinned-against woman who is doing what she can to right the wrong against her? Ross points out: The text of Scripture does not cast any moral judgment on Tamar, but she is presented in the Bible in a most favorable light (Ruth 4:12). It is not appropriate to judge her by Christian ethics, for in her culture at that time, her actions, though very dangerous for her, were within the law. She had the right to have a child by the nearest of kin to her deceased husband. She played on the vice of Judah to bear this child, and her deception worked. Wallace quotes Luther on this question: It is clear that Tamar is an upright and honorable woman, for she is not proud nor does she prostitute herself to others. She seeks no illicit pleasures. She makes it her aim to become a mother in this house into which she has been placed by divine authority. Therefore she lays aside the garments she had put on, clothes herself again in the garments of widowhood and sits in mourning. Although she had been made pregnant she wants a further blessing from the Lord. 3. Judah (38:15-16a) Notice what Tamar does. All she does is place herself alongside the road on which Judah is traveling. Judah does all the rest. It is Judah who notices her; it is Judah who thought she was a harlot; it was Judah who turned away from the road and toward her; and it is Judah who started the business transaction. It seems clear that Tamar understood her father-in-law all too well; that she understood the real reason for this road trip. And thus Judah walks deftly into her trap. Genesis IV Notes. Doc p. 35 DSB 9-Sep-05

7 Judah considers that this covered woman by the side of the road is a prostitute. Two different words are used in this passage. The word in verse 15 is that of a common harlot, but in verses 21-22, a specialized word is used: cult-prostitute. It is possible that Judah believed that this woman was a ritual prostitute, and activity with her would encourage the local gods and goddesses to emulate their actions to ensure the fertility of the land. Thus, his fornication with Tamar not only had physical significance, but it also represented spiritual idolatry and rebellion against God. Judah had separated himself from everything in his father s house, including his father s God. Judah was now indistinguishable from the Canaanites amongst whom he lived. 4. Business (38:16b-19) Judah has stopped mourning for an unnamed wife, and now he starts bargaining for an unrecognized lover. The price is quickly reached: A young goat kid from his herd. There is only one problem Judah does not have his goatherd with him, and so the unnamed woman demands a pledge to guarantee the price will be paid. She asks for Judah s signet or seal and for his staff as collateral until the IOU is paid. Hartley explains: A seal was usually a small precious stone in the form of a cylinder on which were inscribed a person s name along with some symbols that were closely connected with that person. When it was rolled over a soft clay tablet, the seal imprinted the owner s name and symbol. Many of these seals had a hole through the center for a cord so that it could be worn around the neck. Other seals were in the form of a ring. Tribal leaders carried a staff, which often had carved heads depicting the symbol of that tribe. These three items unmistakably identified their owner. In other words, Tamar takes Judah s credit card until he can pay the bill. Once the negotiations are concluded, Judah gets what he wants, and surprisingly, Tamar also gets what she wants, for we read that she conceived by him. Judah goes on his way happy, and Tamar returns to her previous place of mourning, waiting as a widow for a husband that will never come. E. Judah s Payment (38:20-23) After the sheep shearing festival is over, Judah sends his friend Hirah with the goat to redeem his pledge and recover his lost signet and staff. Don t you find it interesting that Judah will honor his pledge to an unknown prostitute, but that he has failed in the greater responsibility of providing a husband for his daughter-in-law? Hartley puts it this way: Ironically, in trying to cover a small disgrace he was unaware that a much greater disgrace was being exposed his disregard of levirate marriage. It seems that Judah s main motivation in paying the goat debt is to avoid the shame of being publicly exposed for his actions. This is demonstrated first by sending his Canaanite friend rather than paying the debt himself. He was limiting his own exposure. It wouldn t do for proper Judah to be seen asking about a prostitute! Instead, Hirah has to inquire as to the whereabouts of the prostitute. However, after a few furtive inquiries, it becomes clear from the indignant locals that no prostitute was known to be working their strip. Secondly, when Hirah is unable to find the unknown harlot, Judah s response is revealing: Let her take them [his seal and staff] for herself, lest we be shamed (38:23). Rather than continue the search, Judah decided to let the whole matter drop. Discretion is the better part of valor. Judah preferred to keep the whole affair quiet rather than to continue attempts to regain his possessions. Genesis IV Notes. Doc p. 36 DSB 9-Sep-05

8 F. Judah s Admission (38:24-26) 1. Trial (38:24-25) Three months pass, and then a message comes to Judah: Your daughter-in-law is pregnant! She has played the harlot! Judah springs into action. How dare Tamar act so shamelessly! How dare she not reserve herself for Judah s third son (never mind that Judah never intended for that marriage to take place). Tamar was out of sight and she should have been out of mind! Now she was causing Judah trouble. In his self-righteousness, Judah now adds hypocrisy to his list of sins, for he will condemn Tamar for the very act in which he himself indulged but sought to cover up. Only one thing to do: Let her be burned! Later on, this would be the same penalty for a priest s daughter who committed harlotry (Lev. 21:9). Normally, the death penalty for harlotry in the Mosaic Law was by stoning (Dt. 22:21). Don t you just love a trial where the death sentence is issued before the evidence is heard? However, in God s providence, Tamar is able to bring forth the evidence in the case. She still has Judah s signet and staff. If she is going to burn, she is going to drag Judah down with her! 2. Reversal (38:26) All of a sudden, Judah is confronted with all of his past sins. He recognizes his sin in lying to Tamar and withholding his third son from her. He recognizes his sin in committing fornication and acknowledges his culpability by claiming the tokens she offers in proof. His selfrighteousness and hypocrisy are exposed. He reverses the death sentence on Tamar and exonerates her with these words: She has been more righteous than I. Certainly Judah has been guilty of unrighteousness, but in what manner can Tamar be considered righteous? After all, she did pose as a prostitute and engage in that illicit activity. How can Judah declare her to be righteous? Because her motives and her goal were proper, if not her means. Judah had lost sight of the Seed line, of the promises made to his ancestor Abraham, and of the command to be fruitful and multiply. By withholding Shelah from Tamar, he was denying the continuation of his family line, and thus endangering the fulfillment of the promises. Tamar was acting to protect the Seed line in the only way available to her in her weak position. G. Judah s Twins (38:27-30) 1. Perez (38:27, 29) Now we skip ahead in time six more months to complete the story. The time for Tamar to give birth draws near. Lo and behold, Tamar is expecting twins! Twins must run in the family, skipping a generation. And just as Jacob and Esau struggled in the womb, so do these two grandsons of Jacob struggle inside of Tamar s womb. As the twins struggle to be born, one sticks out his hand, and the midwife ties a scarlet cord around his wrist to identify him as the first-born. But an amazing thing happens. Unexpectedly, the scarlet wrist is withdrawn, and when the first child appears, he doesn t have the cord on his wrist. The second-born came out first! This child was named Perez, which means breaking out or he who breaks through. Genesis IV Notes. Doc p. 37 DSB 9-Sep-05

9 2. Zerah (38:27-28, 30) Afterwards, the first-born with the scarlet cord on his wrist is born. Although the meaning of his name is not indicated, Zerah most likely means shining or brightness, possibly referring to the color of the scarlet thread around his wrist. Once again we have the younger, Perez, replacing and supplanting the elder, Zerah. In the later history of the tribe of Judah, Perez would have the pre-eminence. Out of Perez comes Boaz, David, the kings of Israel, and the Messiah, Jesus Christ (Ruth 4:18; Mt. 1:3; Lk. 3:33). Meanwhile, perhaps the most illustrious descendent of Zerah is Achan, who sinned in the battle of Jericho by taking the banned things, thus causing Israel to lose at Ai (Jos. 7:1). Genesis 38 starts out with the death of two of Judah s sons and the uncertainty of his lineage surviving. The chapter ends with the replacement of the two sons and the future continuation of the line of Judah secure. This is confirmed by 46:12, where we read that Judah descended into Egypt with Shelah as well as the twins Perez and Zerah. Judah s line was secure. Conclusion What lessons can we draw from this strange interlude of Genesis 38? displayed? What practical applications can be made? Let me list several. What theology is First, we continue to see how the providence of God trumps the wickedness of men. Judah left his home, left his brothers, left his father, and left his God behind. He descended into the world of the Canaanites and adopted their lifestyle. He married into their culture and left his world behind. As a result, his first two sons grew up to be wicked and evil in the sight of the LORD. And because of their wickedness, God struck them down. But God was not going to let the sinfulness of Judah or the wickedness of Judah s sons ruin his plan to bring the Messiah through Judah s line. And so God raises up Tamar, a Canaanite woman, a pagan outside the chosen family of God, to remind Judah of who he is and where he came from. The promises of God made to Abraham must be fulfilled. And God uses pagan Tamar when chosen Judah refuses. How unsearchable are the ways of the Lord and his paths past finding out! Second, consider that Tamar is added into the family of God. As I have just mentioned, God uses all sorts of people that we don t expect. God saves all kinds of people that we don t expect. And Tamar is such an example. Consider this exhortation made at the wedding of Boaz (Tamar s descendent) and Ruth: Ruth 4:12 May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the LORD will give you from this young woman. Not only is she celebrated as the mother of Perez, but Tamar is also included in the lineage of Christ (Mt. 1:3). In Matthew s genealogy of Christ, he mentions only five women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, the former wife of Uriah (Bathsheba), and Mary, the mother of Jesus. Consider that list. Tamar a Canaanite adulteress; Rahab a Canaanite harlot; Ruth a Moabite widow; Bathsheba an adulterer; and the virgin Mary. God gave light to these women, and their names are forever recorded in the family tree of the Messiah. Tamar s faith is demonstrated by her commitment to the Seed line, and as a result Judah declares that she is righteous. Genesis IV Notes. Doc p. 38 DSB 9-Sep-05

10 Wallace writes: What Tamar did was done by faith. The reason she was so concerned to have offspring was not simply to be a mother, or to achieve social standing but in contrast to Judah and his brothers to find in active place for herself and her children among the descendants of Abraham and under the shelter of their God. She saw, prized, and wanted in their family tradition what Judah and his brothers despised and rejected. Moreover she believed that God had called her out of her heathen world to share in her own way in the blessing promised for all nations. Do you know anyone like Tamar? Someone who seems unlikely to you to be added to the people of God, but someone whom God has different plans for? Don t discount anyone God is no respecter of persons, and He wills that many will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Perhaps there is a Tamar in your neighborhood, or office, or school. Don t give up on them, because God won t. Third, even though the events of Genesis 38 interrupt the main story of Joseph, they still remind us of Joseph and instruct us of how God works. The constant theme in Genesis of the elder serving the younger is again reiterated here in Genesis 38. Zerah was technically the elder twin because his hand came out first, and yet it was Perez who took the pre-eminence by being born first. Although Joseph was the youngest brother, his ten older brothers should also have recognized that Joseph had been given the pre-eminence through the word of Jacob and the Word of God. Judah was instrumental in removing Joseph from the scene, but God gives him a picture in his own family that His purposes cannot be so easily set aside. Joseph will have the pre-eminence, because God has so decreed. Eventually, Judah gets it. He is presented in this chapter as a sinful, fallen man. After selling his brother into slavery, he leaves his family and his God behind for the attractions of the Canaanite culture. He marries into a pagan society and raises up wicked children. He doesn t seem to mourn the deaths of his sons. He breaks his promises to Tamar. He commits fornication. He is self-righteous and quick to condemn in others the sin that he himself is guilty of. He is a natural man, contaminated by sin. But praise God there is hope for Judah. He recognizes his guilt in 38:26. Later on, we will see him offer to sacrifice himself for his young brother Benjamin. He is a changed man. God s grace is greater than Judah s sinfulness. And if there is hope for Judah, then there is hope for all of us who cling to Jesus Christ. Finally, consider this teaching of Luther, described by Boice: Luther said that the story of Judah and Tamar was included in Genesis for two purposes: first, to rebuke presumption, and second, to challenge despair. It rebukes presumption in that if Judah who was an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ and was instructed, as he must have been, in the religion of his father Jacob and of his ancestors Isaac and Abraham if he sinned so easily in going to Tamar, then any of us can likewise sin, regardless of our background, privileges, or training. The story challenges despair, because in the midst of this great sin we nevertheless see the great mercy of God. If you have fallen, return; for the door of mercy is open to you. What hope would be left for us if Peter had not denied Christ and all the apostles had not taken offense at Him, and if Moses, Aaron and David had not fallen? If you have fallen, return; for the door of mercy is open to you. Close in Prayer. Next week: Lesson 4 Fidelity outside the Land Gen. 39:1-23 Genesis IV Notes. Doc p. 39 DSB 9-Sep-05