The Judah Interlude - Genesis 38:1-30
INTRODUCTION:
Two weeks ago we started our final series of Genesis on the life of Joseph, at the end of my message last week Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers, they had deceived their father making him believe that Joseph had been killed by a wild beast, and the chapter ended with the information that Joseph had made it to Egypt and was sold to an official of the Pharaoh, the captain of the Pharaoh’s body guard.
As we come this morning to chapter 38 we would expect that we would begin reading about the life that Joseph was leading as a slave, but instead we are confronted with a chapter that does not seem to fit into the life of Joseph and we ask ourselves why is this right here in the middle of the life of Joseph. Such a parenthesis in the history of Joseph demands some reason that a chapter filled with wickedness, immorality, and deception should be placed here. What is the necessity of placing it here? We are going to look at that question this morning, I am going to pray and then we will read our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 38 and we will read the entire chapter, verses 1-30. Please stand as I read God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Genesis 38:1-30,
“And it came about at that time, that Judah departed from his brothers and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; and he took her and went in to her. So she conceived and bore a son and he named him Er. Then she conceived again and bore a son and named him Onan. She bore still another son and named him Shelah; and it was at Chezib that she bore him. Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord took his life. Then Judah said to Onan, ‘Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.’ Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother. But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He took his life also. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, ‘Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up’; for he thought, ‘I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.’ So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house. Now after a considerable time Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and when the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. It was told to Tamar, ‘Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.’ So she removed her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face. So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, ‘Here now, let me come in to you’; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, ‘What will you give me, that you may come in to me?’ He said, therefore, ‘I will send you a young goat from the flock.’ She said, moreover, ‘Will you give a pledge until you send it?’ He said, ‘What pledge shall I give you?’ And she said, ‘Your seal and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.’ So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. Then she arose and departed, and removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments. When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. He asked the men of her place, saying, ‘Where is the temple prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?’ But they said, ‘There has been no temple prostitute here.’ So he returned to Judah, and said, ‘I did not find her; and furthermore, the men of the place said, “There has been no temple prostitute here.”’ Then Judah said, ‘Let her keep them, otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.’ Now it was about three months later that Judah was informed, ‘Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot, and behold, she is also with child by harlotry.’ Then Judah said, ‘Bring her out and let her be burned!’ It was while she was being brought out that she sent to her father-in-law, saying, ‘I am with child by the man to whom these things belong.’ And she said, ‘Please examine and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?’ Judah recognized them, and said, ‘She is more righteous than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.’ And he did not have relations with her again. It came about at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were twins in her womb. Moreover, it took place while she was giving birth, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, ‘This one came out first.’ But it came about as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out. Then she said, ‘What a breach you have made for yourself!’ So he was named Perez. Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand; and he was named Zerah.” (Genesis 38:1–30, NASB95)[1]
CHRONOLOGICAL–WALKING AWAY FROM THE COVENANT COMMUNITY (Gen. 38)
How do you feel after reading this chapter, are you asking yourself, “Why is this here?” This morning I am not going to dwell on the details of this chapter so much as I want to examine the question, “What is the necessity of placing this passage in this spot?” The chapter is straight forward and does not need explanation, but “Is this chapter even necessary?” In answer to this question is a simple one, this chapter is necessary otherwise God would not have put it in the Bible. But the first question I believe demands a longer answer and I hope that when we come to the end of this message you will understand why this chapter is placed in this spot and see how it fits. I believe that there are four reasons that this chapter is here and I want to examine each of these four reasons.
The first reason that this chapter is in this spot has to do with chronology. This is where the events of this chapter fit into the history of Joseph. This chapter spans many years and would be during the time that Joseph was in slavery. Joseph became a slave at the age of 17 and was 30 years old when he came into the service of Pharaoh and then there were the seven years of plenty for a total number of 25 years before the seven years of famine began. During that 25 year span Judah married and had three sons, the first two sons were grown enough that he took a wife for the firstborn and the second born was given the wife after the firstborn had died that he might perform what was required of a brother-in-law by raising up offspring for his deceased brother. This is called a “levirate marriage” and was an ancient practice that was later codified in the Law of Moses. We are not told what the wickedness of Er was, but it must have been terribly evil because Judah had already done some very wicked deeds: he sold his brother into slavery, he deceived his father concerning Joseph; he had left the covenant community of his family and began to integrate with the Canaanites, dwelling with Hirah the Adullamite. Adullam was a Canaanite city about 10 miles from Hebron. He married a Canaanite woman and had three sons by her. All evil things, but Er’s wickedness cost him his life. The second displeased God when he refused to raise up offspring for his deceased brother and only took his brother’s wife for sexual gratification; God took his life as well. Judah sent Tamar back to her father’s household to live as a widow until his third born Shelah was of marriageable age. But Judah’s true fear was that Shelah would also die if he married Tamar. Tamar waited for the time when she would be given to Shelah as his wife and the inheritance right of her deceased husband would be protected, but this never happened. When she saw that this was not going to happen she disguised herself and deceived Judah to obtain the inheritance rights. Some believe that Tamar may have been influenced by Hittite inheritance practices that wickedly called the father-in-law into levirate marriage in the absence of brothers to fulfill it. So all of this fit into that 25 year period that Joseph was in slavery and prison and serving Pharaoh in Egypt. So the first reason it is here is it is chronologically in the right spot.
GENEALOGICAL-WALKING AWAY FROM THE COVENANT BLESSINGS (Genesis 38)
The second reason that this chapter is in this spot is because it is genealogically in the right place. With Joseph gone, seemingly for good, and with Reuben out of favor with his father for incest in his attempt to usurp his father’s authority, and Simeon and Levi out of favor with Jacob for their treachery in killing all the males in Shechem, Judah would most likely ascend to firstborn status, but he chose to walk away from the covenant blessing by integrating with the people of the land. Judah got himself into trouble when he separated from his brothers and began to make friends with the Canaanites of the land. Abraham and Isaac had been careful to see that the son of promise did not marry women of the land so that the “chosen seed” of Israel would not be polluted with idolatry and immorality. That is exactly what happened when Judah was deceived by Tamar. He went to her thinking she was a prostitute, his friend Hirah called her a temple prostitute when looking for her to give her the goat and to get back Judah’s pledge, which means not only did he have relations with a prostitute, but did it as an act of idolatry. Judah’s brothers were doing some things that their father disapproved of, but Judah would have still been safer with them than with the people of the land. At least living in their presence would have reminded him that he was a child of the covenant. The fear, the wickedness, the dishonesty, and the immorality of Judah brought him shame and robbed him of blessing. Israel must have grieved over Judah’s sin as he grieved over the loss of Joseph. Israel had met God at Bethel and been revived in his soul, but the seed of self-life sown in his early days was producing sorrow in his family.
CONTRAST-WALKING INTO DECEPTION (Genesis 38)
This sets us up for the next chapter in that the character of Judah is in sharp contrast to the character of Joseph. We will see that Joseph refuses to compromise himself with his owner’s wife, but Judah solicited his sin of immorality by making a proposal to whom he assumed to be a prostitute and agreed on a price and a pledge and casually slept with a strange woman that he thought was a prostitute when in reality it was his daughter-in-law. In this we also see the continued use of deception by the family. Jacob wore the garment of his brother Esau to deceive Isaac, Judah and his brothers used the garment of Joseph dipped in blood to deceive Israel, and Tamar used the garments of a temple prostitute to deceive Judah. Tamar knowing that she could trap Judah by this deception says little for his moral stature in her eyes.
This passage also shows us how dangerous it was for God’s people to be in the land of the Canaanites. There was always the temptation to live like your neighbors instead of like people of God. This passage shows us the necessity for God to get His chosen people out of Canaan from among the wicked Canaanites and into the seclusion of Goshen in the land of Egypt. If left in Canaan the sons of Israel might have all given in to the temptation to live like their neighbors. Israel was instructed to destroy these people later on because of their sinfulness. In Egypt they were safe because shepherds were detestable to the Egyptians.
MERCY AND GRACE-WALKING INTO GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY (Gen. 38; Matt. 1; Luke 3)
The final and most important reason for this chapter being in this spot is so that we can see God’s grace and mercy displayed through His sovereignty. Though Judah was doing all that he could to be like the people of Canaan and was following in their wickedness and sin, God had chosen Judah to be the royal line in Israel. God had to destroy Judah’s first two sons for their wickedness in the sight of the Lord. God gave to Judah two more sons through Tamar. This does not mean that God approved of Judah’s sin of sleeping with a prostitute or of his practicing idolatry if Tamar was truly posing as a temple prostitute. Judah’s sin was revealed when Tamar produced his staff and signet and cords when she was about to be burned to death. Judah had to admit that he was in the wrong, and she had been right to protect the inheritance rights. This does not mean that God approved of the way Tamar went about protecting those rights by posing as a prostitute. But the Lord used these two, Judah and Tamar, to accomplish his purposes, at the same time their sin was revealed and they had to answer for it.
The grace and mercy that is revealed in this chapter is not fully seen until we come to the first chapter of Matthew and the third chapter of Luke where we have the genealogies of Jesus through Joseph and through Mary. The struggle of these twin sons born from Judah’s incestuous relationship with Tamar was a pattern of the struggle that was to come in the family line of Judah. Perez was the father of the line from which David was born. You will find Tamar’s name in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1. This chapter gives the connection between Judah and Perez, the family which led to Boaz, the great, great grandfather of David. This chapter is essential to the genealogy of Christ. It reveals that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was willing to come down and identify Himself with a sinful family, even though He himself was sinless, and then “to be made sin for us” in order that He might redeem us from sin. The author of Hebrews describes it in this way for us, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:14–18, NASB95)[2] How rich is the mercy of God and how great is the grace of God that from a family begun in such shame as this chapter describes, God was pleased to bring into the world His only begotten Son. The Son born into a family of sinful people who came to die for the sins of the world, who offers us His mercy by extending to us His grace. God offers us forgiveness of our sin through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, this is His grace offering us something that we do not deserve. His mercy is seen in that forgiveness as well when He does not give to us what we deserve because we believe that Jesus paid the penalty for our sin.
CONCLUSION:
In this chapter, we see how sin can creep into our lives like a cancer and like cancer it will continue to grow and take over our life unless something is done to stop it. But within this sad piece of history we see God’s grace and mercy displayed in His sovereignty. Despite Judah walking away from the covenant community of his family and despite him walking away from the covenant blessings that he was next in line to receive, God had already chosen him to be the father of the royal line of Israel, and God’s choice and purpose is not thwarted by man’s choices and sin. Judah was not perfect, in fact he was deliberately disobedient, but God used him to accomplish His purposes. This does not mean, as I already said, that God approved of Judah or Tamar’s sin, we know this because of the judgment that came upon Er and Onan for their sinfulness. Judah and Tamar’s sins were ultimately revealed and they were humbled and I believe they lived with their guilt the rest of their lives. This chapter proves that God, despite the sinful choices we make in our lives, can and does bring about His purposes. Without Tamar, without Perez the line of Judah would have been broken, the line through whom the promised Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords, our Savior and Redeemer would not have come. But instead God fulfilled His purposes and because He did we have a Savior in Jesus Christ our Lord.
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995