Great Moments in Bible History
Number 41
Keeping Us in Suspense
A good author knows to keep his audience in suspense at key times in his story. The more exciting the moment, the more important it is to slow down and sustain the suspense. Moses (who wrote Genesis) certainly knew that. At the end of our last issue (on Genesis 37) Joseph had just been sold into slavery. We are anxious to know what happened to him next, but Moses makes us wait a whole chapter. Genesis 38 (our topic for today) does not once mention Joseph. The story of Joseph would read smoothly if we just left that chapter out. Yet—as we will see—it is quite important to the Joseph story.
The leading character (though certainly not the hero) of chapter 38 is Judah, Jacob’s fourth son. Judah was a key player in the previous chapter. He was the one who suggested that instead of just leaving Joseph to die in a pit they could make some money by selling him as a slave. We cringe at such a hard-hearted attitude. In today’s chapter we will find much the same attitude, but we will also see the first hints of a change. At this point in the story it seems very unlikely, but near the end of the Joseph story Judah is the one who will make one of the greatest speeches in the whole Bible—one that still brings tears to my eyes when I read it. We readers naturally want to know how the villain of the story could change to become a hero. This chapter gives us a glimpse of how God worked in Judah’s life to accomplish that seeming impossibility.
A Bad Luck Woman
The story began in a very ordinary way—Judah got married. His wife had three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. In those days the parents were often responsible for finding mates for their children, so Judah arranged for his firstborn Er to marry a local woman named Tamar. That marriage did not last long. “Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death” (Genesis 38:7). The same thing still happens today (see 1 Corinthians 11:30), though we don’t often recognize when it happens.
In Old Testament times when a man died childless, the custom was for his brother to marry the widow. The first child of that union would carry on the name of the dead brother. “Judah said to Onan, ‘Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother’” (verse 8). Onan married Tamar, but apparently he wanted to be the firstborn himself instead of raising up a son for his late brother. “Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother” (verse 9). Tamar wanted to bring children into Judah’s family, but Onan simply used her to gratify his sexual desire while refusing her the fruit God designed that desire for. “And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also” (verse 10). Wow! Two sons down and only one left to go.
“Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, ‘Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up’—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house” (verse 11). So Judah made a promise to Tamar—that she would marry Shelah—but he had no intention of keeping it. He thought Tamar was bad luck and wasn’t willing to risk his last son on her. After the way Judah behaved toward his brother Joseph in the previous chapter we are not surprised to see his dishonest behavior in this story.
Time goes by. Tamar gradually realized that Judah was not going to keep his promise. She was going to be left to live as a widow with no chance of bringing children into this family. During that time Judah’s wife died too. (Obviously, this chapter covers many years in the life of Judah.)
The fact that her father-in-law no longer had a wife gave Tamar an idea. In that Canaanite society there were women who served as prostitutes in service of one of their idol gods. They believed that ritual prostitution would encourage the fertility of their crops and herds. Tamar dressed up as one of those prostitutes, including covering her face (which was the custom for religious prostitutes) and stationed herself where she knew her father-in-law would pass. Apparently she knew the kind of man Judah was, because when he saw her he went up and propositioned her. “‘Come, let me come in to you,’ for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, ‘What will you give me, that you may come in to me?’ (verse 16) He promised her a young goat. Since he didn’t have the goat with him, she insisted on a pledge. She asked for his signet (a carved stone used for signing documents) and his staff. In truth, she didn’t care about the goat. What she wanted was proof of who he was.
So without realizing who she was, Judah got his daughter-in-law pregnant, which was what she wanted. When he sent someone with the goat to pay her, she was nowhere to be found, so he had to accept the loss of his pledge.
“About three months later Judah was told, ‘Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.’ And Judah said, ‘Bring her out, and let her be burned’” (verse 24). People have had a double standard about sexual sin for thousands of years. It’s “okay” for the man to do it, but not for the woman. The same double standard is seen in the story of the woman caught in adultery that the Pharisees brought to Jesus (John 8). God condemned that double standard in Hosea 4:14. Our modern society is proud that they have solved the double standard problem. Unfortunately, they have solved it the wrong way. Instead of insisting that men clean up their act, they have decided that it is fine for women to live just as dirty lives as the men.
Judah’s behavior in this matter is just what we would expect. He was going to have Tamar burned to death for a sin that he knew he was guilty of too. He doesn’t say this, but I suspect he would be glad to be rid of that bad luck woman. However, she still had a card to play in this deadly game. “As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, ‘By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.’ And she said, ‘Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff’” (verse 25). Wow! I would have loved to have been there to see his face when that message arrived. What is hard-hearted Judah going to do now? To his credit, he did the right thing. “Then Judah identified them and said, ‘She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah’” (verse 26).
So for the first time in the story, Judah confessed his own sin. He still has a long way to go, but he has taken the first step. And it is one that many of us today refuse to take. It is incredibly difficult for us to confess our sins. Yet without that, we have no hope of coming to God. Judah is not yet at the point of confessing his sin of selling his brother into slavery, but God has started him on that road.
Twins Again
Judah’s grandmother Rebecca had twins—Jacob and Esau. Those twins were noteworthy because God announced before they were born that the younger son was the one who would carry on the family blessing (Genesis 25:23). In this story Tamar also has twins.
“And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, ‘This one came out first.’ But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, ‘What a breach you have made for yourself!’ Therefore his name was called Perez” (verses 28-29). Perez was going to be the second born, but he ended up coming out first—not unlike the switch God predicted with Jacob and Esau.
Tamar had wanted to contribute children to the family, and it turned out that her contribution was very important. Centuries later in the book of Ruth we learn that Tamar’s son Perez was the ancestor of Ruth’s son Obed. Obed was the grandfather of King David. David, in turn, was the ancestor of Jesus. In Matthew chapter 1 Tamar is the first of only five women listed in Jesus’ ancestry. Each of those women has a story somewhat like Tamar’s. In bringing His Son into the world, God used not only the sins of His ancestors, but their faith as well. Although I’m sure Moses did not approve of Tamar’s methods, he certainly must have appreciated her faith and her desire to participate in the promises that God had given to Abraham and his descendants. And God honored that faith.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible.