Gen 38
Judah and Tamar
I.
Review
A. Gen
37 - concludes
1. Jacob
is in grief believing that his son Joseph has been killed
2. But,
37:36 – there is the “Meanwhile” – God is at work silently in the life of
Joseph and in the keeping of His plan and promises moving forward. We just
don’t yet know how. It is a cliffhanger
ending.
B. Gen
37:2 begins a new “account” and also a new purpose in Genesis. Jacob is now “in the land” (37:1). Moses is now writing to tell Israel
how they are to live in the land so they will not be booted out. How to occupy the land and stay in it.
1. Last
week- it is not by power or by wealth. That failed.
2. It
is not by trying to be pure and holy.
They failed at that too.
3. It
is by trusting in “the dream” – that is having faith in God’s promise and in
his plan.
4. We
will see at the end of the story today what it has to say about staying in the
land.
II.
Chapter 38 – the story of Judah and Tamar
A. When
we read this story it is not about Joseph.
1. There
are commentators who say this story has nothing to do with the story of the
patriarchs.
a. When
we read the Bible we need to remember that it is given to us in the form of
literature. Great literature.
b. The
insertion of the Judah and Tamar story into the story of Joseph adds suspense
to the story. (Like a Tom Clancy novel
when he writes a story and inserts a vignette into the main story.)
2. The
main story is not really Joseph. The
main story begins in Gen 3 when God makes the promise of the seed – and
continues that promise to Abraham in Gen 12:2ff – “I will make you into a great
nation…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”.
a. The
story of Scripture includes Joseph, but it is far greater than Joseph.
b. The
Judah and Tamar story is integral to the main story. The promised seed will go
through Judah .
1) Gen
49:3f – As Jacob blesses his children he tells Reuben (his firstborn) that he
will no longer excel because he slept with Bilhah. Gen 34:22
2) Gen
49:5f - He tells Levi and Simeon (second and third born sons)– that due to
their violence they will be scattered in Israel
– Gen 34
3) And
now he comes to Judah
Gen 49:8-10 – (fourth born son) – Jacob tells Judah
that the scepter will not depart from him.
He promises him that kings will come from him.[1]
The suspense of the story of Scripture is heightened in the story of Judah and
Tamar. After this chapter is placed
here, we are left reading the Scriptures wondering how this story plays a role
in God’s overall plan.
a.
We are given a hint in Gen 49
b. A
little more in the story of Ruth in Ruth 4:12
c. And
then even more in Mt 1:3
3. Even
in the seemingly incidental stories of Scripture that appear as if they have no
role in the story – God is at work. And
it is the same in our life. In the whole
scheme of things the story of our lives may seem incidental, but if we are in
Christ then God has called us to himself to glorify himself through us. It may not be until “one day” that we see
how.
4. The
story of Judah and Tamar adds suspense to the story of Joseph and also the
entire story of Scripture. It also takes
some time to read it. Joseph is in Egypt . We know that.
But it often takes time for things to happen in life. To jump right into Joseph in Egypt
moves faster than what Joseph experienced in his life. Things don’t always happen immediately in
life. We sometimes find our story going
slower than we would like. In spite of
the slowness, God is working.
5. This
is great story telling. Compelling literature.
It is the way life is.
III.
Judah and his three boys
A. Judah
leaves his brothers (we are not told why) and goes to stay with Hirah in
Adullam, a Canaanite town (ROR 26A)[2]
in the Shephelah (foothills) NW of Hebron.
This was territory where Canaanites lived.
1. While
he was there he “saw” a Canaanite woman and married her.
2. He
has 3 children with her (I Chon 2:3).
a) The
firstborn son is named Er and he married Tamar.
b) The
second son is named Onan.
c) The
third son is named Shelah. He is a good
bit younger than his two brothers.
3. Er,
Tamar’s husband, we are told rather quickly in the story dies. And Judah
instructs his secnd son to go to Tamar and do your duty with her to provide an
offspring for your brother. The custom
is called levirate marriage. (The people are not actually married.)
a) This
practice seems to be the custom of the day.
It was a custom practiced not only by Israel
but also other nations. (The practice
would later be a part of the law Moses gives to Israel
in Dt 25:5f. And it seems to still be referred to in Jesus’ day –though the
Sadducees use it seeking to trap Christ-
Mt.
b) It
allows the deceased brothers name to continue on through the child that would
be produced and build up the family line (Dt 25:9)
c) It
is also a means of providing some economic security for the widow. She has a place where she can continue to
live. The land is passed down to the
heir and so she has a place. (See the
daughters of Zelophehad in Num 27:1-11 – when their father passed away they
asked for property. And the Lord
agrees.)
d) Onan
though does not want to share the inheritance with the heir that would be
produced through Tamar, so he takes a step to avoid getting Tamar pregnant.
e) And
so the Lord kills Onan too. He kills him
not for “spilling his seed”, but rather for his unwillingness to provide an
offspring for his brother which would help protect Tamar. He leaves Tamar
vulnerable. (vs. 9)
4. When
Judah ’s second
son, Onan, dies Judah
decides to send Tamar back to her father’s house to live as a widow.
a. And
he tells Tamar that he will give Shelah to her so that she might have a child
through him and so provide an heir.
b. Now
Judah may not
have known the reason the Lord killed his two boys. We know.
Moses tells us. Judah
is thinking it is something else. He
thinks Tamar is a jinx. She slept with
two of his sons and they are dead and so I am not going to risk my third
son. (38:11).
IV.
Judah and Tamar
A. After
a long time Judah ’s
wife dies and he recovers from his grief. (38:12) And after a long time Shelah is presumed to
be old enough that if Judah
were going to give him to Tamar he would have.
But he has not.
1. And
Tamar is certainly aware of this and her state - A widow in her father’s house
- Promised the opportunity to have an heir but Judah
has not kept his promise and send Shelah to her. She is not merely disappointed in this. No,
far more. She is placed at a great
disadvantage. What should be hers is
being unjustly denied to her.
B. So
she hears one day that Judah
is going to Timnah with his friend Hirah where his sheep are being
sheered.
1. They
go to Timnah (Timnath Serah – Josh 20:50
– territory later given to Joshua) – (ROR 24B) – about 4 miles from
Adullam.
2. Tamar
hears they are going there so she dresses up as a harlot and waits alongside
the road at the entrance to Enaim. This is the route Judah
has to take to get from Adullam to Timnah.
Finding prostitutes along the side of the road was not uncommon. (Jer
3:2)
3. So
when Judah
“sees” her (vs 15) he concludes she must be a prostitute. He does not recognize her though. She is behind a veil. (Jacob did not recognize Leah on his wedding
night.)
4. Judah
and Tamar then talk about the price and they agree upon a young goat from his
flock. (The same thing Samson brought
when he wanted to sleep with his estranged wife – Judges 15:1)
5. The
problem is that Judah
did not have the goat with him. So,
Tamar asks for a pledge and they agree on Judah ’s
seal, cord and staff. He gives them to
her and they sleep together. (Same word that is used of Judah
and his wife vs.2) [4]
6. At
the end of the verse we know Tamar is pregnant.
Judah
does not know this. Tamar puts back on
her widow’s clothing.
C. Here
is where some commentators[5]
bring moral judgment upon Tamar, calling what she did a crime – spying on Judah ,
an incestuous relationship that is an unlawful remedy to her problem…. And he
calls Judah an old lascivious man with bad eyesight who should have restrained
himself.
1. It
is easy to turn this into a story of immorality. And turn to against Tamar as Calvin did. She is after all the easiest one to go
after. But that is exactly the problem,
as we will see.
2. The
immorality of Tamar is not how Scripture will later treat the story. Ruth 4:12
– Tamar is held in honor.
3. There
is something far greater than a moral lesson in this chapter. The text does not condemn Tamar. We are reading our ideas and views into the
text if we condemn her. Our task is to
bring out from the text its message.
4. And
the same goes for Judah . He is not judged for being lascivious, as
Calvin calls him. He will discover
something else about himself as the story develops.
D. The
attempt to make payment to Tamar
1. Apparently
after Judah and Hirah return from the sheep shearing in Timnah ,
Judah
a. It
would have been dishonorable for him not to pay[6]
2. So
Hirah goes back to the area where Tamar was and does not find her. So he asks around town where the “cult
prostitute” that sits by the road in this area is.
a. The
KJV and RSV says he asks where the “harlot” is.
(vs 21)
b. NASB,
ESV and NIV – cult, temple or shrine prostitute. This is the better translation.
c. “Cult
prostitutes” were common in those days.
It is forbidden – Dt 23:17 – and the prophets speak against the practice
– Hos 4:14.
d. But
on the road in Canaanite territory finding a cult prostitute would not be a
surprise. [7]
e. Hirah
calls the girl a cult prostitute. It is
a custom that was more or less acceptable in Canaanite culture. It is not as harsh as the term, “harlot” used
by the KJV and RSV. The people of her
town will later say she played the “harlot” – 38:24. They use the more condemning and inflammatory
term. ESV, NIV and NASB reflect the distinctions.
f.
When Hirah can not find the girl he returns to Judah
and he calls off the search, noting that he tried to keep his pledge. He tried to do the right thing.
V.
Tamar is pregnant
A. Three
months later Judah
is told that his daughter in law has played the harlot and behold[8]
she is with child by harlotry.
B. Judah ’s
instant response to the news brought to him is “Bring her out and burn her to
death”.
1. If
you are in Judah ’s
place, what do you think happens next?
Whatever it is, it is probably not the thing that happens.
2. Tamar
sends a message to him. “I am pregnant
by the man who owns these” – and she brings out the staff, seal and cord and
says “See if you recognize whose these belong to”
a. Judah
was caught completely off guard. The
fact that she was pregnant by him never crossed his mind.
b. He
then recognizes what is before him. They
belong to him.
c. And
he proclaims that she is more righteous than he is. He had failed to keep his promise to her and
provide his son Shelah as he promised. He let his own fears govern his actions
rather than doing what was right. He had
left her vulnerable. He had not treated
her justly and given her what was due to her.
VI.
Living in the Land
A. And
here is what Moses is telling Israel
about how they are to live in the land once they get there.
1. They
are to exercise justice.
A. One
of the characteristics of justice is that it will catch us off guard when all
the facts and evidence comes in.
1. The
person who brought the news to Judah
did not have all the facts, but they had made their judgment. She was pregnant through playing the harlot.
2. Judah
did not have all the facts but in an instant made his judgment. Burn her.
3. But
when Tamar brought the pledge material and set all the facts out, Judah
was caught off guard. What she did was unexpected.
a. Judah
probably tried to live his life doing the right thing. He tried to find the girl along the roadside
and pay her. He tried to keep his
pledge.
B. When
true justice is administered it will surprise us.
1. When
God one day brings out the evidence against us it will probably catch us off
guard. Our nature is to believe that we
are doing ok.
2. If
we don’t have Christ to cover our sins then we too will be caught off guard
like Judah .
3. Christ
met God’s justice for us upon the cross.
He met God’s justice for those sins we know. And also for those sins that will catch us by
surprise. And we all have those.
4. We
need the advocate Christ Jesus to be at our side on the day when God brings out
all of the evidence.
C. Also,
in this story Judah
is the one who has all the power. And he
lives like it.
1. He
denies Tamar his son Shelah.
2. He
hears evidence and immediately pronounces judgment.
3. He
lived under a double standard. He slept
with a girl on the side of the road and no one thought anything of it. He did it with his friend standing around
waiting on him. But when he hears that Tamar
slept with someone he calls for her death.
4. And
when all the facts come in, he ends the judgment – though he is guilty.
5. For
Israel to
continue to live in the land, the widow and the orphan, the least of those in
the community, the unprotected would have to be treated fairly. Not just fairly, loved. Christ reaches out to touch the leper. The harlot washes his feet. He is a friend of
and eats with sinners. His blood covers the sins of the powerful and the
weak. The societal righteous and the
outcast pariah.
D. Justice
is also not emotional.
1. When
the person brought Judah
the news of Tamar, they brought it with passion. Their language was strong and conclusive –
pregnant through harlotry.
2. Judah
got caught up in the emotion and responds himself instantly and
emotionally. He does not call for any
evidence. He has it all already. Or so he thought.
3. If
you watch CNN and their legal shows – the hosts are quick to judge. Inflame hate and fervor against a person
charged with a crime before all the evidence is even in.
4. God,
according to the Westminster Standards is “without passion”. That does not mean that he does not get
angry. He does. It means he does not fly off the handle all
emotionally charged up over partial evidence.
He is not a hot head.
a. Right
now in the news is the story of the man who was swapped out for prisoners in
Gitmo. Before the evidence is in, there
is passion. Name calling. Motives being attributed. Judgments being made.
b. Justice
requires patience. Get the facts all in.
(Next week in the story of Joseph we
will look further into this.)
c. And
remember – the whole truth may very well be different than what the partial
evidence is presenting.
5. God
is not going to judge us based on what others say about us. He is not going to judge us based on just
part of the story. He will have all of
the facts, all of the evidence. And he
will judge righteously. No double standards
for anyone.
a. I
am glad I will have the descendant of Tamar and Judah – Jesus – there to plead,
not my merits, but his. I am
unrighteous. He is righteous and pleases
the Father.
[1] This may
be one of the verses that the wise men had used in trying to determine where to
go when they saw the star. They knew to
go to the territory of Judah Jerusalem . They ask where specifically to go and the
scribes tell them Bethlehem . Mt. 2:1ff
[2] Regions
on the Run map
[3] Jewish
Study Bible
[4] Next
week in the story of Joseph, we will find Potiphar’s wife using different
terminology. The language here between
Judah and Tamar is the more gentle language, like that used to describe the
relationship between a husband and a wife.
“Bo” – “lay with” (NIV) “went in “(KJV, ESV) vs. 2,8,9,16,16. Also used
is “Yada” – “to know” – in vs. 26 – see too Gen 4:1 “Adam knew Eve”.
[5] I am
referring to Calvin - Genesis
[6]
Westermann - Genesis
[7] Von Rad
– Genesis
[8] Behold –
The term is once again used. This time
it notes some newly discovered truth or assertion. The ESV “Moreover” seems to capture the sense
of those bringing the news. They are
fanning the flames of judgment against
Tamar.
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