Have you ever wondered why God includes the stories in Scripture that make us uncomfortable? Genesis 38 is one of those chapters. It interrupts Joseph’s story to tell us about Judah and Tamar, a messy and incestuous episode. But God put it here on purpose, let’s find out what that is.
Genesis 38 (ESV)
It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went in to her, and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. Judah was in Chezib when she bore him.
And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. Then 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.” But 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. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. 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.
In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died. When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” she took off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. He turned to her at the roadside and said, “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?” He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet 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 went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.
When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute who was at Enaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No cult prostitute has been here.” So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No cult prostitute has been here.’” And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”
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.” 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.” Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.
When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. 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. Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.
That Genesis 38 exists in our Bibles at all is proof of the truth of scripture. We need to remember that just because something is in the Bible, doesn’t mean that the Bible condones that thing. This passage is one of those passages which describe bad things happening precisely because they reveal the wickedness of sin. This passage is about broken promises, sexual sin and hypocrisy. But like so much of scripture it also has this beautiful thread of God’s grace running through it.
So Judah walks away from his brothers and from God’s promises. He marries a Canaanite woman called Shua. His sons are wicked, so wicked in fact that God Himself judges them with death. Tamar is left desperate and alone and in those days it fell to the the brother of the deceased to provide for his brother’s wife. Specifically it was the custom of the day to provide a child for Tamar so that the family line could continue. However, Onan does not do his duty. Apologies if this is graphic, but Onan is happy to use Tamar for sexual pleasure, but he always withdraws so that Tamar would never be provided with an heir. So God judges him too, and Onan dies. In the end Tamar is left alone and desperate and she ultimately decides to take matters into her own hands.
She disguises herself as a prostitute, which Judah is all to happy to engage with. He too uses her for his pleasure and is willing to pay for it. She conceives a child, a child who would ultimately become a direct ancestor if Jesus himself. Judah, hearing that she had been immoral decides she needs to be executed, never mind that he himself has been at least as immoral as she has been. But her ploy exposes Judah’s sin and she forces him to face his failures. In the end this episode causes Judah to see himself as he really is and he says: “She is more righteous than I.”
This passage sounds very strange to our modern sensibilities. We are not used to families being this broken. But out of this story comes Perez. And if you trace the genealogy, Perez becomes the ancestor of King David and ultimately of Jesus. The Saviour of the world comes through this twisted story.
Is that not the picture of the gospel? That God uses the wicked and dark things of this world to carry out his promises? Here he stepped into a dysfunctional family, sexual sin, hypocrisy, and betrayal and he uses these things to bring about the birth of the Messiah. Ultimately Jesus too would would be betrayed, unjustly treated and ultimately killed because of human wickedness, but God would use that to bring about the salvation of all who believe.
So what does this mean for us? Well, first, this should humble us. Our sin runs deep. We are not better than Judah. Even though we probably don’t do the same things Judah did in this story, we nevertheless share the same kind of wicked heart. We need to recognise that there is one who is “more righteous than I”. Secondly then this passage should give us hope, because even though we are not righteous as God requires, His covenant faithfulness is stronger than our moral failings. Jesus washes us clean through his death and so we are made righteous through him. He is the true and righteous Son, and he born from a line full of sinners to save sinners like us.
Prayer
Father, thank You that Your grace runs deeper than our sin. Thank You for sending Jesus through Judah’s line to rescue broken people like us. Expose our hypocrisy, humble our pride, and draw us into the righteousness of Christ. Help us to trust that You are at work even in the messiest places of our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.