Advent Day 6..... Judah

Judah....a not so pretty picture....

In Genesis 37 we encounter the dysfunctional (to put it mildly) relationship of Jacob’s children, the ancestors of Jesus. We read of a brother hated by the other brothers because he was their father’s favored son. We see how this hatred increased as he shared the dreams he has with them,  in which they were bowing down to him. The brothers wanted to kill Joseph, but first Reuben and then Judah avert the planned murder. Chapter 37 ends with Judah convincing the brothers to sell Joseph to a travelling caravan of Midianites, who in turn sell him into slavery in Egypt. And here is where we once again will see a very personal,  very hands on God, ensuring nothing happens to thwart His plan….

Chapters 37-50 of Genesis tell of Joseph in Egypt, but there is an interruption in the telling. It begins right after Joseph is sold into slavery, and this chapter covers the next two decades. Genesis 38 will be an example of how God’s perfect plan WILL NOT be thwarted, regardless of how badly we mess things up.

Genesis 38:1 tells us at the time the brothers sold Joseph, Judah left his family to live among the Canaanites. My guess is he could not bear to look his father in the face, because of what they had done to Joseph. Judah married a Canaanite woman and had three sons. Judah’s sons were growing up, so he found a wife for his oldest son, Er. The bride was a girl by the name of Tamar.  Her bridegroom, Er, is wicked beyond belief. In fact, the Hebrew word used to describe Er implies it is an evil that needed God to intervene and put a stop to. So the Lord took Er’s life. It may sound harsh, but it was necessary.  Er died childless.

In those days, when a man died without having a child, his brother could marry the widow to raise up an heir for his dead brother. The first son of that union would be considered the dead son’s child, and the child would inherit accordingly. This ensured a man’s name and line would not die with him. This was a common practice in the Middle East in ancient times. 

Judah follows this practice, and his second son takes Tamar as his wife. But he is not an upstanding guy.  He is more than happy to sleep with Tamar for pleasure, but he has no intention of letting his brother’s name be given to a son who might come from the union with Tamar. So during the act, Onan would withdraw and spill his seed on the ground to prevent this from happening. We miss it in our English translations, but the wording in Hebrew implies this did not just happen on one occasion. This was not a onetime slight of his obligation. This was not pleasing (to put it mildly) to God, so Onan is taken out of the picture. 

Now Judah was a bit freaked out. He now had two dead sons. He sent Tamar back to her father with a promise of calling her back to marry his third son, Shelah, when he was old enough to marry. Judah had no intention of doing this. Genesis 38:11 gives us a glimpse into his thoughts. He was worried his third son would die if he married Tamar. Judah acted like Tamar was either cursed or brought bad luck into marriage. He did not seem to consider his sons’ actions may have brought about their deaths. 

After a time Judah’s wife died and he completed the mourning period.  Meanwhile Tamar realized her father-in-law had no intention of keeping his word.  With this discovery Tamar did something that is hard for us to understand. You can read the account in Genesis 38:12-30, but for our purposes, let me just say….Tamar disguises herself as a temple prostitute and waits for her father-in-law to pass by the gate of Enaim. Judah sees her and is deceived by the disguise. He believes his daughter-in-law is a prostitute for hire, so he goes in to her. She takes his signet ring as a sign of good faith that he will come back and “pay” her. She is not there when he sends the payment through a friend. 

Judah found out the truth of her identity three months later, when he found out his daughter-in-law was pregnant. He ordered her to be punished and burned to death for her “harlotry”. However Tamar has a card up her sleeve, or a signet ring, to be exact. She is able to prove who the father of her baby is by the signet ring. Judah acknowledges he was the one in the wrong for not fulfilling his promise to marry her to his youngest son. Judah declares his daughter-in-law behaved in a more upright, righteous manner than he did. There are twin boys  born from this one time union, Zerah and Perez. The lineage of our Savior, Jesus Christ, will continue through the line of Perez.

If you have ever felt like God cannot use you because of something that has happened in your past...something you have done or something done to you....think again. The genealogy of Jesus is an awesome reminder that God can use any circumstance or situation for His glory. Remember Jesus is the descendant of a liar, a defrauder, a harlot, a negligent father, a murdering adulterer.....and the list goes on.....
The very things in our lives we have done or that have been done to us are the very things God will be able to use in other people's lives. It may bring about a healing in their spirit, or to let them know they are not alone on some path they are walking. God will use all things for His glory. We just need to be ready and willing to be used by Him. God knew who you would be before He laid the first foundation stone of creation. He knew what trials you would walk through and He planned accordingly.

We are His handiwork created in Christ Jesus to to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:10

May the Lord bless and keep each of you this Christmas.