February 4, 2025 • 23 mins
Judah's choices lead him down a path of hypocrisy, revealing deeper truths about responsibility and redemption. The intertwined fates of Judah and Tamar challenge societal norms and illustrate the complexity of human relationships amid family obligations.
• Exploring Judah's departure from his brothers and father
• The significance of levirate marriage and its implications
• Tamar's bold plan to confront Judah and claim her rights
• The revelation of hypocrisy in Judah's judgment of Tamar
• The unexpected legacy of twins Perez and Zerah
Email: nathan@nathandietsche.com
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Grace and peace to you.
Thank you again for joining mefor the Mysteries of God's Word.
Today we're in Genesis, chapter38, reading about Judah and
Tamar, beginning at verse 1,.
It happened at that time thatJudah went down from his
brothers and turned aside to acertain adalamite whose name was
(00:26):
hira.
There, judah saw the daughterof a certain canaanite whose
name was shua.
He took her and went into herand she conceived and bore a son
and he called his name ur.
She conceived again and bore ason, and she called his name Ur.
(00:46):
She conceived again and bore ason, and she called his name
Onan.
Yet again, she bore a son andshe called his name Shelah.
Judah was in Kezib when shebore him.
In our first five verses we seeJudah, who is the fourth son of
Israel, leaving his brothers andit says he turned aside to a
(01:07):
certain Adalamite whose name wasHira.
Now, the timing of thisnarrative is not without debate,
as the timing between Josephbeing sold into slavery and
Jacob and his family eventuallygoing down into Egypt is but 22
or 23 years.
However, much later in Genesis46, 12, when Jacob or the nation
(01:33):
of Israel is going down toEgypt because of the famine,
we're told that Judah'sgrandsons, hezron and Hamuel,
through their father, perez, arecounted along with the people
that went down into Egypt.
But as we start to do some ofthe math with this chapter 38,
(01:54):
we start to realize it would bea physical impossibility for
Hezron and Hamul to come aboutin only 22 years, which is why
the debate exists.
However, the most reasonableand biblical solution to this is
that, while Hezron and Hemuelare honorably mentioned in
(02:18):
Genesis, chapter 46, they haveyet to be born.
They're still in Perez's loins.
And that understanding isconfirmed when we understand
what Stephen teaches us in hisspeech in Acts 7.14, when he
mentions that Joseph sent andsummoned Jacob, his father and
(02:42):
all his kindred, 75 persons inall, which would exclude Hezron
and Hemuel, because it includesall of the wives and children.
So now that we've gottenthrough the debate of the timing
of this and we understand thisnarrative does begin when it
(03:04):
actually tells us it does, andit is in the order of scripture
that is given, which is shortlyafter Joseph is sold into Egypt.
Let's look at the age of Judah.
Judah was the fourth born sonof Israel through Leah.
Judah is probably three yearsolder than Joseph, making him
(03:25):
about 20 years old at this time.
So Judah, at this time, turnsaway from his family and his
family responsibilities andbefriends Hira.
We can only imagine how Judahmust have felt at this time,
because Judah was really the oneto save his brother, joseph,
from his other brothers whowanted to kill him.
(03:47):
But his solution to savingJoseph was to sell him into
slavery.
And now all of the brothers arehypocritically trying to
comfort their father and gainthe favor that he had shown to
Joseph.
And as Israel is rejecting allof their comfort, judah realizes
the mess of his family, and sohe turns from this terrible
(04:10):
dysfunction to try and find abest friend.
And his solution is to go tothe Canaanites.
And when he finds this friend,he also finds a Canaanite woman
and he takes her as his wife.
We're never told the name ofhis wife, only the name of her
father, which was Shua.
(04:31):
Judah here is following in thefootsteps of Esau, and when
things are getting tough in hisfamily, he goes against the
wisdom of his family that taughtthey should not intermarry with
the godless Canaanite people.
And this begins to mark thedanger and continued sexual
(04:52):
immorality that will come forJudah Now.
Judah had three sons.
His first son was named Ur, thesecond Onan, and the last was
named Ur, the second Onan andthe last Shelah.
As we will see, the first twosons will not have any heritage.
(05:12):
The last son, shelah, will bethe ancestor of the Shelanite
clan of Judah, verse 6,.
And Judah took a wife for Ur,his firstborn, and her name was
Tamar.
But Ur, judah's firstborn, waswicked in the sight of the Lord
(05:32):
and the Lord put him to death.
Then Judah said to Onan Go intoyour brother's wife and perform
the duty of a brother-in-law toher Verse 1.
And what he did was wicked inthe sight of the Lord and he put
(06:06):
him to death also.
Then Judah said to Tamar, hisdaughter-in-law Remain a widow
in your father's house tillShelah, my son, grows up.
For he feared that he would dielike his brothers.
So Tamar went and remained inher father's house.
In these verses we see thatJudah took a wife for his
(06:29):
firstborn son, ur.
Now Judah's action of taking awife for his son appears to be
very contrary to his own actions, where he left his family and
took a wife for his own from theCanaanites.
Judah, in his rebellion, islikely trying to keep things
under control, despite the greatwickedness of his own life and
(06:54):
now his own son, ur.
So he chooses a wife, and thewife he chooses is Tamar, and
while we're not toldspecifically, tamar was likely
also a Canaanite woman.
And then we're told that Ur waswicked in the sight of the Lord
.
We're not told specificallywhat the wickedness was, but
(07:16):
rather we're told that Ur wasjust wicked.
It would seem that his wholelife was a life of wickedness,
to such a degree that the Lordputs him to death at an early
age.
Ur's death is the first placein Scripture that we're told God
targets someone specificallyfor death.
(07:40):
After the Lord puts Ur to death,we're told Judah tells his
second son, onan, to perform theduty of a brother-in-law.
Later on, under the law ofMoses, it becomes known as a
Levirite marriage.
It's interesting that thiscustom was understood during the
time of the patriarchs.
(08:00):
If a brother existed that wasstill single and also part of
the same estate connected withthe brother that passed away and
he didn't have an heir or hedidn't have a son, it was
customary for that singlebrother to take his brother's
wife and then for the firstchild to be considered the heir
(08:26):
of the dead brother, while latersons would be the heirs of the
current husband.
And while we're told that Onandid take Tamar and have sexual
relations with her, he hadsomething in his mind where he
did not like the idea of thefirstborn being his dead
(08:48):
brothers.
He hated this thought so muchthat he spilled his semen on the
ground when he would haveintercourse with Tamar.
This was a willing rebellion byOnan not to bring forth an heir
with Tamar for his brother, andthis sin against his family,
(09:09):
against Tamar and against hisown body was wicked in the sight
of the Lord, and so the Lordalso put him to death at an
early age.
After Onan dies, judah asksTamar to go live with her father
, because the youngest brotherfirst of all wasn't old enough
(09:33):
to marry Tamar yet, but second,he was also afraid to marry her.
He thought he would die if hedid.
Perhaps he believed living withher was a curse.
Whatever the case, he did notwant to marry Tamar.
Picking up in verse 12, in thecourse of time the wife of Judah
(09:54):
, shua's daughter, died.
When Judah was comforted, hewent up to Timnah to his sheep
shearers, he and his friend tohis sheep shearers, he and his
friend Hira the Adulamite.
And when Tamar was told yourfather-in-law is going up to
Timnah to shear his sheep.
She took off her widow'sgarments and covered herself
(10:17):
with a veil, wrapping herself up, and she sat at the entrance to
Enam, which is on the road toTimnah, for she saw that Shelah
was grown up and she had notbeen given to him in marriage.
In these three verses it beginsby saying in the course of time
, that phrase could betranslated as the days were
(10:40):
multiplied.
The general thought of thisphrase is that this is a long
period of time.
In this case it could perhapsbe years and over time.
Eventually, judah's unnamedwife dies, leaving him a widower
.
And after Judah is comforted,it says he's going to go to his
(11:02):
sheep shearers.
Now, in the land of Canaan,sheep shearing occurred toward
the end of March, but it was atime of celebration, and a lot
of pagan cults would engage insexual fornification as part of
their ritual for fertility magic, and men with great wealth
(11:24):
would often invite their friendsto come participate in these
festivities.
And so we find Judah and hisfriend Hira on their way to
Timnah.
When Tamar hears about this,she hatches a plan in her mind,
knowing the character of Judahor perhaps we should say the
(11:45):
lack thereof character, andhearing that Judah was going to
go sheep shearing, she knewexactly what she could do.
She dresses herself up as acult prostitute, believing she
can trap Judah, and she placesherself in a key location so
that Judah will have to pass byher on his way to Timnah, and
(12:08):
were told that she had not beengiven in marriage to the
youngest son.
Yet, Despite the promise ofJudah to have his youngest son
marry Tamar, he had not sent himto her, and so Tamar takes
matters into her own hands,believing she has the right to
have the estate of Judah takecare of her.
(12:31):
Verse 15,.
When Judah saw her, he thoughtshe was a prostitute, for she
had covered her face.
He turned to her at theroadside and said Come, let me
come into you, for he did notknow that she was his
daughter-in-law.
She said what will you give methat you may come into me?
(12:51):
He answered I'll send you ayoung goat from my flock.
And she said what will you giveme that you may come into me?
He answered I'll send you ayoung goat from my flock.
And she said If you give me apledge until you send it?
And he said what pledge shouldI give you, she replied, your
signet and your cord and yourstaff.
That's in your hand.
So he gave them to her and wentinto her, and she conceived by
(13:24):
him.
Having the face covered was acommon practice of the cult
prostitutes in the land ofCanaan.
However, there was more to thisthan just a veil, as women who
were betrothed to be marriedwould also wear veils.
Cult prostitutes likely had amore distinct look, with certain
(13:45):
colors or designs.
Additionally, only prostituteswould sit at the gates of a town
or on the roads looking for menas they would pass by.
This was part of the Canaaniteculture.
It promoted sexual immoralityas part of their festivities and
(14:06):
cult rituals, and we see Tamarplaying the part of a cult
prostitute.
She negotiates with Judah.
She says what will you give me?
And she asks for his pledge.
Since he actually doesn't havepayment up front, asking for his
signet and cord and his staffwould appear to be a reasonable
(14:30):
request, because men of wealthand distinction in the Near East
wear personal seals around acord on their neck, and their
staff would also be personalizedwith distinct markings.
While these would have no realvalue to the prostitute, they do
have value to the personpledging.
(14:50):
And so we see Judah unknowinglymake a deal with Tamar, and so
she conceives by him.
As we will see, tamar becomesimpregnated with twin boys from
Judah.
After achieving her goal, tamargoes back to her father's
(15:14):
household and puts on her widowclothes.
When Judah sent the young goatby his friend, the Adulamite, to
take back the pledge from thewoman's hand, he did not find
her.
And he asked the men of theplace when is the cult
prostitute who was at Enaim, atthe roadside?
(15:34):
And they said no cultprostitute's been here.
So he returned to Judah andsaid I have not found her.
Also, the men of the place saidno cult prostitute has been
here.
And Judah replied Let her keepthe things as her own or we'll
be laughed at.
You see, I sent this young goatand you did not find her.
(15:56):
So here Judah sent his friendHira, who searches up and down
for the cult prostitute that hasJudah's personal items, but he
cannot find her.
Furthermore, no one in the townseems to know of her, which
certainly must seem very odd.
(16:16):
So Hira returns to Judah withnews that no one's ever even
heard of this cult prostituteand she's nowhere to be found.
And Judah's conclusion at thispoint is well, we better let
this rest, or people are goingto realize how he had taken
advantage of a prostitute, noteven paying her up front.
If he continued to pursue this,it'd only reveal his lust and
(16:41):
that he was not a trustworthyman.
Verse 24, about three monthslater, judah was told Tamar,
your daughter-in-law, has beenimmoral.
Moreover, she's pregnant byimmorality.
And Judah said Bring her outand let her be burned.
As she was being brought out,she sent word to her
(17:03):
father-in-law by the man whomthese belong.
I am pregnant.
And she said am pregnant.
And she said Please identifywhose these are, the signet and
the cord and the staff.
Then Judah identified them andsaid she is more righteous than
(17:26):
I, since I did not give her myson, shelah, and he did not know
her again.
So after three months, tamarbegins to show her pregnancy and
it becomes known that she'sbeen with a man.
So she's reported to be immoral.
And even though Tamar wasliving with her father, it would
appear that Judah, being thefather-in-law, has authority
(17:49):
over her to make judgments.
Judah, in a full-blown displayof hypocrisy, calls for the
capital punishment of burningTamar, which is used only to
expose the greatest of sexualsins.
This lack of judgment anddouble standard that Judah uses
(18:10):
reveals the depths of his ownsin.
And Judah judges Tamar when infact he himself had the
responsibility to take care ofTamar, to send his youngest son
to her that she might have afamily.
And not only that, judahhimself doesn't seem to find
(18:31):
anything wrong with sleepingwith prostitutes.
The Lord expects men in thefamily and in the culture to
lead their wives and theirfamilies in sexual purity.
Hosea 4.14 reads I will notpunish your daughters when they
play the whore, nor your brideswhen they commit adultery, for
(18:54):
the men themselves go aside withprostitutes and they sacrifice
with cult prostitutes, and apeople without understanding
shall come to ruin.
And then we see that, as Tamaris being brought out to be
burned, she sends a message toher judge, jury and executioner,
(19:17):
judah, informing him that shehas the very personal items of
the father of the child and askshim to please identify them.
Of course, judah, when hereceives them, recognizes them
as his own and he comes face toface with his own hypocrisy.
(19:39):
Furthermore, he realizes thathe's failed to care for Tamar as
he promised to through his sonShelah.
And Judah says she is morerighteous than I.
Judah's not making any claimsof moral purity or that what
Tamar did was virtuous, and he'snot saying that Tamar is a
(20:02):
child of faith.
But what he is doing iscontrasting how Tamar had a
right to a family inheritancethrough his line and how he
failed to be responsible forthat.
Therefore he cancels herpunishment and acknowledges, at
(20:22):
least in part, his wrongdoingVerse 27.
When the time of her labor came,there were twins in her womb.
And when she was in labor, oneput out a hand and the midwife
took and tied a scarlet threadon his hand, saying this one
(20:44):
came out first.
But as he drew back his hand,behold, his brother came out and
she said what a breach you havemade for yourself.
Therefore, his name was calledPerez.
Afterward his brother came outwith the scarlet thread on his
hand and his name was calledZerah.
(21:08):
So when the time came for Tamarto give birth, they realized
that she had twins and the twinsappeared to be grappling in the
womb kind of similar to what wesaw back with Esau and Jacob.
And one put his hand out and ascarlet thread was tied on the
hand of that child.
That first started to come outof the womb, but after the
(21:33):
thread was tied.
The child went back into thewomb and then his brother came
out.
The second child to come out,which was actually the first to
fully come out of the womb, wasnamed Pires, meaning breach or
break out, and he was named suchbecause he broke out of the
(21:56):
womb before the child that wasinitially named the firstborn.
Pires would be the childthrough which the messianic line
would continue, and afterwardhis brother came out, zerah.
Even though Zerah was named thefirst born and had the scarlet
(22:17):
thread attached to his hand, wesee the sovereignty of God and
that through the second child,who actually fully came out
first, becomes the chosen seedthrough whom the Messiah would
come.
Thank you for joining me thisweek.
(22:37):
Join me next week as we look atthe story of Joseph and
Potiphar's wife.
God bless you this week.
Grace and peace to you.
Thank you again for joining mefor the Mysteries of God's Word.
Today we're in Genesis, chapter38, reading about Judah and
Tamar, beginning at verse 1,.
It happened at that time thatJudah went down from his
brothers and turned aside to acertain adalamite whose name was
(00:26):
hira.
There, judah saw the daughterof a certain canaanite whose
name was shua.
He took her and went into herand she conceived and bore a son
and he called his name ur.
She conceived again and bore ason, and she called his name Ur.
(00:46):
She conceived again and bore ason, and she called his name
Onan.
Yet again, she bore a son andshe called his name Shelah.
Judah was in Kezib when shebore him.
In our first five verses we seeJudah, who is the fourth son of
Israel, leaving his brothers andit says he turned aside to a
(01:07):
certain Adalamite whose name wasHira.
Now, the timing of thisnarrative is not without debate,
as the timing between Josephbeing sold into slavery and
Jacob and his family eventuallygoing down into Egypt is but 22
or 23 years.
However, much later in Genesis46, 12, when Jacob or the nation
(01:33):
of Israel is going down toEgypt because of the famine,
we're told that Judah'sgrandsons, hezron and Hamuel,
through their father, perez, arecounted along with the people
that went down into Egypt.
But as we start to do some ofthe math with this chapter 38,
(01:54):
we start to realize it would bea physical impossibility for
Hezron and Hamul to come aboutin only 22 years, which is why
the debate exists.
However, the most reasonableand biblical solution to this is
that, while Hezron and Hemuelare honorably mentioned in
(02:18):
Genesis, chapter 46, they haveyet to be born.
They're still in Perez's loins.
And that understanding isconfirmed when we understand
what Stephen teaches us in hisspeech in Acts 7.14, when he
mentions that Joseph sent andsummoned Jacob, his father and
(02:42):
all his kindred, 75 persons inall, which would exclude Hezron
and Hemuel, because it includesall of the wives and children.
So now that we've gottenthrough the debate of the timing
of this and we understand thisnarrative does begin when it
(03:04):
actually tells us it does, andit is in the order of scripture
that is given, which is shortlyafter Joseph is sold into Egypt.
Let's look at the age of Judah.
Judah was the fourth born sonof Israel through Leah.
Judah is probably three yearsolder than Joseph, making him
(03:25):
about 20 years old at this time.
So Judah, at this time, turnsaway from his family and his
family responsibilities andbefriends Hira.
We can only imagine how Judahmust have felt at this time,
because Judah was really the oneto save his brother, joseph,
from his other brothers whowanted to kill him.
(03:47):
But his solution to savingJoseph was to sell him into
slavery.
And now all of the brothers arehypocritically trying to
comfort their father and gainthe favor that he had shown to
Joseph.
And as Israel is rejecting allof their comfort, judah realizes
the mess of his family, and sohe turns from this terrible
(04:10):
dysfunction to try and find abest friend.
And his solution is to go tothe Canaanites.
And when he finds this friend,he also finds a Canaanite woman
and he takes her as his wife.
We're never told the name ofhis wife, only the name of her
father, which was Shua.
(04:31):
Judah here is following in thefootsteps of Esau, and when
things are getting tough in hisfamily, he goes against the
wisdom of his family that taughtthey should not intermarry with
the godless Canaanite people.
And this begins to mark thedanger and continued sexual
(04:52):
immorality that will come forJudah Now.
Judah had three sons.
His first son was named Ur, thesecond Onan, and the last was
named Ur, the second Onan andthe last Shelah.
As we will see, the first twosons will not have any heritage.
(05:12):
The last son, shelah, will bethe ancestor of the Shelanite
clan of Judah, verse 6,.
And Judah took a wife for Ur,his firstborn, and her name was
Tamar.
But Ur, judah's firstborn, waswicked in the sight of the Lord
(05:32):
and the Lord put him to death.
Then Judah said to Onan Go intoyour brother's wife and perform
the duty of a brother-in-law toher Verse 1.
And what he did was wicked inthe sight of the Lord and he put
(06:06):
him to death also.
Then Judah said to Tamar, hisdaughter-in-law Remain a widow
in your father's house tillShelah, my son, grows up.
For he feared that he would dielike his brothers.
So Tamar went and remained inher father's house.
In these verses we see thatJudah took a wife for his
(06:29):
firstborn son, ur.
Now Judah's action of taking awife for his son appears to be
very contrary to his own actions, where he left his family and
took a wife for his own from theCanaanites.
Judah, in his rebellion, islikely trying to keep things
under control, despite the greatwickedness of his own life and
(06:54):
now his own son, ur.
So he chooses a wife, and thewife he chooses is Tamar, and
while we're not toldspecifically, tamar was likely
also a Canaanite woman.
And then we're told that Ur waswicked in the sight of the Lord
.
We're not told specificallywhat the wickedness was, but
(07:16):
rather we're told that Ur wasjust wicked.
It would seem that his wholelife was a life of wickedness,
to such a degree that the Lordputs him to death at an early
age.
Ur's death is the first placein Scripture that we're told God
targets someone specificallyfor death.
(07:40):
After the Lord puts Ur to death,we're told Judah tells his
second son, onan, to perform theduty of a brother-in-law.
Later on, under the law ofMoses, it becomes known as a
Levirite marriage.
It's interesting that thiscustom was understood during the
time of the patriarchs.
(08:00):
If a brother existed that wasstill single and also part of
the same estate connected withthe brother that passed away and
he didn't have an heir or hedidn't have a son, it was
customary for that singlebrother to take his brother's
wife and then for the firstchild to be considered the heir
(08:26):
of the dead brother, while latersons would be the heirs of the
current husband.
And while we're told that Onandid take Tamar and have sexual
relations with her, he hadsomething in his mind where he
did not like the idea of thefirstborn being his dead
(08:48):
brothers.
He hated this thought so muchthat he spilled his semen on the
ground when he would haveintercourse with Tamar.
This was a willing rebellion byOnan not to bring forth an heir
with Tamar for his brother, andthis sin against his family,
(09:09):
against Tamar and against hisown body was wicked in the sight
of the Lord, and so the Lordalso put him to death at an
early age.
After Onan dies, judah asksTamar to go live with her father
, because the youngest brotherfirst of all wasn't old enough
(09:33):
to marry Tamar yet, but second,he was also afraid to marry her.
He thought he would die if hedid.
Perhaps he believed living withher was a curse.
Whatever the case, he did notwant to marry Tamar.
Picking up in verse 12, in thecourse of time the wife of Judah
(09:54):
, shua's daughter, died.
When Judah was comforted, hewent up to Timnah to his sheep
shearers, he and his friend tohis sheep shearers, he and his
friend Hira the Adulamite.
And when Tamar was told yourfather-in-law is going up to
Timnah to shear his sheep.
She took off her widow'sgarments and covered herself
(10:17):
with a veil, wrapping herself up, and she sat at the entrance to
Enam, which is on the road toTimnah, for she saw that Shelah
was grown up and she had notbeen given to him in marriage.
In these three verses it beginsby saying in the course of time
, that phrase could betranslated as the days were
(10:40):
multiplied.
The general thought of thisphrase is that this is a long
period of time.
In this case it could perhapsbe years and over time.
Eventually, judah's unnamedwife dies, leaving him a widower
.
And after Judah is comforted,it says he's going to go to his
(11:02):
sheep shearers.
Now, in the land of Canaan,sheep shearing occurred toward
the end of March, but it was atime of celebration, and a lot
of pagan cults would engage insexual fornification as part of
their ritual for fertility magic, and men with great wealth
(11:24):
would often invite their friendsto come participate in these
festivities.
And so we find Judah and hisfriend Hira on their way to
Timnah.
When Tamar hears about this,she hatches a plan in her mind,
knowing the character of Judahor perhaps we should say the
(11:45):
lack thereof character, andhearing that Judah was going to
go sheep shearing, she knewexactly what she could do.
She dresses herself up as acult prostitute, believing she
can trap Judah, and she placesherself in a key location so
that Judah will have to pass byher on his way to Timnah, and
(12:08):
were told that she had not beengiven in marriage to the
youngest son.
Yet, Despite the promise ofJudah to have his youngest son
marry Tamar, he had not sent himto her, and so Tamar takes
matters into her own hands,believing she has the right to
have the estate of Judah takecare of her.
(12:31):
Verse 15,.
When Judah saw her, he thoughtshe was a prostitute, for she
had covered her face.
He turned to her at theroadside and said Come, let me
come into you, for he did notknow that she was his
daughter-in-law.
She said what will you give methat you may come into me?
(12:51):
He answered I'll send you ayoung goat from my flock.
And she said what will you giveme that you may come into me?
He answered I'll send you ayoung goat from my flock.
And she said If you give me apledge until you send it?
And he said what pledge shouldI give you, she replied, your
signet and your cord and yourstaff.
That's in your hand.
So he gave them to her and wentinto her, and she conceived by
(13:24):
him.
Having the face covered was acommon practice of the cult
prostitutes in the land ofCanaan.
However, there was more to thisthan just a veil, as women who
were betrothed to be marriedwould also wear veils.
Cult prostitutes likely had amore distinct look, with certain
(13:45):
colors or designs.
Additionally, only prostituteswould sit at the gates of a town
or on the roads looking for menas they would pass by.
This was part of the Canaaniteculture.
It promoted sexual immoralityas part of their festivities and
(14:06):
cult rituals, and we see Tamarplaying the part of a cult
prostitute.
She negotiates with Judah.
She says what will you give me?
And she asks for his pledge.
Since he actually doesn't havepayment up front, asking for his
signet and cord and his staffwould appear to be a reasonable
(14:30):
request, because men of wealthand distinction in the Near East
wear personal seals around acord on their neck, and their
staff would also be personalizedwith distinct markings.
While these would have no realvalue to the prostitute, they do
have value to the personpledging.
(14:50):
And so we see Judah unknowinglymake a deal with Tamar, and so
she conceives by him.
As we will see, tamar becomesimpregnated with twin boys from
Judah.
After achieving her goal, tamargoes back to her father's
(15:14):
household and puts on her widowclothes.
When Judah sent the young goatby his friend, the Adulamite, to
take back the pledge from thewoman's hand, he did not find
her.
And he asked the men of theplace when is the cult
prostitute who was at Enaim, atthe roadside?
(15:34):
And they said no cultprostitute's been here.
So he returned to Judah andsaid I have not found her.
Also, the men of the place saidno cult prostitute has been
here.
And Judah replied Let her keepthe things as her own or we'll
be laughed at.
You see, I sent this young goatand you did not find her.
(15:56):
So here Judah sent his friendHira, who searches up and down
for the cult prostitute that hasJudah's personal items, but he
cannot find her.
Furthermore, no one in the townseems to know of her, which
certainly must seem very odd.
(16:16):
So Hira returns to Judah withnews that no one's ever even
heard of this cult prostituteand she's nowhere to be found.
And Judah's conclusion at thispoint is well, we better let
this rest, or people are goingto realize how he had taken
advantage of a prostitute, noteven paying her up front.
If he continued to pursue this,it'd only reveal his lust and
(16:41):
that he was not a trustworthyman.
Verse 24, about three monthslater, judah was told Tamar,
your daughter-in-law, has beenimmoral.
Moreover, she's pregnant byimmorality.
And Judah said Bring her outand let her be burned.
As she was being brought out,she sent word to her
(17:03):
father-in-law by the man whomthese belong.
I am pregnant.
And she said am pregnant.
And she said Please identifywhose these are, the signet and
the cord and the staff.
Then Judah identified them andsaid she is more righteous than
(17:26):
I, since I did not give her myson, shelah, and he did not know
her again.
So after three months, tamarbegins to show her pregnancy and
it becomes known that she'sbeen with a man.
So she's reported to be immoral.
And even though Tamar wasliving with her father, it would
appear that Judah, being thefather-in-law, has authority
(17:49):
over her to make judgments.
Judah, in a full-blown displayof hypocrisy, calls for the
capital punishment of burningTamar, which is used only to
expose the greatest of sexualsins.
This lack of judgment anddouble standard that Judah uses
(18:10):
reveals the depths of his ownsin.
And Judah judges Tamar when infact he himself had the
responsibility to take care ofTamar, to send his youngest son
to her that she might have afamily.
And not only that, judahhimself doesn't seem to find
(18:31):
anything wrong with sleepingwith prostitutes.
The Lord expects men in thefamily and in the culture to
lead their wives and theirfamilies in sexual purity.
Hosea 4.14 reads I will notpunish your daughters when they
play the whore, nor your brideswhen they commit adultery, for
(18:54):
the men themselves go aside withprostitutes and they sacrifice
with cult prostitutes, and apeople without understanding
shall come to ruin.
And then we see that, as Tamaris being brought out to be
burned, she sends a message toher judge, jury and executioner,
(19:17):
judah, informing him that shehas the very personal items of
the father of the child and askshim to please identify them.
Of course, judah, when hereceives them, recognizes them
as his own and he comes face toface with his own hypocrisy.
(19:39):
Furthermore, he realizes thathe's failed to care for Tamar as
he promised to through his sonShelah.
And Judah says she is morerighteous than I.
Judah's not making any claimsof moral purity or that what
Tamar did was virtuous, and he'snot saying that Tamar is a
(20:02):
child of faith.
But what he is doing iscontrasting how Tamar had a
right to a family inheritancethrough his line and how he
failed to be responsible forthat.
Therefore he cancels herpunishment and acknowledges, at
(20:22):
least in part, his wrongdoingVerse 27.
When the time of her labor came,there were twins in her womb.
And when she was in labor, oneput out a hand and the midwife
took and tied a scarlet threadon his hand, saying this one
(20:44):
came out first.
But as he drew back his hand,behold, his brother came out and
she said what a breach you havemade for yourself.
Therefore, his name was calledPerez.
Afterward his brother came outwith the scarlet thread on his
hand and his name was calledZerah.
(21:08):
So when the time came for Tamarto give birth, they realized
that she had twins and the twinsappeared to be grappling in the
womb kind of similar to what wesaw back with Esau and Jacob.
And one put his hand out and ascarlet thread was tied on the
hand of that child.
That first started to come outof the womb, but after the
(21:33):
thread was tied.
The child went back into thewomb and then his brother came
out.
The second child to come out,which was actually the first to
fully come out of the womb, wasnamed Pires, meaning breach or
break out, and he was named suchbecause he broke out of the
(21:56):
womb before the child that wasinitially named the firstborn.
Pires would be the childthrough which the messianic line
would continue, and afterwardhis brother came out, zerah.
Even though Zerah was named thefirst born and had the scarlet
(22:17):
thread attached to his hand, wesee the sovereignty of God and
that through the second child,who actually fully came out
first, becomes the chosen seedthrough whom the Messiah would
come.
Thank you for joining me thisweek.
(22:37):
Join me next week as we look atthe story of Joseph and
Potiphar's wife.
God bless you this week.
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