Chapter 38 begins with Judah leaving his brothers and seeing a daughter of a Canaanite whose name was Shuah. By her Judah had two sons, one named Er and the other named Onan. After this Shuah bore to Judah another son called Shelah.
In the process of time, Judah took a wife for his firstborn Er, and her name was Tamar. But the bible tells us that Er was "wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD slew him." Judah told his next son Onan to marry Tamar that he should "raise up seed to thy brother." Because Onan knew that any child would not be considered his, he denied Tamar a child by him. But what he did "displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also."
Next Judah tells Tamar to stay as a widow in her father's house until his youngest son Shelah reached adulthood, but Judah fears "lest peraventure he die also, as his brethren did" Tamar obeys and went and dwelt in her father's house.
Time passes and Tamar is still in her father's house when she hears that Judah is coming to shear his sheep, so she puts off her widow's garments and veils herself. Next she sits in open view where Judah will pass because "she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife."
When Judah sees Tamar he thinks that she is a harlot because she had covered her face, so he approaches her and asks to come in to her not knowing that she is actually his daughter-in-law whom he had denied marriage to his youngest but now grown son.
Tamar asks for a gift before Judah can come to her. Judah offers a kid from his flocks but Tamar asks for his signet, his bracelets, and his staff. Judah gave them to her and "came in unto her and she conceived by him." It is disturbing to me that Judah firstly denied giving Tamar to Shelah to wife so she could bear children to her first husband Er, and secondly that he thought it quite alright to go into what he thought was a harlot, especially in view of what he says when he finds out that Tamar is with child.
When Judah sent someone to take the promised kid from his flocks to who he thought was a harlot and bring back his belongings, the woman is nowhere to be found. Judah asked the men of that place where the harlot was but he was told that "there is no harlot in this place." I wonder what Judah thought about that. "....... Be sure your sin will find you out." (Numbers 32:23)
Three months pass and Judah is told that Tamar had played the harlot, and she is with child. And what is Judah's response? "bring her forth, and let her be burnt." Disturbing to say the least. It was OK for Judah but Tamar should be put to death in a very cruel way?
But Tamar has proof of who the father really is, and to say that Judah was shocked is an understatement. Tamar said to him "by the man whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff."
Judah now realizes what has happened. Tamar wanted a child to raise up to her husband, and when she was not given Shelah, the youngest son of Judah, she devised a way to have Judah himself father the child.
Judah does not deny that the ornaments and staff are his, and further he declares Tamar to be righteous. "She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more."
Six months later Tamar gave birth to twins who were named Pharez and Zarah. We don't know if she was ever given to Shelah, but we do know that Judah had no further relations with her.
Tamar deceived Judah but Judah withheld his son. Who was righteous? The Lord knows the truth of the matter. The fact is that God sent his only Son into this world to save sinners, and both Matthew 1 and Hebrew 7 reveal that in the genealogy of Joseph, the husband of Mary (although he did not have relations with her until after the birth of the Saviour) is the name of Pharez, the son of Tamar, the son of her deception to have a child fathered by Judah.
___________________________
vcg
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your thoughts are welcomed..