Now, in our previous lesson, we began with the record of
the last of the recorders of the book of Genesis. Remember, I said different individuals recorded different portions of that book. The last one to record
will be Joseph himself. We said that the last portion chronicled his story
from a young and proud and ambitious man who was
resented and nearly killed by his brothers, to the point where he was
sold into slavery in Eygpt, as a result of their hatred
and jealousy for him. We saw how he was blessed
by God with spiritual gifts, and through their misuse, was
separated from his brothers. We always talk about Joseph and how he overcame and persevered, he was in the prison, but we don't always look
at the young Joseph: proud, ambitious, how he
was misusing his gifts to try to, kind of, raise
himself up above his brothers. And the consequences of that is they hated and resented him, and nearly did away with him. So, this situation will set the stage for the final episode
in the book of Genesis, and that will be the setting
of the Children of Israel, Jacob, in the land of Egypt, where, eventually, they will be enslaved. The next book after Genesis, of course, the book of Exodus, will be the story of God's
deliverance of these people to the Promised Land. But first, before we get to Joseph, we take a small side detour,
as the narrative shifts from Joseph, for just one chapter, and gives us a glimpse into
the life of the brother through whom the Messiah will come. Because the Messiah is
not going to come through Joseph's lineage. He's going to come
through Judah's lineage. We don't have a lot of information. Isn't it interesting, the one
through whom the Messiah comes has very little information about him. So, remember we talked about
the wide view that you have, the historical view, and
then the close-up view. So, we've had a wide view, now we're going to have
another close-up view of a certain individual, Judah. So, we have the story
of Judah in chapter 38. So let's start reading that. It says, "And it came about at that time "that Judah departed from his brothers "and visited a certain
Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. "Judah saw there was a daughter
of a certain Canaanite "whose name was Shua; and he
took her and went in to her. "So she conceived and bore
a son, and he named him Er. "Then she conceived again, and bore a son, "and named him Onan. "She bore still another
son, and named him Shelah; "and it was at Chezib that she bore him." So after the incident with Joseph, Judah decides to leave
the family compound, if you wish, and kind of
strike out on his own. He looks and finds a wife
without consulting God, without consulting his father, Jacob. Okay, it's not said that he didn't do it, but there's no mention of
him consulting. What does he do? Well, he takes a wife
among the Canaanites, something that they
weren't supposed to do. So he takes a wife among the Canannites, who was a pagan, and as we see
by the actions of his sons, probably never converted
to worshiping Jehovah. So they had three sons. Interesting, the Bible gives us so much information with just a few words. Three sons. Er, means watcher, and there's a little typo there, but was named by Judah. Little h missing on Judah. Then, the next son was Onan, meaning strong, and that
child was named by the mother. That's significant, and I'll
explain why in a moment. And then Shelah, which
doesn't mean uncertain, but it has an uncertain root. We're not sure what that name means. But this son was almost
named by the mother. Now, the significance of the mother naming the last two children, is that this suggests that
there was a tilting of influence in the home towards the mother, since it was normally the
father who gave the names. So, it means the mother was now - more matriarchal in that
family than patriarchal. It was the
same thing with Jacob, whose wives named the children, and whose wives had tremendous
influence in the home, and over Jacob. And so, kind of this same
kind of situation continues in the next generation with Judah. So, let's keep reading. It says, "Now Judah took a
wife for Er, his firstborn, "and her name was Tamar. "But Er, Judah's firstborn, "was evil in the sight of the Lord, "so the Lord took his life. "Then Judah said to Onan, "go in to your brother's wife, "and perform your duty as
a brother-in-law to her, "and raise up offspring for your brother. "Onan knew that the
offspring would not be his; "so when he went in to his brother's wife, "he wasted his seed on the ground "in order not to give
offspring to his brother. "But what he did was displeasing
in the sight of the Lord; "so He took his life also." So, although Judah chose his own wife without help from God or Jacob, he seems to recognize the
folly of this course of action, and so he wants to secure
a better arrangement for his own son, his first son. Now, we know nothing of Tamar. The word Tamar, the name Tamar means erect, or to stand straight, like a palm tree. Straight. But her name, and the fact that Judah specifically chose her, suggests that in the pagan environment, she was nevertheless, a woman
of character and strength. Now, we see by the fact
that Er is a wicked man, that the mother's pagan influence
seems to rub off on him. She has influence in the
house, he's a godless man, a wicked man. Judah was not a quote wicked man. So we see the influence
of paganism on this son. Now, listen, the Messianic line was
going to come through Judah, and through his sons, and so what does God do? God destroys Er before he could
be part of that genealogy. The fact that he didn't destroy Tamar speaks on her behalf. He destroyed Er, instead of Tamar. So it goes to show
you who the wicked one was. So Judah then presses
onto Onan, the brother, the responsibility to carry
on his elder brother's lineage by marrying his widow. Now, this was called leviterate. Leviterate, the leviterate regulation. The English word leviterate
comes from a Latin word meaning lever. It means brother-in-law, the brother-in-law duty, if you wish. So, it was an ancient
custom to protect land and property rights within families. If a brother died without children, the nearest relative
would marry the widow, and the first male child born to these two would belong, as far as
succession rights are concerned, to the dead relative, and carry the dead relative's name, so that that dead man, his name could continue, and his property rights would
continue in succession, okay? All other children, after
that firstborn male, would then belong to the brother-in-law who took on his brother's widow. So, that was the leviterate
duty, if you wish. Onan has seen the result of
his brother's wickedness, so he goes along with this, but in the end, he refuses
to produce children for his dead brother. Apparently, he's afraid that
he will have to perhaps share some of his property
with his brother's child. Whatever the reason, he doesn't fulfill the pledge. So, he has intercourse, but
he interrupts conception, and, of course, for this
rebellion, God slays him as well. Now, an interesting term, the term Onan. There's a term called
Onanism that was popular many years ago, often used to refer to masturbation, and this passage was often
used to show that this practice was a sin. So people will go to this passage here and say that's Onanism, that's a sin, that's
where the Bible says no. Of course, this passage is not about that. This passage is about obedience to God, and the punishment that
disobedience brings. It's not what Onan was
doing here physically. The Bible, actually, I'll make a parenthetical statement, the Bible does not comment
directly about the sexual issues of masturbation or birth
control, or sexual practices within marriage. The Bible doesn't talk about
those things, specifically. It does, however, give principles
that guide human sexuality within the bounds of marriage. For example, in Hebrews Chapter 13:4, the Bible talks about the
principle of fidelity in marriage. There must be fidelity in marriage. It doesn't talk about
positions, or sexual style, or anything like that, it talks about husbands and
wives need to be faithful to one another within
the bounds of marriage. It also talks that human
sexuality is expressed only within the bounds of marriage. But, it doesn't go into
any detail about that anywhere in the Bible. Another principle found: mutual respect and
cooperation within marriage. Again, within the sexual
union in marriage. First Corinthians chapter seven, verses three to seven, Paul says, the man's body doesn't belong to the man, it belongs to his wife. The wife's body doesn't
belong to the wife, it belongs to the husband, and both are responsible
mutually to provide satisfaction and love for one another. And then the third principle, Christian decency in First
Thessalonians chapter four, verse four, where Paul is saying that
we must know how to possess our own vessel in decency and honor. There's another principle that
talks about human sexuality within marriage, and that it
should follow the guidelines of decency. We don't do indecent things to one another just because we are married. Now, the point I'm making here, this is not a class on
marriage or human sexuality, I just took a little side light here. It's important that when
we try to prove a point using the Bible, we make the
point that the Bible makes, that's the point I'm trying to make here, not the point
that we want to make using the Bible incorrectly
and out of context. So, we might want to make
a point about practices within human sexuality, but
using this particular scripture to make that point is incorrect, okay? And so there's a larger
principle. The Bible does talk about sex, but let's make sure that
we line up the passages with the practices that
we're talking about. Okay, so back to our story. Let's read verse 11 and 12. It says, "Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law," remember now, Er is dead. God killed him. Onan is dead, God killed him. That's two. So Judah said to his
daughter-in-law Tamar, "remain a widow in your father's house "until my son Shelah grows up; "for he thought, I'm
afraid that he too may die "like his brothers. "So Tamar went and lived
in her father's house." Verse 12, "Now, after a considerable time, "Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died; "and when the time of mourning was ended, "Judah went up to his
sheepshearers at Timnah, "he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite." So, Tamar, of course,
was living with Judah. In other words, it was a compound. The family was living there. She was living with Judah and his sons, but to avoid further trouble, he sends her back to her own father, and he promises to send his
youngest son to marry her when that son is old enough, but was probably afraid to do so, considering what had
happened to the other two. I've already lost two
sons that God has killed, who were married to this woman. He may be afraid to give the third one, and lose the third one as well. In the mean time, Judah's own wife dies, and after a time of mourning, he goes to the shearing of
the sheep with his friends. Of course, this suggests he may not
have been in terrible grief, because shearing time was usually
accompanied by a festival, and Judah planned to
take in the festivities along with his friends. So, let's keep reading. It says, "It was told to Tamar, behold, "your father-in-law is going up
to Timnah to shear his sheep. "So, she removed her widow's garments "and covered herself with a veil, "and wrapped herself, "and sat in the gateway of Enaim, "which is on the road to Timnah, "for she saw that Shelah had grown up, "and she had not been
given to him as a wife. "When Judah saw her, he
thought she was a harlot, "for she had covered her face. "So he turned aside to her
by the road, and said, "Here now, let me come in to you," "For he did not know that
she was his daughter-in-law. "And she said, 'what will you give me, that you may come in to me?' "He said, therefore, 'I
will send you a young goat from the flock.' "She said, moreover, 'Will you give a pledge until you send it?' "He said, 'What pledge shall I give you?' "And she said, 'your seal 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 departed, "and removed her veil and
put on her widow's garments." Now, the problem for Tamar, was that Judah had
originally contracted for her to be in his family in
order to continue the line. Okay? She had been willing, she had perhaps begun to
worship the God of Judah, but was denied her rightful place. Her plan was to trick her father-in-law into fulfilling her plan to
carry on the family line. Now, this may have less to do with the desire to carry on the blessing than really the fear of
being discarded altogether. My first husband is killed, my second husband is killed, and now my father-in-law's
denying me the third husband. A woman in those times, there were no other options. So she was a widow, she
lived with her parents, no future, no money, no chance to re-marry other than in Judah's family, so she was stuck. She was twice widowed, as I said, with God killing her husbands, denied the third. Very grim prospects. She may have also felt a
right to carry the line, despite the method she chose. So her disguise is as a temple prostitute, because later on, she is
referred to as a separated one, which was the term for temple prostitute, rather than a common prostitute. There's a difference. Temple prostitutes, common prostitute, not the same thing. Temple prostitution, believe it or not, was a respectable occupation
in Canaanite society. Not among the people of God, however. But within Canaanite society, that was a respectable occupation, with many of the women in the village taking turns serving at the temple as their way of making an offering to their own god and goddesses. I know it's strange for us, but sexual activity of
various kinds was practiced as a form of worship to
many of the pagan gods worshiped by the Canaanites, and so, what women, well, the women of the village, they would go, and they would
serve as temple prostitutes in the service of their gods. Now, remember, this doesn't
excuse the practice, but it gives insight
into Tamar's thinking, that in her own mind, what she
was doing was not for lust, or for money, it was actually part of
her cultural practices, she, as a Canaanite. So
this was not so far removed from her experience. Now, Judah, of course, is
a whole different story. I mean, he knew better concerning foreign gods, and prostitution, and fornication. He knew better. Again, notice the same pattern. He didn't seek God, he didn't ask his father to
help him find a new wife. He was a widower now. So, he allowed the passions, probably stirred up by
the festival activities, probably some drinking
going on, and music, add to that his loneliness,
makes him vulnerable, at this point, to make
this type of situation, or to get involved in
this type of situation. So their union produces a child, and Judah leaves some of
his personal belongings as a promise that he will pay
her later on for her services. Now, the fact that she returns home confirms that her actions
were not motivated by greed, or lust, but rather by desperation. This woman would do anything to, kind of, fulfill
her need to have a child and to remain in that family. And again, as a parenthetical statement, we see sometimes that weak faith will drive people to do
foolish and desperate things, rather than trust God for help, and we see that in her. Continuing the story, it says, "When Judah sent the young goat "by his friend the Adullamite, "to receive the pledge
from the woman's hand," He wanted his staff back, he wanted his things back, so
he sent the goat in payment. He didn't find her, it says. He asked the men of her place, saying, "Where is the temple prostitute
who was by the road at Enaim?" "But they said, 'There has been
no temple prostitute here.' "So he returned to Judah, and said, "I did not find her, and furthermore, the men of the place said, "there has been no temple prostitute here.' "Then Judah said, 'let her keep them, "otherwise, we will become a laughingstock. "After all, I sent this young
goat, but you did not find her." So, despite his weakness, Judah is still a man of his word, and he wants to fulfill his agreement. He may be embarrassed about his actions, so he sends his friend to find Tamar,
but he doesn't find her. Now, the word here harlot
is the word, again, for temple prostitute. Now, let's keep going. Verse 24, it says, "Now it was
about three months later "that Judah was informed, your daughter-in-law, Tamar,
has played the harlot, "and behold, she is also
with child by harlotry. "Then Judah said, bring her
out and let her be burned. "It was while she was being brought out "that she sent to her
father-in-law, saying, "I am with child by the man
to whom these things belong. "And she said, please examine and see, "whose signet ring and
cords and staff are these? "Judah recognized them, and said, "she is more righteous than I, in as much as I did not
give her to my son Shelah. "And he did not have
relations with her again." So, Judah is indignant at the news of his
daughter-in-law's pregnancy, and he pronounces judgment. Let her be burned. Wow. Pretty stiff punishment there. She was still under his authority. That's the point. She was still under his authority. Denied two husbands, denied the third one
that she was promised, and couldn't get out
from under his authority. Technically, she was technically
engaged to the third son. She was the widow of the other two sons. And he sees this as a
disgrace to his family, by bringing another man's
child into his own family. Now, he may have been secretly
happy of disposing of her, and avoiding the dilemma of his third son having to
opt out of marrying her, and the problems this
would cause the family. He said, wow,
this is like a gift here. She's done a bad thing, we get rid of her. Boom, boom, boom. Now, my third son can
go on and get married, and we'll find somebody else for him. But then, he finds the truth. The truth comes back. Judah shows, and actually, his recognition, he shows, some of the character that God saw in him, in order to grant to him the honor of being the line through
which the Messiah would come. So what does he do? Well, he mans up. He tells the truth about
his involvement with her instead of denial. He confesses the true sin.
And the true sin he confesses is not giving his third son, which he was dutifully and
legally bound to do so. He had promised it, the law
said that he had to do it, so he acknowledges this
is where I went wrong. This is the sin that I have done. And, he doesn't say it, but he admits, this is probably
what drove this poor woman to do what she's done. He also absolves her of blame and guilt by acknowledging that she was
righteous, and he was not. Now, her methods were deceptive,
but she was morally right in claiming what
rightfully belonged to her. So, he acknowledges
that it was his actions that pressured her to act
in the way that she did. And he does the right thing by her, by not taking her sexually anymore, but acknowledging her children as his own. Their own proper inheritance and name, as the law demanded. So, he finally owns up to what he had to do. So, his third son didn't provide
children for the dead ones, he did. Now, that would not
have normally happened, but indirectly, he does that. So, let's finish up. It says in verse 27, "It came about at the time
she was giving birth, "that behold, there were twins in her womb. "Moreover, it took place
while she was giving birth, "one put out a hand, "and the midwife took and tied
a scarlet thread on his hand, "saying, this one came out first. But it came about as
he drew back his hand, "that behold, his brother came out. "Then she said, "What a breach
you have made for yourself!" "So he was named Perez. "Afterward, his brother came out, "who had the scarlet thread on his hand, "and he was named Zerah." So, a short summary describing her twins, and the unusual parallel between them and Jacob and Esau's struggle
in the generations past. Something repeats itself again. Later on, we know that
both brothers, Shelah, Judah's remaining son, married
and had large families. In other words, the third son, Shelah, he married, he had a large family. And both of the children that Tamar had, they also married and had large families. Later on, in the genealogies, the second child, Perez, who appeared second, but came out first, was the one who was the ancestor of David, through whom came Christ. And so, the lineage was
fulfilled in one way. So, this ends the side light chapter meant to show how Judah fathered the child that ultimately linked him
to the birth of Jesus Christ. So, in the next lesson, we're going to go back
and pick up the story of Joseph and his time in Egypt, which will bring us to the
close of the first book in the Bible. A couple of lessons left, and we'll tell Joseph's
story. So, a couple of lessons that we can draw
from this particular episode right here. Lesson number one, children are influenced by both parents. Not just one. Judah was short-sighted, and underestimated the influence that his wife would have on his family. So, the case for
marrying a Christian person becomes very important, especially when it comes to children. Boy, those of us who are
a little older, and have been in the church for a while have seen this over and over again. People are in a hurry to marry, and
they say, well, he or she, they're not members of the church, but they're kind of
believers and we'll bring them around, and it's all good. And then, sometimes that happens. Thanks be to God. Sometimes that happens. But sometimes, actually a lot of times,
that doesn't happen. That doesn't happen. And there's not a whole
lot of wrestling around as far as religion is concerned, until there are children. And then when children come along, then religion becomes very important, because it's an important issue, and people kind of struggle on that. So, it's important. Unfortunately,
young people many times don't see that far ahead. They only consider the
existing relationship, and not how the relationship is
going to exist in the future. So, that's why it's important not only to encourage our young people to marry other Christians, obviously, but in the event that they don't, parents need to help
provide Christian influence in their grandchildren's
lives that might be missing, because of the disbelief
of one of the parents, or both. Note, I want you to note, that Jacob's name is
not mentioned one time in this chapter. Through the entire - all of
the things that happen, Judah's father, Jacob, is not mentioned. He doesn't go to him for
help, he doesn't include him. The grandfather is not involved, whatsoever, in the life of his grandchildren. And I'm looking around. A lot of people here are grandparents, so, I'm preaching to the choir. I know that you know how important it is. Even when both your child
and your child's spouse, both are faithful Christians, they still need support. They still need spiritual
support and encouragement, from grandparents. Alright, number two. Lesson number two. God can cause all things to work for good. We always, that passage in Romans, God causes all things to work for good, we put the emphasis on good, but the emphasis should be on all. All things to work for good. Now, I mentioned in the last lesson, but it bears repeating. God chose Judah to carry the line. He had poor judgment, and many weaknesses. His wicked and rebellious
sons were killed. He had a pagan wife. Tamar's helplessness,
and her deceptive plan, and her seduction of him. All of that mess in his life, and yet God managed to cause
all of these negative things to work together to
achieve God's own goals. I mean, the wicked will still be judged, and the weak will still
suffer the consequences of their mistakes, but God's plan will not be thwarted, even by our own poor
judgment and mistakes. So, this should
give us confidence to go ahead when we're not sure. How many times have we said, God just tell me what I need to do. Do I go left or right? Up or down? Do I stay or go? Just let me know
which way I should go, and we don't know. And we just have to make a choice. And we don't always make the right choice. Or to persevere, even
when we make mistakes. We want to do everything perfect, and if we don't, sometimes
we just want to quit. It's not worth doing. Or to maintain our hope of salvation, even when the evidence around us points to the conclusion that
we're not going to make it. God's plan is to bring
the faithful to Heaven, and He will accomplish
that plan no matter what. No matter what. Despite our mistakes and weaknesses, He will accomplish His plan. So, if you're serving the Lord, whatever you're doing, just
do it with all your might. He can bring everything
together and achieve His purpose in the end. And there may be another obvious lesson. It's not who you are,
it's who God makes you. It's interesting to note, that in the genealogy of Jesus, only four women are mentioned. When you look at the genealogy, it's always the son of,
the son of this man, the son of that man. Only four women are mentioned
in the genealogy of Jesus. Now, listen to the four women. There's Tamar, a Canaanite woman who tricked her father-in-law
into sleeping with her. The next woman, Rahab, a
prostitute who hid Jewish spies. Ruth, a Moabitess, who
persuaded Boaz to marry her after sleeping near
him while he was drunk. And Bathsheba, the Hittite woman, who committed adultery with David. These are the four
women that are mentioned in the lineage of Jesus. There were many other women
mentioned in the Bible who were noble and brave and
smart. They're not mentioned. These four women are mentioned. None of these women were Jews, all came into the Messianic line under dubious circumstances, but all of them were transformed by their contact with the
men who believed in God. So, listen, Tamar clung to the promise of Judah to belong to the Israelite nation through marriage and childbearing, and eventually she was. He absolved her. He said, you're not guilty, I'm guilty. You're getting what I
promised you by the law. So, he absolved her of whatever she did, and she got what she deserved to get. Rahab left prostitution, and she married Solomon after
the Jews captured Jericho. And she became the great
grandmother of David. And Ruth followed her mother-in-law Naomi, and adopted Naomi's faith,
which led her to Boaz and her marriage with him. I would say Rahab is further
back than great grandmother, I'm sorry. I'm talking about Ruth here. And then Bathsheba, come on, committed adultery. Had an illegitimate child. But Bathsheba became the key influence in making sure that Solomon, her child, became king after David, thus ensuring the unity
of Israel at that time. All four women had drastic
changes in their life, and God used them in dynamic ways to make sure that the line would continue. So God took these women, who were pagans, and because of their conversion and faith, He used them in a mighty way to preserve the lineage
through which Jesus came. So what am I saying? Well, there's hope for those
who have unbelieving partners, there's hope for those who
have questionable backgrounds, because God can make valuable
servants out of anybody, regardless of their past, and give everyone a glorious future. And I think these women,
here, are proof of that. We don't always use these women, right? We use Deborah, and we use Esther, and we use Mary, and we
use Martha. We don't use these women, but God used these women. God used these women. Terrific, terrific story. A great story of encouragement, because we're always talking about guys and all the bad things they did, and then they were converted. But these women,
they came from way far back, and God managed to use
them in a mighty way. Okay. That's our lesson. We move on to Joseph. We're in the homestretch.