Don’t you love how the Bible is full of events that are so comfortable and easy to explain to children? Yeah! Right!
Tamar was Judah’s daughter-in-law. She had married Judah’s oldest son, Er. The text doesn’t tell us what was wrong with Er, other than to state that he was wicked and that the Lord put him to death. (That’s a scary thought, in and of itself!) We might be thinking, “Thank God, He doesn’t do that kind of thing today!” However, we do well to remember that God put Jesus to death for our sins and we are recipients of mercy because Jesus took God’s wrath.
It was common practice at the time for a man’s brother to try to have children for him if the man died before he had a son. (In other words, he had sex with his brother’s widow.) Onan was Er’s brother, and was expected to perform this duty, however, he apparently had no intention of impregnating Tamar and he practiced a method of birth control whereby he pulled out of Tamar and ejaculated on the ground. (Many have said that Onan’s sin was masturbation, indeed masturbation is still referred to onanism, but that’s not the case. Onan’s sin was truly selfishness and lovelessness toward both Er and Tamar, whom he was only using to gratify himself.) God therefore took Onan’s life too.
This left Judah in a quandary. He had one more son, but he also felt he had lost two sons to Tamar already. He decided to tell Tamar that Shelah was too young and that she had to wait for him, not really intending to give Shelah to her to perform his customary duty.
In the meantime, Judah’s wife died. After he had mourned her death, Judah was on a business trip into town where Tamar was living. She, seeing that Judah had not given Shelah to her to provide for her and give her children, dressed herself up as a temple prostitute and waited for Judah. (Apparently how you dress does say something about you.) Cultic prostitution was very common in Canaanite religion which largely revolved around gods of fertility. The general idea was to have sex in the gods’ presence to get them in the mood to have sex which gave life and fertility to the earth. In a spontaneous decision, Judah hired Tamar, not knowing it was her, and he had sex with her. He did not follow his son’s sexual methods, and she became pregnant. When her pregnancy was discovered, he called for her to be executed for immorality – an interesting double standard. But when he was confronted with the items he had given her as security for payment, he acknowledged his guilt and took care of Tamar and their twin sons. (This seems to have been a major turning point in Judah’s life as he confessed his sin. He later shows great character and selflessness.)
God’s Word displays over and over again that He deals with people as we are – even when we are base and perverse. He is the constant, showing grace, love and mercy over and over again to people like Judah, Tamar, you and me when we don’t in anyway deserve it. Confessing out sins and receiving forgiveness is life changing. Amazingly, God used a twisted situation like this to advance the coming of Jesus, and when we read Matthew 1, Judah, Tamar and Perez are all named as ancestors of our Savior.
Father, help me to confess my sins to you, receive forgiveness, and change my life to give you glory. Amen.
Tamar was Judah’s daughter-in-law. She had married Judah’s oldest son, Er. The text doesn’t tell us what was wrong with Er, other than to state that he was wicked and that the Lord put him to death. (That’s a scary thought, in and of itself!) We might be thinking, “Thank God, He doesn’t do that kind of thing today!” However, we do well to remember that God put Jesus to death for our sins and we are recipients of mercy because Jesus took God’s wrath.
It was common practice at the time for a man’s brother to try to have children for him if the man died before he had a son. (In other words, he had sex with his brother’s widow.) Onan was Er’s brother, and was expected to perform this duty, however, he apparently had no intention of impregnating Tamar and he practiced a method of birth control whereby he pulled out of Tamar and ejaculated on the ground. (Many have said that Onan’s sin was masturbation, indeed masturbation is still referred to onanism, but that’s not the case. Onan’s sin was truly selfishness and lovelessness toward both Er and Tamar, whom he was only using to gratify himself.) God therefore took Onan’s life too.
This left Judah in a quandary. He had one more son, but he also felt he had lost two sons to Tamar already. He decided to tell Tamar that Shelah was too young and that she had to wait for him, not really intending to give Shelah to her to perform his customary duty.
In the meantime, Judah’s wife died. After he had mourned her death, Judah was on a business trip into town where Tamar was living. She, seeing that Judah had not given Shelah to her to provide for her and give her children, dressed herself up as a temple prostitute and waited for Judah. (Apparently how you dress does say something about you.) Cultic prostitution was very common in Canaanite religion which largely revolved around gods of fertility. The general idea was to have sex in the gods’ presence to get them in the mood to have sex which gave life and fertility to the earth. In a spontaneous decision, Judah hired Tamar, not knowing it was her, and he had sex with her. He did not follow his son’s sexual methods, and she became pregnant. When her pregnancy was discovered, he called for her to be executed for immorality – an interesting double standard. But when he was confronted with the items he had given her as security for payment, he acknowledged his guilt and took care of Tamar and their twin sons. (This seems to have been a major turning point in Judah’s life as he confessed his sin. He later shows great character and selflessness.)
God’s Word displays over and over again that He deals with people as we are – even when we are base and perverse. He is the constant, showing grace, love and mercy over and over again to people like Judah, Tamar, you and me when we don’t in anyway deserve it. Confessing out sins and receiving forgiveness is life changing. Amazingly, God used a twisted situation like this to advance the coming of Jesus, and when we read Matthew 1, Judah, Tamar and Perez are all named as ancestors of our Savior.
Father, help me to confess my sins to you, receive forgiveness, and change my life to give you glory. Amen.
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