THREE MYSTERIES OF GOD’S GRACE REVEALED

Genesis 38
Bob Bonner
August 5, 2007

Sometimes, life gets really confusing. Heartache abounds all around us forcing many to ask hard questions like, “Why does God allow so many good, hardworking, moral people, to get ripped off, abused or treated unfairly? Why does God allow the evil, lazy, immoral people to get away with wrongdoing and thrive in this world? Why does God allow spouses and friends to act in ways of betrayal and blind-sidedly hurt the ones they are supposed to love and care for?” Why? Why? Why?

This morning, we are going to look at Genesis 38, a chapter that, if one reads it quickly, without considering its place in history, may leave you with many more questions than answers. But if you see it in its historical and literary context, it will reveal marvelous truths of God’s grace and good will toward men. 

So let’s begin by looking at the literary structure of Genesis and, in particular, let’s see how this chapter fits in. A couple of messages ago, we began this last major section of Genesis that begins with chapter 37 and carries to the end of the book, chapter 50.  Many stand back and look at these thirteen chapters, and because the bulk of them focus on the heroic actions of Joseph, they believe that Joseph is the central figure or the most important figure of these chapters. Certainly, there are many lessons to be learned from Joseph’s life in these chapters, but most scholars who look at this book from the point of view of its Hebrew literary structure, in other words, from the evidence of proven historical writing styles of the time, will tell you that Joseph is not the key figure of this section. If he was, they would ask you, “Why would the author of Genesis put chapter 38 in here, when it has nothing to do with Joseph, but only has to do with Judah?” If Genesis 37-50 was supposed to be about Joseph, it would make no sense to suddenly place a chapter about Judah right here. Upon further study, Hebrew scholars, such as Dr. Bruce Waltke, Dr. Allen Ross, and many others, recognized that the literary landmarks in the book point to another key figure as being the focal point of these chapters. That person would be Judah. All of the information we read about Joseph in these chapters really sets the backdrop against which God will display His work in progress, His diamond-in-the-rough, Judah.

Allow me to give you an example of what is meant by literary structure. Between the end of Chapter 37 and the end of Chapter 38 a period of about 22 years passes, all focusing on Judah’s life. In chapters 39-42 we discover that the author is writing about the same 22 years, except at this time, his focus is upon Judah’s brother, Joseph.  From a literary standpoint, the author of Genesis has deliberately structured these chapters chronologically to contrast wicked Judah against the righteous Joseph’s life. When we come to the literary climax of the story, which takes place in Genesis 49, we will see that the patriarch of the family, Jacob, passes on the family blessing, to Joseph’s sons, as 1 Chronicles 5:1-3 verifies, but not the privilege to be the one through whom the future leadership of Israel will come, nor the Messiah. That is now promised to the repentant and transformed Judah. What is really interesting about this is that Joseph, the then Vice President of Egypt, the second most powerful man in the world at the time, accepts his father’s blessings of Judah without argument or challenge.

But probably the real story of these chapters is the story of to what great lengths God will go to protect and to redeem His people for His purposes. These chapters teach that if you know God, He will not allow you to just slide by in life. If you know God and you have rough edges in your life, you can count on it, He will do whatever He has to do to knock off those rough edges, so that you will become a mighty person that He can use. He will continue to work on your life, until He has conformed you into the image of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. He will continue to work on you until you are convinced that He loves you and has your best interests in mind, even though during God’s perfecting, you might suffer what you believe to be harsh injustices.

This morning, we will see God’s handiwork, His discipline on a hard-hearted, rebellious person’s life, Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. If we were God, I’m sure we would have paid little attention to rescuing this Judah’s life. But God is not us. He does not reject sinners, He first provides them with a Savior, to rescue them from themselves. And so He does with Judah.

Before we begin reading Genesis 38, let me warn you about what we are going to encounter. The beloved and late great radio Bible teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee says of this chapter, “This is one of the most sordid chapters in all of the Bible. It is about the sin and shame of Jacob’s fourth son, Judah. After reading the story, one rather wishes it were left out of the Bible. I’ve had many people ask me why that chapter was put into the Bible. Many feel that it is the worst chapter in the Book.”

Having heard McGee’s description of this chapter, one would have to ask, “Why are we told all about these sordid activities of Judah? Why would our holy and pure God have us study such things?” After we work our way through these verses, we will take time to reflect upon God’s marvelous purposes for placing such a chapter like this, in the Bible.

For those of you who have not been with us thus far in the study of Jacob and his family, and in particular, his relationship with his twelve sons, we have come to the realization that, at the end of chapter 37, what we have here is a weak, dysfunctional and divided family. For many reasons, all except two sons hate their father and these sons especially hate one of their younger brothers, Joseph. They kidnap Joseph, fake his death and then sell him into slavery in Egypt. They send news and evidence home to their father, Jacob, that his favored son, Joseph has died. 

As one can expect, Jacob takes the loss of his favored son hard. By the time the rest of the sons return home, Dad is still grieving deeply. Some suggest that Dad has gone overboard in his grieving. When compared with the grieving of David for the loss of his own son, David had faith. He knew that one day he would go to be with his departed son one day. David had faith to carry on with his calling as the King of Israel. Not so with Jacob. Jacob was not walking by faith or trusting that God was in control, whether Joseph had died or was still alive. Instead, Jacob was absorbed by his selfish grief, rather than fulfilling his duty to be the godly patriarch over his surviving family. All he could think about was his loss, not what God had called him to be and do as the patriarch. He could not focus on the hope to be with Joseph, Rachel, and his mother, Rebekah, in heaven one day. Keep in mind, Jacob was still relatively young. He still had almost forty years left of his life to live. But instead of living and leading his family for the next 22 years, Jacob, for all intent and purposes, crawled into a hole of mourning and did not function as the family patriarch.

One of the sons, Judah, was so sick and tired of his father’s ignoring the rest of the family that was still alive, that Judah leaves home and blatantly abandons his family and their faith for more than twenty years. And that is where chapter 38 begins, with Judah leaving home. He travels eight miles away to live with the pagan, promiscuous, idol-worshiping Canaanites. If it were not for a famine that providentially comes upon the land 20 years later, Judah probably would never have returned to his family.

This chapter divides into two chronological sections. The first, in verses 1-11, covers the next 20 years of Judah’s life, when he foolishly unites with the Canaanites, through business and marriage. The second, verses 12-30, covers two years and deals with Judah’s fathering two sons by his daughter-in-law Tamar. During these 22 years away from the family, Judah will end up having a total of five sons.

At this point in Judah’s life, Dr. Bruce Waltke gives us the following character sketch of Judah: “Judah enters as a slave trader who has turned his back on Abraham’s God given vision. He is callous toward his father and cynical about the covenant family. He is lustful, hypocritical and without morals. His best friend and business partner is a Canaanite, Hirah. Together, they raised sheep and had a tremendous size of a flock. He fails as a father.”

With that as a rather lengthy introduction, let’s move quickly through chapter 38, looking more closely at the details of Judah’s next 22 years.

As we begin with verse 1, Judah geographically descends from his family’s homestead on the Hebron heights down to a small and long-established village in Canaan’s lowlands, named Adullam. As we examine the details of this chapter, you will notice that Judah’s very geographical descent mirrors his spiritually- descending condition for the next 22 years of his life. We read, “And it came about at that time, [meaning following the sale of Joseph into slavery] that Judah departed from his brothers and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. [the verb for “departed” literally means “turned away” and is a picture of Judah rejecting or turning away from his family, as well as their God.] Judah saw there 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.”

The Hebrew scholar, Dr. Bruce Waltke says that these words describe a man who is driven by his lust. Judah has become very much apart of his new passion-driven Canaanite culture.

“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.” Just a point of interest to how evil Er must have been. This is the first text in Scripture to explicitly state that God put someone to death. So, Er was not just a normal sinner. He must have been really evil. “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.”

With only one brother left, Onan knew he would have inherited half of his father’s estate, rather than one third. Therefore, out of greed, why should he diminish his inheritance by providing his sister-in-law with a child, with whom Onan would have to share his inheritance? Hence, Onan refused to obey the practice of the day, to provide his sister-in-law with an heir. Hence, God takes the following action, “But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He took his life also. Then 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 am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.’ So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.”

Judah has just watched two of his three sons suddenly die from unnatural causes. He failed to perceive that God was judging his folly and his wicked sons. Instead, Judah superstitiously regards Tamar as a woman who brings misfortune on his family. So, he suggests that Tamar go back to her Canaanite parents’ home and wait til Shelah, his third son, grows up to the age where she could marry him. But as we will see, Judah never intended to give Tamar to Shelah, for he feared losing his third son too. Furthermore, culturally speaking, he insulted Tamar by sending her back to her Canaanite family’s home, when Judah was the one who was rightfully responsible to care for his daughter-in-law, Tamar.

Eventually, much time passes and Tamar sees the handwriting on the wall. Her father-in-law has no plans of giving her to his third son. So, she establishes a plan and waits for the perfect moment to put it into action. That moment comes in verse 12. Judah’s first wife dies. Tamar knows her father-in-law and his weakness for women, so she sets up a trap for him. We read, “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. 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 [or at a crossroad] 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.’ [The “staff” was Judah’s symbol of authority and had his mark of ownership etched on top of it.] 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.”

Sheep-shearing time was a festive time in Canaanite culture, with usually a lot of partying going on. Tamar rightly judged what mood her father-in-law would be in when she set up her trap. However, please note that the Scriptures do not cast any moral judgment on Tamar in what she did. In fact, in Ruth 4:12, Tamar is cast in a most favorable light.

Considering the Canaanite culture in which promiscuity was practically a way of life, one should not condemn Tamar’s actions too severely. Even the profession of being a temple prostitute was considered respectable in those days. Everything she did was within the Canaanite law of the day. Bottom line, she had the right to have a child by the nearest of kin to her deceased husband. When she didn’t get it, she played on the vice of Judah to bear this child, and her deception worked.

Dr. Waltke goes so far as to say that he sees real character development in Tamar through this situation. He writes, “...she rejects her Canaanite father’s house to stay with Judah’s family. She remains loyal to them. Here, her “faithful deception” like Rahab the harlot’s, wins her a place in Messianic lineage.”  In other words, it is through Tamar’s sordid plot, and the birth of one of her sons, that a link to the lineage is added that would one day produce the life of Jesus Christ.

Let’s continue with the rest of the story: “When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. 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, [meaning his signet ring, staff and cord, or waist belt] otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.’”

Judah is like a reputable gentleman who unwittingly “loses” his credit card in a brothel. The prostitute running off with his valuable possessions makes him look like a fool for entrusting them to her. As can be expected of Judah, the only thing that concerns him is his reputation.

“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!’

Here, we see the old double standard is in play. Judah can live a blatantly immoral life, but not his daughter-in-law. The fact of the matter is that he can see the sin in somebody else, but he can’t see it in himself.

“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, [or a better reading of the Hebrew would be, “She is righteous, not I”] inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.’ And he did not have relations with her again.”

Here, we see for the first time, the lights of conviction going on in Judah’s heart. His reputation has suffered another blow. He has been proven immoral and hypocritical.

The epilogue of this dramatic seen takes place in verses 27-30. “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.”

As we read of the events of Judah’s life, they reveal what a remarkably callous opportunist Judah was. Even his own words condemn him. In 37:26-37, when it came to the decision of what to do with his hated brother, Judah said, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ismaelites.” And then, when it came to Tamar’s right to marry Judah’s third son, he said, “Let her remain a widow in her father’s house.” He had no intention of allowing her to marry his third son, even though it was his duty to give Tamar to his son. Judah abandoned Tamar to her own family, which was not heard of in those days. Later, when Tamar was found to be unlawfully pregnant, (not knowing he was the was the guilty partner, but knowing he was a fornicator) he declared “Bring her out and let her be burned.” Double standards aside, Judah’s own words mark him as a man who viewed people as pawns. He did not value people, even his own family members. Rather than treating them as individual creations of God, he saw them for what he could get from them or through them.

And yet, at the very end of chapter 38, there appears to be a glimmer of hope for Judah. For suddenly, he is struck with the truth about himself, when he confesses that Tamar “She is righteous, not I.” Finally, something is at work within Judah’s soul. The Spirit of God has brought conviction to Judah’s heart that even hard-hearted Judah could not ignore.

At the beginning, this morning, I raised the question of “Why would God have included this chapter in the Bible for us to study?”  I told you that when we came to the end, when it came time to reflect on what we have studied that we would see several possible reasons as to why God purposefully included this chapter in His holy Word.

Basically, I see three revelations of God’s grace toward us demonstrated in this chapter, that have deep implications to each of our lives.

First, at the end of this dark chapter, filled with the bawdy details of one man’s spiritual midnight, God chooses to reveal the beginning signs of His active divine grace toward Judah. We see here, the first movement of spiritual growth in Judah’s life. It is a small beginning, but a beginning nonetheless. For the first time, Judah is convicted of his own immorality and rebellion against God. What began as a small spiritual move forward in his life, ten chapters later comes to fruition, and we will see that Judah gets born again. 

God is trying to show us that none of us is beyond rescuing. Sure, reason would say that, due to some of our conduct before a holy and perfect God, we don’t deserve to be rescued or forgiven or welcomed into the family of God. But God’s grace is greater than our sin and our reasoning. Regardless of our past selfish and wicked decisions, God can rescue us from ourselves and restore us to a wonderful relationship of forgiveness, acceptance and approval before Him. Judah is a picture of God’s saving grace. Judah is proof that God is in the business of rescuing and restoring lives. When one examines the first 40 years or so of Judah’s life, it is utterly astounding that Judah in connection with the twelve sons of Jacob has his name written on the gates of heavenly Jerusalem, according to Rev. 21:12.  Judah’s redeemed life stands as one of God’s trophies of grace. Furthermore, God desires to make you a trophy of His grace as well.

A second revelation of God’s grace is seen in the outcome of the union between Judah and his Canaanite daughter-in-law, Tamar. Tamar gave birth to two sons, whose names are spiritually significant. The name, Perez means “breakthrough;” and Zerah means “dawn.” Through the naming of these two sons, God is declaring that He had “broken through” to Judah’s heart and that as a result, a new day had “dawned” for the covenantal family of Judah. God’s original promise to bring the Messiah through Abraham’s family remains intact, in spite of the conduct of the wretched early years of Judah’s life.

We read in Matthew 1:2-3, “To Abraham was born Isaac; and to Isaac, Jacob; and to Jacob, Judah and his brothers; and to Judah was born Perez and Zerah by Tamar; and to Perez was born Hezron; and to Hezron, Ram;” If you were to continue reading through Christ’s genealogy, you would find four women mentioned. Three were Canaanites and one Moabitess. Of the three Canaanite women, they were adulterers and prostitutes.

It is proof of God’s grace and mercy that out of this debauched human race, and specifically through Tamar and Judah’s selfish and wicked actions, God is still at work. In fact, He uses even our evil ways to fulfill His promise of giving us our Messiah. God chooses to bring the promised messiah through the line of Judah’s son, Perez. The obvious contrast between our Messiah, Jesus Christ’s life, and His family’s heritage is a stark contrast between good and evil. Oh, how it highlights our need for a Savior. We ARE that bad. We don’t like to admit it, but we are in need of a Savior. Thank you God, for giving us Jesus.

The third act of God’s grace that is revealed in this chapter, answers the questions of “Who will rescue this dysfunctional and fractured covenant family?” And “Who is going to protect them from being swallowed up by the highly immoral, idol-worshiping Canaanite culture?” Answer: God. How? By two factors: first, by allowing wicked Judah and his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery, and thus forcing the family to leave the wicked influences of the Canaanites and to enter into Egpyt. And second, God got Jacob’s family out of Canaan with the help of Judah getting saved through the righteous acts of Tamar and, in the end, Judah willing to put his life on the line to move the rest of the family to Egypt for food during a famine. God allowed all of these crazy and confusing events, and the unjust and immoral actions of men, so that He could turn their evil to good, and move Israel’s family to Egypt so as to remove them from the evil influences of the Canaanites.

Life is more often filled with confusing complexities than we will ever understand. But understanding them is not what brings hope to our lives. Hope is realized when we remind ourselves who is on the throne. Who is in control. Who always knows best. God is the only one who knows the beginning from the end. And it is this same God who loves us and so wants us to walk with Him through these troubling times, trusting in Him, that He has a good purpose for all things, even the evil the others lay down against us.

Others may, from evil motives, cause us harm and hurts that God could have prevented. We may never know why, this side of heaven that He has not kept them from doing such evil to the innocent. But He will make all things work together for His good and our good, for those who put their complete confidence in Him.

Hence, you have three important reasons for why God had this chapter included in the book of Genesis. You also have three lessons about God’s working in our world, and how He can take our evil actions and turn them to fulfilling His good purposes for our lives.

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