Genesis 38:24-26 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt. 25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, 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. 26 And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.
This is one of the passages that seem to be nothing more than an interruption in the flow of the narrative. Here in the middle of the record of the life of Joseph, the great patriarch, is this record of Judah's illicit affair with Tamar his daughter-in-law. So what's this all about?
Well it goes like this. Judah takes Tamar as a wife for his oldest son, Er, who dies without fathering a child. Jewish law requires that his brother marry her and produce an heir for his older brother. Onan, the second son, marries her then he dies. Judah is now left with one son and an obligation to give Tamar as a wife to that son. So Judah sends Tamar to her father's house to wait for Shelah to grow up. During this time Judah perhaps put 2+2 together and came up with 17. He may have blamed Tamar for the death of Er and Onan since she was the apparent common ingredient in the life of both sons. God, however, lets us know that the secret ingredient was sin, disobedience to God, in the deaths of both Er (38:7) and Onan (38:9-10). So Judah laboring under this misconception decides not to give Tamar to Shelah. Now as time goes on, Judah's wife dies and he goes down to Tamar's hometown and mistakes her for a harlot and purchases her services and goes in unto her. Three months later Tamar is expecting a child and everyone knows it. What is Judah's reaction to this news? Burn her with fire! Problem, Tamar presents the signet and staff of Judah revealing that he is the father of the child that she is expecting. Suddenly Judah has a change of heart and remembers that none of this would have happened if he had given Tamar as a wife to Shelah as God required. So what's in this for us?
Maybe like Judah, we are harshly condemning others for some apparent sin in their lives without realizing that we are the secret ingredient in their sin. Perhaps they are not willing to attend church because of the hypocrites and we are the hypocrites that they are talking about. We are asking them to give up this and that for Christ but they don't see anything we are denying ourselves today for Christ. Perhaps they are living inconsistent lives of pledging allegiance to Christ one day and the world the next. Could it be that our unfaithfulness and unwillingness to trust God in every situation evidenced by an up today and down tomorrow attitude, is the secret ingredient that keeps fueling their inconsistent living? Well I think we get the point. Maybe before calling for the firing squad we should ask the LORD to show us what ingredients in our lives are effecting the lives of the person in question. I was brought face to face with the need to do this when talking to a person last week and they informed me that whenever they see someone in their family, church, or sphere of influence actions or attitudes begin to take on an unhealthy, unbiblical tint, they always ask the LORD what they might be doing to influence this persons actions or attitudes. We may be surprised what God shows us, but we should not be surprised that God calls us to confess it, repent, and FIX IT instead of ignoring it.
Daily Devotional: Leviticus 20:7-27 Punishment for Sin
This is one of the passages that seem to be nothing more than an interruption in the flow of the narrative. Here in the middle of the record of the life of Joseph, the great patriarch, is this record of Judah's illicit affair with Tamar his daughter-in-law. So what's this all about?
Well it goes like this. Judah takes Tamar as a wife for his oldest son, Er, who dies without fathering a child. Jewish law requires that his brother marry her and produce an heir for his older brother. Onan, the second son, marries her then he dies. Judah is now left with one son and an obligation to give Tamar as a wife to that son. So Judah sends Tamar to her father's house to wait for Shelah to grow up. During this time Judah perhaps put 2+2 together and came up with 17. He may have blamed Tamar for the death of Er and Onan since she was the apparent common ingredient in the life of both sons. God, however, lets us know that the secret ingredient was sin, disobedience to God, in the deaths of both Er (38:7) and Onan (38:9-10). So Judah laboring under this misconception decides not to give Tamar to Shelah. Now as time goes on, Judah's wife dies and he goes down to Tamar's hometown and mistakes her for a harlot and purchases her services and goes in unto her. Three months later Tamar is expecting a child and everyone knows it. What is Judah's reaction to this news? Burn her with fire! Problem, Tamar presents the signet and staff of Judah revealing that he is the father of the child that she is expecting. Suddenly Judah has a change of heart and remembers that none of this would have happened if he had given Tamar as a wife to Shelah as God required. So what's in this for us?
Maybe like Judah, we are harshly condemning others for some apparent sin in their lives without realizing that we are the secret ingredient in their sin. Perhaps they are not willing to attend church because of the hypocrites and we are the hypocrites that they are talking about. We are asking them to give up this and that for Christ but they don't see anything we are denying ourselves today for Christ. Perhaps they are living inconsistent lives of pledging allegiance to Christ one day and the world the next. Could it be that our unfaithfulness and unwillingness to trust God in every situation evidenced by an up today and down tomorrow attitude, is the secret ingredient that keeps fueling their inconsistent living? Well I think we get the point. Maybe before calling for the firing squad we should ask the LORD to show us what ingredients in our lives are effecting the lives of the person in question. I was brought face to face with the need to do this when talking to a person last week and they informed me that whenever they see someone in their family, church, or sphere of influence actions or attitudes begin to take on an unhealthy, unbiblical tint, they always ask the LORD what they might be doing to influence this persons actions or attitudes. We may be surprised what God shows us, but we should not be surprised that God calls us to confess it, repent, and FIX IT instead of ignoring it.
Daily Devotional: Leviticus 20:7-27 Punishment for Sin
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