BEAUTY IN THE BROKEN – THE TEARS OF TAMAR – GENESIS 38

Charles Billingsley 

Matthew 1:1 

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon,5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,

Our story begins in Genesis 37.

Jacob – 4 wives.

4 sons by his first wife Leah

Two sons by his favorite wife Rachel.

Joseph was his favorite

Lots of tension already!

Joseph – coat of many colors.

See Joseph from a far off. They determine to kill him. Rueben talks them into just throwing into a cistern instead.

Judah convinces them to just sell him to the Ishmealites

Then they take his coat, dip it in goat’s blood.

present it to Jacob

Gen. 37:32  And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.”

Genesis 38:1 It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

Choose your friends wisely!

Every time we see Hirah mentioned in this story, he is with Judah while Judah is making wrong decisions.

The wrong friends in our lives will drag us down. They cause you to make bad choices.

Proverbs 12:26

The righteous should choose his friends carefully,

For the way of the wicked leads them astray.

2 There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua.

He took her and went in to her,

There is a whole lot wrong with this picture already.

God told the Hebrews not to marry Canaanites. Abraham warned against it. Isaac did, too. So did Jacob.

Canaanites were pagans. They were polytheists.

3 and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. 4 She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. 5 Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. Judah was in Chezib when she bore him.

6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

Tamar was another Canaanite woman. A girl became eligible for marriage at the time of puberty. So she was probably no older than 13-14 years old.

So now Judah has taken a Canaanite wife, then he takes a Canaanite wife for his sons. Not good. But Tamar has no choice in the matter. This was the custom. Little did she know that she was being forced into the family of some very wicked men.

7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death.

8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.”

9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother.10 And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also.

2 Cor. 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

But what about Tamar? Tamar is still a very young lady, who is now a two time widow. To not have an heir and to be a widow…twice…there was probably no more shameful place to hold in society at that time. There was no more socially or economically worse place in society than to be a widow. And it was highly unlikely that she would be chosen again to be anyone’s wife.

11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.

12 In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died.

When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

13 And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14 she took off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage.

15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.

Guard Your Heart!!!

Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,

for from it flow the springs of life.

16She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” 17 He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” 18 He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet 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.

19 Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

20 When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. 21 And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute who was at Enaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No cult prostitute has been here.”22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No cult prostitute has been here.’” 23 And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”

24 About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.”

Our sin always looks uglier on somebody else.

 25As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.”

26 Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.

27 When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. 28 And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” 29 But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called Perez. 30 Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.

I see a lot of broken. But where’s the beauty???

Judah

From that moment, He’s a changed man.

He’s broken. But God takes that brokenness and does something beautiful.

We see this in Genesis 44 where he is now the spokesperson for his brothers before the very powerful Joseph. The same one who sold his own brother into slavery is now offering up himself to save his brother from slavery.

Genesis 49 – He receives the blessing of His father…

8 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you.

9 Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?

10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him;

and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

It is from the line of Judah that the LION of Judah will come.

But there is no line…..unless there is Tamar.

Tamar

The beauty of the story of Tamar is redemption. God saw the tears of Tamar. He heard her cry. He used her, The broken woman, the most unlikely of characters…to continue a family tree that otherwise would have gone away.

An unlikely person? you bet.

An ugly story? absolutely

An unbelievable outcome? Well that’s just how God works.

So what about you?

Do you think there’s a takeaway in this story that perhaps could change your life?

 A few thoughts: 

• Choose your friends wisely

• Don’t be unequally yoked

• Stay faithful to the faith

• Guard your heart!

• Your sins will always find you out!

• If your life is in sin, repent now! 

• If you are abused or abandoned…you don’t have to let it defeat you.

     – Seek help. Seek counsel. We are here for you.

• The Gospel is inclusive of every race, tribe and tongue

• God will never leave you nor forsake you