With Christmas on the brain, I turned to write this week’s reflection on another woman off the pages of Scripture to whom we might relate. So, obviously, I thought of Mary, but remembered that in Jesus’ genealogy as documented by Matthew, there were a total of five women honored (Matthew 1:3, 5, 6, 16).
Over the next few weeks leading up to Christmas, we’ll focus on these gals (I’ve already written about Rahab, the prostitute). Today, our attention turns to Tamar.
You’ll read her unusual story in Genesis 38.
When Judah…went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 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 (who was promised to her) was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 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. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” 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—” 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. Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.
Genesis 38:12b-19
This is yet another “soap opera” that will leave you scratching your head, but in order to understand it, we have to reflect back on the covenant of the Lord to Abraham:
· God promised a Messiah-to-come, right after Adam and Eve rebelled in the garden – Genesis 3.
· God promised Abraham descendants that couldn’t be counted – like the stars in the sky, or the sand grains on the shore (Genesis 12).
· It was out of these descendants that the line of the Messiah would come.
· Out of Abraham’s descendants God continued to pick one line from which the Messiah would come – that was passed to Isaac (the only true heir of Abraham), then to Jacob (Israel), and out of Jacob, this line would continue through Judah…
Judah, however, was less than stellar in his reputation.
While he was a little “better” than his brothers, who plotted to kill their younger brother, Joseph (Judah convinced them to “sell” him to some traveling traders instead), his character was shady, nonetheless.
Family conflict has a way of dividing the core unit.
So, Judah left the remaining brothers and moved in with a friend, until he took a Canaanite wife.
This, in itself, was a no-no according to God’s commands.
Judah’s wife bore him 3 sons. When the oldest was of marrying age, Judah found him a wife (Tamar).
This is her story:
Judah’s son (Tamar’s husband) was wicked in the eyes of the Lord, and the Lord took his life. Tamar was left widowed and childless. So, according to Levitical Law (Deuteronomy 25:5) and the customs of that time, if the deceased had brothers of a marrying age, they were to take the sister-in-law in as their wife and produce offspring in the name of the brother who had died, so that the inheritance would be passed on.
The second brother took Tamar as his wife, but refused to give her a child. He, too, was wicked in the eyes of the Lord and God took his life. Now, Judah had lost two sons. He had one remaining son, who was not yet of marrying age. He sent Tamar back to her father’s house (an extremely disgraceful thing to do), and promised when the boy was old enough he’d honor the law.
After losing two sons, Judah looked at the one common denominator (Tamar), and backed out on his promise. So, Tamar took matters into her own hands. She deceived Judah, by pretending to be a prostitute. He fell for her lure, and as a result Tamar became pregnant. This was a gutsy, risky, and deceitful thing to do, but Tamar realized that she had no other option for receiving what was rightfully hers, and to produce an heir for the family line. When the truth became known, all Judah could respond was,
“She is in the right (or, more righteous than I), since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah (Gen 38:26).
Here’s what God is not teaching in this passage.
1) He is not applauding deceit.
2) He is not calling wrong, right.
3) He is not saying that it is right to use ungodly means to justify an end.
Please do not assume that God nodded his head in approval of Tamar’s actions.
However, the Lord is teaching that sometimes it is important to take a stand for what is right. Obviously, how we go about it is important!
Most of all, the Lord is teaching us that in spite of our dysfunctional mess, He can still use our story for His glory. His grace abounds…even over our sinful behavior. There is hope for us all!!!
Tamar had no idea the important role her actions would play in future history….
In spite of her, I am grateful for her story, because it played a huge role in mine!!!
As a result, Tamar became only one of five women honored in the genealogy of our Savior.
Question: Is God calling you to take a stand for something that needs to be made right, and perhaps take a risk that is outside of your comfort zone? What might that look like honorably?
Or, is your story in the messy middle, and you are in need of TRUSTING Him with His abounding grace?
As a new year approaches, this is worth pondering…
