Here is another Bible story to inspire the soap opera writers. Chapter 38 tells the story of Tamar. This story gives more support to my theory that God was very choosy about who was in Christ's lineage. He wanted Judah. He wanted Tamar. Er didn't make the cut. We don't know why, but he was killed by God without leaving a son behind. Apparently Hebrew tradition was that the brother of the dead man would try to impregnate his widow in hopes of giving her a son that would take her late husband's name. Seems strange now, but I think it was perfectly acceptable. Well, Onan was just as bad (or worse) as his brother. He didn't have any intention of leaving his brother an heir. But instead of outright refusing, he insulted and shamed Tamar by sleeping with her anyway. And God killed him, too!
Can you imagine what the neighbors must have been saying? What is this woman doing to these men? And unfortunately, that's what Judah thought, too. It never occurred to him that his own sons might be the problem. So he sends her back in childless, rejected shame to her father's house. He told her to wait there until his youngest son became old enough to marry, but he had no intention of giving him to her.
I wonder if Tamar told anyone about her plan. Did her sister know what she was about to do? I don't know. But I would have told her she was crazy. But God had seen how Tamar was mistreated and blessed her wisdom and shrewdness. Even if the plan itself seems unbelievable. So word gets around, as happens in a small town, that Tamar is pregnant. Legally, she is still under the rule of Judah's authority, even though she is living with her own family. He is actually going to burn her for bringing shame on the family!
Even though Judah was much to blame in this story, I think I see why he was allowed to live, while his sons weren't. The key is in verse 26. As soon as he realizes what she had done, and what he had done to her, he is repentant. That is what God is looking for in us. Not perfection, because He alone is righteous, but admittance that we are wrong and are turning away from our sin.
Just a word about Tamar's birth story. Can you imagine this? It is no small thing to give birth. And yet somehow that little baby hand was the first to be seen. Can you imagine the midwife's expression? I bet there was a strong contraction, then the baby's hand, at which time the string is used to label the first born. The contraction subsides, and the hand goes back in--not too out of the ordinary I guess. But then with the next contraction, there is not a hand, but a head...and when the baby is fully born, no red string. Maybe it fell off. But then the second baby is born with the red string on it's wrist. Amazing. I can't stop telling my own birth stories, but I have a feeling this one went around the whole town!
Chapter 39 - Meanwhile, back in Egypt
In the time that Joseph has been in Egypt, he has become a man of integrity. His success has not made him prideful, because he realizes that it could all be taken away. His response to temptation is a great example to us. Flee.
Although he was falsely accused, God knew the truth, and prospered him anyway. God has great plans for this man. He will make connections while in prison that he could never have made if he had remained in Potiphar's household. He was already at the top there, and it looked like God was taking that all away from him. But God was thinking BIGGER. We should remember this in our own lives.
Joseph's integrity was obvious to the jailer, because he doesn't even have to supervise him. He is a God-appointed leader, and it shows even during personal trial.
Next time: Genesis 40-41
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