When Sin Comes Back to Bite You

Last week we began to look at the story of Joseph… the dreamer that met devastation.

We ended our study with the moment that Joseph had been sold into slavery and his father believed him to be dead.

There would be no rescue attempt, there would be no effort in buying Joseph back because… dad thought he was gone. The siblings had done well to seal Joseph’s fate… or so they thought they had.

Tonight, we hit the pause button on this story, because the Book of Genesis hits the pause button… to focus on the life and dealings of one his brothers.

Joseph is now a slave in Potiphar’s house… we will return to that story in a couple of weeks. Tonight, we zoom in on Judah to look at an interesting series of events that take place within his household.

First off, we need to understand that in this historical time, there existed traditions then... that do not exist today. Those will come into play in a moment.

We also need to understand that traditions aside, sin still remains sin AND it’s consequences still remain as severe.

The story we are going to look at seems almost… out of place… until you start looking at some of the details. Why would God inspire the author of Genesis to pause on Joseph’s account to give us insight as to what was going on on in Judah’s household?

One commentator gives these four reasons:

It exposes the ungodly and unguarded morals of that time. Joseph’s purity would later be seen in sharp contrast compared to what we will be looking at.

It shows why Jacob;s family had to leave Canaan and go to Egypt. The identities of Jacob’s sons was being lost through the mixed marriages with the Canaanites.

It illustrates that the sins of everyone, even prominent people in God’s plan, will ultimately be exposed.

It shows that God wants morally pure individuals to lead His people.

Genesis 38 begins by telling us that Judah left his brothers and married a Canaanite woman who would bear him three sons: Er, Onan, Shelah.

We quickly get the idea that things are not well in Judah’s family. Although we are not given details regarding what the offense was, Er, Judah’s firstborn, was living a very unrighteous life.

Genesis 38:6–7 NIV

6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death.

Whoa now… hold the phone… God put Er to death because of his wickedness? What did this guy do?

We don’t know… but this was the first time God brought judgement like this upon an individual.

Not since the days of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah has God taken the life of one who displeased Him. Again, in these two examples they were groups of people… corporate engagement in sin, but this was an individual account.

Whatever his actions were, it cost him his life.

Now someone might get hung up on this and ask, “Why would God do such a thing?” But in all reality, we all deserve this kind of punishment. Because the wages of sin is death. Sin MUST be dealt with harshly.

In this case, Er’s actions resulted in direct judgement from God.

Do we need to concern ourselves with this kind of judgement today? No, but the consequence of sin remains.

We can either be forgiven of our sins through Jesus who took on our punishment.

OR we can face God and be judged for our sins on the other side of life and perish in hell for eternity.

This event, causes a bit of an issue in Judah’s family - Er died before his wife had children. So Judah tries to remedy the situation with the resources he had. The problem is… the issue of sin had not yet been dealt with.

Sin cost Er his life… and it’s terrible rampage wasn’t over yet.

WHEN SIN IS LEFT UNCHECKED… IT CAN RESULT IN UNPRECEDENTED CONSEQUENCES.

What we are going to see is a tidal wave of issues all because sin is never called out. And we see this play out through multiple family “problems” in Genesis 38.

Problem One: A Widow with No Children.

Tamar, Er’s wife, had no children and now she had no husband to have children with.

So what does Judah do for his daughter-in-law? He initiates what would later be known as Levirate Law (see Deut. 25).

Onan is next in line so Judah calls on him to lie with his late brother’s wife. But Onan is not happy with this decision. He knows the child that is conceived would not be his so he does something that prevents conception from happening. He spills his seed.

So… Onan is sleeping with Tamar… but not completing the task given. Not only is this despicable in our eyes, but God was displeased with what was going on.

Genesis 38:10 NIV

10 What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.

Ouch! Judah has now lost two sons in this whole situation and Tamar is still a widow with no children!

The problem has not been remedied and the youngest son is not old enough to do what needed to be done!

Time would pass and she would not be given to Shelah as a wife by Judah… even though Judah had made this promise to her

Genesis 38:11 NIV

11 Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.

So what is a widow with no children to do? She comes up with her own plan...

Problem Two: Deception was Going Around.

Tamar disguises herself and fools Judah into believing that she is… a prostitute.

Time had passed, Judah’s wife had died, so Tamar took advantage of the situation.

In the moment, Judah does not have the goods to pay for her “service” so Tamar asks for a token so he would make good on his pledge. When Judah asks what she wants, she tells him this is Genesis 38:18-19

Genesis 38:18–19 NIV

18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?” “Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. 19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.

Tamar got what she wanted, but not in line with tradition. Judah deceived her and now she deceived him. Sin is rapidly growing out of control. And another problem comes of it.

Problem Three: Tamar is Found Guilty of Prostitution

And what is the evidence of her actions? Tamar is now pregnant!

Judah is very upset! How could Tamar do such a thing? Who would dare sleep with his widowed daughter-in-law? How could such a ting happen?

In his disgust, Judah calls for Tamar to be brought out and to be burned to death.

And then Tamar drops the hammer. She reveals the cord and the seal. Judah is exposed. He realizes he is at fault.

And look closely at verse 25 for a moment.

Genesis 38:25 NIV

25 As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.”

Tamar calls for Judah to examine the evidence she was holding in her hands. Judah could not argue who the items belonged to. Tamar deceived Judah so that she could get what she wanted.

Does this sound familiar? Where else have we recently seen someone examine evidence like this in a deceptive fashion?

Genesis 37:31–33 NIV

31 Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 They took the ornate robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.” 33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”

In Genesis 37, the examination of the robe sealed the deception of what happened to Joseph. In Genesis 38, the examination of the cord and seal unveiled the truth of what really happened.

Judah has a Reality Check

It all hit the wall. It all began with unrighteous living and it had now caught up to Judah. And in verse 26, he calls out HIS sin.

Genesis 38:26 NIV

26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.

Judah had a MASSIVE reality check. the sins of the family had caught up to him.

Was Judah being held responsible for the sins of his sons Er and Onan? No… but nowhere do we see any correct, repentance, redirection, etc. come from dear old dad.

Interestingly enough, there is no mention of Judah mourning the loss of his two sons AND he never refers to his daughter-in-law by name. The narrator is the only one that calls her by her name.

My point is… this whole situation appears to be one massive inconvenience to Judah. But instead of leading or offering new direction, he lets it play out.

The problem with sin is… it doesn’t go away on its own. It doesn’t magically disappear. It doesn’t play favorites or show partiality.

Sin will ALWAYS bring destruction. It may not be immediate destruction, but sin will always result in death.

That is why Jesus did what He did. He died the death that was meant for us. He became our only means of escaping the inescapable consequence of sin.

The answer for sin is not indifference. The answer for sin is not more sin. The answer for sin is not pretend like it didn’t happen. Sin MUST be dealt with.

We can deal with sin in one of two ways:

One, we can listen to the Word and the Spirit of God and deal with the issue before it grows out of control.

The psalmist wrote that the Word of God is hidden in our hearts so that we might not sin against God. Having knowledge of what the Word says helps us not to do what the Word says not to do.

The Spirit will guide and direct us away from any sin. The Spirit will deal with us regarding any sin that we might be harboring. We need to respond to the ministry of the Holy Spirit before we reach the second option.

Option two, we wait until we are faced with a reality check.

Our sins will eventually come to the surface. we can either deal with them right away or we can wait to be called out by our wrong doings.

Someone might say, “I’ve known people who sinned all their life and never faced the consequences of their actions.” If they died in that sin, then yes, they are facing the consequences.

Closing

Why did God insert this story in the middle of Joseph’s story?

In Joseph’s story, we are going to see what can happen when we choose not to answer sin with more sin.

In this story, we see what happens when things spiral out of control. For Joseph, things might seem out of control, but in reality, He is humbly lining up with God’s plan for his life.

Being sold into slavery might cause someone to become bitter or hateful, similar to what might happen when lied to by a father-in-law.

But Joseph will remain in God’s plan.

Closing point is simple: DEAL WITH SIN before it deals with you. YOUR SINS WILL FIND YOU OUT.

This is not a threat or downer message… it is truth from the Word.

Knowing that our sin problem was something we cannot overcome on our own, God supplied for us the answer in Jesus.

You do not have to live under the oppression of sin. You can be radically delivered by the blood of the Lamb! Jesus is the ONLY way and He offers us eternal life even now!

PRAYER - Lord, we repent of our sin and pray You will help us to walk in Your ways each and every day!