Unexpected Redemption: Judah & Tamar

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Well today we are continuing our study on Joseph and on what God is doing through this story. However it’s going to look a little different today because we actually aren’t going to read about Joseph. Today we are going to be looking at one of Joseph’s brothers, and how God used his sinfulness to bring about the hope for generations.

Before we look at our passage this morning there is a song that came to mind this morning, and I would like to read you just the chorus of this song. I want to read this to you because it speaks to where we all are…and it speaks to where I believe our story ends up today. This is a song called, “Scars” from a group called, I am They.

Here it goes,

So I'm thankful for the scars

'Cause without them I wouldn't know Your heart

And I know they'll always tell of who You are

So forever I am thankful for the scars

Then there is a bridge that goes like this,

I can see, I can see

How You delivered me

In Your hands, In Your feet

I found my victory

I love this song because it speaks about how our past, and the things that we have done that we regret, or the things that has happened to us through no fault of our own, actually doesn’t lead to shame and regret…it leads to hope because God has come down in the midst of our sinfulness and brought our heart in alignment with his. It’s beautiful because every single one of us here today or joining us online, has scars…

Today we are going to be in Genesis 38 and we are going to read a story about Judah, one of Joseph’s brother, and Tamar, his daughter in law.

What have we learned so far in Joseph’s story though? Well we have learned that God is sovereign over the events that are taking place here, right. we have seen Joseph be made fun of, we have seen Joseph kidnapped and ultimately sold to slave traders going to Egypt. We learned that we can see Jesus in the story of Joseph, and so we need to be searching for glimpses of Jesus as we read this narrative.

I also gave you the end of the story…I did this because it’s kind of the most impactful statement on God’s sovereignty and I want everyone here to hear that God is in control of whatever you are experiencing today. So here’s what Joseph says at the end of the story…

"As for you, you meant to harm me, but God intended it for a good purpose." —Joseph

In other words. What man meant for evil…God meant for good! That statement s just so powerful so I put it on our graphic to really remind us of this truth.

So, today we are going to read a story that is a bit messed up, but what I want you to do is look for Jesus as we move through this story. We are going to be in Genesis 38 today and we are going to look at the whole chapter today. What we are going to see is the story of Judah and Tamar, we will see betrayal, loss, deceit…and ultimatly, redemption in the midst of incredible human circumstances.

What I want you to think about as we move through this story is how you, as a Christian can experience failure and betrayal, yet God’s redemptive purposes can still prevail. I want you to understand the hope and restoration of the Gospel, and how even though these circumstances may feel chaotic, or even shameful…that’s not the end of your story.

Really…the truth is that God’s plans typically unfold through deeply flawed people and unexpected situations. That’s why we are encouraged to trust in God’s sovereignty and seek his hand at work, especially when circumstances are not ideal.

Now, let’s go ahead and look to see how

Judah’s Journey Begins

So in order to do that, we need to go ahead and turn over to

Genesis 38:1–11 ESV

It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went in to her, and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. Judah was in Chezib when she bore him. And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. 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.” 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. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. 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.

So with this family you know there’s gonna be some drama, right.

First of all we get a glimpse into some of the actions that take place after Joseph is sold into slavery. There is a 22 year gap between the sale of Joseph, and when the family goes to Egypt to be saved. So we don’t know what’s going on with everyone else, but we see what’s going on with Judah.

For those of you that have ended up in a bad situation, you can look back and see how your situation came from a bad decision somewhere along the way. Maybe it was a decision you made, maybe it was a decision that was made for you…but it started somewhere, right. The same thing is going on in this story, and I want to point out this morning, really a series of bad decisions that Judah made. Let’s start by looking at

Judah’s First Sin:

Now when we look at Judah’s first sin, I’m not saying the first sin he commited, I’m saying the first sin in this story, ok. You see, Judah left and married a Canaanite woman. That one action sets off everything that is about to happen in this story.

The phrase “went down” in verse 1 means that just like Joseph, Judah left his father’s house. Judah left his father and his brothers and traveled south of Bethlehem and then west into the hills of the Shephelah. This is a bit of a callback to Esau leaving and going to Seir back in Genesis 33.

Here is what is really powerful though. Even though Judah has chosen a bad path right here and has left God’s commands very clearly. Remember God told Abraham not to marry Canaanite women…and here Judah has married a Canaanite woman. However, God won’t leave him there to sit in his own sin. We will soon see how God will use circumstances to bring even Judah back into relationship with him. Let’s look at

Judah’s Second Sin:

The next thing Judah did after taking a wife for himself from among the Canaanite women, is that Judah took a Canaanite wife for his son Er. If we look at family history we see that Isaac made sure that Jacob did not marry a Canaanite women because God wanted to keep this family pure from any idolatrous worship that comes with Canaanite women.

Judah seems to think that what God has already proclaimed doesn’t really apply to him and his family. Maybe he thought he had already done to much evil for it to matter after selling Joseph. The problem is that we are never to far from God to experience redemption. Judah will see that soon, but for now he seems to simply keep pushing further and further from the promises of God.

Have you ever felt like that?

This isn’t the end though Judah continues on a downward spiral.

Now there is a commitment that we don’t necessarily understand here today in 2024. However in that time, in the Ancient Near East, there was a custom called levirate marriage. Later this will become a part of the Mosaic Law, at this point it is clearly at least is a custom to be followed. This is a commitment that would bind you to marry your brothers wife if he were to die prior to having any kids. This practice was done to protect his wife from poverty and provide for your brothers name to continue on in Israel.

The thing is…this family is wicked. We don’t know what Er did, we only know he was wicked in the sight of the Lord and so he was put to death by the Lord. We don’t know the manner of death, only that death occured.

Now it is time for the Levirate Marriage of Onan and Tamar. However, Onan was also wicked in the sight of the Lord because he refused to provide children to Tamar for his brother Er. He did not allow for Tamar to become pregnant, and so due to his actions, he forfeit his life and God put him to death.

To continue the custom of the Levirate Marriage, it is time for Shelah to be married to Tamar. The problem is that Judah believes something is wrong with Tamar, not that his sons are wicked and so he attempts to prevent the marriage of Tamar and Shelah.

Let’s look at…

That is how we are going to learn about

Tamar’s Deceptive Plan

We don’t know exactly where Tamar is from, only that she was sent to be with her father and wait for Shelah to come of age and prepare to marry her to provide a son for his brother Er.

Tamar should not have had to come up with her own plan. Judah should have been upright and followed the Levirate Marriage. Really Judah should have never married a Canaanite women…he never should have taken a foreign wife for his son Er. However, those things have all happened and how we are left with a Judah that is far into his sinful spiral that he likely doesn’t realize there is a way out.

Let’s see what happens next.

Genesis 38:12–19 ESV

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. 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 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.

So are we all following with what is going on here? What was

Judah’s Third Sin:

Already Judah is breaking with what he has been told to do yet again. There is a pretty hard situation here that must be addressed. You see, many times we think about God’s wrath being something that is eternal and not something that happens immediately. However, we see throughout Scripture, both in the new and old testaments how there are times that God responds swiftly to sinful actions.

I only remind you of that because it’s easy to say, I’ll repent later…but you are not promised later.

Here for Judah’s children…there was no later. We don’t know what Er did, we only only that he was wicked in the sight of the Lord. We do know what Onan did though. He prevented Tamar from becoming pregnant and fulfilling his role as brother.

But back to Judah…what is Judah’s third sin? Judah broke his promise. Judah told Tamar that he would give to her Shelah for her to marry. However, he sent her away and expected her to simply live with her father, and not have a husband.

Now we read about Tamar’s boldness in providing for herself and exposing Judah for the sinful person he is. Of course, Tamar’s deceptive plan, leads us to

Judah’s Fourth Sin:

I mean Judah just keeps on traveling down this sinful spiral doesn’t he. Tamar has heard about Judah coming to town, and so she dresses up like a prostitute to attempt to seduce Judah into sleeping with her so that she will have a child.

Judah hired a prostitute. In the Ancient Near East, prostitutes would wear veils over their faces, that way you could not see their identity. This is what Tamar has done. She dressed like a prostitute in order to secure her future herself.

Now in this we see something amazing…God is using these sinful actions to fulfill his own purposes. Did God need them to sin in order to accomplish his purposes? No…that would be heresy. However, God used their sin to bring about his purposes. That’s where you can be reminded that you are not to far gone from God for him to reach down and fulfill his purposes in your life.

God’s plan for redemption through Judah’s family continues…even as Judah is spiraling away from God and righteousness.

Tamar works a plan to be able to take Judah’s belongings so that she will have protection, as well as an opportunity to expose Judah for his deceitfulness. Judah gives Tamar his seal, cord, and staff as a marker to ensure he would return to pay Tamar appropriately. She then left and continued her life as a widow.

How can this possibly end well?

Next we are going to see that there is…

Grace in Conviction

At this point Judah has not been exposed...but that is coming very soon. Actually let’s go ahead and read the rest of the story this morning.

Genesis 38:20–30 ESV

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. 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.” 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.’ ” 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.” 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.” As 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.” 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. When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. 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.” 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. Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.

Did you catch what happened to Judah? Judah is faced with his own sin to which he replies, “she is more righteous than I”. Judah recognized that his sin was greater than Tamar’s. Tamar had kept herself for marriage to Shelah, but Judah had failed to keep his promise to her.

Finally, we see that Tamar has twins. This story ends as a testament to God’s undeserving grace. Tamar, a sinner…a gentile…a Canaanite, now has a place in Jesus’ lineage.

Both Judah and Tamar deserve death due to their sins. Yet God forgave them and gave them mercy and grace. Through their son Perez came the promised Messiah, the Lion of Judah.

This story of grace in Genesis could only be conceived of by Yahweh. We have brokenness and sinfulness through this whole story…Yet God is still glorified.

The story of the patriarchs in Genesis reminds us of the grace of God and His sovereignty in human life. The men and women who played a part in this drama weren’t perfect, and some of them were deliberately disobedient (like Judah); yet the Lord used them to accomplish His purposes. This doesn’t mean that God approved of their sins, because their sins were revealed and judged. But it does mean that God can take the weak things of this world and accomplish His purposes

Closing:

Where have you compromised or strayed from God’s clear teaching? Where have you looked the other way and pretended your sin didn’t matter? Are you willing this morning to acknowledge your own sin and turn back to the cross? Do you actually believe that God’s grace is bigger than your worst failures, or have you convinced yourself that your failures are too big for God?

Judah could have sung the song Scars that I mentioned earlier: “I’m thankful for the scars, because without them, I wouldn’t know Your heart.” Judah had scars—some self-inflicted, some placed upon him. We all have scars. But in Jesus, scars are not the end of the story—they become testimonies of grace.

No one is beyond redemption. Just the opposite is true—redemption is available to all. And today, that includes you.

The good news is that Jesus Christ has already made a way. No sin is too great, no failure too deep. On the cross, He took our punishment and rose again so that we could be redeemed. Today, if you turn to Him, He will not turn you away.

If you need to experience God’s redemption in your life, don’t leave here today without talking to myself or one of the elders. If you’re joining us online, send a message right now. Don’t let another moment pass waiting for redemption—because in Christ, it’s already been offered to you