unexpected - Tamar

Matthew begins his gospel message about Jesus by laying out a genealogy of the family tree. There are certainly some noteworthy features to this list of names. This year for Advent I want to pick on five of those names. It is the names of the five women that make it into the list. Let me say that while there may be strides towards female equality in our time, two thousand years ago was a different story. It is remarkable in that ancient society that writers of any kind would include women. It was standard practice in those days for family records to only name the firstborn son. So, it might appear that Matthew’s inclusion of five women in the genealogy is out of place. But that gives us all the more reason to pause and consider why these five women are on the list. It is unexpected. Yet there must be something important here.

We shall see in the coming weeks that the theme of unexpected is shared by all five of these women. And it is the unexpected features of their stories that help Matthew begin the story of an unexpected Messiah. Today we begin with the first woman on the list: Tamar, the mother of Perez. For this story we turn all the way back to Genesis 38.

Genesis 38:11–26 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. 12 After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him. 13 When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14 she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked. 17 “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said. “Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked. 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. 20 Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. 21 He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said. 22 So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’ ” 23 Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.” 24 About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.” Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!” 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.” 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.

The Family Tree of Jesus

This is a strange story for us to begin our advent season. In fact, I imagine that many of us here may not even know who Tamar is. And we probably have no idea what is going on in this story from Genesis 38. Let’s begin by filling in some gaps to understand—first of all—how this story fits into Genesis, let alone fits into the story about Jesus.

Genesis 38 seems like a digression. At first glance it looks like it does not fit with the narrative of Genesis. It falls right smack in the middle of the Joseph story. Let me back up a little bit and catch up with the bigger story happening in Genesis.

Jacob - tricks his father Isaac and gains the birthright blessing

two wives - Leah (ten sons, Judah is oldest), Rachael (two sons, Joseph & Benjamin)

Jacob is the son of Isaac, the grandson of Abraham. It was Jacob who tricked his father Isaac and stole the birthright blessing from his older brother Esau. Jacob ran away from home in fear that Esau would take revenge. In his time away, Jacob marries two wives, Leah and Rachael. Leah has ten sons and Rachael has two sons. These sons would go on the become the tribes of Israel. Many of us know about Joseph, one of the two sons born to Rachael.

Genesis 37 - Joseph sold into slavery by ten older brothers

It is Joseph who can see and interpret dreams, which gets him into a bit of trouble with his envious brothers. And it is Joseph who is given a colorful coat by his father Jacob, which really ticks off his envious brothers. So, the older brothers attack him one day. They take his coat and stain it with the blood of an animal. And they take Joseph and sell him as a slave to traveling merchants to be taken away to Egypt. That story happens in Genesis 37.

Genesis 39 - Joseph sold to Potiphar in Egypt

In Genesis 39 we read about Joseph being sold in Egypt to work as a domestic servant in the house of Potiphar, one of the Pharaoh’s chief officials. It is the wife of Potiphar who tries to entice Joseph to be her lover, but Joseph will have nothing to do with it. And eventually it is the wife of Potiphar who unjustly accuses Joseph and has him thrown into prison in Egypt. That’s all Genesis 39.

Genesis 38 - break in the story, Judah and Tamar

Right between those two stories about Joseph comes Genesis 38—the story of Judah and Tamar. It may look like the Tamar story is completely unrelated. In fact, there is something here pulling us into the theme that is developing in the Joseph story and pointing us ahead to Jesus. Let’s consider how these all fit.

Jacob, Judah, Joseph…and Jesus

Judah is included in the family tree of Mathew’s genealogy because he is the oldest son of Jacob. This is why the lineage of Jesus traces back through the tribe of Judah. But even though Jesus comes through the descendants of Judah, there is a reference to the importance of Joseph which becomes highlighted in Judah’s family through Tamar. Now then, who is Tamar and how does she make her way into the family?

Tamar - Canaanite woman, arranged marriage to Judah’s oldest son

The first ten verses of Genesis 38 tell us that Judah leaves his brothers for a while and goes to live somewhere else. No explanation is given for this, so we won’t speculate. While living away, Judah gets married and starts to have a family of his own—three sons. He then arranges for the marriage of his oldest son to a Canaanite woman named Tamar. She is not an Israelite. The oldest son dies and leaves Tamar as a widow.

kinsman redeemer - husband’s extended family required to provide family, children

after death of two sons, Judah fails to do this

Now here is where we need to understand a little bit about marriage culture in that time and place. Leviticus law directed that when a man dies and leaves behind a widow with no children—no sons, to be exact—then the closest brother is supposed to marry the woman and give her a family in the brother’s name for the sake of the widow. This is what Judah does. Tamar becomes the wife of Judah’s second son. But this son refuses to do his duty to the Levitical law and he does not consummate the marriage. Again, Tamar is left with no children. This angers God, and the LORD strikes down this second son of Judah. Now Tamar is a widow again and still does not have any children. Judah’s youngest son is not yet old enough to become married. So, Judah tells Tamar to go back to her own father’s household and live as a widow.

The presumption is that Tamar will become the wife of the third son once he is old enough. But that never happens. And there is another wrinkle in the story which might help explain Tamar’s actions. There is a provision in the law which keeps expanding the duty of the family to provide a family for widows in the event that there are no more brothers. It is called the kinsman redeemer. We are going to see this again in a few weeks when we look at the story of Ruth. By this law, Judah himself should have been the next in line to take Tamar as his own wife so that she could remain in the family and have children. Judah completely ignores this.

Quick side note. These kinsman redeemer laws that Old Testament Israelites followed were common among the other cultures at the time. This would not have seemed odd or unusual to Tamar or the other Canaanite people—they would have held the same expectation.

What we read in Genesis 38 is a story about the way in which Tamar takes matters into her own hands when Judah fails to do what is required of him. In a way which is very obviously reminiscent of Jacob, Tamar puts on something of a disguise to deceive Judah into passing along the blessing of the family birthright. Just like Jacob disguised himself to fool Isaac and gain the family blessing, Tamar does something here which mirrors that deception. She essentially tricks Judah into giving her the family blessing.

Tamar deceives Judah to receive the family blessing

Here’s the part of the story that I love. In a moment of pure girl power, Tamar even thinks ahead enough to take possession of Judah’s seal and staff. The seal was common in those days. Each head of family would have some kind of uniquely carved stamp which would be used as a signature by making an imprint with dye or pressed into wax. It is the equivalent of a driver’s license or passport as a form of identification. The staff was also likely a symbol among the local clan of a person’s individual prominence. Tamar can see what’s coming as a result of her actions, and she prepares to take the upper hand.

So then, Tamar becomes pregnant by Judah without Judah even knowing it was her. And when word gets back to Judah that Tamar is pregnant, he calls for her execution. Try to put yourself in Judah’s place for a moment. Judah’s first son dies after getting married to Tamar. Then the second son dies after getting married to Tamar. Judah only has one son left; he is in danger of his own place in the lineage of Israel being snuffed out. I can see Judah’s line of thought here. Everyone who marries this woman ends up dead. Here is the perfect opportunity to be rid of her once and for all.

In the darkest moment of Tamar’s ordeal as her death sentence is being delivered, she springs back by producing the seal and staff of Judah. Surprise, Judah; you’re the father. Tamar can no longer be condemned as a prostitute but is elevated and restored by the kinsman redeemer protocol.

Judah’s response - “she is more righteous than I”

Judah’s reaction to all of this is an exemplary wake-up call kind of moment. He recognizes what Tamar has done to seek her own redemption, and re recognizes the way in which he himself had failed to honor the requirement to provide for Tamar. His comment in Genesis 38:26 reveals his humble and repentant heart. Judah says, “She is more righteous than I.” In a story where it seemed as though Tamar was on a path descending into deep darkness, there comes a moment in which her righteousness before God turns everything around. Tamar foreshadows what is about to take place far away in Egypt as the story turns back to Joseph in Genesis 39. As Joseph continues to sink deeper into darkness, there comes a moment in which his righteousness before God turns everything around.

covenant thread of Tamar connected to Jesus

There is a covenant thread woven into these stories that points us forward to Jesus. Joseph is not in the family tree of Jesus. But Tamar is; and the linking of these stories is the thread that Matthew pulls into his gospel genealogy by intentionally placing the name of Tamar in connection with Jesus. There is something unexpected in the story of Tamar that shows us something unexpected in the story of our Messiah.

Unexpected Righteousness

Tamar’s righteousness is unexpected

Tamar did what she had to do. We might look at the story and consider her actions to be lowly and even scandalous. But what appears as a frowned upon scandal to us is counted as righteousness before God. This is an unexpected righteousness. It is a story of redemption coming through a path no one saw coming—it was unexpected. Judah never saw the true righteousness of Tamar until after the account of her actions were revealed to him. Many of the Jews living during the time of Jesus never recognized his righteousness even though it was right there before their eyes—it was unexpected.

where do we expect to see the righteousness of God today?

And what about us today? Let’s admit that we are people who carry an awful lot of expectation into Christmas. We expect happiness and perfect family parties. We expect joy and celebration in the Christmas carols we sing. We expect hope and redemption. But maybe we get something wrong here.

story of Jesus:

those who expected to receive the righteousness of God miss it

those who do not expect the righteousness of God receive it

Tamar reminds us that sometimes God lifts up his righteousness from places that appear to be sinking down to the deepest darkness. Matthew puts the name of Tamar into his gospel as a way of pointing forward into the story of Jesus. Jesus came into a world in which all the people who were expecting to find the righteousness of God end up missing it. And those who never expected to see the righteousness of God end up receiving it.

The apostle John says it this way in his gospel:

John 1:9–12 NIV

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

the righteousness of Jesus does not stand apart from a dark world; it comes into a dark world

Jesus brings an unexpected righteousness into the world. Jesus himself came into the world and sank down to the places of deepest darkness. And it is from the darkness that his righteousness shines forth for all others who live in darkness. Sometimes you and I can be so intently focused on where it is we expect to see the righteousness of God. We expect to see the righteousness of God in places of light, places of joy. Sometimes we are so focused on our expectations that we miss the unexpected. Jesus comes at Christmas and brings a righteousness that extends to all the darkest and most unexpected reaches of our world. Don’t miss it.