GOD’S PLAN IN DANGER

RETURN TO SYLLABUS

GENESIS 38

Lesson #55

GOD’S PLAN IN DANGER

• Memory verse: Gal 4:4
• Genesis 37 began the story of Joseph, but Genesis 38 interrupts the story to tell us about an incident in the life of Judah. While Genesis 39 continues with the life of Joseph.
  • That sudden interruption makes me ask, “Why was the incident with Judah placed in the middle of Joseph’s story?
  • The story of Judah and Tamar is a sharp contrast to the purity of Joseph’s life that follows.
    • Remember in our last lesson I gave you a principle from 1Cor 15:46 that follows throughout the Bible.
    • The Bible usually presents the natural, the worldly, and then it presents the spiritual.
    • This contrast points out how man’s efforts always fall short of God’s best.
• Read Gen 38:1-11 The Levirate Law
  • Judah moves out of God’s perfect will into worldliness.
    • The name Shua, judah’s wife, means = riches.
    • She was a Canaanite which means = merchantmen.
  • Background:
    • In order to understand this chapter we need to examine what was called the Levirate Law.
    • Read Deu 25:5-10
      • The Levirate Law was used when a man died childless. Levirate means = husband’s brother.
      • The practice of a brother marrying his brother’s widow had a very practical purpose:
        • It ensured a man’s continued lineage because the first child would be considered the child of the dead man.
        • It ensured the passage of the birthright.
        • We see the Levirate Law used in the book of Ruth. Boaz could not marry Ruth until a closer kin denied his intention of marrying Ruth. (Ruth 4:1-6)
  • The situation with Judah:
    • Judah had 3 sons:
      • Er was evil and died. His name means = enmity. (Gen 38:7)
      • Onan refused to perform his Levirate duty (Gen 38:8-9)
        • Not living up to the Levirate Law displeased God, so Onan died. (38:10)
        • His name means = iniquity.
      • Shelah was too young for marriage at this time (38:14), so Judah sent Tamar back to her family and promptly forgot about his responsibilities. Shelah’s name means = sprout.
    • Judah’s responsibility:
      • Judah, the head of the household, had a responsibility to Tamar to find her a husband. Judah had a responsibility to her, his first born, to see that the lineage continued. Judah also had a responsibility to God.
      • These were Judah’s only sons and there were no grandchildren.
        • This fact tells us why this incident is so important to God. Jesus Christ was to come through the line of Judah.
        • By not performing his responsibilities, Judah, himself, is fouling up God’s plan for the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
• Read Gen 38:12-23 Tamar’s deception
  • Tamar dressed as a temple prostitute.
    • Background:
    • The pagan, Canaanite religion used religious prostitution as a major feature of their worship practices. There were male as well as female prostitutes living at the pagan temples.
    • Sex with these prostitutes was considered to be of spiritual and religious significance.
  • Judah thought the woman he had sexual relations with was one of these prostitutes.
    • In the same way that Sarah took matters into her own hands rather than wait on God for a son, Tamar takes matters into her own hands and deceives Judah into a sexual relationship so as to have a child.
    • Three wrongs do not make a right!
      • God wanted the lineage of Judah to continue but:
        • =1= Judah failed his responsibility.
        • =2= Tamar’s incestuous deception was a definite wrong.
        • =3= Judah’s sexual relationship at a pagan temple as part of worship to a pagan god was wrong.
      • Obviously this was not Judah’s first time at that temple. Tamar knew he would be there.
  • The signet, the bracelets, and the staff
    • The significance of these items:
      • The signet — represented tribal leadership
        • This was a seal by which one would sign and seal legal documents.
        • It signified that he was the head of the tribe of Judah. It was made of hard, semiprecious stone, drilled through lengthwise, to be worn on a cord around the neck.
        • The seal was rolled on damp clay leaving an impressed signature.
      • The bracelets – they represented the birthright.
        • Corded bracelets that signified Judah had the birthright and blessing.
        • I mentioned before that the birthright eventually went to Joseph’s grandchildren.
        • The Bible does not tell us specifically why Judah lost the birthright.
        • It could have been because of his involvement in the massacre of Shechem in Gen 34 or it could be because of this incestuous relationship with Tamar.
      • The shepherd’s staff — represented the tribal genealogy
        • This staff was a shepherd’s very personal item that would not be mistaken for that of another shepherd.
        • It was usually passed on from father to son to recognize and record the genealogy.
    • Judah obviously expected these very important items to be returned to him when he paid his debt. However, Tamar assumes her usual identity so he cannot find her to retrieve the items.
• Read Gen 38:24-30 Tamar’s twins from the line of Judah
  • When it is discovered she is pregnant, Judah is expected to pass judgment on her and the father of the twins.
    • The Jewish punishment was death by stoning or by burning.
    • Of course, she produces the three items to save her life.
  • Judah’s reaction (26):
    • “she has been more righteous than I.”
    • Judah recognized his failed responsibility to Tamar and to his oldest son.
    • Judah’s sin was greater than Tamar’s because it had eternal consequences.
  • The twins and the scarlet thread:
    • The significance of the twins:
    • Perez was the firstborn and is the line through which Jesus Christ came. (Mat 1:3)
      • Perez means = breach or breaking forth.
        • Jesus Christ causes a breach between those that believe in Him and those that reject Him. Christ breaks forth through man’s sin to bring us into relationship to God.
        • Perez also pictures the breach between the Jewish nation and God that will exist until the second coming of Christ.
      • Zerah was the twin born second, who tried to be born first.
        • The meaning of the name, Zerah, is unsure.
        • Some think it meant = sunrise (scarlet)
        • Some think it meant = braided (thread)
        • The significance of the scarlet thread:
• The scarlet thread reminds us of the Passover and the application of scarlet blood on the doorposts in Exodus. In Exodus it is a picture of salvation for the Jews.
• The scarlet thread reminds us of the story of Rahab and the scarlet thread in the window in the city of Jericho. (Jos 2) in Joshua it is a picture of salvation for the Gentiles.
• Here in Genesis it is a picture of Satan’s attempt to steal salvation from the child God had chosen to be the ancestor of Jesus Christ.
• In Genesis it also prophetically represents the remnant of Jews who maintain a relationship with God down through history.
• Application:
  • God had a plan for the coming of the Messiah through the tribe of Judah, but Judah did not take God’s plan seriously. Even though Tamar took God’s plan seriously, she did not follow God’s leading.
  • This lesson underscores two things that the Christian must remember in making life decisions:
    • =1= We must take seriously the things of God.
    • =2= We must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit so that we do things God’s way and not our own way.

Homework

Genesis 39

• Application of Genesis 38
  • Like Judah, in what ways have you neglected to perform your responsibilities toward God?
  • What can you do to now fulfill what God expects of you?
• Preparation of Genesis 39
  • Read Gen 39:1-23
    • List as many ways as you can in which Joseph is a prefigure of Jesus Christ in this chapter.
• Memory verse: Philippians 2:7