The Sons Of Jacob

INTRO

We have had all sorts of drama from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob! Lying, deceiving, selling things, sex with other people, wives, and concubines . . . and it doesn’t stop here!

Jacob’s new name was Israel, and he had 12 sons. One of his sons was Judah, whose mother was Leah. Christ came from the lineage of Judah. At this point in time in Scripture, Joseph has just been sold as a slave and taken into Egypt. Judah was the one who suggested it.

TEACHING

There were 13 years between when Joseph was sold as a slave to when he was placed on the throne. Then, there were the seven years of plenty and the two years of famine before the reconciliation with Joseph’s family. So, there were 22 years from the pit to reconciliation. In chapter 38, Joseph was in slavery, and Judah was just living his life. Genesis 38 is a window into the life of Judah.

Genesis 38:1–5: Judah left his brothers and moved away (which was a problem). He then took a Canaanite as his wife (that was another problem). They had a son and named him Er. Victor P. Hamilton wrote, “Their relationship to each other is conveyed in six verbs: three for him (he meets her, marries her, and has intercourse with her, v. 2), and three for her (she conceives, bears a son, and names a child, v. 3).”¹Judah’s wife had two more sons Onan and Shelah.

Genesis 38: 6–10: Judah found a wife for Er named Tamar. Er was evil, so the Lord put him to death. Judah insisted his other son Onan sleep with Tamar because he had to fulfill his brotherly duty. This was not a strange request! It was a custom. Deuteronomy 25:5–6 reveals the background: “When brothers live on the same property and one of them dies without a son, the wife of the dead man may not marry a stranger outside the family. Her brother-in-law is to take her as his wife, have sexual relations with her, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law for her. The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so his name will not be blotted out from Israel.”

Onan knew the offspring would not be his, so he took precautions to ensure Tamar would not get pregnant. Onan was evil in the eyes of the Lord, so he was put to death. Dr. Thomas Constable wrote, “Onan was frustrating the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”²

Genesis 38:11: After Onan’s death, Judah sent Tamar to her father’s house “to wait on Shelah to grow up.” But Judah had no intentions of giving him to her. He viewed Tamar as the reason his sons had died, not because of their own evil deeds.

Genesis 38:12–15: Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died (v. 12). Tamar heard that Judah had gone to shear sheep. She knew Judah had no intention of giving Shelah to her as a husband, so Tamar changed her appearance and went to meet Judah. She knew the relations were supposed to stay within the family (vv. 13–14). Since Shelah wasn’t going to be given to her, Tamar knew Judah was the only one left. Tamar played the role of a prostitute in order to preserve her family line (v. 15). Judah began to negotiate what he would pay to sleep with Tamar. Tamar was trying to raise up the seed. Judah carried the seed. Tamar was essential to the lineage of Christ.

Genesis 38:16–19: Tamar got Judah to give her his signet ring, cord, and staff. She was to hold all of these things until Judah paid her with a goat. All of these things were proof of Judah’s identity. Judah slept with Tamar, and she became pregnant. Tamar was a shrewd woman.

Genesis 38:20–23: Judah honored his word and tried to send a goat to Tamar. Judah really just needed his stuff back. He could not find her anywhere. Judah was probably really sick to his stomach at this point realizing he couldn’t get his items back. Sin always catches up with you!

Genesis 38:24–25: Three months later, after hearing about Tamar’s behavior, Judah’s first response was to burn her to death. Judah might have thought, “Finally we have a way to get rid of her!” As Tamar was being brought out to her death, she sent Judah his items back. The deceiver is actually being deceived.

Genesis 38:26–27: Judah said, “She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah. Literally, “she is righteousness, not I.” Bruce Waltke wrote, “She [Tamar] risks her life for family fidelity,” because of that risk the lineage will continue.³Tamar gave birth to twins—maybe to compensate for her lack from Er and Onan.

Genesis 39:28–29: The two sons from Tamar and Judah were Perez and Zerah. The lineage of Christ continued through Tamar and Judah and Perez! In Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, he recorded: “Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Aram” (Matthew 1:3).

Ruth 4:18 is the beginning of the genealogy of Perez: “Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered Ram, who fathered Amminadab. Amminadab fathered Nahshon, who fathered Salmon. Salmon fathered Boaz, who fathered Obed. And Obed fathered Jesse, who fathered David.”

CLOSING

This is messy, but the seed continues. Warren Wiersbe identified four areas to explain why this messy story of Tamar was included in Genesis:

History: The lineage of the seed continued through Perez and Tamar.

(2) Morality: This story shows just how dangerous it was for God’s people in Canaan.

Joseph said no to Potiphar’s wife, but Judah slept with a strange woman. Judah tricked his father, Jacob, with a piece of clothing. Tamar tricked Judah the same way.

(3) Community: The Israelites lived in community under God’s covenant agreement. When Judah separated himself from his brothers and left the community of God’s people, he got in trouble by joining himself to a foreigner’s wife. Genesis 24:3–4 said: “And I will have you swear by the Lord, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live, but will go to my land and my family to take a wife for my son Isaac.”

(4) Grace: Even though the people in this patriarchal period were deliberately disobedient, God still used them. God showed them the grace described in 1 Corinthians 1:26–31, “Brothers, consider your calling: Not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one can boast in His presence. But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became God-given wisdom for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, in order that, as it is written: The one who boasts must boast in the Lord.”

The bottom line is, God takes nothing and turns it into something!