We have
been going systematically through some of the key characters of our history.
Navaz said something so poignant this morning. We learn grace through each and
every story of the Bible, Old and New Testament. This morning, we will be going through the story of Judah.
I was
reminded of a story from my own life. I am not even the main character in this
story- the main character is my mother-in-law. About 10 years, my wife and I
were living in Kentucky and my mother-in-law came to visit us. We went out to a
restaurant to celebrate her coming home. My mother-in-law cannot tolerate spicy
food. In this restaurant, you get to choose how spicy you want it- level 1-5.
So I order level 4 for myself and level 1 for my mother-in-law. She was
struggling with the spice in her food. Then the waiter came and said that we
should have ordered level 0. I didn’t know that was an option. So the order
in which we receive information is so important.
Even in
Judah’s story, the order in which
information is presented to us is very important for our understanding. We
need to know what is happening in Gen 37 and 39 in order to understand Gen 38,
which is the text for this morning. In Gen 37, Jacob had 12 sons. To one of his
sons, he gives a very nice coat. Joseph’s brothers were not so fond of Joseph
because was preferred by his father. Later on we see Joseph’s life, of how he
is sold into slavery and then he rises up to potiphar’s home and what happens
with potiphar’s wife. But Scripture takes
a break from Joseph’s story and tells us about Judah suddenly. This
information is given in a certain order and the order is very important.
Genesis 38-
“At that
time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named
Hirah. There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married
her and made love to her; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was
named Er. She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. She
gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she
gave birth to him. Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was
Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord
put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and
fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your
brother.” But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept
with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing
offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the
Lord put him to death also. 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. 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. When
Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his
sheep,” 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. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a
prostitute, for she had covered her face. 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. “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. 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. After she left,
she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again. 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. 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. 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.’” 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.” 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!” 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.” 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. When the time came for her to give birth, there were
twin boys in her womb. As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand;
so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, “This
one came out first.” But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and
she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez. Then
his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was
named Zerah.”
That is a weird passage. Let’s pray.
It demonstrates Judah’s character, and it is
not a particularly good character. The Scripture is asking us to compare the character of Joseph and Judah,
as it appears just before this. So, very quickly, we are going to compare them:
1.
The manner in which Joseph and Judah
left the covenant people of God- Joseph was captured by his brothers and forced out. Judah left his
brother and went somewhere else. He chose to leave the community of faith.
2.
Attitude towards sexual conduct- Joseph is put in a position to
choose what he is going to do. Potiphar’s wife pursues him and at great
personal cost, Joseph upholds a high standard of sexual purity. Judah
inter-marries and later when his wife passes away, he sleep with someone who he
thinks is a prostitute.
3.
Overall devotion to the Lord- Joseph endures lots of hardships,
but he remains committed to God. Judah is intermarrying and adjoining himself
to a temple prostitute whose sexual activity is a type of worship to that god.
Judah is not a holy guy. Which is why it is surprising that we hear Jesus being referred to as
Lion of Judah!
Q. Why would God do
that?
1. Story of Judah explains the upcoming
captivity in Egypt-
time-out is given to discipline and to stop children from doing something the
consequences of which they do not understand. In the same way, God sees Judah
as an example of his children Israel- of what they were about to do, not
understanding the huge consequence of what they are doing. So God is preparing
to put them in time-out in Egypt, so that they do not lose the covenant.
2.
God alone is determining the path of
His promise- God
made a special promise to Abraham and his children. But the path that the
promise is taking is not what we would expect. Between Joseph and Judah, who
would you think God would choose? Joseph would be the right choice, but God
chooses Judah- a deceiver who doesn’t really care about God. We don’t see a
series of people who are above others.
At the end of the story, we see the whole thing repeating. During Tamar’s delivery, Perez
who was the younger pushes himself out first and Zerah (means scarlet) is the
same as Esau who is out-foxed for his birthright. We see a line of unworthy people leading to the birth of one who is
worthy of everything!
The dichotomy of justice and grace is untrue.
We are seeing it in the very lineage of Jesus. The fact that the lineage of Jesus passes through these people is
grace.
Salvation is a work of God alone. Last time I
was here, I spoke about the story of John
Rogers who was put to death because he believed that works have no play when it comes to our salvation. Even today we
see how Jesus is born from a line of unworthy people. That is the goodness of our God. By grace we have been saved
through faith- that is a gift so that no one can boast. This morning is a
mini-easter, as we come together to worship the risen Lord. Judah is a great symbol of this grace. Let’s
thank God for this.
Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again), Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.
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