"and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar," - Matthew 1:3a

Parental Discretion Advised - Today's narrative contains many sexual themes. Parents are encouraged to read the article first and then communicate its content in an age-appropriate manner to their children.

The story about Judah and Tamar's relationship in Genesis 38 can come across as pretty bizarre. Here's a brief recap. One of Judah's sons, Er, was a wicked person whom the Lord eventually put to death (Gen. 38:7). This left Tamar a widow and Er without any descendants. So, per cultural custom, Judah encouraged Er's brother (Onan) to have children with Tamar so that Er would have descendants after him. But Onan refused and, as a result, the Lord also put him to death (Gen. 38:8-10). At this point, Judah was afraid to give anymore of his sons to Tamar because, from his vantage point, everyone who marries Tamar ends up dead. So what's his plan? Just stall. He encouraged Tamar to live in her father's home as a widow until the youngest son, Shelah, was old enough to marry (Gen. 38:10-11). But it seems Tamar saw right through this. And here's where things get interesting. Tamar got word one day that Judah was going to his sheepshearers at a place called Timnah, and Tamar decided to meet him at Enaim (a place on the way to Timnah). But get this: She would disguise herself as... a prostitute! And sure enough, Judah decided to partake of her services. The fee? A young goat from his flock. But until that payment could be made, he gave her his signet, cord, and staff as collateral (Gen. 38:12-19). A few days later, when the payment was sent, she couldn't be found. And well, since Judah didn't want it to get out that he had done such a thing, he simply let her have his signet, cord, and staff (Gen. 38:20-23). Okay, fastforward about 3 months and rumor has it that Tamar is pregnant. Judah gets upset about this and says that she must be put to death (Gen. 38:24). But Tamar had a message for him: "The person who owns these things is the father of my child" (my paraphrase). What things? You guessed it. The signet, cord and staff. Judah then responded that her actions were more righteous than his since he refused to give Shelah to her as her husband (Gen. 38:25-26). So Tamar's life was spared and the narrative ends with her giving birth to twins: Perez & Zerah (Gen. 38:27-30).

Okay, so what is the larger point we should take away from such a story? Well, this is where it's so important to zoom out a bit and remember the whole storyline of Genesis. After humanity's fall into sin in Genesis 3, the Lord also makes a promise of rescue in Gen. 3:15. He promises to send One who will be born of woman. And what would He do? He would crush the head of the serpent. The story of Genesis, then, is built around tracing the genealogical line of this one who would be born of woman. That line is later said to come through Abraham's descendants (Gen. 12:3). And, as we saw yesterday, this line was further narrowed down to Judah. So the main threat in Genesis 38 is that the line of the Serpent Crusher is threatend with coming to an end. The wickedness of Judah's sons led to the Lord justly putting them to death. And Judah seemed determined not to give the son that was left as a husband to Tamar. But thanks to Tamar's wit and - if I may - her spunk, the line of the Serpent Crusher was preserved. That's why I think she has the honor of being the first woman mentioned by name in Matthew's genealogy. Genesis 38 also shows us that God's sovereign plan of redemption will come to pass -- No matter how wicked or bizarre things get.