"And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her. And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan. And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him"
(Genesis 38:1-5).
Let us make better choices than Judah did (Judah married an idol worshipper?):
Did Judah marry an idol worshipper (a daughter of a Canaanite)? If so, he kept on making wrong choices. He first sold Joseph into slavery and then he married an idol worshipping Canaanite? How do you think he raised his children?
Judah may have helped get rid of Joseph but God had the final say in Joseph's destiny. In a similar way, God has a right to intervene in any matter today. He can overrule any situation created by mankind. No matter how much one may scheme and manipulate others, no matter how many lies one may tell, reputations that one may ruin, or commandments one may break in order to get their own way, God has the final say. He will never bless sin nor sinful behavior. In a similar way, just as Judah lost his birthright, if you and I embrace Satan and sin and do Satan's will, then we may also lose our eternal birthright in Heaven. God is warning us not to make those choices.
In other words, it could be that this story is in God's Word to serve as a warning to you and I. How so? God does not want you and I to act like Judah did nor raise our family like he did. There are a lot of voices in the world- voices that will tell us to sin and be selfish. If we follow those wrong voices we may wind up spiritually and emotionally shipwrecked on the rocks of sin that will sink us and lead to our destruction. Rather, let us listen to the voice of God. Let us use His Word as a lighthouse beacon to follow so the ship of our life will sail safely into His harbor of rest and be eternally secure.
Let us please the Lord (let us not be like Er who displeased the Lord):
"And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him"
(Genesis 38:6-7).
It appeared that Judah's son, Er, displeased the Lord. The expression "displeased the Lord" meant that he made the Lord angry. Then God killed him. What did he do to make the Lord angry enough to kill him? We are not told, however, let us look in God's word for a few examples of what other people did to make God angry enough to kill them:
1) One time Moses made God angry enough to kill him when he disobeyed God over circumcising his son on the way to Egypt to deliver the Hebrews. The wife of Moses was against circumcision so Moses gave into her at first. But this made Moses violate the Abrahamic covenant and it was a poor example for Moses to set for others. God was angry with Moses and ready to kill him but the wife of Moses (Zipporah) gave in to save his life, but she was not happy about it
(Exodus 4:24-26).
2) In New Testament days, King Herod murdered James the Apostle. Then Herod accepted the worship of his people for being a god. This provoked God to anger and Herod's stomach intestines were eaten by worms and he died
(Acts 12:22-23).
3) Ananias and Sapphira offered a lied to God as worship so He personally killed them
(Acts 5:3-5).
And there are other examples in God's word in this regard. Whatever Er's sin was, it probably involved some kind of disobedience to God, some form of spiritual rebellion or Satanic worship, or going against God's will in some way or another. Er and Onan lived in Canaan and may have decided to live like the unsaved Canaanites. They each died in Canaan
(Genesis 46:12; Numbers 26:19; 1 Chronicles 2:3).
Does this mean that God is an angry individual all of the time and that He is just waiting for us to get out of line so that He can kill us? No, not at all. God is love and shows grace and mercy to many who do not really deserve it. He is very patient but He has a will and a plan for every life, for every people, for every country, and for this earth. His plan is for the good of every person and He is very kind. But God has emotions and sometimes an individual can provoke Him to anger and I believe that was the case here.
Also, it appeared that Judah's other son, Onan, was killed because of his disobedience to God- for his refusal to father any seed (children or offspring) in the name of his deceased brother. It was God's will in those days to re-populate the earth but Onan refused to obey God's will.
It is not good for you or I to make our Lord angry. Let us be an obedient love slave to Him and carry out His wishes to the best of our ability so He does not get angry with us.
Onan spilled his sperm on the ground (let us rightly divide God's word):
"And Judah said unto Onan, go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore He slew him also"
(Genesis 38:8-10).
They did not have social programs to take care of the poor in those days so family members had to help take care of one another in more than one way. One way was for an unmarried brother to marry and support the wife of his dead brother, but that also meant that any children born to that couple would be heirs of the dead brother and heirs to the family fortune (the birthright). Er was the one to receive the birthright from Judah because he was the firstborn son. Since he was dead, the next one in line was Onan but he would not receive the birthright if any children of Er were born, even if Onan was the one who fathered them. Because he was selfish and rebellious against God, he took it upon himself to defy God. How did he do that? He cast his sperm upon the ground to make sure that this wife did not get pregnant and have children. It was a form of birth control. His selfishness and spiritual rebellion against God interfered with God's plan so God killed him. The culture is quite different today,
in most countries, from that time. For instance, the laws have changed where a birthright is not the dominant legal procedure for one's inheritance today.
How can Onan casting his sperm on the ground, back then, be relevant to you and I today? The message here, in my opinion, is one of spiritual rebellion against God. That is always relevant, however, these passages of scripture have been misused by some, at the present, for church legalism purposes. Such as what? For instance, this passage of scripture does not apply today to birth control or coitus interruptus, nor to masturbation, nor to horny sailors who think that it is best to cast their seed into the belly of a whore than to cast it on the ground. And this passage of scripture does not apply to anything else that the active mind of mankind may come up with- some of which I may not have even heard of.
What is that about? Mostly it involves churchanity doctrines in regards to holiness-sanctification issues. Some well meaning teacher is usually looking for a biblical reason to put a sin label on something they do not approve of. Simply put, it is the wrong use or misapplication of these verses of scripture. Many times a person will take a verse or two from the bible, out of context, and interpret it to mean anything that he or she wants it to mean. In my opinion, that is dishonest because it is not rightly dividing the Word of God
(2 Timothy 2:15). Why? Because that is manipulation. The person who does that is trying to use the bible to give credibility to their own opinion(s). If you want to preach and teach holiness, there are many other scriptures in the bible that one can use that have a better application towards holiness than these- and you do not have to take them out of context. I love holiness and I love teaching holiness but these passages of scripture, in context, are more about Onan offending God due to his disobedience against the specific will of God than they are about sanctification issues. Let us rightly divide God's word to make it mean what it was originally intended to mean.
Click here to study holiness sanctification
Judah was afraid (but we should not be fearful):
"Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house"
(Genesis 38:11).
Judah's wife and two oldest sons died. He was afraid that his youngest son would also die. It could be that Judah's fear was fueled by his guilt. Fear can paralyze a person into being powerless or inactive. It is the opposite of love:
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love"
(1 John 4:18).
Judah did not appear to have much love in his life at that time. Love is usually associated with giving. Why? Because Christ gave His all for you and I. It could be that Judah was self-centered rather than other-centered and giving. Maybe he only cared about himself. Does fear make a person selfish or does being selfish make one fearful? One thing we do know- another one of his sins was in neglecting Tamar and not allowing her to have a mate nor children that was contrary to the will and purpose of God in those days.
Marriages were arranged in those days. According to the custom at that time, the parents had to arrange for the marriage of their children. Judah purposely refused to give his son, Shelah, to Tamar. Therefore, Tamar had no children and probably no way to financially support herself without her covering (her husband). She needed a husband to love her and to financially support her. She was probably desperate and that may have been one reason she did what she did. My grandmother, Wilhelmina (Minnie) Schulz (Rice), in Texas (U.S.A.) as a girl was promised in marriage to a man by her parents. They were Germans who believed in arranged marriages at that time. She eloped with another man who lived nearby. She married him on August 22, 1906, and eventually had twelve children. The man she eloped with was my grandfather. One of those twelve children was my father. I asked her one time why she married Jesse James Rice. She replied to me: "because I loved that man!" I suppose that arranged marriages were
not as good as those marriages that were entered into because of love.
Did God punish Judah? (God will punish those individuals who hurt you):
"And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite"
(Genesis 38:12).
Did Joseph pray an imprecatory prayer against Judah? Did Judah believe that God was punishing him for what he did to Joseph? He had delivered Joseph to the living death of slavery. Then Judah's wife and two oldest sons died. Would God really allow Judah's wife and wicked two sons to die for that purpose? Here is a scripture that is worth pondering:
"Their fruit shalt Thou (God) destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men"
(Psalm 21:10).
The Hebrew word for "seed" in that passage of scripture is zera meaning children or descendants. Judah's wife and two sons died. Was Judah in anguish because of his loss? We do know that every sin has a consequence or more. If Judah thought that, then maybe he had a right to be fearful. He feared for the life of his youngest son when he said..."lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did". Do you think that Judah reaped what he had sowed?
God will judge every person on this earth who has been unjust, unkind, cruel or vicious. To who? To one of God's true innocent children in the faith. Joseph belonged to God- he was not a criminal or evil individual- he had never hurt Judah in any way. He did not deserve the rejection, hurt, and persecution that Judah gave him. So, how did God punish Judah? What were the consequences for the sins of Judah? It appeared that God took the birthright away from him and gave it to Joseph, and God withheld many blessings from Judah and his family. The Apostle Paul wrote:
"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written:
"vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord"
(Romans 12:19.
If you are innocent and a person hurts you who is unjust, unkind, cruel, or vicious towards you, then God will punish that person. God may or may not punish them immediately. The bible is filled with stories of how a protective Heavenly Father has punished those who have hurt any of His innocent children in the faith. For example, God allowed no women of Abimelech to get pregnant for awhile and He threatened to kill Abimelech for taking Sarah away from Abraham
(Genesis 20:3-18). Haman was hanged on the same gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai
(Esther 7:10), the governors of Darius were thrown into the den of lions because they had thrown Daniel there
(Daniel 6:24), and there are many more examples in God's Word.
If you are innocent, you have a right to ask God to punish those individuals who have hurt you. But you have to forgive them first. This kind of a prayer is known as an imprecatory prayer.
Why did not Judah get the birthright blessing? (let us not act like Judah did):
"And it was told Tamar, saying, behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep. And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife. When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. And he turned unto her by the way, and said, go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, what wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me? And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it? And he said, what pledge shall I give thee? And she said, thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him. And she arose, and went away, and laid by her veil from her, and put on the
garments of her widowhood. And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not. Then he asked the men of that place, saying, where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, there was no harlot in this place. And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place. And Judah said, let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.
And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, bring her forth, and let her be burnt. When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, by the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff. And Judah acknowledged them, and said, she hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more"
(Genesis 38:13-26).
Why is this story (chapter) in the Word of God? It could be that God is telling us the reason(s) why Judah did not receive the birthright blessing. Just as Esau was probably unsaved and rebellious against God and did not inherit his birthright, so also Judah was probably unsaved, did not love God, and did not inherit his birthright. Why? Judah was the one who sold his brother, Joseph, into slavery, and then he committed incest with his daughter-in-law who, later, he wanted to murder by burning her alive. I think that would probably do it- what do you think? Let us NOT follow Judah's depraved lifestyle. The world's value system is the opposite of God's value system
(1 John 2:15). Judah could easily see the sin in somebody else but he could not see it in himself. There is an old saying: "pride will blind a person- but only to one's own sins". Judah had no more sex with Tamar but did he bother to support her and his twin sons financially? What do you think? What value system do you and I really believe and practice? Let us not be like Judah was at that time. It appeared he was unsaved, cruel, making bad choices, and showing no love. Rather, let us act like Jesus. Jesus was kind, made good choices, was a giver, showed love- and was so much more. Let us use Jesus as our example to pattern our lives after.
Now, here is a shocker! The blood line of the Messiah came, not through Joseph, but through Judah. Yes, Judah- with all of his faults, sin, and problems. I believe that God was showing us that a Perfect Messiah would come through imperfect humanity. Christ, from the tribe of Judah, came from a sinful human family like the rest of us. That helped Him to totally identify with all of mankind. But there was no sin in Him as He was the only sinless Person Who has ever lived on this earth. He was made sin for us on the cross of Calvary
(2 Corinthians 5:21). Does that sound impossible? Well, God specializes in doing the impossible. There is nothing that God cannot do- He can even have the rocks cry out to praise Him if He wanted them to:
"I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out"
(Luke 19:40).
The irony of this is that the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, came from the tribe of Judah even though Judah himself did not deserve and receive the birthright. The Messiah came from the tribe of Judah, not because Judah personally deserved it, but because of the election of God. Judah was chosen by God to be the channel of His Messianic Promise. Did it come to pass? Yes. How? The tribe of Judah produced King David, and King David's family produced Christ.
Tamar was faced with an unwanted pregnancy (please do not have an abortion):
Today, as in the days of old, there are a lot of things that happen in the name of love or misplaced love. Sometimes, healthy boundaries can get crossed and sex between consenting adults can take place outside of marriage. Maybe no way was used to prevent conception and the woman became pregnant. If you are a woman and find yourself with an unwanted pregnancy, like Tamar did, please do not hurt or abort your baby. There are other options available to you. There are homes for unwed mothers, there are baby adoption centers, and there are groups in nearly all of the major cities of the U.S.A. that will offer you help and support. You can give your baby away, with no questions asked, to nearly any fire station in the U.S.A. You can put your baby up for adoption- there are couples who would love to have your child because they cannot have one. Please know that the Lord loves you and wants to support you and your child. Today, God wants and loves each and every person on the earth because each one is
uniquely and magnificently created by Him.
Click here to go to my web page against abortion
The scarlet thread (the blood line of Christ):
"And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb. And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, this came out first. And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, how hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez. And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah"
(Genesis 38:27-30).
Christ had to come and He came through the tribe of Judah. It appeared that God tied the scarlet red thread of Judah together with the Hebrew Messiah. How could that be? The scarlet red thread was a type of a birth braclet of identification- a sign that signified that the bloodline of the Hebrew Messiah flowed through the tribe of Judah, not through any other tribe. It appeared that Zarah was to be born first and he got the red thread, but Pharez breached the womb and was born first so the red thread actually belonged to him. This firstborn son broke forth in the womb and was the one destined by God to be the ancestor of the Hebrew Messiah, Jesus Christ. The color red is for identification- the thread is spiritually linked to the blood of Jesus by that color.
The word for "breach" in the original Hebrew is the word perets also meaning "bursting forth". Jesus Christ "burst forth" upon the world from Heaven from the womb of Mary and was the First Born Son and Heir To All because of His spiritual birthright. The Apostle, Matthew, wrote that the bloodline of Christ came through Pharez on down the line to Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ:
"...and Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar...and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ"
(Matthew 1:3-16). I want to emphasize the fact that Judah and Tamar are in the blood line of Christ, the Messiah of Israel
(Matthew 1:1-16).
Let me repeat this: why was the thread scarlet red? Do you know what the color of Christ's blood was? The red thread was a type of His literal blood line. So far, we have followed the blood line of Christ in Genesis through Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and now, through Pharez.
Is there any other scriptural proof for that? Yes. I have scriptural proof. Jacob gave this prophecy:
"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be"
(Genesis 49:10). "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood"
(Hebrews 7:14).
Remember that Melchizedek was a type of Christ. The scriptures declare:
"The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek"
(Psalm 110:4).
Notice that this scripture did not say: Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Levi. Why? Because the Messiah did not come through the tribe of Levi, the priestly tribe, but through the tribe of Judah. Christ is titled "the Lion of the Tribe of Judah"
(Revelation 5:5). Melchizedek was King of Salem, that is King of Peace, and, by name, King of Righteousness. Righteousness and peace characterized his reign. But above all, he was Priest of the Most High God. Why was that significant? Because he was the one who reconciled lost humanity to a forgiving God. That is exactly what Christ did by His life, blood, death, and resurrection.
The scarlet red thread was applied (the blood of Christ for you and I):
The scarlet red thread was a sign of the blood of Jesus Christ shed for the remission of sins:
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ
His Son cleanseth us from all sin"
(1 John 1:7).
Also see 1 Corinthians 10:16; Ephesians 2:13; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19. Like the red thread, the blood of Christ is available. But it needs to be applied. What does it need to be applied to? The blood of Christ needs to be applied to your sins and my sins. That will prove our identification with Him and ownership by Him for all the world to see. The blood of Christ has been applied to my sins. Has it been applied to your sins?
A scarlet red thread was used for the salvation of Rahab and her family. Here is part of that story:
"Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. And she said, according unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window"
(Joshua 2:18-21).
God had also tied the red thread of Rabab together with Jesus Christ and the tribe of Judah. How so? Rahab (of the scarlet thread of Jericho) was also an ancestor of Jesus Christ because she married Nahshon. Nahshon was descended from Pharez from the tribe of Judah. As we follow the genealogy of Christ: "Nahshon was the father of Salmon, Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse"
(1 Chronicles 2:11-12). And, of course, Jesse was the father of King David. I think it is interesting how God the Holy Spirit has woven all of these threads of truth in His Word to present to us a beautiful pattern of salvation. Does the good Lord have anything to say to you and I?
"In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established"
(Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1). "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool"
(Isaiah 1:18). "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God..."
(Revelation 2:7).
Has the red thread of identification with Christ been tied around your wrist? Have your sins been washed clean by the blood of Christ? Have you invited Christ to come to live inside of your heart? Can you truly identify with Him? If not, I trust that you will do that now
"For He (God) saith...behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation"
(2 Corinthians 6:2).
If you are doing a name study for fun in the bible book of Genesis you might find this interesting:
Judah, his friend, wife, and three children:
The name Judah can mean "praised, the praise of the Lord or confession". The name Adullam can mean "their testimony, their prey, their ornament, or justice of the people". The name Hirah can mean "liberty, anger, or a noble family". The name Shuah can mean "ditch, swimming, humiliation, or wealth". The name Er can mean "watchman or awake". The name Onan can mean "strong". The name Shelah can mean "he that breaks, he that unties, he that undresses, or a petition". If one puts these names together one could say they meant "The praise of the Lord (Judah) went to a justice of the people (an Adullamite) who was from a noble family (Hirah). The praise of the Lord (Judah) joined with wealth (Shuah). They were granted a petition (Shelah) for three sons who were strong (Onan) and awake (Er)".
Judah, his friend, his daughter-in-law, and two children:
The name Timnath, Timnah, or Thimnathah can mean "portion or forbidding". The name Tamar can mean "palm or palm-tree". The name Pharez can mean "division, rupture, or breach". The name Zarah can mean "east, brightness, or rising". When one puts these names together one could say they meant: "the praise of the Lord (Judah) went to a justice of the people (an Adullamite) who was from a noble family (Hirah) to a forbidding (Timnath) part of their country to shear sheep. The praise of the Lord (Judah) enjoyed all that a palm tree (Tamar) had to offer. From that union eventually came a rising brightness in the east (Zarah). The sign for this was a red thread, and because of this, there would eventually be a mighty spiritual division (Pharez) in Israel".
"A rising brightness in the east" reminds me of a scripture about a star- a star about a Star. The scripture is found in the New Testament:
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him"
(Matthew 2:1-2).
That is right- the star or rising brightness in the east is a reference to the Hebrew Messiah, Jesus Christ- the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
Because of Jesus Christ, there was a mighty spiritual division in Israel. There were some Israelites, who were saved, who proclaimed Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and there were some, who were unsaved, who resisted the fact that He was the Messiah
(Romans 9:27).
Click here to go to the Genesis Table of Contents
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