Genesis 38: 23-26: “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.”
Judah didn’t worry about paying the woman that he assumed was a prostitute because he couldn’t find her. Not long after that he discovered that his daughter in law was pregnant. This is where we discover the double standards of that day. While it was okay for Judah to go and have a sexual relationship with a woman, even though they weren’t married, he was ready to kill Tamar for doing the same thing. If she hadn’t been wise enough to keep the proof that he was responsible for her pregnancy she would have been burnt to death for being a prostitute. She was extra wise in this whole episode because Judah had also sent one of his friends to pay the price that she had asked. Judah wouldn’t have been able to deny that he was involved in that encounter. When the men came to take her to be burnt she showed Judah the ring, bracelet and walking stick. At this stage Judah realised that he had not fulfilled his obligations to her and acknowledged that she was more righteous than he was. So she became pregnant with the child that she would have expected when she first married Er Judah’s oldest son. This child would now become Judah’s heir as the legal son of his first born son. In Matthew 10: 16 the Lord Jesus Christ said “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” When we deal with people of this world we have to be careful because some people are not trustworthy. However, in Titus 1: 15 we read, “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” It is hard not to treat people according to our own standards. How does a person like Nathanael (see John 1: 47 “Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”) survive in this world. We just have to trust the Lord (see 1 Cor 10: 13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”) We can have confidence that He will always deal with us for good (Rom 8: 28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”)
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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