Pharez and Zarah

Genesis 38: 27-30: “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.”

This is another one of those stories that give credibility to this history. Why on earth would a story like this be included if it wasn’t true? This gives us the continuing story of conflict that went on within families, for example, between Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob and now Pharez and Zarah. The major issue seems to be an innate appreciation of the importance of the Lord’s blessing. Things are so much better today for the blessing belongs to whosever believeth rather than to just one of brothers. The blessing also comes to us at no cost whatsoever even though previously it came through struggle at first or keeping the Law later. While there is no price to pay for the blessing today, it cost the Lord Jesus Christ His life.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Lest we be shamed

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.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

There was no harlot in this place

Genesis 38: 13-22: “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 vail, 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 vail 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.”

Judah got on with his life while Tamar wasn’t able to get on with hers because Judah wasn’t assuming his responsibility on her behalf. She was a prisoner of her culture but he was free to come and go as he wanted. While she was forced to stay in her father’s home he was free to do whatever he wanted to do. Tamar devised a plan whereby she would remind him of his responsibilities. This plan may offend our politically correct sensibilities today but it was just about the only way that she could escape from the imprisonment that Judah was forcing on her. She disguised herself and pretended to be a prostitute. Judah, now a widower felt the need to take advantage of this woman beside the road. In those days, the Canaanite religions were fertility religions, much like the neo-animistic (conservationist) religions today, they believed that sexual intercourse was a way of worshipping their god; this was encourage fertility and enrichment. Tamar was wife and made sure that she kept evidence to show that Judah was involved, that is why she kept his signet, bracelets walking stick. Judah promised to pay her for her services but she left that place and kept his identity symbols (these were much like identity documents that many people carry with them today). She knew that these would be her defence later and would make Judah understand that he had not fulfilled his duty to her. When Judah sent the payment she had left and he didn’t want to look stupid so he kept quiet about the whole episode.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Judah was comforted

Genesis 38: 11, 12: “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. 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.”

Judah knew what his responsibility was when his second son died and he pretended to do what was required by making a promise to Tamar. However, he had no intention of keeping his promise and continued with his life as though nothing had happened. After a while his wife died and he went through the mourning phase but still didn’t do anything to help his daughter-in-law. His position was quite different to Tamar’s. She didn’t have anyone to care for her and had to live with her father while he was free to do whatever he wanted to do and go wherever he wanted to go. Judah’s actions remind us of Matt 21: 28-30 (“But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.”) Our words may give people a good impression but our actions show who we really are. It is easy to miss what someone is saying because we can’t hear their words over their actions.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Judah went down

Genesis 38: 1-10: “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. 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. 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.”

Later in the history of Israel the Judah’s tribe became the kingly tribe but at this stage there is very little to recommend Judah or his children. The Adullamites were one of the local tribes living in Canaan. (We learn this from Joshua 12: 1, 15, “Now these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east:” ... “The king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;” It seems as though Judah didn’t really feel the need to remain separate from the Canaanites as Isaac and Jacob had done, at their parents’ urging. Judah’s first two sons were evil, the first one was wicked and the second one refused to do his duty before the Lord. Judah had a third son but he decided that he didn’t want to risk his third son so he failed to satisfy this same obligation before the Lord. The other major person in this sorry episode is Tamar, she was innocent of any wrongdoing but suffered the serious consequences of other peoples’ sin. Tamar, however, is one of three women mentioned by name in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ (see Matthew 1: 3, 5 {Tamar, Rahab and Ruth} the ‘wife of Uriah’ is also mentioned.) until we get to the end of the genealogy where we discover that Joseph was the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born who is called Christ (Matt 1: 16). This illustrates a very important principle: we cannot help what other people do to us but we are in complete control of what we think and the attitudes that come from those thoughts.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

They sold him

Genesis 37: 36: “And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.”

This story shows evidence of the Lord’s hand; when Joseph went down to Egypt, the Lord prepared a place for him to stay until the Lord’s timing was right. Even though Joseph was the man that the Lord later used to save his family from death by starvation, he had some very important lessons to learn in humility. He was betrayed by his brothers and was innocent in this episode but he still needed some training. It is often hard for us to understand how the Lord is working in our lives as we move forward but when we look back at the end of every period of our lives we can see that the Lord was at work. This is part of living by faith. At the end of this experience Joseph was able to say “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” (Genesis 50: 20)

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

The child is not

Genesis 37: 29-35: “And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go? And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no. And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.”

Reuben thought that he had managed to save Joseph from death but, foolishly left him with his brothers. He came back believing that everything was okay but was devastated to find that Joseph was no longer there. He went back to his brothers in genuine grief and told them that their young brother was gone. They knew what had happened and carried out their hard hearted plan to trick their father. They took his hated symbol of supremacy and dipped it in blood. There was no way for Jacob to know that it was just animals blood and with evil hearts they told Jacob that they found a coat and they weren’t sure if it was Joseph’s or not. Even though every adult is completely responsible for the thoughts they think and the actions that flow from these thoughts, these young men just continued with the bitter competition they had known throughout their lives. Jacob had many opportunities to treat Leah with love but he had only ever though about himself. He reaped the rewards of his own behaviour. Jacob went into a period of mourning that continued for the rest of the years that he was separated from Joseph. The brothers probably didn’t realise that this would happen because they had only know him as a hard hearted, unloving man but now they found out. Reuben had the chance to let his father know what had happened to Joseph but he kept quiet preferring to keep away from his father’s anger after his previous sin. This dysfunctional family continued on its dysfunctional way.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1