January 31 – Judah and Tamar

Genesis 38

Listed among the ancestors of Jesus were Judah and Tamar (see Matthew 1:3).  Tamar was the wife of Judah’s first born son, Er.  Er was evil in God’s sight so God took his life.  By Jewish custom Er’s brothers were to give his wife a child to be his heir. But Er’s next brother also displeased God and he died, so Tamar had no child.  The youngest brother, Shelah, was not yet an adult, so Judah told Tamar to go live with her father---so she did.  Later when Shelah is grown up, Tamar is not given to him as a wife, so Tamar deceives Judah as a temple prostitute---and becomes pregnant with Judah’s twin sons, Perez, the first born, is listed in Jesus’ genealogy.

Questions arise here giving us food for thought.  Did Tamar go down to Egypt with Judah and the rest of Jacob’s tribe?  Did she become Judah’s wife?  Not likely since Genesis 38 verse 26 tells us that he did not sleep with her again.  So she raised her twin sons as a single parent, but the scripture doesn't tell us if she remained in her father's home or went to live with Judah's tribe.  Does it matter at whose table she and her sons ate?   

There is so much deception, jealousy, and trickery in the Bible, but God wants us to “be holy.” In Leviticus 11:44-45, repeated in 1 Peter 1:16, it is written “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  Jesus tells us over and over to keep His commandments (John 14:15, John 14:21, John 15:14).  Paul writes in Ephesians 1:4 that we should be held and blameless before Him in love.  Consider your spiritual condition.  Do you need to lose any weight there?  Keep your account short with the Lord and stay spiritually trim and fit, “holy”.  Find and share the joy in your life.

Lord, we want to be holy and pleasing to you.  Show us where we have sin in our lives and forgive us.