Now this was an ugly chapter, wasn't it?! Judah separates himself from his family and entwines himself with the ungodly residents of Canaan--building a family and a business away from God (and God's people). As is the way of this world, Judah's sons inherit his own self-willed way of life and do things their own way. The natural progression away from God is to do what is right in one's own mind...it is a way of chaos and ultimately judgment. Both Er and Onan died as a result of their wicked ways.
Tamar, the wife of the elder, was 'entitled' to bear an heir for Judah's fortunes; Judah asked her to live as a widow until his youngest child could marry her and she agreed. For whatever reason, she determined that this arrangement was never going to produce the desired results, so she decided to remedy the situation 'her way.' (All of this chapter unveils the harsh realities of going our own way!) Tamar's decision was to lure the now widowed Judah into an immoral liaison and bear an heir that way. Her plan 'worked' and though Judah's initial reaction was to condemn her, ultimately, he was convicted of his own wrong-doing and accepted the children as his heirs.
Far more awesome: God allowed the children of this illicit relationship to be the ancestors of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus, our pure Savior, was made to be sin for us...He came into a sinful line but remained pure that He might deliver us from our sins. God is able to immeasurably more than we can imagine; we can not box Him into a certain way of being or action EXCEPT to trust that He is and He is good!
No comments:
Post a Comment