Story 60 Judah
The family of Jacob became more distant and broken. Judah moved away from the clan and married a Canaanite woman. Their first two sons were so wicked that God shortened their lives so they could sin no more. Tamar was the wife of Judah’s oldest son, and now she was left alone and vulnerable. As the father of the household, it was Judah’s job to make sure that Tamar had sons and was protected. In those days, the righteous way to do this was to have the widow marry the next son in line so she could have a son. The child would be considered the son of the first husband. Two of Judah’s sons had died, but there was a third son as well. He was too young to marry Tamar, so Judah told her to return to her family until the right time came. All of this might seem strange to us now. But four thousand years ago, it was a way their society took care of those who suffered from the harshest realities of life in a fallen world. It was how they protected their women.
In this story, Judah treated Tamar terribly. Years went by, and Tamar grew older and more and more alone. Still Judah did not send for her. Time stretched on and on. Still he ignored her and pretended she did not exist. As his son grew to the age of marriage, Judah did nothing to help Tamar. Imagine how desolate she felt as she realized that Judah was not going to follow through on his promise.
But Tamar was wise. She also believed in God’s promises. She knew that the seed of Judah had to continue. Part of God’s covenant blessing to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was that they would have descendants like the stars in the sky. If Judah did not honor the codes of family for his day, if Tamar did not have sons, it would hurt their covenant with the living God! So she fixed the problem in the only way she knew how. We won’t go into details here. What is important is that Tamar’s actions forced Judah to see how he had sinned against her.
God gave Judah a moment of choice: Would he continue to live a life of rebellious sin, or would he repent? In a stunning display of humility and righteousness, Judah repented. He declared that Tamar was more righteous than he was! This man who coldly sold his brother to be a slave was changing. God was doing a mighty work of transformation in this son of Jacob. Judah was becoming a noble man. He honored Tamar. She gave birth to twin sons, and they became the first two names in the line of Judah’s descendants.
But this story shows that there was a much bigger problem looming. What if all the sons of Jacob chose to marry Canaanite women? What if they fell away from the promises of the Most High God and began to worship the idols of the Canaanite people? The sons of Jacob were to become a holy nation that would bless the world. What if they were overtaken by the sin and idolatry of their neighbors?
This story about Judah happened over several decades. It took him time to move away from the family, find a wife among the Canaanites, and have three sons. Then those sons had to grow up to the age of marriage. Judah’s stories shows a lifetime of terrible moral failure. He lived in total rejection of God’s covenant with his family. Yet the Lord brought him to do a remarkable thing. He repented. That was the great, all important turning point of Judah’s life. It was a magnificent shift. It was a glorious change! He went from standing in the arrogant rebellion of the snake to the honest humility of a child of God. It was the grace of Eve and Seth and Enosh and Noah! From now on, as Judah reappears in the Bible story, watch his decisions. See if there is a difference. Did his repentance truly change him at all?
It is interesting that God wanted this story to be told right before he tells the next story. For you see, in the Bible, the order of when God teaches things is an important part of understanding his lesson is for us. God would often have the writers of the Bible put the stories of two different characters right next to each other so the readers will compare the two. In this section, we first learn about the transformation of Judah in Canaan. Now we will go on to learn about the life of Joseph in Egypt. As we read, ask yourself how the lives of Judah and Joseph were alike and how they were different. What did God want to teach us by putting these stories together?
It is also important to remember that these were the two men who were next in line to lead God’s family. Judah’s three older brothers had fallen into sin. None of them were eligible to take the high honor of the first born son of the family. Reuben shamed Jacob by sleeping with his concubine. Simeon and Levi massacred the men of Shechem. Judah was next. Joseph was younger than Judah, but he was Rachel’s firstborn son. Who would God call to be the leader of his holy family?