Genesis 38

I want to remind you that we have a great team ready to answer your questions. Don’t ever think your question is too simple or basic. Howard Hendricks, one of my favorite seminary professors, would say, “The only foolish question is one you don’t ask.” Also, due to time, there are aspects of these passages that I can’t address. Again, be sure to send us your questions. Our team wants to help you stay engaged in God’s Word.

The favored son, Joseph, was bound and led away by Ishmaelite traders. His brothers assumed the dreamer was out of their lives.  Meanwhile, in Egypt, Joseph had been sold to Potiphar, “the captain of the guard” (Gen. 37:36). That’s where we’ll start Joseph’s story next time. Today, we’ll consider Genesis 38.

I’ll admit that Genesis 38 seems out of place, an interruption to Joseph’s story. It is a sordid account about Judah’s evil sons, Judah’s lust, and the disgraceful actions of Judah’s daughter-in-law. But it seems Moses includes the story for two reasons. First, Judah plays a significant role as we follow Joseph’s life in Egypt. Second, Jacob’s blessing on Judah is important in the rest of biblical history.^[1] Let’s work our way through this chapter.

Judah, who had suggested selling Joseph into slavery, did not return with his brothers to tell their father the made-up story of Joseph’s death. Instead, he went to visit a friend named Hirah in Addullum (15 miles northwest of Hebron). We have seen throughout Genesis that God’s people were not to intermarry with those who served other gods. But Judah met a Canaanite woman, married her, and had three sons named Er, Onan, and Shelah. The oldest son, Er, married a woman named Tamar.

We don’t know what Er did, but his actions were “wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death” (Gen. 38:7). While this statement seems out of character for God, we have learned in our study that God is the righteous Judge. We saw his judgment in the flood (Gen. 6-8) and Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen.19). There are always consequences to sin (Num. 32:23; Gal. 6:7). Some consequences come later; some are immediate (1 Tim. 5:24).

When a man died and left no heirs, the custom of the day was for the next oldest brother to marry the widow. This custom, called levirate marriage,[2] has a couple of purposes. First, it ensured that no bloodline in the family would become extinct. The children were to take the dead brother’s name. Second, the widow, who was very vulnerable in that day, would be protected and provided for economically.

Onan, Er’s younger brother, was to provide an heir for his brother and take care of his widowed sister-in-law. However, he used the relationship with Tamar simply for sexual gratification, choosing not to have intercourse with her. He wasted “the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother” (Gen. 38:9). Onan died because of his sin.

Genesis 38:11
Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house. 

After a time, Judah’s wife died. When the mourning period was completed, he went to a town called Timnah to shear his sheep. Tamar heard Judah was coming, so she devised a deceitful plan. Since Judah had not given her to his youngest son Shelah, she dressed as a prostitute and waited by the road at a strategic location. Sure enough, Judah propositioned her and promised to send a young goat as payment. As a pledge for the goat, Tamar insisted that Judah leave his signet, cord, and staff. The signet was a cylinder that had a seal to be pressed into wax. It was often worn around one’s neck attached to a cord. The staff was a symbol of authority with unique names or symbols of the owner. These items clearly identified who they belonged to. When Judah sent his friend Hirah to deliver the young goat and retrieve his signet and staff, Tamar could not be found.

Genesis 38:22-23
So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No cult prostitute has been here.’” ²³ And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”

Tamar became pregnant through the sexual encounter with Judah, and three months later, the pregnancy was evident. Judah was told that his daughter-in-law had been sexually promiscuous and was pregnant.

Genesis 38:24-26
Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” ²⁵ As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” ²⁶ Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.

Tamar had twin boys. She named them Perez and Zerah. It is amazing that through the line of Perez, King David would be born (Matt. 1:3). And more importantly, through the line of Perez, God would send his Son to crush Satan, the author of sin and death (Gen. 3:15).

Later in our study, we will consider the blessings Jacob gives to his twelve sons, who become the twelve tribes of Israel. When he blesses Judah, he says, “Judah is a lion’s cub . . . he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?” (Gen. 49:9). In Revelation, Jesus is called “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David” (Rev. 5:5). Jesus, the “Lion of Judah” will reign forever with all power, majesty, and authority.

In C. S. Lewis’ allegory, The Chronicles of Narnia, Jesus is represented by Aslan, the lion. In the story, Lucy is nervous about meeting Aslan. She asks Mr. Beaver if Aslan is safe. Mr. Beaver replies, “Safe? Who said anything about being safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he is good. He is the King, I tell you.”

Is God safe? In our study of Genesis, we have seen that God is the Creator of all things, the Ruler of the universe, and he is writing its story. Absolutely nothing can thwart his plan! We have seen that he is the righteous Judge and sin has consequences. He asks his people to live by faith and to trust him. His path includes hardships and challenging times. “Safe” would not describe the lives of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. But God is good. We have seen his grace, compassion, forgiveness, and how he uses broken people to accomplish his purposes. He is patient and kind. He is the King, and he is always good.

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read Genesis 38. This passage deals with family dynamics, justice, morality, and God’s sovereignty. As you read today’s chapter, focus on God’s grace and compassion. This is a sordid story with sinful people doing deceitful things. And God overrules all the brokenness to prepare the world for his Son, the Lion of Judah.

Talking to God
Talk to God about trusting him to carry out his will even when the circumstances are complex, convoluted, and messy.

Have Questions?
This is a morally complicated and reprehensible story. I am sure you will have questions. We have a great team ready to interact with you. Submit your question below, and we’ll get back to you soon.

^[1] K. A. Mathews, Genesis 11:27–50:26, vol. 1B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005), 703.

[2] The Latin term for “brother-in-law” is levir so the custom is identified as a levirate marriage.