Judah in Genesis 38

                Just imagine for a moment, growing up on a sheep ranch with your eleven brothers, and one of them acts like he is better than the rest, the little snitch!  And your father doesn’t help, doting on the kid, giving him special gifts, because Abba loves his mother more than he loves yours!

Perhaps there were times when Judah and his brothers played games while they watched the sheep, since the bratty brother wasn’t with them.  “Little Joe” stayed home with baby Benjamin while the others had the heat and cold to contend with, along with ticks and wolves and smelly sheep.  How Judah must have resented his time in the fields and longed for freedom from all of the chores and duties and even religious rites demanded of him.

So, when he saw an opportunity to get rid of that brother, he conspired with his brothers to kill him.  As they grabbed him and tore off his beautiful, colorful coat, the eldest brother, Reuben, urged them not to kill him but to dump him in a pit instead.  Reuben planned to return later and take Joseph home to his father, Jacob, whose name had been changed to Israel.

Meanwhile, an opportunity to make some money came along, so Judah suggested they sell Joseph as a slave instead of killing him, because, “after all, he is our brother.”  So Joseph was taken away, the brothers probably split the money, and all was well until Reuben returned.  He asked what to do now, so they dipped the coat into some goat’s blood, took it home and explained to their father that they had just found the coat, but no Joseph.

Jacob accepted their story and went into mourning and wasn’t good for much else after that.

Perhaps Judah was upset with his brothers, or the guilt of what they had done got to him, or he couldn’t bear the agony of his father, but Judah decided to leave home and seek his fortune among his Canaanite friends.  Perhaps he had met them in town or when they passed by the fields on their way to town.  Joseph had been forced to leave, but Judah chose to leave.  It was the beginning of his downward trend toward more sinful actions.

When he got to town, perhaps with his share of sheep from his father’s farm, he set up his own place.  He visited his friend, where he met the daughter of another friend, Shua, fell in love, and married her.  Soon he was a father of three sons, and right in the middle of evil Canaanite behavior.

After his eldest son, Er, whose name meant “watchful,” was old enough, Judah obtained a wife for him.  Er’s watchful eye was evil.  His bride’s name was Tamar, which means “palm tree.”  Perhaps she was tall and maybe pretty, but she had a quick mind.  She was probably a teenager, paid for with a dowry, and given to this foreign man whose family enjoyed different foods, activities, and religion.

We don’t know what Er did and we don’t need to know, but it was evil enough that God killed him because of it.  It wasn’t that God didn’t have grace, but rather, perhaps it was His compassion for Tamar.  God saved her from an evil husband.

In those ancient Near East lands, society ruled that same law that Moses gave the Jews many years later about the widow marrying the dead man’s brother, to keep an heir in the family.  Onan, the second son, whose name meant “strong,” was strong-willed and also evil.  He knew that if there were no heir, he and his younger brother would not have to share the property with a nephew that would not be considered his child.

So God killed him also.

Judah didn’t like that.  He may have thought Tamar was a witch, casting a spell, or giving them a deadly potion.  He never thought that perhaps his sons might have been guilty.  He was afraid that his third son, Shelah, would die also.  Shelah’s name meant “deception,” and that was a theme all through Jacob’s life.

Judah’s answer to his worries was to send Tamar home to her father’s house, which was an insult.  They may have accused her of being a murderer!  But they took her in and hid her, as Judah wanted.  He told her he would send Shelah after he matured, but he did not really plan to.

After some years, Tamar realized Judah had lied to her.  Then his wife died, and after his mourning, he went to the sheep-shearing festival to party.  Tamar heard he was coming, so she veiled herself and sat beside the road, looking like a temple prostitute.  Those heavily veiled women stayed veiled so that the men would consider what they did as worship with the goddess Ishtar herself!

Judah fell for it, offered to pay with a goat (the going rate was a loaf of bread!), left his seal and staff as a down payment and indulged.  Next day, he sent his servant to pay up, but the servant could not find the woman.  Judah said forget it, let’s go home.

A few months later, Judah was told about Tamar’s pregnancy.  He ordered her burned, I suppose because now he was sure she was a witch!  She couldn’t conceive with his sons, but she could with some stranger?  Maybe he blamed her for shaming him and ruining his life.  But Tamar sent the paternity test items out and Judah was convicted.  He admitted his guilt, confessed, and God forgave.

Twins were born, and Judah was transformed.  He took care of Tamar, though we don’t read anything about her again until Matthew 1:3.  Judah was at his father’s estate when the famine came, and he promised Jacob he would take care of Benjamin or owe him his life if he failed when he had to go to Egypt to get grain.  Later, he offered to sacrifice his life for Benjamin when he pleaded with Joseph, although he didn’t know it was Joseph at the time.  Jacob took all of his family away from the Canaanite influence to Egypt’s Goshen, including Judah, Shelah, his twins Perez and Zerah, and Perez’s two sons.

And that’s how we know God forgave him.  Judah matured from a vindictive teenager to a compassionate elder brother.   His behavior changed from hatred and betrayal of his brother to deep remorse, leadership, and self-sacrifice.  He pivoted, learned to say “I was wrong,” and had courage to do what was right.  God’s mercy was glorified when Judah repented.  Judah kept the scepter!  God redeemed him.

And God can use us even in our rebellion if we repent.  Praise God!  May He bless us all!

 

                               Joyce Smith Broyles lives in Jennings, LA and is a retired HS Library Teacher.