Genesis 38-39
Dear RTB’ers,
Today, two contrasting stories of sexual relations in the Old Testament– Judah and Tamar, Joseph and Potiphar’s wife.
First, Judah and Tamar. Judah takes (marries) a Canaanite woman known only as the “daughter of Shua” (Genesis 38:2). Together they have three boys – Er, Onan, and Shelah. Years pass and Er marries Tamar. Er dies, leaving behind no children, so Judah sends his #2 son, Onan in to Tamar. But whenever he went in to her, …he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. (Genesis 38:9b) So Onan dies and Judah refuses to give his third son, Shelah to Tamar, fearing to lose him also. Tamar dresses as a prostitute, Judah goes in to her, she becomes pregnant by Judah and gives birth to twins. So in this story we have
- Judah marrying a Canaanite woman
- Onan refusing to “do the right thing”
- Judah refusing his third son to Tamar
- Tamar dressing as a prostitute, making herself available to her father-in-law, and
- Judah having relations with this “prostitute”, his daughter-in-law.
So, can five wrongs make a “right”? Apparently so, in that one of the children from this Judah-Tamar relationship, Perez becomes one of King David’s forefathers and later, Jesus’ own ancestor. If God can bring a Messiah out of this sad state of affairs, what can He do with the things that we have messed up in our lives?
Now, Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, a bit less dramatic. Joseph does all the right things, does not go down that adulterous path that his brother, Judah took – and his “righteousness” puts him in jail. So much for “doing the right thing”, eh? Stay tuned…!
Blessings!