May 1 Sermon: Family Shame
Consider these questions as you listen to this week’s message from Genesis 38:1-20:
1. Why do you think the author emphasizes the inclusion of seemingly distasteful and awkward stories in the Bible, such as the ones mentioned in Genesis, and what do these stories teach us about the people of God?
2. In what ways does the story of Judah's actions and choices contrast with the godly path that Joseph follows in the subsequent chapters of Genesis? What lessons can we draw from these differences?
3. How does the story of Perez's birth and God's providence in choosing him as the child of the promise demonstrate God's faithfulness despite human failings and circumstances? How can we apply this lesson of God's faithfulness to our own lives as believers?
Transcript:
Did you come here this morning expecting an Old Testament reading like that one? We have probably all come to passages in the Bible that are strange and, for lack of a better description, awkward and maybe even a little distasteful. Without too much thinking we can think of a few other stories just in the book of Genesis. We have Noah getting drunk and cursing his son for looking upon his nakedness. There is Abraham not trusting the promise of God and having a child with his wife’s handmaiden and then Sarah banishing them. Then you have the sons of Jacob convincing a whole group of men to be circumcised and they get vengeance for the rape of their sister by killing them while they are sick after the ritual is performed.
You know, there might be some solace for you in looking at these types of stories, I know there is a little for me. When you see what a mess the people of God are at times you might feel like maybe your mess isn’t so bad, right? But regardless of how good it might make us feel we still arrive at texts like these and we wonder what in the world was going on. Not only did Moses deem it necessary for us to know this story but we also believe and confess that he was inspired by God the Holy Spirit to put this story here in his telling of the people of God. I’m sure there were a lot of historical stories about the children of Jacob and more specifically Judah that might have been on the table to be in scripture but we have this one and so part of what we are going to do today is consider it’s place in the story and consider the significance of it.
Before we move on to doing that I want to do something I do when we are in texts like this and I honestly should probably do more often. This story is a good example for why we work through scripture the way that we do. If we really believe what we sang just a few minutes ago when we sang 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17 that all scripture is God breathed and useful for our lives then we should not shy away from the hard edges of scripture or the awkward passages. And if we really believe that scripture has authority and it is sufficient then we want to approach even stories such as this one with the same reverence and respect that we do other passages.
And so, it is with that belief that all scripture is God breathed and sufficient that we come to this passage today. We are going to have three points today like we normally do but we aren’t going to be going through the passage verse by verse in the usual fashion. Instead, we are going to be taking more of a 3000 foot view of what is going on in the passage but before we do that we’ll line out our journey because it’s always good to know where you are going.
The first thing that we are going to see is that this is an important part of the story of Jacob’s family. While it is a bit of distasteful story it is a story of how the covenant line advances. God has made a promise to a particular people and has promised faithfulness through a particular line and so we see how that line is passed on, even when it happens in an unusual way.
Secondly, we are seeing a contrast between a man of the world and a godly man. Now to draw this point out we are going to have to look ahead a little bit in the story but not too far. Judah is a man who is on his own volition moves away from the people of God and finds himself in trouble and failing. We will contrast him with the story that we know is coming as we will return to the story of Joseph next week and see how a man who was forcefully removed from the people of God remains faithful.
Finally, we will see how the faithfulness of God is once again on display despite the workings of man. Throughout the book of Genesis we get the idea that man is going to mess things up but God is always faithful and we find that he is faithful throughout all of scripture because he brings the seed of the woman into the world to save us from our sin.
And so, we start out seeing that this is an important part of the story of Jacob and it starts out with the talking about offspring because ultimately that is what we have been following all the way since the fall in the garden, haven’t we?
Genesis 38:1–5
ESV
It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went in to her, and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. Judah was in Chezib when she bore him.
As this starts out we have to remember that this just kind of feels off, doesn’t it. We just got done with Joseph sold into slavery and we were just mourning with Jacob as we felt sorry for him losing his favorite son and now suddenly we are thrust into a story about Judah. While the last chapter gave us the impression that everything was going to be about Joseph because he was the focus we were never told that Joseph was our primary focus. We were told that these were the generations of Jacob when the story shifted and so we shouldn’t be surprised that a story about Judah comes into focus. Even more so with us knowing that the covenant line does not go through the line of Joseph to Jesus. The Lord is the lion of the tribe of Judah and now we are seeing how that line is going to continue.
And we see right off the bat that there is a problem. Judah is not too concerned with maintaining the line through their family like his grandfather Isaac and his father Jacob. He goes off and has three sons with a Canaanite woman. Without getting into too many of the details because we are working from three thousand feet here, the son is wicked and the Lord puts him to death.
Genesis 38:6–7
ESV
And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death.
We don’t know why his son was considered wicked and his life was taken from him but we can easily see the result of this. The son of Judah has not provided a son who will continue on the covenant line. This was a big deal and so here we see the first reference of what was done to preserve the family and covenant line. The next in line brother was to provide the offspring that his brother is now unable to provide.
Genesis 38:8–10
ESV
Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also.
So, we move from Er who is wicked to Onan who makes certain that this custom of him providing offspring to his brother’s wife doesn’t occur. Now, you are probably wondering why this is such a big deal. Well, as the second born, Onan stands to be the one who receives the inheritance and the blessing of the firstborn but if his brother’s wife has a son then you can probably guess what happens. The inheritance and blessing passes off to the nephew. What is the benefit then of Onan to do this and so he refuses to give offspring to his brothers wife and what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord and we have funeral number two.
Now, you can imagine that there are probably a whole lot of thoughts going through Judah’s head. He clearly wants to follow the tradition and commands to some degree but he doesn’t want to lose a third son. So he sends her back to her father’s house.
Genesis 38:11
ESV
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.
Now what is interesting here is that the problem is a problem with Judah and a problem with his sons but instead of removing that log in his own eye he decides that having Tamar in his house is a bad idea. She’s bad luck obviously. It can’t be him or his sinful sons. So, she is sent to her father’s house and Judah is negligent in the responsibility that he has to Tamar.
And so we know what happens. Tamar knows that the third son is old enough to provide her with a child but yet, Judah has whether out of laziness, disobedience, or superstition has kept the third son from her. Well, Tamar hears that Judah is coming to town and she coves her face with a veil and Judah takes the bait assuming her to be a prostitute.
Genesis 38:15–18
ESV
When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him.
To cover the cost of the what he is seeking he promises to bring her something but she wants some proof that he isn’t going to not complete the transaction. She requests some items that would be clearly connected to Judah and after they are together she doesn’t go back to the city gates and he is not able to complete the transaction.
Genesis 38:24–26
ESV
About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” 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.” 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.
And so, when Judah learns that Tamar has not only been immoral but she is with child as a result of the immorality. And once again we have a “that escalated quickly” moment in Genesis because he wants her burned but now we know why she ran off with Judah’s possessions. This is her proof that he is the father of her child and that he proof of his immorality with a woman he believed to be a prostitute and so her life is spared.
And so, we hopefully you get the significance of this story to the people of God and their continuing story and our following the messianic line, which we will come back to when we arrive at our third point.
But now, we want to consider where this event lies in the telling of Genesis and the contrast that it provides for us before we return to the story of Joseph when we find him in Egypt next week.
Last week we were told of Joseph, daddy’s little favorite, being sold into slavery and being as good as dead. He was forcefully removed from the covenant people of God. He is being taken away from the covenant people against his will.
As we moved on to the next chapter what happened? We see that another son of Jacob moves away from the covenant people but he does so on his own volition. We don’t know why but he doesn’t desire to be around the covenant people and he also isn’t too concerned with the promises of God because he marries a Canaanite woman. He also isn’t very morally upright in his family obligations because of his not providing offspring for Tamar. Remember, this is about more than giving her a child it is about family succession and inheritance and all that was embedded in that in their culture. And then, we ultimately see that Judah is more concerned the things of the world and the pleasures of the flesh when he decides to unite himself to a prostitute.
The feeling we get here is that Judah is a very worldly man. He is worldly when it comes to where he lives. He is worldly in who he chooses to marry. He is worldly in selfishly letting his daughter in law not have offspring. He is worldly when it comes to his sexual ethic. Judah is a man of the world. The story lets us know how the succession to the Messiah happens but it also sets us up to follow Joseph again because as we know the story of Joseph is not going to be a worldly path. Judah had nothing to gain but a few moments of pleasure by hiring a prostitute. Next we see that Joseph loses everything by holding to a godly sexual ethic.
Joseph is a godly man and his brother Judah is a worldly man. We are going to be drawn to Joseph for his godly life even though it initially leads to his suffering. And it is through this difficult but godly path that God is going to rescue his people here in Genesis.
And that will help us to clearly see the faithfulness of God to the promises he makes to his people. And while that will become even more clear as the story of Joseph progresses as we continue through these final chapters of Genesis we do see the faithfulness of God once again as the passage closes up.
Genesis 38:27–30
ESV
When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called Perez. Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.
We will now zoom from our three thousand foot view of the story to see the faithfulness of God once again and it is seen in the fact that despite the mess humans make of things God is still faithful to keep the promise he made to redeem a people for himself in the messiah.
We are once again treated to a story of some twins who are the offspring of the covenant people. Remember back to the story of Jacob and Esau and the confusion that was caused by God promising Rebekah that the younger of the two twins would be the one that the covenant promise would rest upon. Rebekah believed God, Isaac had his favorite and a whole lot of family drama developed out of it all, but God used it to continue the promise.
Now, two generations later we have twins again and their is confusion in their birth. It appears as though one child is going to be born first but the other ends up being the firstborn. It seems as though the one with the scarlet thread will be the firstborn and the child of the promise but instead Perez is born first and it is on him whom the covenant promise rests. And as the line to the Messiah continues it is once again the one that God providentially ordains to be in the line, not the one that man would have chosen. Perez is ultimately the second child but in God’s providence he becomes the chosen one, the child of the promise.
And as we continue through the story of Genesis we will see that God is continually faithful to do as he promised and that is to keep his people. We’ve seen how the promise seems to be in jeopardy over and over again but God takes the worst of circumstances and keeps his promises. Even through the immorality of Judah and the shame this story brings on his family, we find that God will bring the promise through him and his son Perez. We will find that even though the faithful Joseph is taken from the people of God and he is persecuted for his faithfulness God will use it all to bring about his purposes for his glory and to save his people.
And while this is a strange passage to have for a Sunday where three young men are making profession of faith the ultimate truth of the passage is that God is faithful and that is also what we are seeing today. I personally found it funny that I had titled the sermon many months ago “family shame” and then it worked out for the boys to make profession of faith today. It wasn’t commentary on these three, honest.
Anyway, we celebrate today the faithfulness of God. Years back we were brought to the font for baptism. Most of us were brought without any knowledge of what was happening and yet, the covenant people of God in that place trusted in the promise of God in the waters of baptism. We trusted that God would be faithful to his people and that he would work faith in the hearts of his people and so we faithfully proclaimed the gospel knowing that the Spirit of God would be at work. And through the faithful teaching of God’s word and the power of the Spirit today we made public profession of faith just as these young men are doing this morning.
You will notice that as we begin those proceedings in just a few minutes that the beginning of the service for profession of faith is identical to the service for baptism. That is because we are ultimately not celebrating the profession of faith that is being made as much as we are celebrating the faithfulness that God had in the waters of baptism that were administered many years ago and you and I can look upon that water and be blessed by the truth that just as God was faithful in the baptism of Keaton, Tyler, and Joshua he has been faithful in the waters of our baptism as well.
And so, the application for you and I from this interesting passage is to continue to trust the promise of God and trust his providence. The call on our lives is to be faithful and trust that the God who works all things together for good has done this for us in Christ. And because he has paid the price for our sin by bearing the wrath of God in our place we are called to abandon the ways of the world and the allure of the flesh and instead seek godliness and holiness in the face of any and every situation. May the truth of God’s word, the work of the Spirit, and the knowledge of God’s faithfulness to us spur us on to be faithful to him as we live and serve him in his world. Amen.
