This Week's Focus Passage

This Week’s Focus Passage: Genesis 38:1ff. ‘And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down f

This Week’s Focus Passage: Genesis 38:1ff.

‘And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren.’

This, the thirty-eighth chapter in the first book of our bibles, something of an enigma; namely a puzzle, or a riddle. We refer to the fact of its placement in that first book; that is to say, why is it found ‘sandwiched’ right in the midst of the ‘story of Joseph?’ The closing verse of the previous chapter, chapter thirty-seven, has told the reader about the brothers of Joseph, those brothers that had sold Joseph to some travelling Midianites for twenty pieces of silver, and how those Midianites, in turn brought the hapless young man into Egypt. The closing of this chapter thirty-seven recounts the lie that these ‘brethren’ told their father, Jacob, when they informed him that they had found Joseph’s coat [that coat of many colors], asking the father if this coat that they had soaked in blood, was indeed the coat that Jacob had given to his favorite son, Joseph. It was the perception given, and the perception received by this father, in his grief, to presume and state, in his own words, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him. The ‘evil beasts’ were, of course, Joseph’s wicked brothers, who had planned this deception, and received the hoped-for announcement from Jacob, which brought this father into terrible grief. This is conspicuous by his rending his garments and putting sackcloth upon himself; mourning for many days. We next read that those Midianites that had bought Joseph, and took him to Egypt, then sold him unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.

The enigma is the fact that, from that ‘news,’ the next chapter immediately begins with an account of Judah, and some of his exploits. The chapter begins with, And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hi-rah. We should be remembering that, as it appears, at that time, would be shortly after Judah had been the one, talking his brethren into selling Joseph, rather that leaving him in a pit to die. Perhaps, he was so disgusted with their behavior, and after witnessing his father’s horrific grief; that he needed some ‘R and R,’ so he went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite. He, again perhaps, needed some ‘rest and relaxation’ from that horrid event. This ‘rest and relaxation’ was provided in the form of a ‘wife.’ We assume propriety here; that Judah made this daughter of Shua, that when he ‘took her,’ we are to understand that he made her his wife. But, in any event, we are told, he went in unto her, and she conceived. In point of fact, we discover, as we continue to read, that he had three sons by her, namely Er, Onan, and Shelah. Now Judah took a wife for his eldest son, Er; and her name was Tamar. But because of wickedness in the sight of Jehovah, on the part of Er, Jehovah slew him. We are not told anything more on that, but Judah then proceeded to give Tamar to Er’s brother, Onan. But this brother did not wish to do that which his father directed him to do, and, ‘we are told,’ that he did not wish to bring seed because he knew that the seed would not be his. And, therefore, he withdrew from conception, and Jehovah slew him as He had Er. Now Shelah, Judah’s third son, was not of age for Judah to give Tamar unto him, so he sent Tamar back to dwell in her father’s house as a widow. When Shelah became of age, and Judah had failed to give Tamar unto him, Tamar, recognizing this failure, conceived [no pun intended] of a plot. She put off the garments of her widowhood, and covering herself with a veil, she sat in the gate of Enaim. Judah, coming along by the way, saw her and thought her to be a harlot, saying to her let me come in unto thee: for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law. Bargaining for the wages of a harlot, he agreed to leave with her, tokens of his promise to pay her with a kid from the flock. He left with her, as security for his promise, his signet, cord, and his staff.

After this arrangement had been consummated, both Judah and Tamar went their own prospective ways. 

Three months later, Judah was told that his daughter-in-law was ‘with child.’ He commanded that she be brought to him to be burnt for her supposed harlotry. Upon her arrival, she presented the items of security he had left with her; the signet, the cord, and the staff, saying ‘whosoever these belong to, he is the father.’ This, of course, led to Judah’s humble confession of his sin. Subsequently, at the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb. These twins were Judah’s sons, Perez and Zerah; Perez being the firstborn; having made a breach for himself; and so, he was named Perez, which means ‘a breach.’ Being firstborn, Perez became the heir, which is the reason that we find him in the lineage of Lord Jesus Christ, in Matthew’s first chapter. We may read of this lineage in the first few verses:

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judah and his brethren; and Judah begat Perez and Zerah of Tamar; and so on to verse six, and Jesse begat David the king.

It should be borne in, and kept in, mind, as we continue, that Judah was to be the son of Jacob, out of whose loins Messiah was to come; the Son of David. This will be pronounced in chapter forty-nine of Genesis; ‘Jacob’s prophecy concerning his sons,’ where he declares, The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh come: and unto him shall the obedience of the people’s be. 

Does not God truly ‘move in a mysterious way’? We would never imagine that the King of kings would have in His earthly ancestry, folk behaving as we have seen Judah behave, going down from his brethren, turning in to a certain Adullamite. We would never expect to see the behavior of the sons of Judah, and most certainly not this prime ancestor himself, Judah, going in unto one that he believed to be a harlot. And this presumed harlot becoming the mother of yet another ancestor in the line of Jesus Christ, the son of a carpenter, but the Son of David, the son of Abraham, the Son of God. Looking further into this lineage, we are reminded of others in that line that led to Beth-Lehem. Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab the harlot. Boaz begat Obed of Ruth, a Moabitess. Surely, God is no respecter of persons; Hallelujah!

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

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