Bible Study Online Article
After Judah had played his role in the selling of his brother Joseph, we now find that he has fallen into a season of reaping from within his on household. Within this season of reaping Judah has lost two of his three sons. After his oldest son Er had married a Canaanite girl named Tamar. Soon after, Er would have a divine judgment passed against him for being wicked, so therefore he was killed. Being that Er had not produced an heir to carry on the family name, Judah had Onan, which was his second son that was born unto him, to marry Tamar for the sake of the family name. But Onan was found to be wicked in the Lord's eyes, being that he was possible that he despised his brother Er and refused to get Tamar pregnant. Onan wasn't happy with the fact that the child would be credited to his brother and not himself. After this had happened, Judah would promise Tamar that he would give his third son Shelah over to her in marriage after he was old enough. But this would be a lie, being that Judah was afraid that Shelah would die as well - if he were to follow his brothers down the same path when it came to marry Tamar. Tamar had believed that Judah would keep his word and so therefore she followed his advice and agreed to wait for Shelah to become old enough for marriage. So she agreed to live in her father's household as a widow while she waited for Shelah to grow older. Some time would pass and now we are told that Judah's wife had just died. Judah would be sadden by this event and would spend some time grieving. After he had finished mourning the lost of his wife, Judah decides to go up to Timnah with his friend Hirah the Adullamite. Timnah was a place in which Judah would send his sheep for shearing. Judah's daughter-in-law Tamar would hear about his planned trip to Timnah. It was at this point in the telling of the scriptures, in which we are told that Tamar would finally figure out that Judah had lied to her when it came to him giving over his youngest and only son at this time - Shelah over to her in marriage like he had promised. So she came up with a plan to get back at Judah for his deception. Tamar would put this plan in action by taking off her widow's clothes, in which she covered herself with a veil and disguised herself as a harlot. She would then head to the entrance of Enaim which was on the road to Timnah and she sat there in the open for Judah to see. Soon after, Judah and Hirah would arrive at the place in which Tamar was sitting. Judah would in fact take notice of her and since she was disguised as a harlot - he didn't know that it was his daughter-in-law that was trying to snare him into a trap. So he heads over to her and said: "Come now, let me sleep with you?" Tamar would respond by saying: "And what will you give me to sleep with you?" "I'll send a young goat from my flock," Judah replied. Being that Judah had deceived her once before, Tamar would ask for some kind of assurance: "Will you give me something as a pledge until you send the young goat?" "What pledge should I give you?" Judah asked. "Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand," she responded. Judah would agree with her demands and gave them over to her. He would lie with Tamar and by doing so; she would become pregnant by him. Tamar would then depart from Judah, in which she would take off her veil and put her widow clothes back on. Later on Judah would keep his word by sending the young goat through his friend Hirah the Adullamite. Hirah would take the young goat to the harlot in exchange for Judah's seal and its cord and staff. But when Hirah did not find the woman, he would asked the men who lived in that area: "Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?" "There hasn't been any shrine prostitute here," the men replied. So Hirah went back to Judah and informed him that he couldn't find the harlot and that he was informed by the townsmen that they didn't see any shrine prostitute around. Being that this type of behavior and activities were look upon as scandalous things, Judah didn't want to be shamed by it, so he instructed his friend not to pursue the matter any farther when it came to the items that he was trying to retrieve from the harlot. "Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughing stock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn't find her," Judah told his friend.
Jacob - The Path of Uncertainty **YOUR CURRENT SERIES WOULD BE HERE** 69) Joseph the Interpreter of Dreams 71) Joseph & The Pit of Darkness 72) Jacob the Father of Sorrow 73) The Importance of Judah's History 75) The Reaping Season of Judah 76) <-CURRENT PAGE-> 78) Joseph the Servant of Favor 79) Potiphar's Wife Pursues Joseph 82) The Dreaming Cupbearer & Baker 84) Joseph's Dark Dreams Interpretation 85) Joseph the Overseer of Egypt  CrossDaily.com Web Search where you can VOTE FOR THIS SITE & other great ones. Christian search engine, directory & voting index. You'll find Bible, chat, churches, jobs, music, reviews, software, theology, & more. See the best sites!
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