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In the last article we took a look at some very important time-lines. These time-lines dealt with the events that had taken place earlier in Judah's household, before Joseph was sold into slavery. We already knew that Judah had played a role in the betrayal and selling of his younger brother Joseph. But now, because of his role that he had played, we find that Judah will now begin to reap what he had sown. What Judah finds himself reaping, would come directly from within his own household. The Holy Scriptures revealed that Judah had lost two of his three sons. After his oldest son Er had married a Canaanite girl named Tamar. We would soon learn that Er would incur a divine fatal judgment that was passed against him, for being wicked. To make matters worse, Er had not produced an heir with Tamar before his death. This horrible event would be a major blow to Judah's household, being that there is no one at this time that will be able to carry on the family name. Because of this, Judah had his other son Onan, who was born second unto him, to marry Tamar for the sake of the family name. But Onan was also found to be wicked in the Lord's eyes. Although there are some different viewpoints when it comes to this record. I personally hold the view that it was possible that Onan despised his brother Er, just like his father Judah had despised his brother Joseph. And so therefore, Onan refused to get Tamar pregnant. On top of that, Onan wasn't happy with the fact that the child would be credited to his brother and not himself. Understand that I will not marginalize this record by tagging it to using "birth control," or practicing oral sex. This record runs much deeper than that. Moving forward... 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 on Judah's end... Keep in mind that Judah was beginning to feel that perhaps, Tamar was cursed and if Shelah were to follow down the same path as his brothers and marry her, Shelah would meet the same fate as his brothers. Be that as it may, 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. She also 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 and would spend some time grieving. Some more time would pass and 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 that Judah would at times, send his sheep for shearing. Judah's daughter-in-law Tamar would hear about his planned trip to Timnah. It was at this point within the Holy Scriptures, we are now told that Tamar had finally figured out that Judah had lied and deceived her. For she now knew that Judah had broken his promise and decided against giving over his youngest and only son Shelah, when it came to marry her. So Tamar came up with a plan to get back at Judah for his deception. Tamar would put this plan into action by taking off her widow's clothes and 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 who was disguised as a harlot, would respond by saying: "And what will you give me to sleep with you?" After hearing this, Judah replied: "I'll send a young goat from my flock." Being that Judah had deceived her once before, Tamar would ask for some kind of insurance: "Will you give me something as a pledge until you send the young goat?" After hearing Tamar's request, Judah asked her: "What pledge should I give you?" Tamar quickly responded: "Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand." Judah would agree with her demands and gave them over to her. He would sleep with Tamar and by doing so she would become pregnant by him. Tamar would then depart from Judah and afterwards she would take off her veil and put her widow's 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 asked the men who lived in that area: "Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?" The men replied: "There hasn't been any shrine prostitute here." 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 further, 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. Will this be the last time we see, or hear about Tamar? Will Judah be able to put this behind him, or will this situation come around full circle to haunt him? Could Tamar finally get from Judah, what she couldn't get from his sons? Jacob - The Path of Uncertainty **YOUR CURRENT BIBLE STUDY ONLINE 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  |
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