Scripture: Genesis 38:1-26
Video Link: https://youtu.be/SHr5xYlysAQ
Structure:
- Introduction
- Genesis 38:1-11
- Genesis 38:12-23
- Genesis 38:24-26
- Conclusion
Introduction:
Good morning everyone.
Let me ask you a question. It’s a rhetorical question, so you don’t need to answer. Can a leopard change its spots?
The Lord God posed this question to his people through the prophet Jeremiah many centuries ago. It’s a question that is still relevant today. Can a leopard change its spots? It’s like asking, can people change their ways? Can bad character be re-formed into good character?
Today we continue our sermon series on the life of Joseph by focusing on Genesis 38. Last week we heard how Joseph’s brothers sold Joseph into slavery and then deceived their father into thinking that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.
This week, the focus shifts off Joseph and Jacob and onto Judah. Judah was Jacob’s fourth son and Joseph’s half-brother. It was Judah’s idea to sell Joseph into slavery. Judah was the opposite of Joseph. Joseph was sincere and virtuous, while Judah was calculating and immoral.
Among other things, Genesis 38 addresses the question of whether a leopard can change its spots. It shows how God re-formed Judah’s character.
Genesis 38:1-11
Genesis 38 begins with Judah leaving home. If the home environment you grew up in was violent or toxic, then sometimes the best thing to do is leave. Nothing changes if nothing changes. But you need to leave to something better. Otherwise you may be jumping out of the fry pan and into the fire.
Judah’s family was dysfunctional and Judah contributed to that dysfunction. Unfortunately, when Judah left, he did not leave to something better. Judah went to live with the pagan Canaanites.
As Bruce Waltke observes, “Judah’s geographical descent from Hebron’s heights to Canaan’s lowlands mirrors his spiritual condition”. [1]
Judah makes a moral decline. He has little regard for God’s ways or God’s purpose. Far from having a positive effect in the world, Judah conforms to the Canaanite way of life against the purpose of God. He marries a Canaanite woman and has three sons: Er, Onan & Shelah.
After some time, Judah found a Canaanite wife for his eldest son Er. Her name was Tamar. We are not told what Er did, only that his conduct was so evil in the Lord’s sight that God put him to death.
God, who sees the heart, must have known that Er would never change his spots and, perhaps as a way of protecting others from harm, God took back Er’s life.
Now, we need to be careful in reading a verse like this. We cannot make a formula out of Er’s death. Just because someone dies young or experiences some kind of misfortune, it does not automatically follow that God is displeased with them or punishing them.
There are plenty of bad people in this world who live long and prosper. Just as there are many good people who suffer injustice or die young. Next week we will hear how Joseph was sent to prison for doing the right thing.
Jesus was without sin and he was nailed to a cross. The test that someone has found favour with God is not health or wealth in this world. Rather it is resurrection to eternal life. Yes, Jesus died a horrific death at just 33 years of age, but God vindicated Jesus by raising him from the dead.
When it comes to suffering in this life, there is no formula for explaining it. Sometimes life is fair and sometimes it isn’t. The challenge of faith is believing that God is fair, even when circumstance is not, and that God can redeem suffering. He can work it for good.
Er died without fathering any children, so Judah said to his second son, Onan…
“Go and sleep with your brother’s widow [with Tamar]. Fulfil your obligation to her as her husband’s brother, so that your brother may have descendants.”
This is called ‘Levirate marriage’. Levirate marriage was a practical way of taking care of the family. By marrying the dead man’s wife and giving her children, the living brother was giving his dead brother descendants. And he was providing food, shelter & children for the widow, so that she wasn’t destitute. It was a form of social security.
Levirate marriage may seem strange to us. Probably there are some women here who would prefer not to marry their brother-in-law. But in the culture of Genesis 38 it was considered the honourable thing to do.
In effect, Judah was asking Onan to take Tamar into his household and get her pregnant. If Tamar gave birth to a boy, then that boy would be considered Er’s son, not Onan’s son. In other words, the boy born to Tamar would receive Er’s inheritance (as first born) which means there would be less for Onan.
Onan did not like this idea, but he did not want to lose face either, so he faked it. He slept with Tamar in a way that ensured she did not get pregnant. Coitus Interruptus. Onan repeatedly took advantage of Tamar and only pretended to do the right thing.
What Onan did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.
Let’s reflect on the bigger picture for a moment. Judah had robbed his father Jacob of his favourite son Joseph. Now Judah learns what it is to become a father and lose two sons. Judah is reaping what he sowed.
Sometimes God allows us to experience the consequences of our actions as a way of preparing us for change. Consequences don’t necessarily effect immediate change, but they can lay the groundwork for long term change.
The loss of two of his sons does not change Judah for the better in the short term. All it does is make Judah more fearful, more self-interested. What if Tamar is bad luck? Or worse, what if she is a witch? Judah doesn’t want to risk his third son. Fear has Judah running from change.
We notice a certain obtuseness from Judah here. He is spiritually insensitive. Judah seems blind to his sons’ wrongdoing. Instead of facing the fact that his sons were not good people, he superstitiously suspects that Tamar is to blame.
Judah kicks for touch, he plays it safe and sends Tamar back to her father’s house in mourning, telling her to wait until his youngest son Shelah is old enough for marriage.
This was another act of deception on Judah’s part. He had no intention of giving Tamar to his youngest son in marriage.
Judah’s spots don’t show any sign of changing at this point. Judah denies Tamar the freedom to marry anyone else but at the same time he doesn’t provide for her through his son Shelah. Judah’s deception of Tamar is cruel, just as his deception of Jacob had been cruel.
Genesis 38:12-23
After a long time, Judah’s wife died. When it became clear that Judah had no intention of letting Tamar marry Shelah, Tamar came up with her own plan of subterfuge.
Tamar changed out of her widow’s clothes, covered her face with a veil and sat down at the entrance to the town of Enaim, knowing Judah would pass that way.
When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, so he went over to her and said, ‘Come now, let me sleep with you.’ He had no idea who he was talking to.
Tamar said, ‘What will you give me to sleep with you?’ Judah doesn’t realise it, but this is a loaded question. Tamar is hoping he will give her children.
Judah replies, ‘I will send you a young goat from my flock’. This shows that Judah is acting on impulse. He has an itch that needs scratching. He didn’t come prepared to hire a prostitute, but he also doesn’t have much self-control.
The fact that Judah is unprepared plays right into Tamar’s hands. She asks for Judah’s seal with its cord and the staff he is carrying.
Men in the ancient world carried a seal around their neck on a cord. The seal was the shape of a cylinder with unique markings on it which could be rolled over soft clay to authenticate a transaction.
The staff Judah carried was a symbol of his authority, also with unique markings to identify that it belonged to him. In today’s terms Judah was basically giving Tamar his credit card and driver’s licence as guarantees of payment.
Judah is a victim of his own lust and ego. If you give away your moral authority, like Judah did, then you tend to lose other forms of personal authority also.
Judah hands over the symbols of his power and authority to Tamar without realising what he is doing. Once again, Judah is reaping what he sowed. Just as Judah deceived his father Jacob, now Tamar deceives Judah.
There is a significant difference in Tamar’s deception though. Unlike Judah who deceives for his own selfish ends, Tamar deceives with the more honourable motivation of preserving the family line. Some call it a faithful deception.
After Judah sleeps with Tamar, she becomes pregnant by him. Later Judah sends the young goat he promised but Tamar is no longer there. She has changed back into her widow’s clothes and returned home.
So Judah lets the matter drop. He doesn’t want to become a laughingstock.
Judah is more concerned with his reputation than he is with doing what is right.
About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution and as a result she is now pregnant.”
Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death.”
If Tamar was guilty then Judah would be expected to respond like this to preserve family honour. But even so, natural justice requires him to test the facts first. Judah is quick to condemn Tamar without a fair trial.
His callous response reveals an ulterior motive. Judah sees this as a convenient opportunity to get rid of his daughter-in-law so that he doesn’t have to give his son to her in marriage. Judah thinks he has found a way to avoid his responsibility while keeping up appearances.
As readers we can see the double standard. Why is a man called a stud, but a woman is called a slut? Why is it her fault when he is the one who is angry?
Why can’t Judah see what lurks in his own shadow?
Genesis 38:24-26
As Tamar was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law.
“I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognise whose seal and cord and staff these are.”
‘Do you recognise your own credit card and driver’s license, Judah?’ Mic drop.
In the original Hebrew, Judah literally says, ‘She is righteous, not I.’
Now we might ask, ‘How can the Hebrew Bible say that Tamar is righteous?
She tricked her father-in-law into sleeping with her and, according to the Bible, sex outside of marriage is a sin. Well, Tamar’s example does not give us a licence to deceive people and sleep around.
Tamar is declared righteous because she acted in faith and loyalty for the well-being of Judah’s family.
When we consider how risky Tamar’s plan was, we realise that God was helping her every step of the way. There was so much that could have gone wrong but didn’t.
What if someone else tried to solicit Tamar before Judah came along?
What if Judah ignored Tamar as she sat disguised by the side of the road?
What if Judah had not given Tamar his seal and staff?
What if Judah had recognised Tamar?
What if Tamar had sex with Judah but didn’t get pregnant?
What if Judah had denied any wrongdoing and accused Tamar of stealing his seal and staff and lying about it?
Tamar acted in faith, taking some huge risks to her personal safety, all so she could do the right thing by Judah’s family. Tamar risked her life to give life.
Returning to the question we started with, can a leopard change its spots? Can a person like Judah change their ways?
Well, Judah changed his environment and went to live with the Canaanites but that didn’t make him better. If anything, it made him worse. Becoming a husband and a father didn’t change Judah either.
And when he suffered the loss of two of his sons and his wife, there was still no positive change. If anything, these losses only made Judah more fearful and more self-interested.
A leopard may not be able to change its spots, but God can. Judah could not change his ways, but God did change Judah. God reformed Judah’s character by grace and God’s grace came in the form of Tamar, a Canaanite woman from the wrong side of the tracks, the one no expected.
We can rightly call Tamar the heroine of this story because she saved Judah from himself. God used Tamar’s brave faith as the catalyst for Judah’s repentance and transformation.
The tipping point for character change is honest confession. Judah’s humiliation (at being found out) goes hand in hand with his honest confession and the first steps of his conversion. Nothing changes until Judah is honest with himself.
God rewarded Tamar’s faith with twin boys (Perez & Zerah) to replace the two sons Judah had lost. This is the grace of God. Tamar literally gives birth to the grace of God for Judah. She mediates God’s grace to Judah.
One thing to note here is that we don’t always reap what we sow. Judah had been quick to condemn Tamar to death for prostitution. By that measure Judah himself should have been killed also. But God in his grace does not punish Judah. God blesses Judah when Judah has done nothing to deserve it.
When Judah realises that he is the father of Tamar’s babies he knows that God is giving him another chance. And in response to God’s grace, Judah repents. He acknowledges Tamar’s righteousness, and he does not sleep with her again.
God changes Judah. We don’t see all the changes in Genesis 38. But, towards the end of the Joseph story, we see what real character change looks like.
By his grace God changes Judah from being deceitful to being truthful.
From being insincere to being authentic.
From being powerful to being vulnerable.
From being hypocritical to being humble.
From being sexually promiscuous to being self-controlled.
From being callous to being compassionate.
Perhaps the greatest transformation to Judah’s character though was the change from self-interest to self-sacrifice.
In Genesis 44, when the brothers go to Egypt to buy grain, Judah (the former slave trader) offers himself as a slave in Benjamin’s place. Judah offers himself as a sacrificial lamb to save his family.
Conclusion
Both Tamar and Judah are mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy (in Matthew 1).
Each of them points to Jesus in different ways.
Tamar points to Jesus as one who mediates God’s grace to sinners.
And Judah points to Jesus who offers his life on the cross to redeem creation.
What spots is God changing in your character?
May the Lord guide us in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Amen.
Questions for discussion or reflection:
What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
- Can a leopard change its spots? Can a person change their ways? Can bad character be reformed?
- In what ways does Judah reap what he sowed? Can you think of a time in your life when you reaped what you sowed? (Whether good or bad.) What happened? Can you think of a time in your life when God (in his grace) saved you from reaping what you sowed? What happened?
- Why does Judah say, “She is righteous, not I”? Why is Tamar considered righteous in this situation? Why is honest confession necessary / important for character change?
- What changes does God bring about to Judah’s character? How does God change Judah’s character?
- Looking back over your life, so far, what changes has God brought about to your character? How did God effect these changes?
- How do Tamar and Judah point to Christ?
[1] Bruce Waltke, ‘Genesis’, page 510.
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