Exalting God

Hope, it is something that every person needs to possess.  Some people are naturally optimistic and filled with hope.  Their hope may be rooted in God or in their perceived goodness of man, either way; they constantly seem to have a positive outlook on life.  Other people, however, are naturally pessimistic and devoid of hope.  They see only the negative in life’s events and have little faith that life will ever get better or that there is a Creator who is actively working in and amongst us.  Regardless of which camp a person finds themselves in, hope is something that every person needs.  Without hope, the rising of the sun only draws our attention to pain and despair.  Without hope, the setting of the sun serves only as a stale ending to another dreadful day.  This is not how God intends for people to live.  Rather, we are to be filled with hope because of who he is and all that he has promised us.

We are to have hope because God is faithful:

Psalm 38:15 – “But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.”

Proverbs 23:18 – “Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.”

We are to have hope because God is our refuge:

Joel 3:16 – “The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake.  But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.”

We are to have hope because God has assured us of eternity with him:

1 Corinthians 15:19 – “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

We are to have hope because it strengthens our joy:

Romans 12:12 – “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

There are certainly more reasons for us to hope in God, for the subject of hope abounds from Genesis all the way through Revelation, and although it may not seem so at the outset, Genesis 38 is no different.  This brief, somewhat shocking narrative which is unexpectedly tucked within the broader Joseph biography, likewise provides a shot of hope for humanity.  While there is no definitively stated call for hope found within this chapter, there are several points which converge and subtly challenge us to have hope in God.  Taken together, they should serve to bolster our confidence in God and draw us closer into his presence.

Change is Possible

One of the first things we notice about this narrative is the character of Judah.  To say it simply, Judah was despicable at this point.  We are told that the immediate context of these events directly follows Joseph being sold and sent to Egypt.  From there, Judah departed from his brothers and went to see a friend of his, Hirah the Adullamite.  While there, Judah would make several poor choices which in turn allows us to come face-to-face with his blatant sin.

He married a Canaanite woman

Genesis records that his first mistake was taking a wife for himself from among the Canaanites and fathering three sons with her.  While this may seem simple enough to us, Judah knew that this had been forbidden ever since his great-grandfather’s generation.  It was Abraham that commanded his servant to return home and find a wife for Isaac from among his own people.  Later, Isaac sent Jacob home in order to find a wife, making it quite clear that he was not to take a wife from among the Canaanites (Genesis 24:1-4; 27:43-28:5; 28:6-9).  That standard had not changed at this point and Judah knew it.  Yet, he openly defied this tradition and embraced his own pleasure. 

He failed to uphold the marital rights of his daughter-in-law

As the narrative unfolds, we learn that his first born son, Er, also took a wife from among the Canaanites; her name was Tamar.  Now Tamar seems to have been a strong woman; as we will see later God most certainly worked through her, but for now her life serves only to highlight Judah’s poor character, which comes to light following the death of two of his sons.  Being thoroughly wicked, we are told that God struck down Er (38:7).  According to the marital laws of that time, the next oldest son was to take his brother’s widow as his own wife and produce an heir for his deceased brother.  Honoring this law, Judah instructed Onan to “perform the duty of a brother-in-law” to Tamar (8).  However, Onan refused to perform this duty and God subsequently struck him down as well (10).  At this point it was Judah’s third son – Shelah – who would inherit the responsibility of providing an heir for his oldest brother; yet, this time it was Judah who resisted:

Genesis 38:11 – “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.”

Having already lost two sons, by his own admission Judah now feared losing his last son, so he used Shelah’s young age as an excuse to delay his marriage to Tamar.  He then removed Tamar from the picture all together, sending her off to her father’s house.  Out-of-sight-out-of-mind was the idea here.  It seems clear that Judah was simply working to get Tamar away from his son.  He had no desire or intention of honoring the customs of his day and he was unconcerned of how this would affect Tamar.  He was simply concerned about himself.  As time went by, Judah’s wife died and Shelah grew up; yet, as we would expect by now, he never gave his son to Tamar.  Finally, Tamar realized what Judah was up to, so she took matters into her own hands.

He embraced a prostitute

Following the death of his wife, Judah went back to visit his friend, Hirah.  While there, he passed by a woman whom he perceived to be a prostitute.  Seemingly without delay or reservation, he propositioned her.  While there are several reasons for the inclusion of chapter 38 in the book of Genesis, this specific decision by Judah is an important aspect because it provides a powerful contrast to the behavior we will see in Joseph later when he was propositioned by Potiphar’s wife.  As we will see then, Joseph recognized that adultery is sin and he refused to sin against God.  Judah, however, embraced this woman with virtual ease; it seems as though he did not even have to think about it.  He had no idea that he was being deceived, and his desire for pleasure had so captivated him that he was even willing to turn over his signet, his cord and his staff to this prostitute as a pledge.  This very act would later serve to condemn him.

Three months later it was told to Judah that Tamar was “pregnant by immorality” (24a).  Judah’s initial response is cold and harsh, “Bring her out, and let her be burned” (24b).  However, once Tamar produced his signet, his cord and his staff, Judah’s attitude quickly changed.  Judah humbly confessed, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah” (26).  So what does this have to do with hope?  It challenges us to have hope because these events reveal the poor character of Judah and works to set the stage for his spiritual transformation that will become obvious later in Joseph’s biography.  In other words, we should have hope because change is possible.  Truly, we are basically no different than Judah; we all deliberately and at times joyfully sin against God.  We embrace the pleasures of this world with such ease that it often goes unnoticed.  Yet, thankfully, like Judah we can change.  The change in his life starts here, but is more obvious later:

Genesis 43:8-9 – “And Judah said to Israel his father, ‘Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. ⁹I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.’”

It appears that at this point in his life honor has replaced dishonor.  He had learned a valuable lesson and it changed his life.  Listen to his confession once again, “She is more righteous than I”.  Such a confession reflects what our demeanor should be when we are confronted with sin.  He did not deny it or rationalize it, he admitted it.  Oh how we need to just be honest with God about the sin which is present in our lives.  We need to stop hiding and hoping that it will go away on it’s on – it won’t!  If we want to change then by God’s grace we can, but we must become transparent before him and lay the cards out on the table.

Providence is Powerful

Another hope-producing point derived from this passage focuses on the power of God’s providence.  We see this in several ways.

God preserved Judah’s family line

The first is seen by noting that God providentially preserved Judah’s family line.  Rather than allowing his line to end with the death of his sons, he worked to provide two additional sons to Judah, Perez and Zerah.  This is important because we know that it is through Judah that the Davidic Dynasty will rise, a point that is made in the book of Ruth:

Ruth 4:18-22 – “Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, ¹⁹Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, ²⁰ Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, ²¹Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, ²²Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.”

Our hope is strengthened here because we are reminded once again that God is not absent or distant from us; instead, he is right here working in our lives.

God is willing to work with stubborn and sinful people

Our hope is further strengthened in this case because we see that God’s providence is being worked out in the lives two sinful individuals.  This fact should truly encourage us, for we too, just like Judah and Tamar are sinful people.  So through God’s work in them here we are constantly reminded that God is willing to providentially work in our hearts and lives as he guides us toward our final glorification.  Think about Paul’s words on this subject to the Philippians:

Philippians 2:12-13 – “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

We must hope in God because he is at work in us!  Remember, he is working “all things” together for our good and his glory, his good pleasure as Paul says it here.  That is a joyous cause for a hope that can stand the test of persecution and trials.  This is the hope that God intends for us.

God is willing to bring about hardship

An extension of this is to understand that God, as he works in us, will bring about hardship if it is necessary to produce righteousness in our lives.  For example, with Judah and his sons marrying Canaanite women we actually find one reason why the period of Egyptian exile was necessary.  Due to the fact that the Egyptians detested foreigners, this would not be a problem in Egypt; thus, the purity of the line would be preserved as God continued to guide the world toward Calvary.  They needed to learn once and for all that God was serious about marriage and the purity of Israel; therefore, hardship was necessary in order to produce righteousness in their lives.

Truly, we too need a little hardship if we are going to become more Christ-like.  We do not like it, nor do we look forward to it, but in our hearts we know that pain in life is necessary because it always works to remind us of our utter dependence upon Christ.  Is it not true that we often learn the most about ourselves and about God when the floodgates of pain have been opened?  Yes, it is true.  So how should this produce hope in our souls?  If we try to view God as merely benevolent and giving then we will find it difficult to hope while in the midst of hardship, but if we remind ourselves that God brings about pain with the intent of making us more like Christ, then we can find hope amidst the trial because we will know that God is there with us, striving to grow and develop us.  This text is full of hope for us because it reminds us of God’s steadfast love – which is a love that never ceases (Lamentations 3:20).

God has a heart the Gentiles

Finally, are hope is strengthened in a very subtle way through God’s use of Tamar, for it says something very powerful to every gentile who has ever lived.  When we read the first chapter of Matthew’s Gospel we are given a very detailed record of Jesus’ genealogy.  If you read it closely, Matthew draws our attention to five women; interestingly enough four of these women are gentiles.  The first woman mentioned is Tamar (3).  Rahab (5), who birthed Boaz, is the second woman mentioned.  She too was a gentile, a woman of Jericho according to Joshua 2:1.  Ruth is the third woman mentioned (5); she was a Moabite (Ruth 1:4).  The fourth woman mentioned is Bathsheba, who was a Hittite (2 Samuel 11:3).  The last woman mentioned is of course Mary, the only Jewish woman mentioned in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ family tree.

Again we ask, how does this give us hope?  It gives us hope as gentiles because we see that he was serious about blessing all nations through Abraham (Genesis 18:18; 22:18).  God’s redemptive plan was never limited to the Jews, God has had a people from the very beginning, a nation of people who would receive faith and be drawn to Christ through the effectual work of the Holy Spirit through the gospel of Jesus Christ.  This is a great hope for us, for we know that God loves us.  He has intentionally sought us and bought us through the shedding of Christ’s holy blood.  We are a purchased possession of his because he has loved us from before the foundation of the world.

As we continue on through the remainder of Genesis we are going to focus exclusively on a very righteous man, Joseph.  Joseph was a man who loved God and walked with him; he was a man with honor and character.  I point this out because it will be easy for us to see why God used him so mightily.  However, one of the reasons I believe that God led Moses to include this narrative about Judah and Tamar is to remind us that even though we are called and expected to walk righteously, he does not abandon us or reject us when we fail to live up to our calling.  No, his love and grace is persistent.  He keeps working on us even when we least deserve it.  This truth must give us a great hope as we walk through our days.  Yes, times are tough and this world becomes a little scarier every day, but God never changes.  We can have as much hope in him today as Judah did thousands of years ago, for he will strive with us also and help us change.  He will complete the work he began in each of us and ultimately he will conform us into the image of his son through the transformation of our souls.  This is a cause for great hope.