Tamar and Judah

The story of Tamar and Judah has always left me in awe. She was such a strong woman! There is so many things we can learn from this story that happens in Genesis chapter 38. The tribe of Judah stands out among the twelve tribes because of its associations with the house of David. Tamar also became the mother of Perez, through whose lineage David and Jesus Christ came.We have often heard of the life of Judah in scripture but Tamar's story if often looked over.

Tamar was a young woman who was selected by Judah as a bride for his eldest son Er. The bible says that Er was so wicked that God killed him! First off you have some problems if your so wicked God just wiped you out. When Er died childless Judah instructed his second son Onan to marry Tamar. This practice, called leverite marriage, was authorized in Old Testament law and was practiced in ancient Middle East. Any son born of this union would be considered the son of a childless husband and would inherit not only any property but also his name and authority.

Onan was unwilling to fulfill his duty to his brother and Tamar. It would mean he would have to raise a child that would inherit his brother's estate instead of him. Yet he did marry Tamar but refused to impregnate her. God was displeased with him so much that he also killed him. While reading this story I just wanna yell at Tamar and say girl tuck tail and run! Why would you even want to be in a family who is wicked? After Onan's death Judah told Tamar to return to her family until his youngest son was old enough to marry her. Yet, her own family did not want to receive her since she was a barren husband killer. She fought rejection after rejection. Here she is barren, rejected and insecure.

Time had passed and Judah forgot all about Tamar. He went against the promise he made to her. Word made it back to Tamar that Judah's wife passed away. Out of desperation and brokenness she got dressed and went to visit him. Judah looking at her, unknowing that it was Tamar , desired her. Tamar conceived a child with him. Judah thinking she was a prostitute, as she was covered with a veil, gave her his staff and bracelets as a pledge till he could send payment to her. Three months later word reached Judah that she was pregnant out of whoredom. Out of embarrassment he sent to have her killed! Instead of spreading word against Judah, Tamar protected Judah's integrity. She came to him in secret and gave back his belongings to prove he was the father. Now most women would have made a scene and manipulated the situation. This was a show of Tamar's character. Judah was humbled by the act of humility and it totally changed him. This is a great example of how one act of humility can change a whole situation around.

If we look at Judah's background Leah was his mother. Leah also fought rejection after rejection. Jacob was forced to marry Leah by his father in law , even though he worked for 7 years for Rachel, Leah was desperate to please her husband and God took pity on her. Leah bore son after son hoping to please Jacob. After having many children he still did not love her. Leah eventually had a son and named him Judah , meaning praise. In the middle of her struggle and insecurities, Leah chose to focus on praise. When we chose to worship in our trials this rolls the red carpet out for God to enter into our situation. In the end Jacob chose to be buried by Leah. Judah hid Tamar out of respect and helped raise her twins.God gave her not one son but twins! After this Judah became a different man and his name is all throughout scripture. Humility is a powerful thing!