“Genesis 38:6-11”

Friday, March 20, 2020

“Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord took his life. Then Judah said to Onan, 'Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.' Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother. But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He took his life also. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, 'Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up'; for he thought, 'I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.' So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.”

---End of Scripture verses---

“Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.” (verse 6) Judah hand-picked a wife for his eldest son Er, as it was customary for father's to arrange marriages for their children in this culture. Of course, Judah did not participate in this custom when it came to the selection of his own wife. Judah took a wife for Er as he previous “took” to himself “a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua” (verse 2). At this point in his life, Judah appears to have been more of a taker than a giver. The name Tamar means “palm tree,” and her country of origin is not given, although she was likely a Canaanite.

“But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord took his life.” (verse 7) We might assume that Er was basely wicked and guilty of the most heinous sins. While that may be true, verses 9-10 reveal that the Lord took Judah's middle son's life for “merely” refusing to perform his rightful duties to his older brother's widow. God does not gauge sinfulness with the same measuring stick that human beings tend to use. All transgression and ungodliness are abhorrent to the Lord and merit His most extreme punishment. It is only by His grace and mercy that he suffers long with the foolishness of the beings he created in His own image, but at certain times He recorded the execution of the ultimate penalty against certain sinners to remind us how antagonistic the sinfulness of man is to His holiness.

“'There could have been many ways in which he died, but, whatever the manner of death, the wrath of God lay behind it.' Willis also noted that, 'The fact that the Lord kills people because of their wickedness is taught in both the O.T. and N.T.' N.T. examples of this are in Acts 5:1-11; Acts 12:23; and in Revelation 2:22. Such summary judgments of God never fell upon anyone capriciously, or without due cause. And in all the recorded instances of it, some very grave danger to the covenant people was thus averted. Certainly that was the case in the instances of it here given.” (James Burton Coffman)

“Then Judah said to Onan, 'Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.'” (verse 8) “The death of Er without a son made Onan subject to the levirate law. Marriage between a man and his brother's wife is strictly forbidden in the Pentateuchal legislation of Leviticus 18:16 and 20:21. The only exception to the prohibition occurs when the brother dies without a son. According to Deuteronomy 25:5, a man has an obligation to his widowed sister-in-law: 'When brothers dwell together and one of them dies and leaves no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married to a stranger, outside the family. Her husband's brother shall unite with her: take her to wife and perform the levir's duty.' This institution is known in Hebrew as yibbum, or 'levirate marriage' (from Latin levir, 'a husband's brother'”. The basic root meaning of the Hebrew...is believed to be 'to procreate.'... The levirate institution long antedated the Pentateuchal legislation.” (Nahum Sarna)

“Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother.” (verse 9) Onan decided to enjoy the sensual pleasures of the union with Tamar, but he opted to engage in a crude form of birth control to avoid impregnating his deceased brother's widow. “The callous refusal of Onan to perpetuate the line of his brother may have been due to a lack of a sense of duty to the dead. An even more powerful motivation would have been the fact that with the death of the first-born, Onan inherits one-half of his father's estate. However, should he provide an heir to his brother, his portion would be diminished.” (Nahum Sarna)

“But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He took his life also.” (verse 10) “By frustrating the purpose of the levirate institution, Onan has placed his sexual relationship with his sister-in-law in the category of incest—a capital offense.” (Nahum Sarna) The most important thing that any person can ever choose to do with his/her life is to focus all their attention upon pleasing the God in all respects, to the best of his/her ability. “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:9-10)

“Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, 'Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up'; for he thought, 'I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.' So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.” Judah obviously associated the deaths of both of his sons with their relationship to Tamar, so he sent her away to her to live in her “father's house”. This indicated that she was required to remain single even though she was no longer a part of Judah's household. And even though the move was based upon the premise that it would be a temporary thing until Shelah reached an appropriate marrying age, it seems pretty obvious that Judah never intended to follow through with that plan and expose his only surviving son from his wife Shua to the dangers of suffering an untimely death. Judah was likely unaware that the Lord had taken the lives of his first two sons because of their own sinful deeds.

Please read Genesis 38:12-19 for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

-Louie Taylor

Share