Good morning, friend!
OK can we just pause for a moment and all agree that this is a Really Strange Story?? But there it is, and Tamar is one of the four women listed in Jesus’ genealogy. I had a hard time finding my verse, I confess. And I might have blushed while I read the story. But in the end, I found the verse and I am grateful that God’s Word is not “sanitized” but is frank and blunt about what really happened. Can’t wait to see what God showed you in this unique account. Here’s what He showed me:
My verse: Genesis 38:8 Then Judah said to Er’s brother, Onan, ‘Go and marry Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a man who has died. You must produce an heir for your brother.”
My response: This fascinates me. This story pre-dates Moses and the giving of the Law, so what law was this? It was a kind law, in that it gave a childless widow another chance to be a mom and to continue the line of her husband. Father, the customs are so foreign to me! And yet … in the line of Jesus is Perez. Child born to Tamar as her “right” as a widow – a right she very boldly went after. Thank You for strange stories, Lord. Thank You for a written record of Your people and lineage that tells the truth. Not “tidied up” … just as messy and crazy as our own generation’s stories are today. How desperate Tamar must have been to be a mama … to carry on her husband’s line … and how plucky to carry it out, knowing the consequence could have been a death by burning. And Judah – certainly not all that noble through most of the story – was humble enough to recognize his own sin, and accept what Tamar had done. Lots to think about. Thank You, Lord!
