Joseph: Meanwhile…Back at the Ranch

In our last episode, taken from Genesis 37, we began Biopic #4—Dreams, Dungeons, and Destinies—our study of the life on the Patriarch Joseph.  In that first installment, we learned that the major events in Joseph’s life revolved around three sets of Dreams…

• • Joseph’s two dreams that led to betrayal by his brothers and their selling of him into slavery and later imprisonment in Egypt;
  • The two dreams of Pharaoh’s Baker and Butler that led to his eventual release from prison; and,
  • Pharaoh’s two dreams that led to his elevation to the position of Prime Minister of Egypt—and ultimately to the reconciliation with his brothers.

In our summary of that episode and in the episodes to come, we can see how Joseph’s earthly level story has been used to prefigure the life of Christ’s, with…

• • Jacob as a type of God the Father who sends out His Beloved Son into the world, seeking the welfare of his wayward brothers;
  • Joseph as a type of Christ who willingly goes on that mission in order to fulfill His Father’s will;
  • Joseph’s Brothers as a type of Israel who, for envy, betray their brother and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles;
  • The Unnamed Man as a type of the Holy Spirit—who leads the Son into the wilderness to be tested;
  • Egypt as a type of the World, from which Christ will one day obtain His Gentile Bride; and,
  • The Pit/his lifting up from it as a type of the Death and Resurrection of Christ.

In this episode, found in Genesis 38, while Joseph is on his way to Egypt, we will be taking a look at a series of events in the life of Joseph’s brother, Judah—events which on the surface seem to be totally out of place within the overall context of the story.  Because they have no apparent bearing on the life of this Biopic’s hero, we will be treating them as an aside or interlude to the bigger story—a “Meanwhile…back at the ranch” sort of episode, revealing how God’s chosen line to the Messiah through Judah was being generated.  This interlude…

…is sandwiched between the record of Joseph’s position at home and his piety abroad.  The bright light of Joseph’s high morals brings into even sharper relief the sordid nature of Judah’s unprincipled behavior.  Indeed, that God should pick a man like Judah and make him a prince in Israel, and then send His own Son into the world, not merely from Judah’s line, but from the outworking of the very events recorded in that chapter, is nothing less than a miracle of grace.[1]

 

Episode #2 of Biopic #4– 

Cast:     Narrator    Judah     Tamar     Men     Hirah     Midwife

Narrator:  It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah.  And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her and went in to her.  So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.  She conceived again and, bore a son and she called his name Onan.  And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.  Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.  But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD killed him.  And Judah said to Onan…

Judah:  Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.

Narrator:  But Onan knew that the heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother.  And the thing which he did displeased the LORD; therefore He killed him also.  Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law…

Judah:  Remain a widow in your father’s house till my son Shelah is grown. For he said, Lest he also die like his brothers.

Narrator:  And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.  And it was told Tamar, saying, ‘Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.’  So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.  When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face.  Then he turned to her by the way, and said…

Judah:  Please let me come in to you…

Narrator:  …for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.

Tamar:  What will you give me, that you may come in to me?

Judah:  I will send a young goat from the flock.

Tamar:  Will you give me a pledge till you send it?

Judah:  What pledge shall I give you?

Tamar:  Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.

Narrator:  Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.  So she arose and went away, and laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.  And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.  Then he asked the men of that place, saying…

Hirah:  Where is the harlot who was openly by the roadside?

Men:  There was no harlot in this place.

Narrator:  So he returned to Judah and said…

Hirah:  I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no harlot in this place.

Judah:  Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.

Narrator:  And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, ‘Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; furthermore she is with child by harlotry.

Judah:  Bring her out and let her be burned!

Narrator:  When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying…

Tamar:  By the man to whom these belong, I am with child.  Please determine whose these are—the signet and cord, and staff.

Narrator:  So Judah acknowledged them and said…

Judah:  She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son.

Narrator:  And he never knew her again.  Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins were in her womb.  And so it was, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying…

Midwife:  This one came out first.

Narrator:  Then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly; and she said…

Midwife:  How did you break through? This breach be upon you!

Narrator:  Therefore his name was called Perez.  Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. And his name was called Zerah.

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Our Review

 

To help us facilitate our review, let’s now go over…

The Most Important Points in this Story—

— At that time/Judah departed from his brothers—this places these events just after Joseph has been sold.  Possibly feeling guilty for his part in that, or not wanting to witness his father’s continued mourning—he moves away from his brothers.

— An Adullamite/Hirah—Adullam was a small Canaanite settlement about 8 miles northwest of Jacob’s home base.  There, Judah becomes friends with Hirah, a Canaanite man.

— Judah saw there a certain daughter of a Canaanite—Judah sees and marries a woman from a pagan background.

— She bore/Er/Onan/Shelah—Er means watcher, Onan means strength or strong, and Shelah means he that breaks.  Judah names the firstborn but his wife names the other two, possibly indicating a lack of involvement in the parenting on Judah’s part.

— Judah took a wife for Er/Tamar—in keeping with the prevailing marriage customs, Judah negotiates a marriage contract with Tamar’s father—which Er may not have approved of.

— Er was wicked/the Lord killed him—this is not surprising, given that he came from and was living in a pagan culture.  Since Judah’s line was destined to produce the Messiah, Er would not have been a suitable candidate for this role.

— Go into your brother’s wife/raise up an heir—this speaks of the practice that later became known as Levirate Marriage—one incorporated into the Mosaic Law in Deuteronomy 25:5-10,* and coming from the Latin word, levir, meaning “brother-in-law.”  When Israel entered and took possession of the land, each tribe (and each family within that tribe) was allotted a portion of land as an inheritance that was to remain in their possession forever.  If a man died without a son, an heir needed to be provided for him, so that when the final resurrection from the dead took place, his family would have an inheritance from which to be raised.

— The thing he did displeased the Lord—the thing that displeased the Lord was Onan’s refusal to provide his brother with an heir.

— Remain a widow—although Judah still had a contractual agreement with Tamar, he side-stepped the issue by sending her back to her father’s house.  Seeming to blame her for his two sons’ deaths, he apparently did not having any intention of giving his remaining son to her in marriage.

— Judah’s wife died/he went up to his sheepshearers (with Hirah)—the time of sheepshearing was a big, festive event, so it is likely that Judah went there (possibly at the encouragement of his pagan friend) in the hopes of cheering himself up after the death of his wife.

— Tamar took off her widow’s garments/covered herself with a veil—when Tamar heard about Judah, she…

Removed her widow’s garments—specific articles of clothing designating her as a widow which entitled her to protection from assault and permission to glean in the fields.

Covered herself with a veil—married women were not veiled, so she wrapped herself up as a temple prostitute and positioned herself along the road that Judah would use to get to and from the sheepshearing event.  In pagan cultures, temple prostitution was considered respectable—in fact, most women were expected to serve in that capacity at some point in their lives as an act of devotion to their gods/goddesses.

— Let me come into you/what will you give me—Judah had probably been drinking and after all the revelry at the sheepshearing was primed for a little action.  Before Tamar agrees, though, she negotiates a price for her services.

— Will you give me a pledge/your signet, cord, and staff—since Judah didn’t have a goat in his possession, he agrees to leave his signet (his ID cylinder or ring), his cord (the bracelet or strings that attached the signet to his wrist), and his staff (usually carved and decorated in a unique way).  These three things represented his person, his possessions, and his profession (as a shepherd).

— Let her take them for herself, lest we be ashamed—when Hirah could not find the harlot to give her the goat, Judah tells him not to search for her any further, lest his actions be exposed and his reputation suffer as a result.

— After three months/Judah was told/bring her out and let her be burned—an example of a double standard, much like the woman taken in adultery in Jesus’ day.  Acting pious, Judah calls for the woman to be burned.  Typically, a woman convicted of adultery was stoned to death—the only ones who were sentenced to be burned were the daughters of priests.

— By the man to whom these belong—Judah’s sin is finally exposed…

…be sure your sin will find you out.  (Numbers 32:23)

…for there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. (Mark 4:22)

— She has been more righteous than I—because Judah did not keep his word and honor his contract.

— He never knew her again—from this point on, Judah had no further sexual involvement with Tamar.  It is not known if he was involved in the lives of his two new sons—who seemed to have been given as replacements for the ones God had killed.

— Twins were in her womb—this harkens back to the births of Esau and Jacob.

— One put out his hand/a scarlet thread—the thread marking the one thought to be the firstborn.

— His brother came out unexpectedly—in a surprising turn, the second brother was born first and given preference—a theme that we have seen before.

— Perez (Pharez)/Zerah—Perez means breaking through, while Zerah means rising.  It is through Perez’s line that the Savior will come.

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In Summary

As for what we can take away from this episode, probably one of its important life lessons for us is to not become emotionally or sexually involved with those who do not share our faith and our value systems—or, as the Apostle Paul put it…

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14)

In this instance, because Judah’s line was the one through whom the Promised Redeemer was to come, his marriage to Shua and the children that it produced represented a corruption of that genealogical line.

This, then, raises the question of Tamar—wasn’t she also an unbeliever? Yes, but it should be noted that nowhere in scripture is Tamar condemned.  In fact, she is one of only four women—all Gentiles—who are listed in the genealogy of Christ in Matthew 1:5, 6…

• • Tamar—a Canaanite;
  • Rahab—a Canaanite and a prostitute included in the catalog of faith in Hebrews 11:31;
  • Ruth—a Moabitess; and,
  • Bathsheba—a Hittite…

…all of whom came into the family of Judah and Israel through rather dubious circumstances.  Yet, in spite of those initial circumstances, each one of them at some point in their lives came to believe in the God of Israel and became members of His covenant community. And, as Gentile women who were “grafted in” to the family of God through faith, they have become a picture to us of God’s plan to one day “graft” Gentile believers into His spiritual family through their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

With this insightful interlude now over, it’s time for us to get back to Joshua in the land of Egypt–where there is a dangerous Game of Cat and Mouse being played out in Potiphar’s house!

 

 

[1] John Phillips, Exploring Genesis (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1980), 303.
Original image of Judah and Tamar by James Tissot courtesy of Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judah_and_Tamar_by_J.Tissot.jpg.
Original images used in Featured Image courtesy of FreeBibleimages :: Home.

 

*The Levirate Marriage: “If two brothers are living together on the same property and one of them dies without a son, his widow may not be married to anyone from outside the family. Instead, her husband’s brother should marry her and have intercourse with her to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law. The first son she bears to him will be considered the son of the dead brother, so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel.

“But if the man refuses to marry his brother’s widow, she must go to the town gate and say to the elders assembled there, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel—he refuses to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law by marrying me.’ The elders of the town will then summon him and talk with him. If he still refuses and says, ‘I don’t want to marry her,’ the widow must walk over to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. Then she must declare, ‘This is what happens to a man who refuses to provide his brother with children.’ Ever afterward in Israel his family will be referred to as ‘the family of the man whose sandal was pulled off’!” Deuteronomy 25:5-10 (NLT)