This is part of a video series covering the entire Bible in 4 years, one chapter at a time. Start at the beginning with Genesis 1 (Youtube link: https://youtu.be/wC2qD4RGOdo) and work through the playlist. Or go to https://www.peace.org.au/bible.html for more information.
In this video listen to Genesis 38 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.
In Genesis 38 there seems to be an interruption to the Joseph story, but it is placed here for a reason. It is going to starkly compare Joseph’s righteous behaviour to follow, with the unrighteous things going on by his family left behind. Joseph still had much to learn, but he had the grace of God, and was righteous in his heart.
It's hard enough to be righteous when you know you should and you have good examples around you, but try to be righteous where there is nothing to demonstrate it, and the ten commandments don’t yet exist. This is the difference between Judah and Joseph.
The chapter then outlines the sin of Onan, who is supposed to produce a family line for his brother as a moral obligation, but deliberately doesn't’. When having intimate moments, he deliberately spills his semen on the ground. This is because he doesn’t want any children to be his responsibility when the honor of the children is his dead brother’s and not his own. This isn't a passage about birth control as many assume, but about his immoral motivations.
Finally Judah does the wrong thing by not giving his third son to Tamar to fulfil legal and moral obligations in the culture of the time. Tamar takes matters into her own hands and tricks Judah into sleeping with her and it becomes a great fiasco resulting in twins. The twins are part of the ancestry of Christ. This demonstrates how such crazy and outlandish behaviour is accounted for by Christ in his sovereignty. God is able to still be sovereign while handling the wild human choices that occur.
One lasting thought seems clear. Judah and his sons were selecting wives from among the Canaanites. This was something Abraham and Isaac didn’t want, but Jacob seems to have had little power over. The problem was the corrrupting influence of the other cultures. But by eventually settling in Egypt this would stop… because the egyptians detested shepherds and would not mix with them. So the time that was about to follow would prove crucial for the settling of the national identity of Israel.
Feb 8, 2021 | Message by David Alley