Advent season is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. It is a time to reflect on how much Jesus means to us. It starts four weeks before Christmas (on a Sunday) and concludes December 24th. I’m starting with the book of Matthew.
“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,”
Matthew 1:1-2 NIV
“Then Jacob called for his sons and said: ‘Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.’ ‘The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he whom it belongs shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.”
Genesis 49:1;10 NIV
It was customary for the father to bless his sons. These blessings were words of encouragement, a word about their inheritance, and also included a prophesy about the future. Jacob calls his twelve sons, and he blesses each of them. Nearly, two thousand years are between Jacob and Jesus. Yet, with the genealogy we see Judah led to Jesus and we see that Jacob prophesied that Jesus would come from the tribe of Judah.
“Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar.”
Matthew 1:3 NIV
Tamar is one of four women mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy.
“At that time, Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah. There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and made love to her; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.”
“Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death.
Then Judah said to Onan, ‘Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.’ But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death also.
Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, ‘Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.’ For he thought, ‘He may die too, just like his brothers.’ So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.”
Genesis 38:1-11 NIV
Widows in Biblical times were in a vulnerable position. The woman’s status and wealth came from the ability to marry well and produce offsprings. Tamar finds herself with two husbands that have died, and she has no children. So, she returns to live in her father’s house and even though Judah has promised her that she will marry Shelah, his third son, it doesn’t happen.
“When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, ‘Come now let me sleep with you.’ ”
Genesis 38:15-16 NIV
Tamar learns that Judah, her father-in-law, is coming to town. She covers her face with a veil and tricks him into sleeping with her. She gets pregnant.
“Judah recognized them and said, ‘She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son, Shelah.”
Genesis 38:26 NIV
At first, Judah was prepared to have her stoned for adultery, but he realizes that she is pregnant by him and he calls her righteous, because she is more faithful to his bloodline than he was. Sons were seen as a privilege in Biblical times, because they inherited the father’s wealth and carried on his bloodline. Tamar gives birth to twins. One of them is Perez, a direct descendant of Jesus.
Tamar is proof that God uses our messy lives to accomplish His will. She is proof that God can use anyone to accomplish His will, because she isn’t an Israelite woman. She is also proof that God holds a special tenderness for women and children.
