WOMEN OF CHRISTMAS - TAMAR - JUDGMENT PRONOUNCED DUE TO UNWED PREGNANCY UNTIL PATERNITY PROVEN

TAMAR – JUDGMENT PRONOUNCED DUE TO UNWED PREGNANCY UNTIL PATERNITY PROVEN

Genesis 38:24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

In three months, Tamar began to show – it was obvious she was pregnant. People assumed she had been unfaithful to her promise to wait for Shelah and reported the pregnancy to Judah. The people in the village were happy to be gossips and had no regard for Tamar’s reputation. Judah was extremely rigid (since he had no idea it had been Tamar posing as the prostitute he used) and acted as judge and jury telling the men to bring her out to be burned to death. Mosaic law would later proscribe this form of execution in specific cases:

John MacArthur Study Bible:

38:24 let her be burned! Double standards prevailed in that Judah, no less guilty than Tamar, commanded her execution for immorality. Later Mosaic legislation would prescribe this form of the death penalty for a priest’s daughter who prostituted herself or for those guilty of certain forms of incest (Lev. 20:14; 21:9).

Genesis 38:25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.

Tamar then played her trump card. She sure did need one! Even though she acted sinfully, God provided her this “get out of jail free card” by giving her the wisdom to ask for these items that would serve as ID cards of Judah. She sent the signet, bracelet, and staff that belonged to Judah back to him, saying that she was pregnant by the owner of these things!

Genesis 38:26 And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.

Judah recognized the proof that he was the father and acknowledged the fact. He finally realized he had been wrong to go back on his word about giving Shelah to Tamar as a husband. He took Tamar under his protection but never had sexual relations with her again.

We see the grace of God toward Tamar that she was spared from being executed as an adulteress. Judah may not have realized it, but God was gracious to him in allowing the lineage of Jesus to continue through him. Unequivocally, without question, God showed grace to Tamar and Judah because He could have slain them as He did Er and Onan.

Genesis 38:27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb. 28 And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.

Birth order was extremely important since a greater share of property passed to the firstborn son. So the midwife put a scarlet thread on the hand that pushed out of the womb first. But that baby withdrew his arm.

Genesis 38:29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.

Pharez (Perez) means “breach, breaking forth,” so the baby that traded places with the one with scarlet thread and broke out of the womb first was thus named. Tamar preserved the line of Judah by bearing Perez, and ultimately he would be in the lineage of the Messiah, Jesus.

Genesis 38:30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

The second baby to be born, the one with the scarlet thread around his wrist, was named Zarah, meaning “a rising of light.”

Much later, in the book of Ruth, when the people find out that Boaz is serving as kinsman-redeemer to marry Ruth and produce offspring for her late husband (another levirate marriage), they bless him in the following way:

Ruth 4:12 (KJV) And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman.

And HIS story continued: Boaz and Ruth had Obed who fathered Jesse, the father of David. The promised Messiah would be a descendant of David. Thus, by the grace of God, Tamar played an important role as a Woman of Christmas! It is only by the grace of God that any of us mere mortals are included in His plan!

Ponder this: Do you ever feel you are too bad, or not smart enough, too “rough around the edges,” to be used by God? Think again! Adam and Eve brought sin into the world. Sarah and Abraham were as old as dirt. Judah lacked integrity and Tamar slept with her father-in-law. But God graciously used each of these couples, each of these women, to tell His story and to continue the lineage that would produce the Savior, Jesus Christ, GOD’S ONLY BEGOTTEN SON! God can and wants to use you when you surrender all you are to His control. God’s glory can be revealed to others even through YOU!