QT 12/5/2025 Gen 38:12-19, God's will cannot be thwarted

Genesis 38:12–19 (ESV) —

12 In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died. When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14 she took off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” 17 He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” 18 He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. 19 Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

 

NOTE: Apparently Judah is not good at recognizing those he should know. He will also not recognize Joseph, but none of the brothers did. Also, giving his seal and staff appears to be a particularly naïve action. Under the culture of the time, if the sons could not fulfill the levirate responsibility, then it fell to the father. It was clear that Judah was not going to give his third son, so in some ways, Tamar was only trying to acquire what was her legal (according to the laws of that day) right. Ultimately, Tamar is an important part of the line of the Messiah. Judah is at fault here, twice over. One, he would not give his son in marriage to Tamar, and two, he seeks a prostitute. Even though prostitution may have been accepted by the culture in Canaan, it was not accepted in Israel because of the instructions by God going back to Adam and Even. We will see later that Judah will be very discreet when he tries to pay back the prostitute to get his things back, because he knows it is wrong.

 

What do we learn? God is at work. Tamar after only one contact with Judah is pregnant, and yet that did not happen with the first son. The events seem too miraculous to throw it off as chance. God was planning to use Tamar in the line of the Messiah, which would come through Judah. He did not use the two sons because of their (apparently extreme) wickedness. He used Judah's sin and was not thwarted by the two son's wickedness, to complete his work. His will is not circumvented by our actions. His wisdom oversees and brings about his will.

 

PONDER:

1. Do I truly seek God's will in my life?
2. Or in my sinful flesh, am I actively trying to thwart God's will for my life?

 

PRAYER: Father, I am not always seek your will as I should. I too often seek the comfortable life, rather than the life of obedience.