INTRODUCTION: This is one of the strangest chapters in the Bible. To the careless reader it may seem out of place and without spiritual value. To those, however, who meditate upon God's word it contains much spiritual teaching. Like all Scripture it is profitable [II Timothy 3:16]. Note also that this chapter contains the only information we have on Jacob's family from the sale of Joseph until the famine that forced them into Egypt. Before we proceed with the chapter let us notice several matters worth consideration:

A. How shocking to us are the lives of Jacob's sons. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and now Judah are seen in the com- mission of disgraceful acts. All of the brothers except Reuben and Benjamin took part in the selling of Joseph. We would not insinuate that none of these men were saved, but one wonders about them. Let us never assume that because Israel was an elect nation that all the Jews were saved [Romans 2:28-29].

B. Had the Bible been written by uninspired men, it would not have honestly exposed the evil of human nature. Would the Jews have willingly exposed the disgrace of their ancestors. The complete honesty of Scripture is a testimony to its inspiration.

C. While the Bible is very blunt in the revelation of men's immoralities, it never fails to expose the complications and penalty of sin. Men in their depravity write books and make plays and movies about sin's pleasures, but they hide the dangers and sufferings sin produces. (Who after reading the Bible account of David and Bathsheba would not feel an adversion rather than an attraction to adultery. What a terrible price David paid. How quickly complications arose. Let Hollywood, however, make a movie about it and adultery is glorified).

I. JUDAH'S MOVE - verse 1. Judah left his family and moved in with a native of Canaan. Probably this was a result of the misery brought into the family as a result of the treachery with Joseph. Perhaps Judah could not bear to see his Father grieve. Surely his conscience goaded him.

While Hirah may have been a friend of Judah, he was not a godly man. Bad company will always get us into trouble as Judah's story reveals.

II. JUDAH MARRIES - verses 2-5.
Judah's companionship with the people of Canaan resulted in his marriage to a Canaanite woman. This was in direct opposition to God's revealed will and the examples of his father and grandfather. The matter to note here is that when we marry we are marrying the parent of our unborn children. Christians should seek a godly mate for the sake of their children's future [Malachi 2:15]. There is good reason to think that the problem with Judah's sons was the pagan influence of their mother.

III. SLAIN OF THE LORD - verses 6-10.
Judah took a wife for his firstborn son. God slew this young man for an unspecified wickedness. Judah then called on his second son to perform the duty of the Levirate (brother-in- law) marriage. In this institution the bother-in-law married the childless widow of the deceased brother. The first child of this union carried on the dead brother's name [Deuteronomy 25:5- 10].

Onan obeyed his father and married Tamar. He consumated the marriage, but willfully interrupted the act of intercourse before Tamar could conceive (From hence comes the term "Onanism"). This was done because he did not want to produce a child for his brother. God in his anger slew him for this act.

Why would such a sordid story be in the Bible? Can you believe that the birth of the Savior depended upon the outcome of this chapter? In God's sovereignty great matters sometimes hang upon small or strange events.

Consider the following:
A. Judah was to be the tribe that Christ would be born into [Matthew 1:2-3, Revelation 5:5]. This meant that one of Judah's sons would be in the Messianic line.

B. By interrupting conception, Onan was trying to prevent the line of the firstborn from being carried on. We wonder how much this young man knew. Was he simply a selfish person who wished to spite his brother's memory or was there more? Perhaps his mother taught him to love the Canaanite religion. Perhaps he knowingly wished to stop the Messianic line. Maybe his brother was slain for the same reason [verse 7]. Could these boys both have determined to have no children so that the lineage of Christ would be stopped?

However all this may have been, we do know that Satan was at work here. He wanted to make the birth of Christ impossible. Thus we have the battle of the ages [Genesis 3:15]. Satan tried to destroy Christ before He was ever born. Even after the Lord Jesus was born Satan tried to destroy Him before He could go to the cross [Matthew 2:16].

IV. TAMAR'S SCHEME - verses 11-23.
One must feel that Judah was not dealing honestly with Tamar. It seems that he never intended to give her his last son in marriage. At any rate, Tamar saw what was happening and devised a scheme of her own.

What a sad reflection this story is upon Judah. Would Tamar have thought her scheme could succeed had she not seen immoral tendencies in Judah? Had she heard of other escapades in Judah's life? What a sad contrast to the example of Joseph's purity in temptation [Genesis 39]. At least the words of verse 23 show us that Judah had enough shame to not want the affair known.

While we must not justify Tamar's behavior, it is possible that her motive was not pure selfishness. Perhaps she was attempting to be an ancestor of the Messiah. To do this she would have to bear a son by Judah or his son. Maybe she was an ignorant convert to the God of Israel. Again we must not justify her actions, yet we must not judge her on the basis of our level of knowledge. She was raised in a society where religious prostitution was respectable. Perhaps in her mind both faith and ignorance were mixed.

V. HYPOCRISY - verses 24-26.
In time Judah heard that Tamar was with child. Not knowing that he was the father of the child he was ready to have her burned for her sin. Perhaps he was glad to get her out of the way as he did not wish to give her to his youngest son.

How hypocritical human nature is. Let us think often of the words of Christ concerning the adulterous woman [John 8:1-11]. How easily we justify our sins while condemning others. The only thing we can say in Judah's defense is that when confronted with the evidence of his guilt he made a manful confession and did not repeat his sin. Let us hope that he truly repented.

VI. THE LINEAGE OF CHRIST - verses 27-30.
Here we have the birth of Judah and Tamar's twin sons. Through Phares, the genealogy of Christ was carried on [Matthew 1:3]. What a wonder of providence is manifested here. Man wallows in sin, disobeys God and concocts schemes based on worldly wisdom. Satan does everything he can do to destroy the Messianic line. Man sins, Satan rages, yet God's plan is never hindered [Isaiah 46:10]. God can bring good out of human evil and confusion. His purposes are sure.

In Genesis 38, we are also reminded of the wonder of Christ's lineage and incarnation. In Christ's genealogy we find Rahab the harlot, Ruth a woman of Moab, and here Tamar who conceived in incest. Christ truly humbled Himself to be made in the likeness of sinful flesh [Romans 8:3]. He truly came to where we were. Remember, however, that our Savior was virgin-born and personally sinless.

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