Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 04 October 2020 by Captain Michael Ramsay. (Similar to talk presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 13 Oct. 2013 and 614 & Warehouse in Toronto, 16 Oct. 2016)
Last Sunday in the Army world we highlighted
human trafficking and modern day slavery. Last Wednesday Canadians wore orange
shirts to remember the predominately First Nations victims of abuse in
residential schools and remind ourselves that every child matters. And today is
a day to remember the MMIW which is why I am wearing a red shirt with my
uniform.
Tamar, in our text today, isn’t an
Israelite. Tamar is an indigenous person to the land later occupied by Israel. Tamar
is a Canaanite.[1] We remember from the story of Noah that the Canaanites were
cursed for generations for the sins of their father, Ham (Gen 9:25-29). Judah,
Israel’s chosen son, marries his son to Tamar - this Canaanite woman – which is
later prohibited and then his son dies before he has any children.[2]
Do we understand what is going on in
this story with Judah’s sons, the brothers? In Israel in those days,
territorial inheritance was very important and so was having a son to inherit
that property. Because of this they had a rule that if a son died without an
heir then his younger brother was supposed to have relations with his widow and
the child that results from that would be the heir for his brother. That way
the older brother would have an heir and his descendants would not lose their
claim to a part of Israel.
Judah cooperates with this rule and Judah
gives his second son to Tamar, the widow of his first son. Judah’s second son
however stands to inherit all of his brother’s inheritance if he doesn’t
produce an heir; so instead of impregnating his brother’s widow Tamar, he uses
‘protection’ of sorts. He doesn’t complete the job. This makes God mad because Judah’s
son Onan was not only hurting Er, his deceased brother, but he was also hurting
Tamar, his brother’s indigenous widow, and he was hurting Judah, his father,
and he was hurting his whole family’s inheritance.[3] God takes Onan’s life. So
now Judah has lost his two oldest sons and his eldest son’s widow Tamar is
still without an heir for the eldest son and now the second son is also without
an heir.
In that place and at that time there was
probably not a more vulnerable person in society than a childless widow –
especially since she was an indigenous Canaanite rather than an Israelite. A
widow without a child has no one to care for her and Judah, while Tamar is in
this state, Judah sends his daughter-in-law away. He says that his youngest son
is far too young for her and he sends Tamar away without providing the heir
that he must provide. Judah puts himself before the command to provide an heir
for his son and Judah puts himself before the command to look after the widow
in his own household.
Judah sends her away. He doesn’t seem to
concern himself with her again. His youngest child grows up and Judah never
fulfils the obligation to give him to Tamar or to invite Tamar back into his
clan where she belongs.
Tamar is being the good widow at this
point, even though she has been sent away; she has been faithfully living in
seclusion while wearing her widow’s clothing for all these years. She then
hears that her father-in-law is coming to town so she puts on some nice clothes
and goes to meet him. Judah sees her and he mistakes her for a prostitute. Here
is an opportunity that appears. Judah owes her a son and Judah thinks she’s a
prostitute. Judah decides that he wants to use her services but he doesn’t have
any money; so Tamar – thinking on her feet - asks for his signet and cord. A
signet is like a signature - it is unique to the individual - so one can see
how Tamar is taking advantage of this God-given opportunity.[4] Tamar does
become pregnant. Some people find out about this and tell Judah that his
daughter-in-law (who is supposed to be celibate) is pregnant. The law says that
she should be put to death, especially as this happened, so rumour has it, as a
result of prostitution. It is at this point that she lets Judah know that he is
the father. Judah then admits his sin, what he has done to her and to his
family. She gives birth to twins. Judah takes responsibility for his children,
one of whom is the direct ancestor of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Judah
even admits that Tamar is more righteous than is he. Tamar is not a prostitute;
she merely conceives the children who were promised to her.[5]
So why is this story in the Bible? It is
important. The fact that a child of this encounter is an ancestor of both King
David and Jesus Christ is mentioned more than once, by more than one author,
writing at more than one distinct era in history (cf. Ruth 4:18-23, Mt 1:3).
Matthew in the New Testament makes a point of mentioning that it is Judah’s son
by Tamar who is in Jesus’ line and Matthew and Ruth even tell us which one of
the twins he is: Perez. This story is very important in the history of Israel.
This story is very important in the ancestry of King David and this story is
very important in the ancestry Christ Jesus, so why is it important to us? And
what does it mean to us today?
I think the key point here lies in who
is Tamar: Tamar is an indigenous Canaanite woman. The Canaanites were the
cursed descendants of Ham. Tamar was cursed; she is a woman; she is a widow;
she is an abused indigenous widow who has been even further marginalized and
further taken advantage of by privileged Israelites and she, Tamar, is an
ancestor of Christ. You couldn’t be much more on the margins of society than is
Tamar and God chose Tamar to be the ancestor of Jesus.[6] God chose Tamar to be
in the family line of His only begotten Son. Tamar is loved and she is chosen
of God.
Jesus in his ministry is always helping
the poor, the widow, and the immigrant. Tamar is just that and Tamar is Jesus’
ancestor. God used Tamar – and Judah - to save the whole world - her life and actions
led to Christ.[7]
Last week we remembered the victims of
human trafficking, many of whom in the Canadian context are indigenous, in
church. This past Wednesday many of us wore orange to remember the victims of
abuse in the residential school system. Today is red dress day where we are
encouraged to remember the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women of Canada.
God has always had a heart for those who
are marginalized. God has always lifted up those who have been kept down. And
as God could and did use Tamar, who was abused and marginalized to extremes
that some of us can only imagine - so too can God use us. No matter who we are
in this life, if we are marginalized and sometimes think that others think of us as
nothing or maybe we even at times have thought ourselves to be nothing. Let us remember that
like Tamar, God loves us. He can save us and God can use even us to point
others to His Salvation both now and forever.
Maybe we identify more with Judah. Maybe we have been also like the abusers
of Tamar. Maybe we have made serious mistakes and/or committed abusive
egregious sins, even as horrendous as Judah; no matter what we have done, God
loves us. He can change us. He can save us and God can use even you and even me to
point others to His Salvation both now and forever.
Let us pray.
https://www.facebook.com/Salvogesis/
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To view the Saskatchewan 2013 presentation click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2013/10/thanksgiving-at-judahs-house.htmlTo view the Toronto 2016 presentation click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2016/10/genesis-38-judahs-family.html
[1] But cf. John H. Sailhamer, The
Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Genesis/Exposition of Genesis/VI.
The Account of Jacob (37:1-49:33)/D. Judah and Tamar (38:1-30), Book Version:
4.0.2
[2] Cf. Thomas W, Mann, The Book of the
Torah: The Narrative Integrity of the Pentateuch, (Louisville, Kentucky: John
Knox Press, 1988), 66-68.
[3] Derek Kidner, Genesis: An
Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1967
(Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 1), S. 199: The fact that a single Hebrew
word suffices for the phrase perform the duty of a brother-in-law (rsv) would
confirm that this was a standard practice, even if there were no record of the
law in Deuteronomy 25:5ff. Each of the three Old Testament references to this
regulation (cf. Ruth 4:5f.) shows that it could be most unwelcome, chiefly
through the very fact that the donor himself set great store on family
inheritance—but his own. The enormity of Onan’s sin is in its studied outrage
against the family, against his brother’s widow and against his own body. The
standard English versions fail to make clear that this was his persistent
practice. When (9) should be translated ‘whenever’
[4] Cf. Terence E. Fretheim, The Book of
Genesis, (NIB I: Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1994), 606.
[5] Cf. Walter Brueggemann,
Interpretation: Genesis, (John Knox Press: Atlanta, Georgia, 1982), 311.
[6] Cf. Dorothy Jean Weaver, “‘Wherever
This Good News Is Proclaimed”: Women and God in the Gospel of Matthew’, in
Interpretation 64, no. 4, (October, 2010) 394-395
[7] cC. Walter Brueggemann,
Interpretation: Genesis, (John Knox Press: Atlanta, Georgia, 1982), 311.
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