GENESIS 38
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.
– Genesis 38:12-19
GENESIS 38 TAMAR’S PLOT TO DECEIVE JUDAH
A poem inspired by these verses by ILMA
After losing her first husband without an offspring, she waited
Tamar’s patience ended for Judah breached his promise to marry her to Shelah
She plotted to deceive Judah and posed as a prostitute so she can have a child
Without Judah’s knowledge, he slept with Tamar and her plan worked for her.
It is unthinkable how our Messiah’s ancestors could have come from these deceivers. Even though Tamar wasn’t part of God’s people, she had that desire to let God’s plan come into fruition in Abraham’s clan. She married Er, the son of Judah but didn’t have a son, yet she continued to hope that she would have one with the next son, Onan. They were both taken by the Lord for their evil ways. Now, Shelah, the youngest, was promised by Judah to give her an offspring when he grows up, yet, Judah has not kept his promise. It was time for Tamar to take matters into her hands and get pregnant with Judah. She posed as a prostitute in order to do so.
REFLECTION
- Why do you think God allowed Tamar to deceive Judah?
