Judah's Promise Part II

Most of us know the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors. When he was thrown into the pit, Judah came up with the idea of selling him into slavery. Afterwards Judah left home and lived among the Canaanites.

At this time Judah married a Canaanite woman and had three sons, who were named Er, Onan, and Shelah. When Er reached manhood, his father arranged for him to marry a Canaanite girl by the name of Tamar. Since Er was a wicked man, God took his life, and he died childless. It was Onan’s responsibility to marry Tamar, and have children in his brother’s name. Onan slept with Tamar but he refused to get her pregnant. For this God killed him. Shelah was not an adult, and his marriage to Tamar was put on hold.

After the death of his two oldest sons, Judah’s wife also died. It appears that Judah became very depressed. Genesis 38:12 states that once Judah overcame his grief, he and his friend Hirah went to Timnah to visit the men who was watching over his flocks. At the gate of the city, Tamar took off her widow’s garment, and had her face covered. Thinking she was a prostitute, Judah asked her to sleep with him She asked what he was willing to pay. He promised to give her a young goat from his livestock. As a pledge, Judah gave her his seal, bracelets, and staff.

Days later, Judah had a young goat sent to the masked prostitute, but she could not be found. Then Judah went himself to locate her. He was told that there were no prostitutes in the area. To avoid embarrassment, Judah decided to call of his search.

Three months later, Tamar was pregnant. She came to Judah with his seal, bracelets, and staff. Since she was pledged to his son, Judah admitted he had sinned. Genesis 38:26 states that he never slept with her again.

When it came time for her child to be born, the nursemaid tied a scarlet thread around the infant’s wrist to mark him as a bastard. Then something miraculous happen, the child went back into his mother’s womb, and his brother was born first. The child with the scarlet thread came out second.

You may wonder why the birth of the marked son was held back. God had already planned that Jesus would come form the tribe of Judah, and that Tamar’s first son would be the one who would carry on the family name. The oldest twin was named Perez and King David was his descendent. And we all know that Jesus came from the house of David. Zerah was the name of the son who was marked with the scarlet thread.

After the birth of the twins, Judah returned home, and won his father’s confidence