A Woman, The Truth, Our King

By Terance Clark     December 21, 2024      8 Minute Read

Week 9

This Weeks Passage: Genesis 37:1 – 40:23

Parasha Name: Vayeshev (Definition – And He Dwelt)

This weeks passage covers one of the most known and beloved stories in the Bible when Joseph is sold by his brothers into slavery.  There is another story in the midst of the story in chapter 38 that I want to cover this week because there is a message that we all need to hear with a most unlikely hero.  Unfortunately, because of its location in scripture it’s one of the most overlooked stories, yet the message is one of the most important.  This week we will learn that there is always a godly way to solve a problem.

Judah Chooses to Leave

Judah decides to move away from his brothers and marries a Canaanite women and they have three sons.  The oldest marries a woman named Tamar, but the Bible says the firstborn is an evil man so God killed him.  For those who teach that only the devil kills they are mistaken.  Scripture declares numerous times that God has had to step in to eliminate evil.  The difference is the devil does it to harm and destroy, but God does it for righteousness.  Moving on in the story, as part of the culture of the day the second son was to marry the widow and raise up a son on behalf of his brother.  He doesn’t want to do it so he devises a plan to not impregnate his wife.  This too is evil and so God kills him as well.  That leaves the last son, but Judah is afraid that this son will die as well, so postpones the wedding which in essence enslaves the woman.  He puts her in a no win situation.  He promises her he will give his son in marriage to her when he has grown old enough, but then he never does it.

“A woman needed the protection of a husband or a son

or else she could starve.”

It’s a story that could easily be misunderstood in our culture today, but at that time a woman needed the protection of a husband or a son or else she would starve.  She recognized that she was considered aguna which means a chained woman.  Legally she was considered engaged so no other man could marry her.  On the other hand, clearly Judah was not going to give his last son to her so that she could never have a family in which to be protected.  This meant once her father died she would be on her own.  She was stuck with no recourse and doomed to suffer for the rest of her life.  She is in every way like Ruth, but overcomes it in miraculous fashion because she has to work completely alone.

The Woman Devises A Plan that Becomes Jewish Law

The plan that she devices is not only brilliant, but it became part of Jewish law and more importantly is considered to be the very heart of God and how we are to treat one another.  After years of waiting Tamar hears that her father-in-law is going to pass by on his way to shear sheep.  She quickly dresses up like a prostitute and stands along the road that he would pass on his way.  He takes the bait, since his own wife had recently died as well and he sleeps with her.  She asks for his personal seal, cord and staff as a pledge until he can pay her and then she goes back home.  When Judah sends someone to pay her they can’t find her and so he gives up.  Several months later she is found to be pregnant.

What we often miss in the story is that she is a forgotten woman, She has no rights, so it’s her pregnancy that forced Judah to once again have to visit this situation.  He thinks that he has found a solution to his problem.  He can now have her executed for breaking the marriage covenant and then find a new wife for his son.  It’s a win win for him and all he had to do was wait it out.  He doesn’t realize how God has set him up to deal with his heart.

“Do you consider your enemies or

just jump at the chance to get your story heard.“

The Truth Comes Out

We all know how this plays out, she sends him the seal, cord and staff and tells him these belong to the father of my child and he immediately recognizes them and realizes what has happened.  He then proclaims she is more righteous than I am.  So, let me explain what is often missed in the story.  Tamar not only devised a plan to honor the dead and protect herself, she also did it in a way to honor and protect Judah her father-in-law.  She could have gone public throughout this situation, but she never did.  She completely worked within the system to get justice and then even though she knew Judah was the father, she waited for him to come after her and then she privately sent him the items so that it would never go public.  She didn’t just think about herself she considered the one who held her captive as well.  How about you?  Do you consider your enemies or just jump at the first chance to get your story heard.

When You Honor the King, The King Will Honor You

In Jewish law they have a saying “It is better that a person throw himself into a fiery furnace rather than shame his neighbor in public.” Also, “whoever shames his neighbor in public, is as if he shed his blood.”  Hidden within this often missed story is one of Gods greatest treasures about how we are expected to treat other people, even our enemies.  God teaches us through Tamar that we should not shame others even when it benefits or saves us.  He can always be trusted to come to our aid and provide a way out even when we’ve been wronged.  Tamar had twin boys and one becomes the line to David the king and also the line to Jesus the Messiah.  Tamar was an honorable woman who trusted God to solve her problem and had the truth of her story revealed, and was ultimately linked to the King of Kings.  In the end, God cares how we treat others and He is faithful to repay all of our deeds.