Bible Reading Blog
“This is the Lineage of Christ”
Categories: Congregational Bible ReadingBIBLE READING: Genesis 38
Joseph dominates the end of Genesis. His rise from slavery to become a powerful ruler in Egypt preserves the life of God’s chosen people and sets us up for the critical story of the Egyptian Exodus. But just after Joseph is sold, Genesis interrupts the story to tell us about his brother Judah’s personal life. It started innocently enough. He took a wife and had some kids (Genesis 38.2). He found a wife for his oldest (Genesis 38.6). But then the worldly influence kicked in. His son Er was wicked, and the Lord put him to death (Genesis 38.7). Judah did the honorable thing by giving Tamar to his next son Onan, but he was wicked and the Lord put him to death (Genesis 38.10). In his carnal frame of mind, Judah doesn’t understand what is going on, and treats Tamar as though she’s the problem. He refuses to do what the law said and give his youngest son to her, forcing Tamar into life as a widow (Genesis 38.11; Deuteronomy 25.5-11).
After a while, Judah goes “sheep shearing”, and makes a proposition to a prostitute (Genesis 38.12-19). However, unbeknownst to him, the prostitute is Tamar in disguise. Following their time together, she conceives, and we see Judah once again act based on ‘honor’. He calls for Tamar’s death, until he is confronted with the brutal reality: the child was his (Genesis 38.24-26).
This story is ugly… and yet this is the lineage of Christ, which Matthew specifically cites in his genealogy (Matthew 1.3). This interruption is instructive. It reminds us that God’s people aren’t immune to wicked behavior. Genesis 8.21 is still a present reality; and yet it doesn’t stop God from being faithful. In fact, this ugliness profoundly shows God’s redemptive ability. There is no circumstance too messy for God to work with. However, God’s grace and mercy expose those who are willing to accept it.
Judah made a lot of foolish choices. But in this moment, we see a contrast from his brothers. He doesn’t justify bad behavior. He doesn’t place the blame on somebody else. Instead, we see honesty about his sins. “she is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son…” (Genesis 38.26). I believe this was a turning point in his life. When we first met Judah, he was selling his brother into slavery (Genesis 37.26-27). At the end of Judah’s story, he was offering to sell himself into slavery to save the life of one of his brothers (Genesis 44.33-34). God sovereignly turned Judah’s sinful decisions into steps that would lead to the salvation of many people through Jesus Christ.
For Christians, we are promised a place in God’s plan of salvation—to shine the light of Christ out of our own imperfect, weak lives, just like Judah and Tamar. But we must be changed by the grace of his exposure and truth. We must not hide what God reveals to us and the world about our hearts. Instead we must remain humble, deal with reality, and give thanks for God’s mercy and grace to let us be vessels of his wonderful salvation.
