Genesis Chapter 38
| In chapter 37, we read the account of Joseph being sold to Ishmaelites by his brothers who hated him and were jealous of him for being the favorite of his father, and also for telling his dreams he had of how they would bow down to him. Joseph was sold in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the body guard. |
| Joseph's story will continue in Chapter 39, but Chapter 38 has been inserted to show what is going on with the family back home.... |
1. What reason did Judah have to depart from his brothers?
Who did he go to visit and where was he from? vs. 1 -
2. Judah's friend, Hirah, was from Adullam, a Canaanite city southwest of Jerusalem.
While Judah was there, he had relations with the daughter of Shua, a certain Canaanite. She conceived and bore a son.
What did she name him? vs. 3 -
3. This must have been more than a visit and Judah must have taken her for a wife since we see that she conceived again and gave birth to another son.
What did she name him? vs. 4 -
4. Yes, she conceived yet again. She was in the land of Chezib when she gave birth to him.
What did she name him? vs. 5 -
5. Judah took a wife for his firstborn son, Er. Her name was Tamar.
What was Er like in the eyes of the Lord and what happened to him? vs. 7 -
6. Judah told the next oldest brother, Onan, to have relations with Tamar to raise up offspring for his brother's name.
Onan was with her, but did not want to get her pregnant because the baby would be considered his brother's and not his own. Therefore, he wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother. This means of birth control is called "onanism" and it is named after this brother Onan.
The details of the law of the brother-in-law is given for us in Deuteronomy. Read it and comment about what God said concerning it:
- Deuteronomy 25:5-10 -
7. How did the Lord feel about what Onan refused to do and what happened to Onan as a result of his disobedience? vs. 10 -
8. Judah told Tamar to remain a widow in her father's house until his son Shelah grew up.
What was Judah's fear of what might happen to him as well? vs. 11 -
9. After a considerable time Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died. When the time for mourning ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
Tamar was told that her father-in-law, Judah, was going up to Timnah to shear sheep.
What did she do and why did she do it? vs. 14 -
10. When Judah saw her on the road, her face was covered. He assumed she was a harlot (prostitute) and so he offered her a goat from his flock for her services (not knowing this was his daughter-in-law Tamar)....she knew it was him though...and she got him to give her something until he made good on the pledge of the goat for payment.
What did she ask him to give her for a pledge of payment? vs. 18 -
1) 2) 3)
11. Tamar, his daughter-in-law, conceived a child. She went back home and put on her widow's garments. When Judah sent the goat by his friend, Hirah the Adullamite, to get the pledged articles back from her, he could not find her. He asked the men of her place saying, "Where is the temple prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?"...
What did they answer him? vs. 21 -
12. Hirah returned to Judah to tell him that the men said there was not a temple prostitute that had been there.
To keep from being a laughingstock among them, Judah said he would just let her keep the things she had gotten from him since she could not be found and he still had the goat.
- What was Judah told about 3 months later concerning his daughter-in-law, Tamar? - vs. 24 -
- How did he respond to this act of unfaithfulness she had done? vs. 24 -
13. As she was brought out for her punishment of death, she sent word to her father-in-law, Judah, that she was pregnant by a man whom these things belonged to. She sent the things he had left with her - the signet ring, cords, and staff.
- What was Judah's response now? vs. 26 -
| Judah was not with Tamar again after knowing who she was, but she did conceive twin boys and gave birth to Perez and to Zerah. The first one came out and the midwife tied a scarlet thread on his wrist to know which was the firstborn....(Zerah)....but he drew back his hand and behold the brother came out first instead....(Perez)...and she said "What a breach you have made for yourself.".... |
| Note: Perez, born of this seemingly tragic circumstance, became the head of the leading clan of the tribe of Judah and the ancestor of King David. |
- 1 Chronicles 27:1-3-
- Ruth 4:18-22 -
15. Follow this generation from David and who do we have in the lineage from Perez?
- Matthew 1:1-17 (find Perez in vs. 3) ...
Application:
| God knows our human frailties and still uses us to fulfill His purposes, even with our mistakes and failures. If Perez had learned that he was born out of lies and deception from his grandfather and a mother who played a prostitute, he might have felt he was a 'mistake'...yet he became a captain over a leading clan of his father's household and in the lineage of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ! |
| Maybe you were a product of an unfortunate rape or other circumstance, maybe given up for adoption, or other things that make you feel a little less significant. The Lord sure doesn't feel that way. |
| Maybe your personal failures of the past make you feel unfit to serve and be used of God. The Lord doesn't judge you by your past either. Psalm 139 says that He knows every day of your life before there is one of them lived out. He has a plan and a purpose for your life regardless of the circumstances that brought your conception or the mistakes and failures of your past. |
16. Read what the apostle Paul says about this in regard to his own life and calling:
- Galatians 1:13-16 -
- What did Paul do to the church of Jesus Christ as a zealous Jew? vs. 13-14 -
- When did God set Paul apart for Himself and His purposes? vs. 15 -
- What means did God to call Paul to be His? - vs. 15 -
- When did God choose to reveal Jesus to Paul? vs. 16 -
- What was Paul's calling from God? vs. 16 -
17. Does the testimonies of Perez and Paul encourage you today?
Share your reasons with us.
Your summary and prayer today:
Written for RTB websites by B LeMoine, use by email permission only.
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