Admonition Podcast

Aaron Cozort examines Genesis 38 as a warning about how choices, relationships, and character shape a family, contrasting Judah’s failures with Joseph’s moral courage. The sermon also emphasizes that grievous sin does not make repentance and restoration impossible.

Chapters

00:00 Genesis 38 pauses Joseph’s story to focus on Judah
02:10 Judah leaves his family and marries a Canaanite
05:35 Er and Onan: family duty and rebellion
11:10 The levirate responsibility in Deuteronomy 25
15:20 Jesus, the Sadducees, and the resurrection
18:23 Judah withholds Shelah and abandons Tamar
23:00 Judah’s encounter with Tamar and his hidden sin
27:10 Judah condemns Tamar, then admits his wrongdoing
31:00 Perez and Zerah, and the contrast with Joseph
33:29 Temptation, influence, and the character we choose
35:08 Repentance and the possibility of restoration

Creators and Guests

Host
Aaron Cozort

What is Admonition Podcast?

The Admonition podcast brings you Bible lessons and sermons from the Collierville Church of Christ with host Aaron Cozort. Each episode focuses on interpreting Scripture in its original context, exploring the background of key passages, events, and teachings. Gain deeper insight into God’s Word as we study together, applying timeless truths to everyday life.

Aaron Cozort (00:01)
Good afternoon.

Got a number that are traveling this weekend and appreciate Ben stepping in and taking the role of leading singing both this morning and this afternoon. He always does an excellent job. Take your Bibles, if you will, and turn to Genesis chapter thirty-eight.

We consider lessons from an unfortunate series of decisions. Genesis 38, we are in a section of scripture dedicated to the lives of the children of Israel, specifically Israel the man, not Israel the nation. And

In chapter 37, we're introduced to Joseph and the events that will transpire there, and Joseph being sold into slavery and some of the events that that will go on with that. But in chapter 38, we have kind of a brief pause from the saga of Joseph to discuss Judah. And Judah is the central focus of this chapter.

As matter of fact, when you go down through the chapter, you can pretty well see how it centralizes around everything that Judah chooses to do and chooses not to do. But you also have in this chapter a comparison between Joseph and Judah. Now it's not spelled out. It's not a a comparison that is done by the scriptures actually saying.

Here's Joseph, here's Judah, here's where this one did better. It is rather there in the text by their lives. And so we're going to spend some time with chapter 38 and go through it in our lesson this evening and notice a number of things from the chapter as we break up the events that are transpiring within the text and some lessons from them. In chapter 38, verse 1, we read, and it came to pass at that time.

That Judah departed from his brothers and visited a certain Adulamite whose name was Hira. Now, Joseph and his brother, sorry, Judah and his brothers had sold Joseph into slavery down into Egypt. And the Midianites and the ⁓ Ishmaelites had taken Joseph down into Egypt and sold him as a slave.

Judah is now going to depart. And notice it doesn't say from his father, but from his brothers. Judah is going to separate himself. One of the things that you're going to see when this passage fills out in its context is the danger that comes when an individual who knows how to be obedient to God.

Surrounds himself with people who are not obedient to God. Judah is going to depart from his brothers, and he is going to go to an Adulamite whose name was Hira. And verse two says, And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shua, and he married her and went into her.

The first poor decision that Judah makes is departing from his family. The second bad decision that Judah makes is marrying from the families that were in the land, and specifically from a Canaanite woman. Judah is going to make a decision in who he marries, and the decision of who he marries is going to bring.

A significant level of difficulty on Judah and his family. Judah is not going to make a decision that was in accordance with what God had done, with what Abraham had done, with what those who were from Abraham's lineage had done. Every single time you see someone from Abraham's lineage marry someone from the Canaanites, there's going to be trouble.

And there certainly will be in Judah's house. So Judah marries this Canaanite woman whose name is Shua. So she conceived, verse 3, and bore a son. In verses 3 through 6, we find Judah's sons named and given. ⁓ He's going to have three. The first one is Heir, the second one is Onan, the second or the third one is ⁓ Sheila.

And so we read in verse three, so she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. And she conceived again and bore a son and she called his name Onan. And she conceived yet again and bore a son and called his name Sheila. He was at Shizib when she bore him. Then Judah took a wife for heir, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. As Judah is still separated from his family.

As Judah is bearing children and his children are beginning to grow into adulthood, we find now that Judah has his oldest son who is of marrying age, and so he gains for him a woman to marry.

But does Judah go back to his father's house? Does he go back to Ur the Chaldees? Does he go back to the family of people who know the Lord in order to find a wife for his son? No, he does not. So now Judah is married to a Canaanite, and likely his son is now married to a Canaanite. Her name was Tamar. And then we read: but heir.

Verse seven Judah's firstborn was wicked in the sight of the Lord and the Lord killed him.

Judah has departed from his family. He has intermarried with the Canaanites, a group of people that he knows God has said they are going to be judged and that their land is going to be given over to the descendants of Abraham.

And surprise, surprise when he marries someone who is not a follower of the Lord, and they raise children in a family where the wife is not a follower of the Lord, the oldest son is raised and co grows up with such a disposition that the Lord strikes him dead.

We look into the Old Testament. ⁓ how important it is who a person marries.

⁓ the long standing destruction and difficulty that arises when we marry someone who does not serve the Lord.

Heir is going to die. But in accordance with the way that things had been done, and the way that God was going to command for them to be done in the nation of Israel, if you reference Deuteronomy 25, verses 5 through 10, and even Matthew chapter 22, verses 23 through following, God is going to set a premise.

That if the oldest son, through whom the name, the lineage, and the inheritance were to go, if the oldest son lived and married but bore no children by that wife, it was the responsibility of the next son to raise up children to the oldest son's name, to receive the oldest son's inheritance. We find this

Law being put into place in the days of Moses, but it seems as though it was already clear that that was the way that God had instructed it to be done by Abraham, through Abraham, to his children, even at this point. For notice what we read in verse 8. And Judah said to Onan, Go into your brother's wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother. Onan's responsibility.

To the family was to raise up an heir to Er, his brother, and that through that lineage, that would not be Onan's, it would be his oldest brother's lineage, the descendants and the inheritance and the things that involved the family and the firstborn would continue through that air.

But Onan will refuse. Notice verse nine, but Onan knew that the heir would not be his. Don't miss the context of this discussion in verse nine is not about as much what Onan did as about what Onan did and why he did it. So Onan will go in to Tamar, and we read: Onan knew that the heir would not be his. It came to pass that he went into his brother's wife.

That he omitted on the ground that lest he should give an heir to his brother. So he's willing to take the wife, but he's not willing to take the responsibility. He shows dishonor to both the instructions of his father and to the inheritance of his family and his role in raising up an heir to his brother.

And notice the thing which he did displeased the Lord verse ten, therefore the Lord killed him also.

Judah made a decision to depart from his family. Judah made a decision to marry a Canaanite. Judah's decision has now resulted in the death of the first two sons that he had. Not just because of what Judah decided, but because of what they grew up to be growing up under the influence of Judah.

of the Canaanites.

Part of the action here on Onan's part is a rebellion against the Lord, not just a rebellion against Judah. This is a decision that was made to defy the responsibility that God placed on the oldest and on the next oldest. If you turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 25, you'll notice.

Something about the law that God is going to give. So bear in mind, while this law is not going to come about and not going to be written down as a national law until the days of Moses, that didn't mean that God hadn't already given it as a law going back to Abraham just because we don't read about it. It's the fact that they weren't a nation yet. So that wasn't a law in that sense. But notice in chapter 25 of Deuteronomy, we read, if brothers dwell together,

And one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside of the family. Her husband's brother shall go into her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed it to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out.

Of Israel. God set forth a standard and an action involved within their marriages, within their homes, within their families, to keep the lineages alive. When you step back and consider, from whose lineage is David going to come? The answer is through Judah's. Through whose lineage is Jesus going to come?

The answers through Judah.

God is going to make a law, and God is going to set a standard, and Onan refuses to live up to it. But notice what else the law says. Verse 7 But if the man does not want to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate to the elders and say, My husband's brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel. He will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.

Then the elders of the city shall call him and speak to him, but if he stands firm and says, I do not want to take her, then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, So shall it be done to the man who will not build up his brother's house. And his name shall be called in Israel the house of him who had his sandal removed.

The motivation whereby someone would do this is they did not desire to take on that responsibility while at the same time granting the inheritance and those things to their brother.

You're going to see this happen again in the book of Ruth, where there is the opportunity to marry Ruth, but there is the realization that with Ruth comes Naomi, and with Naomi comes the redeeming of that which is Naomi's, but ultimately it would mean that you're raising up a son whose inheritance won't be yours, and the nearest kinsman refuses.

And Boaz is going to do exactly what he should have done in taking that role and raising up a descendant that wasn't going to be the descendant of Boaz. It's going to be the descendant of the oldest son of Naomi. And yet that descendant is as well going to be in the lineage of Jesus Christ.

Over in the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 22, the Sadducees are going to seek to use this very law ⁓ to argue for their position that there is no resurrection. Matthew chapter 22, we find the same day, verse 23, the Sadducees who say there is no resurrection came to him and asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.

Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all, the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her. Jesus answered and said to them, You are mistaken, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Jesus, as he answers this quandary, which I'm quite certain they had.

Perplexed many a Pharisee with, many a Jewish teacher with, Jesus said, You don't know your scriptures, that's why you're ignorant.

And you don't know the power of God. You also don't understand the resurrection and what comes in the future life that we all have awaiting us. He says there is no marriage. I know many times we think about individuals who have loved their spouse into the very dying day that they have and have been with their spouse and look forward to a reunion in eternity, but that reunion is going to be different than this life.

For God says in eternity we're not given in marriage. For some spouses they may say finally out.

And for others they may say, But I really wanted to be married to her forever. We said forever. No, you said till death do you part and you are now parted.

But you see, what Onan did is Onan said, I'll take the wife, but I won't raise up the child.

I'll take what I want, but I won't give back to my brother. And God is going to strike him dead. So now Judah's departed from his family. Judah's departed from his home. Judah has married a Canaanite. Judah has raised children that are raised by a Canaanite woman. And now Judah has lost two of the three to wickedness and rebellion against the Lord.

But the story's not over. Then verse 11 says, Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in your father's house till my son Sheila is grown. For he said, Lest he also die like his brothers. Judah betrays Tamar. Judah tells Tamar, Go back to your father's house. When Sheila the third is old enough, I'll give him to you as a husband.

To raise up a child to err.

But that's not what Judah said inside his head. Inside his head, Judah said, I'm not letting this woman anywhere near my third child. I don't want him dead too.

But step back and ask yourself, was it Tamar's fault that the first two brothers were dead? Or was it Judah's?

Judah was the head of the household. Judah was the one who should have raised his children to be obedient to the Lord. And instead, they both died in rebellion to God. Don't think that was Tamar's fault. But then consider as well, in the process of time, verse 12, the daughters of or the daughter of Shua, Judah's wife, died, and Judah was comforted. Now Judah is

A widower. Judah's wife dies, and time passes after her death. And he went up to his sheep shearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hira, the Edulamite. The next thing that we see about Judah is that Judah has become friends with those who do not follow the Lord. Judah now has a friend. He is an Edulamite, he is one.

Who is going to be described using that term friend every time his name shows up? You think God's making a point? Judah's associations are those which he should not have. Judah's wife is someone he should not have. Judah is making all the wrong decisions.

And just like in the life of Lot and others, you're going to see the impact on Judah's character, Judah's morals, and Judah's family. Judah is going to go up to Timnah with his friend Hira the Adulamite, and it was told Tamar, saying, Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep. So she took off her widow's garments, covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself and sat in an open place.

As Tamar goes, you'll notice that she has been doing in the intervening years that have transpired, she's been doing exactly what Judah told her to do. She's been waiting in the house of her father. She's been adorned as a widow. She's been bearing the shame of a widow who is childless.

Waiting waiting waiting and all the while

Here's the third child. Grown to adulthood. No word from Judah. You see, it was Judah's decision whether or not to give Tamar to the third son. It wasn't Tamar's choice. You go back to the Old Testament periods and you read about ⁓ Abraham sending his servant out to get ⁓ a wife for Isaac. It wasn't Isaac's choice.

It wasn't the girl's choice, it was the father's choice.

And the father is quite concerned about his sheep, and not at all concerned about his son and his daughter in law. So Tamar is going to take actions. She's going to cover herself with a veil, and wrapped herself and sat in an open place, which was on the way to Timnah, for she saw that Sheila was grown and she was not given to him as a wife.

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot because she had covered her face. And notice there's a lesson here, and one of the lessons we learn in Scripture is not all indecency is immodesty.

In order for her to convince Judah that she was a harlot, she actually puts more clothing on, not less.

But you might also recognize that our clothing says something about us.

Judah didn't have to guess what type of woman he thought was sitting there. He could tell by looking at her what type of woman she was claiming to be. Too many times we have even those within the body of Christ today who adorn themselves like harlots and try and claim they're not one.

Tamar is going to deceive Judah. But notice Judah, the widower, sees the harlot, and he turned, verse 16, to her by the way, and said, Please let me come in to you. For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. So she said, What will you give me that you may come into me? And he said, I will send a young goat from the flock.

So she said, Will you give me a pledge till you send it? Then he said, What pledge will I give you? So she said, Your signet and cord and your staff that is in your hand. Then he gave them to her and went into her and she conceived by him.

Judah commits adultery. Judah commits sin. It's not excused because Judah is now a widower. It's not excused because Judah didn't know any better. Judah knew better. Judah even left the evidence to prove he knew better.

So she arose and went away, and laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her womanhood. And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend, the Adulamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand, but he did not find her. Then he asked the men of the place, saying, Where is the harlot who was openly by the roadside? And they said there was no harlot in this place.

Now, here is a family that is supposed to be the descendants of Abraham, the descendants of Isaac, the descendants of Jacob, the people of God, the promised of God, the nation through which the Messiah will come. And here we have them going to a city.

Participating in harlotry and expecting the city knew full well about it. And the city turns around and says, No, there's no harlots that operate here.

So the Adulamite comes back to Judah. Verse twenty two, he returned to Judah and said, I cannot find her. Also the men of the place said there is no harlot in this place. Then Judah said, Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed. Judah says, You know, this could ruin our reputation.

You know, people could find out what happened here, just let it die.

You see, Judah knew what he did was wrong. Judah knew what he did was sinful. Judah even knew that the reputation he would have gained by doing what he did was something that would bring shame upon his family and himself. And now that the situation is what it is, Judah just wants to cover it up.

Verse twenty four it came to pass about three months after, that Judah was told, saying Tamar, your daughter in law has played the harlot. Furthermore she is with child by harlotry, so Judah said, Bring her out and let her be burned.

When word comes that Tamar has been guilty of the same thing Judah was guilty of, Judah didn't hesitate to bring judgment on her. Judah didn't hesitate to condemn the woman that he told to remain in her father's house until he took the action that was his responsibility to take. No, he didn't take just even a moment to hesitate.

To condemn her when he had caused her situation. But then notice.

As Judah will say that when she was brought out verse twenty five, she sent to her father in law saying, By the man to whom these belong I am with child. And she said, Please determine whose these are, the signet, and cord and staff.

There's an event that occurs over in John chapter eight. In John Chapter eight, Jesus is teaching, and as he is teaching, the Pharisees come with a woman. And they tell Jesus, This woman has been taken in the very act of adultery.

Moses said that we were to stone her. What do you say?

And there in the text we're told that Jesus stoops to the ground and writes in the ground, in the dirt, in the dust, as if he didn't hear them.

And as they persist.

Jesus will say

You who are without sin, cast the first.

See, Jesus knew Genesis thirty eight.

Judah's response in verse twenty six, so Judah acknowledged them and said, She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her Sheila, my son, and he never knew her again.

Jesus will say to that woman, when finally all of her accusers are gone, go and sin no more.

You see, the men who brought her before Jesus had committed a sin against her in the very act of bringing her because they didn't bring the person she was committing adultery with. They were more than willing to sacrifice the woman who was guilty, but the man who was guilty was not present nor condemned.

And Jesus wasn't going to let that go. For the punishment described by the law, the punishment that they quoted was on both parties, not one.

Judah is going to bring such destruction upon his house now his grandson is his son.

Came to pass, verse 27, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins were in her womb. And so it was when she was giving birth that one put out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, This one came out first. Then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly, and she said, How did you break through this breach be upon you? Therefore his name was called.

Perez or breach. Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.

As we consider the lessons from Judah, as we consider what Judah did, his betrayal of Tamar, his departure from his family, his marrying of a Canaanite, of which they were told not to marry, his sons that departed from the Lord and rebelled against God and were killed by the Lord for it, all of these things we consider as Judah continues to cause problems and create sin in his life and in his family.

And now the contrast.

In chapter thirty nine, Joseph is a slave in Egypt, sold into bondage, put into a position of authority as everything that he does gets blessed by the Lord, and before long when Joseph is now supervisor over everything in Potiphar's house, here comes a woman.

And if Joseph had been of the character of Judah?

Joseph would not have refused. But Joseph knew the same thing that Judah did. Joseph's response is, How can I commit this great sin against my God?

It's not incidental that Judah's life and family description is right in the middle between the time that the brothers sell Joseph into slavery and the time that Joseph is not only going to be put in slavery, but is going to be imprisoned for over two years just for having moral courage and an upright character.

Judah is going to surround himself with the wicked. Joseph is going to stand fast with the righteous. And as we consider the Old Testament text, we need to examine what kind of person we're going to be. As the difficulties of life arise, as the situations that we find ourselves continue, as the decisions have to be made, the temptations come, what type of person will we be?

James tells us that every sin that a man commits begins first when he is tempted by his own lust and enticed. And lust when it is conceived brings forth sin, and sin when it is finished brings forth death.

But don't you ever say, When you're tempted, I'm tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with sin, neither tempteth he any man.

Peter will write, Be holy, for I am holy. As we look at our lives, as we teach our children, as we raise the next generation, as we seek to give insight in decision making, may we always remember it to encourage people to understand it matters who you marry. It matters who you surround yourself with and who is going to influence your children.

And it matters what your character is, and whether or not you will be righteous before God. But let's note one last lesson.

Did Judah sin? Yes. Did Tamar sin? Yes. Did Judah's sons sin? Yes.

But when it came to Judah and Tamar, were Judah and Tamar forever flushed from Old Testament history and castigated out and sent out from all future involvement in the nation of Israel and the family of God? No.

One last lesson we need to remember from the life of Judah is it is possible for a person to commit great sin and repent and hold faithful to the Lord in the future.

Interestingly, when the famine comes, when Joseph is now sitting in the position of second in the kingdom of Egypt, Judah is back with his family. And when it comes time for the family to move to Egypt, Judah and his descendants go with them.

We should never have a mentality that says once a person who's a Christian sins, they can never come back. And even if they did, we'll never forgive them. No, that's not what Scripture teaches. It is possible to commit grievous sin, and it is possible to repent and be restored to faithful, righteous service with God. So we should never fear.

If we are caught up in sin, that we too can repent. We too can be restored to righteous service with the Lord, and we too can be right with God and resume our labors in the Lord. If there is any who has need of the invitation for this reason or for any other reason, the invitation is open. Why not come forward now as we stand and as we sing?