Please turn now to Genesis chapter 38. We have been considering the life of Joseph, but you'll find that Joseph is not mentioned in chapter 38. So, you might wonder why in the world preach from this text of Scripture. Well, you will see there are several reasons. It was helpful to listen to a sermon by Pastor Ted Donley. He dealt with Genesis 38 as well, a couple of years ago at a conference in New Jersey, a pastor's conference, and I have profited from that sermon. I believe I borrowed one illustration from it, as though I give credit to whom credit is due. But I want to tie this passage into the life of Joseph. We read of Joseph in chapter 37, that's where he's first profiled, and you'll note at the very last verse of that chapter, we have these words, and remember there are no chapter headings in the original, so it's somewhat subjective as to when they begin and when they end, but verse 36 of Genesis 37, Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard. And in verse 1 of chapter 38, we won't read the whole chapter, but it came to pass at that time, so obviously there's a connection. between what we just read concerning Joseph and now what transpires here in chapter 38. It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers and visited a certain Adolamite whose name was Hira. And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her and went into her. So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Ur. 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 Shelah. He was at Shezeb when she bore him. Then Judah took a wife for her, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. Again, seek the face of God and ask him for his help as we open up a very dark, dark chapter in the history of the story of redemption. Let us pray. Father, again, we seek your face and ask you to be kind to our poor souls. We are always in desperate need of your grace. Forgive us for the folly when we depend upon the arm of flesh. And we pray, Lord, that you would minister to every person, every sinner. We are all sinners. But, Lord, there are some who are saved and some who are not. And so, we pray, God, that you would open eyes even today. That you would open ears even today. that you would do for some what you did for Lydia, you open up her heart, open up hearts, open up eyes and ears, so that sinners today would see Christ Jesus as the all-sufficient Savior. And we pray this in His name. Amen. The book of Genesis is a book about beginnings. That's what that name, Genesis, means. And it introduces us to the first great leaders that God chose for his people to lead his people, often called the patriarchs. You have Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, And Genesis tells us about these men and their life story, and how God used them in his great plan of redemption. And a key individual in this whole story is a man by the name of Joseph. We have read of him, we have looked at him rather closely in recent weeks. His life history is set before us in some detail, beginning at chapter 37, We have a zoom lens approach to the man Joseph. We saw, did we not, that he was given a favorite gift or gift by his father, a coat of many colors, because he was a favorite son. We saw that he was in trouble with his brothers. They hated him. They scorned him. They envied him. And Joseph ends up in a pit. And it very well looks like it's the end for Joseph, that he will die as a teenager at the age of 17. But through a series of strange twists of divine providence, Joseph's life is spared. He ends up being sold into slavery in Egypt, still very much alive. And that's where we left Joseph. sold into slavery. Genesis chapter 37. That's where it ends. It's a gripping story that has us, I trust, sitting on the edge of our seats. If it were the first time you'd heard it. And that's certainly where you would be sitting in light of what you heard last Lord's Day. But now when we turn to Genesis 38, Joseph is not found. Where did he go? He's disappeared. It's sort of like one of those Western movies where the hero, the county sheriff, is trapped in a canyon, and he's surrounded by rattlesnakes, and the Indians are coming, and you say, wow, this is exciting. You're on the edge of your seat, and all of a sudden, the camera switches, and you're back at the ranch, and there's Grandma flipping pancakes. He said, what happened? What does it do? Well, it makes you more excited to read. When you get over with it. I finished seeing grandma flipping her pancakes. I'll get back to the real story. What happened to the sheriff? What happens to Joseph? In the meantime, back at the ranch. And there's another story. And it's a story about Judah. And I said a couple of Lord's days. This was his second oldest. No, it wasn't. It was his fourth. This was the number fourth brother in terms of age. Judah is number four. He's one of Joseph's eleven brothers. And his life is now profiled here in Genesis chapter 38. And let me simply say, brethren, that this is not filler. This is key. key to understanding Joseph's life. But this story, we could say, is even darker than Joseph's story. It's the kind of story you would think you read from a Hollywood tabloid. It's an ugly story. It's a sordid story. Not many stories get as ugly as And it's very easy to come to this conclusion when you read the story of Judah, that he is a wicked, wicked man. His sinnerhood sticks out like a sore thumb. Yes, we are all sinners. But Judah, we could say, is a scandalous sinner. What he does here is shocking. And when we follow his life history through the dark windings of chapter 38, you will see a man who makes one bad choice after another. And each choice seems to take him further and further away from God, deeper and deeper in the sin and depravity. He's a fool. He's a fool. But it's a story of amazing grace. If all you see is Judah's sin, you haven't understood the story of Judah. It's a story of amazing grace. But I want to set forth the story of Judah in light of his five wretched choices. five wretched choices. Bad choice or wretched choice number one, Judah chooses to distance himself from his father and from those religious associations. Verse one, of chapter 38. It came to pass at that time that Judah departed. Even that word here, the Hebrew, depart, has a sinister aspect to it. It's often used to describe someone going wayward. So he has left his father's home, his close association with the rest of the family. So, right off the bat, we could say he's making a bad choice. J.C. Ryle makes the point when he says, make a wrong choice in life, an unscriptural choice, and settle yourself down unnecessarily in the midst of worldly people. And I know no sooner way to damage your own spirituality and to go backward about your eternal concern. It's often a sign that one is backsliding when one pulls back from family, his own natural family, or from the spiritual family of God. And that's what Judah does Now, it could have been that his conscience was feeling very guilty in light of what had transpired with his brother Joseph, and he didn't want to live out that lie in the front of his father's face, day after day, and week after week, and month after month. So, at some point, he packs his bags, almost like a prodigal, and leaves home. And this is where we now come to his second mistake. He chooses a friend from the Canaanites. His name is Hira. We read of that too in verse 1. The city here that's mentioned, Adullam, was the royal Canaanite city. And Hira is a local. He's a hometown boy. And again, the Bible warns us, does it not, about the friends, about the people we choose. as close companions. Remember reading something years ago when someone described friends as an elevator. They either take you up or take you down. And this friend Hira will take Judah down. He loses more ground He begins to sully his conscience even more. He pulls back, we could say, in terms of his own moral standing and his own upbringing by his father. Matthew Henry believes that Judah was around the age of 15 or 16 when he left home, which also puts him at a very vulnerable and critical age. when making those life decisions. And Judah makes another bad choice. Bad choice number three, with respect to whom he marries. Verse two, and Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shua, and he married her and went into her. The ESV translates it this way, he took her and went into her. Her name's not even mentioned. The language seems to indicate the man's unbridled passion. She's a thing. An object of desire. And Judah knew, in light of his great-grandfather Abraham, who had warned his servant with respect to Isaac, don't marry someone from the Canaanites. His own father Jacob had been warned by Isaac, don't marry someone from the Canaanites. And so Judah makes a wretched choice in terms of a life partner. And what a warning to young people. What a warning. Do not be unequally yielded with an unbeliever. Now, in a sense, Judah was an unbeliever. I realize that. But he's made a wretched choice. His emotions, his passions take over. It's like a tsunami that's coming upon his soul. And he makes a choice with respect to a marriage partner. And that would only pull him away more from God and His truth. He's on a slippery slope. He's on a downward spiral. And it does seem here, too, that the marriage was marked by shallowness. It's only described in terms of the physical acts and three conceptions. Notice verse 3. So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Ur. 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 Shelah. And it's not surprising, is it, that Judah's first two sons proved to be so wicked. They seemed to be sons who are rebellious from the word go. They seem even worse than that. But it's obvious that God's not going to allow these sons to bring shame to this degree, we could say, upon the family name or upon the covenant family, because verse 7 tells us that Er, Judas firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. First time that death is mentioned in terms of judgment of God in Scripture. In terms of an individual who dies because God raises his sword and kills him. But before that even happened, you should note this, that Judah, also got involved in his son's life, which was according to tradition and family custom, he did a little matchmaking, and his son marries a woman by the name of Tamar. Notice verse 6, then Judah took a wife for heir, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. So now Ur is dead, God's killed him, so Tamar is a young widow. And again, according to custom that prevailed in that day, family tradition, some even mention that the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 24, refers to a law that was existent among the Jews, that when a brother's wife died, that the brother who was alive was responsible to take care of that woman. He was to marry her. So, the second son, Onan, is responsible to marry Tamar and to have a family with her. But, we read here of that man, that second son, Onan, he comes into the picture, verse 6, or sorry, verse 8, And Judah said to Onan, go into your brother's wife and marry her and raise up an heir to your brother. Now Onan doesn't obey. He fails to follow through with his obligations. He pretends, he plays the hypocrite, we could say, with regard to this marriage or this union. He simply goes through the motions. He defrauds Tamar and refuses to give her children. And God judges him too. He also dies. As I said, brethren, this is a sordid story. Verse 10, and the thing which he did displeased the Lord, therefore he killed him also. So Judah has three sons, and two of them are dead. What about son number three? What's his responsibility to Tamar? Well, it's the same as it was for son number two. And Judah seems ready to follow that route. But all of a sudden, he seems to experience some misgiving. Initially, it looks like he's prepared. Then he backs off. He begins to fudge. Verse 11, then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, remain a widow in your father's house till my son Shelah is grown. So, that might have been his initial intention and purpose. But as time goes on, Judah seems to have had a change of thought or second thoughts and doubts about Tamar, perhaps thinking that she's a Roman. Anybody who marries her dies. And I don't want son number three to marry Tamar or have another dead son. It may be, as one commentator suggests, that Judah was buying into the superstition of the Canaanites And so Judah puts Tamar in seclusion out of sight, out of mind. He keeps the poor girl waiting and really has no intention of having his third son marry her. But Judah is still under obligation. He's still under law. He still is responsible. He still has a legal hold on Tamar, so she is, in essence, a widow in bondage. What Judah is doing here is cruel. Cruel. Another wretched choice. He's made three already. Choice number four, or wretched choice number four, could be described as a foolish delay, or compromise, or procrastination with respect to Tamar. Now we come to another sequence of events and circumstances, and Judah will make his biggest blunder of them all. Verse 12 tells us that Judah's wife She's a no-name wife. We don't know what her name was. So, Judah, like Tamar now, finds himself in a state of widowhood. And he obviously goes through a period of mourning that is recorded here. How long, we do not know. But in verse 12, we find that his old buddy, Hira, is back into the picture. And both men end up going to Timna for a festival or a party time associated with sheep shearing. It was a once-a-year kind of activity. And during this time, the Canaanites also had a prevalent practice or tradition. It was called cult prostitution. It was an association with the religions and this great festivity. And so it would be very easy to find a prostitute standing there, sitting there on a street corner, and Tamar gets wind becomes privy of the fact that Judah is coming to town to have a party that was a time of drinking, a time of feasting and other indulgences. And Tamar poses as a prostitute. Verse 14. And so here comes her father-in-law, Judah, And again, his wickedness comes through again. He goes for the bait, the hook, line, and sinker. Verse 15, when Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot because she had covered her face. Then he turned to her by the way and said, please let me come in to you. Now, someone might legitimately ask the question, why would Tamar do such a terrible thing? And while we can't excuse her, while we can't excuse her, we must say this much, Judah is most culpable. Tamar is persistent in her desire to have a child and carry on the family name. For that, she must be commended. But it doesn't appear here either that Tamar entices him. It wasn't the provocative dress of a harlot where she exposes herself. No, the harlot in those days covered herself up. As Kelvin says, he sees the woman at a distance and it is not possible that he should be captivated by her beauty. He can't see her. Bishop Hall, neither did he see the face of her whom he lusted. After all, it was motive enough that she was a woman. Crass, I know. Sordid story, I know. But it's here in the Bible. And, he makes a deal. Transaction. It's a business transaction. Right? For her services, he will give her a young goat. And she, no doubt, knowing his deceit, his trickery in terms of the past, she doesn't trust him. And she says, well, give me a deposit. Give me a guarantee. And in verse 18, we read of three items of personal identification that Judah gives to Tamar as a deposit. A signet, a cord, and a staff. Then again, brethren, it looks very much like a business transaction, doesn't it? When you take the gift of sex out of the context of marriage, it is dehumanized and depersonalized. And it seems that even the writer here, Moses, wants us to feel something of the clinical cold approach of Judah and Tamar. The rapid succession of verbs in verses 18 and 19. Notice, then he gave them to her, went into her, and she conceived by him. So she arose and went away and laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood. Bang, bang, bang! All were done with. No personal tenderness, cold, clinical, dehumanized, depersonalized. Click the mouse, see the screen, shut it off. Depersonalized. Dehumanized. When you take God's wonderful gift, out of this God-given content. She becomes a thing, an object. Judah does follow through with his side of the bargain in terms of the young goat. He plans to send that goat to her. Verse 20, and Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend—here's That friend again, helping him in his crime. But the harlot is nowhere to be found, as she's disappeared. Verses 21 and 22 tells us there was something of a search, but they can't find her. And Judah probably thought, well, no big deal. End of story. A one-night stand. Let's go on with life. But he's in for a rude awakening. and the shock of his life. And we come to the climax in verse 24. And it came to pass, after three months, it was reported to Judah saying, Tamar, your daughter-in-law has played the harlot. The ESV, again, has it translated this way, has been immoral. She has prostituted herself. And Judah reacts like David, doesn't he? When David was approached by Nathan and told that parable of that man who stole that little lamb, oh man, did David get hot! He went ballistic! This is terrible! Terrible! Off with his head! And Judah responds in kind. One might stand at a distance and say, What a righteous man! Righteous anger and indignation! No, not even close. He's gone up on his high horse of censorious judgment, and when men are hiding their sin, they become very censorious. And he wants her put to death! And it was according to the law. Leviticus 20, Deuteronomy chapter 22. And again, remember that Judah still is legally responsible to his first son's wife. And this is adultery. This is a terrible crime and it was to be punished by death. And Judah wants the law meted out with utmost severity. He wants justice. Quick, decisive justice. Look at verse 24. So Judah said, bring her out and let her be burned. The thought probably was in his mind that this will get me out of my fix. In terms of financial obligations and supports, and I don't have to worry now about my third son. Marry her. She's dead and she's gone. I got her out on the street. Now I want to get her out of my life. Completely. Totally. Absolutely. Kill her. Cruel. Wicked. Another wretched choice. Tragic. What a hypocrite. Judah has sunk low in sin and depravity. Again, it doesn't get much worse than this, does it? It doesn't get much darker than this. This is scandalous. This is tabloid stuff. But God will rip the mask off this hypocrite in dramatic style. And we come to really the climax now of the story. Talk about a switch in terms of the tables. And Judah doesn't even have a clue. He's been so blinded by his own self-interest and self-indulgence and self-righteousness. Verse 25, when she was brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law But the man to whom these belong I am with child. Good, we've got the goods on the guy. Please determine and identify whose they are. And here come those three items of personal identification. The signet, the cord, and the staff. And Judah is indicted. He's guilty. And maybe here we can even give him a little commendation. He doesn't try to blame shift. Maybe he couldn't. But he vindicates Tamar. Verse 26, So Judah acknowledged them and said, She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son. And God blesses Tamar. Double portion. Gives her two sons. He doesn't leave her with a handicapped son, or someone who's born to her and dies stillborn. Two healthy sons. And both of these sons will go to Egypt. Both of these sons will end up in Egypt. We'll hear about them again. And you'll even hear about them again in the New Testament. Wait, we'll come to that. But no question, when you hear the story, it's a sordid story. And you could sit here and say, why in the world would Pastor Kirk preach on Genesis 38? Well, I had to either jump over it or explain it, right? I wanted to jump over it, so at least give me credit for being a little bit brave. But why? Well, ask me the question. I asked the question. What purpose does it serve? Well, I know this much from my Bible that all Scripture is profitable. I know that much. And this is part of Scripture. So, I know that it is profitable. I look at it and say, well, how is it profitable? Well, it is! Big time! You say, how? Well, here are three great lessons. In terms of application, we saw his wretched choices, five of them at least. Now we come to our application and the three vital, crucial lessons that we can glean from this sordid, scandalous, tabloid story. Number one, it helps us worship our great God. I see the stunned look on some people's faces. I should just stop there. Remember, when you read your Bible, this question is always relevant. What do I learn about God? That's the first big question you should ask. Wherever you read your Bible, wherever, wherever, Genesis to Revelation, what does this teach me about God? Well, it does. Remember chapter 37? What did that teach us about God? Well, God's in control. You only have to read the back end of Joseph's life history and know that God was in control. We know it, even though it was painful for poor Joseph. He got his coat ripped off him, thrown and manhandled by his brothers, he was treated cruelly by his brothers, thrown into a pit, he was sold as a slave. No question, when you read Joseph's story from the back end, God was in control. Joseph himself said, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Joseph will serve a great purpose in Egypt. God will take Joseph from the pits and put him to a throne in Egypt. But why? To preserve the seed. The Messianic seed. to preserve the covenant family, to preserve Abraham's descendant. Joseph understood that. He said, how do you know? When he stands face to face with his brothers in Genesis chapter 45, look what he says to Genesis 45. Verse 5. But now do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here. For God sent me before you to preserve life. Whose life? Your life! Verse 7. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity. A posterity! That is the sons and the daughters of his brothers. And out of the line of Judah will come the seed of the woman. Out of the line of Judah will come King David. And even a greater King named Jesus Christ Read the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1. Judah, Kabar, and their two kids. You see, God's working. God's working. You say, well it's so ugly, eh? It's so terrible! The sin is so scandalous! Yes! But God is a God of sovereignty. And He can take the most sordid, most perverted of sins and crimes and bring out good. He is just that great. Just that great. He sits on a throne. And if there's any lesson you want to learn from the story of Joseph, it's that lesson. God is on a throne. And He never, never steps off that throne. Not once. No matter how bad things get. No matter how ugly. No matter how messed up lives become. God's still on the throne. So, it's a story about God. Genesis 48 says God is a great God. We need to worship Him in light of His sovereignty, but secondly, it teaches us about a great man who we need to imitate. You say, what? Judah? No, Joseph. Joseph's not here, but think about it. Joseph will be our next study, and Joseph will be tempted in a far more aggravated manner than Judah ever was. Joseph is a young duck with his hormones raging, and yet Joseph will stand and not compromise one iota. You see, Judah is wicked. He's a man you don't want in He's shameful. He's pathetically weak. But Joseph, by God's grace, is strong. Joseph is able to stand against the culture of his day. As it seeks to seduce him, he won't be seduced. When you see Joseph in action, after you've seen Judah in action, doesn't it make Joseph look all the better? What a God! What a hero! And young people, you want to be a Judah? Or a Joseph? Go with the flow. Be cool. In the crowd. Compromise. Go down the tubes morally and spiritually forsaken mother and father and everything identified with the true religion of God? Be Judah or be a Joseph. What do you want to be? What do you want to be? A great follower of men or a great follower of God? is a great example. Joseph lets us know that God's grace is a sufficient grace. He comes back to God again. But He can keep and preserve us in the most trying of circumstances and situations. And our light can shine in a dark world. You don't have to go with the flow. Or go with the stream like a dead fish. You can go up against the stream by the grace and power of God and His grace. We learn about a great God from this sordid story. We learn about a great man from this sordid story. But thirdly, And here's where I am indebted to Pastor Ted Donley. We learn about a great gospel. Judah gets saved. Tamar gets saved. Well, how do you know? Well, you look at the genealogy. There's no one in that genealogy who wasn't saved. I think you can make that argument. You seem to be speculating. I'm not totally convinced, but I am pretty convinced. Judah gets saved, and Tamar gets saved, because both are found in that genealogy, and everybody else in that genealogy is saved. Rahab is saved. Bathsheba is saved. Ruth is saved. Abraham is saved. Isaac is saved. Jacob is saved. And Judah even here appears to be a man who evidences a change. He vindicates Tamar. But notice in verse 26 of chapter 38, look what else he does. So, Judah acknowledged them and said, she has been more righteous than I because I did not give her to Shelah my son and he never knew her again. What does that tell us about the man? He practiced self-control. A man who was so out of control. now manifests a high, exemplary self-control. One of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. And then, when you go to the back end of Joseph's life, who's the brother who comes forward with the most clearest statement of humility and willingness to suffer? It's Judah. He's willing to put his life on the line. Yes, I'll go here instead of Benjamin. Let me be the substitute. He was prepared to deny himself, even unto death. And that's a mark of a true child of God. I believe, brethren, Judah and Tamar are manifestations of God's amazing grace. Tamar is called in Ruth 4, verse 11, a hero. That's right, a hero. In Israel, Tamar! Tamar! And again, it's Tamar and Judah who are put in Matthew 1's genealogy. Both of them are in that great line of which the Messiah comes. You see what God is teaching us? Gentile, satanite, yuck, sinner, scandal of sinners, yuck. But those are the ones I have mercy upon, and I love to save. Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more. You might even say this, I know you could take it the wrong way, but I'll say it anyways. The bigger the sinner, the better it is. From the standpoint of God getting glory, not in terms of that wretched life, but in terms of God getting glory, the more grace And brethren, we are losing, losing, I've said this a thousand times, I'm going to say it again, we are losing a sense of the amazing grace of God. Put amazing back into grace. Why has someone said that? Because we're losing sight of it. And we can't forget that in one sense we are all Judas. We're all Tamar. We're just a little bit better at hiding it. than everybody else. If I could just take your thought life of the last week and project that up on the screen, you'd have to say guilty a million times over. And you're a Christian. You've been saved. And when you were in your own far country, you were a sinner, just like Judah, just like Seymour. Some of us have to admit that it wasn't sort of light, but in very real sense, yeah, that's me. You don't know my past. Pastor, I have such a sordid past in terms of drugs and alcohol and sex. You can't understand it! I feel ashamed when I walk into church! Why am I around such good people? Well, it's because of grace. If you're Tamar, and if you're Judah, you can be encouraged. And if God will use a Judah and a Tamar to further his purposes and have them part of that wonderful genealogy that brings forth the Savior, boy, he can use me. When he saves you, he can use you. And so, let's even encourage the Tamars and the Rahabs and all of those other scandalous sinners by telling them the gospel. The gospel. found in Genesis 38 should encourage every sinner, no matter how bad, no matter how perverse, no matter how wicked, the gospel is for you. Believe on Jesus and you will be saved. Let us pray. Again, we thank you for your grace and your mercy. And thank you that you are a God of grace. Where would we be if you had not showered us with your grace? Grace found in Christ. Oh, help us to be amazed, oh Lord, even afresh, at the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.