Dysfunction junction, what's your function

Janjuary 25, 2007


As I noted yesterday, Genesis is a book full of people who are dysfunctional at best. Today we look at one of the sons of Jacob, Judah. If you have been reading along in the daily plan, you know that Joseph has been sold into slavery. You would expect the story to continue and it does. Before it continues we take aside trip into Judah's family. Judah left his father to some degree and seems to go off on his own marrying a local woman. From her he had three children. Two of them were older and the third much younger. The oldest marries a woman named Tamar. God considers him to be evil so he dies before having any children. As tradition dictated, the next brother was to marry the widow to give her a child that would carry on the older brothers name. Judah gives his second son to her but he refuses to get her pregnant so he dies as well. Judah tells her to go home and stay in her father's house till his youngest gets old enough to marry. He really had no intention of doing so.

A few years later Judah's wife dies. After the time of mourning is over he goes with a friend to do some sheep shearing. On the way he sees a prostitute that he likes and propositions her. He has no money but he offers to give a lamb to her. She takes his walking stick and his ring, used to seal important documents as a security. They have sex and he tries to send the payment to her but she seems to disappear.

A few months later, Judah finds out Tamar is with child and calls for her to be stoned.

Genesis 38:24-26 GNB
(24) About three months later someone told Judah, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has been acting like a whore, and now she is pregnant." Judah ordered, "Take her out and burn her to death."
(25) As she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law: "I am pregnant by the man who owns these things. Look at them and see whose they are---this seal with its cord and this walking stick."
(26) Judah recognized them and said, "She is in the right. I have failed in my obligation to her---I should have given her to my son Shelah in marriage." And Judah never had intercourse with her again.

Judah had gotten his own daughter in law pregnant. Talk about your dysfunctional families!

So what can we learn from all this? Do you know that God has a plan for your life? And no matter what, God will get it taken care of. God's plan was for Tamar to have a child. How do I know?

Matthew 1:2-3 GW
(2) Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
(3) Judah and Tamar were the father and mother of Perez and Zerah. Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram,

From Matthew chapter 1 we get the family tree of Jesus. Did you notice who is in that family tree in verse three? Judah and Tamar. I am not convinced it was Judah's job to get her pregnant. I think it may have been the job of his sons. But Tamar took it into her own hands when Judah would not do the honorable thing. Was she right? I do not know. I do know from my own life that if you do not do what God tells you to do, it will be done by someone else. God always has a plan B in mind.

I do not want my life to be me passing plan A on to other people to do Plan B. I want my life to be a Plan A. How about you?

Read through the Bible in historical order in one year:
Today
Genesis 38:1-40:23
Tomorrow
Genesis 41:1-42:38