Genesis 38:1-11 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 38:1-11. Let’s go!
Genesis 38:1-11 (NIV)
1 At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah.
2 There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and lay with her;
3 she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er.
4 She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan.
5 She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.
6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.
7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death.
8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Lie with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother.”
9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother.
10 What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so he put him to death also.
11 Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
On verses 1-11: According to the customs of the time, if a man and woman were married and the husband passed away without leaving any children, the deceased man’s closest brother would marry the deceased man’s widow and procreate children with her. Those children would take on the name of the deceased man. That way the deceased man’s line could continue and the widow could be provided for financially. This custom was known as the levirate law of marriage (“levir” in Latin means “husband’s brother”).
In this case Judah’s firstborn Er was married to Tamar, but Er is struck down because he “was wicked in the Lord’s sight” (v7). Thus it was incumbent upon Er’s brother Onan to marry Tamar and procreate children with her so that Er’s line could continue. However, Onan refuses to fulfill his duty. Onan instead uses Tamar just for sex. The fact that he would keep spilling his semen on the ground suggests that he would repeatedly trick Tamar into having sex with him, making her think it was for the purpose of procreating children, only to remove each time the possibility of her getting pregnant. This was wicked in the Lord’s sight and thus Onan is struck down and killed. Scared that he might lose his last remaining son Shelah if Shelah married Tamar, Judah refuses to let Shelah marry Tamar and instead sends her away back to her own family.
Onan and his father Judah were irresponsible when it came to taking care of Tamar. They put their own selfish desires ahead of the need to protect Tamar and provide for her future.
What can we learn from this?
1. The fact that Judah’s sons Er and Onan both died because they acted wickedly in God’s sight is a reminder that the wages of our sin is death (Romans 6:23). Because of our sin, we all deserve to die and be separated from God. But many generations later, another descendant of Judah would be born. Instead of acting wickedly, this descendant would do what is pleasing in God’s sight and make salvation possible for all of us. His name is Jesus. Because of Jesus we can say that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
2. As we see in Onan’s case, lust will cause us to act irresponsibly and selfishly, to forget about our duties and responsibilities and to think only about ourselves rather than the well being and needs of others.
Father God, thank You that from Judah’s line would come not just wicked sons who would die for their sins, but a Saviour who would come to rescue us from our sins. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
