Genesis 38:6-7 And Judah took a
wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. (7) But Er,
Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD put him to
death….(10) And what he (Onan) did was wicked in the sight of the
LORD, and he put him to death also…(15) When Judah saw her, he thought she was
a prostitute, for she had covered her face. (16) He turned to her
at the roadside and said, "Come, let me come in to you," for he did
not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, "What will you give
me, that you may come in to me?"
Genesis 38 is a chapter filled with the
harsh consequences of sin, earthly consequences and divine consequences. Judah’s
two sons Er and Onan are both struck dead by God for their sinful actions, and
Judah’s sinfulness is exposed when he discovers that he is the one who caused
his daughter-in-law to become pregnant. Within Judah’s family there appears to
be a complete failure to love and follow God. Judah, Onan and Tamar fail to
learn from God’s dealings with Er, and continue on in sinful behaviour. Judah
and Tamar fail once more to learn from God’s dealings with both Er and Onan,
continuing on in sin.
This chapter teaches us two truths.
Firstly, sin always, always, has consequences, both earthly and divine. Our sin
has a negative impact upon our relationship with others; especially those whom
we sin against. It can lead us to have to incur the penalty of the law, to
suffer ill-health because of a sinful lifestyle choice or
to suffer other consequences of sinful actions or choices. Greatest
of all our sin will impact upon our relationship with God, for sin always
alienates us from God and because God is holy and just, He must always respond
to sin. He must deal with it, whether by means of punishment for those who are
not His children or by means of discipline for those who are His children. We
must never allow ourselves the opportunity to think that our sin will escape
unnoticed. God sees and knows all and God will deal with all sin.
Secondly, we need to learn from
Scripture and from the lives of others around us. Both Scripture and human
history is littered with countless examples of sin and its consequences. We
need to learn from the poor choices of others, discerning that there are
consequences and to then seek to walk in obedience to God and His Word. There
is never a circumstance whereby we are left with no choice but to sin, there is
never an occasion when sin is excusable. Er, Onan, Judah and Tamar deliberately
and consciously chose sin, they may have sought to justify their sinfulness,
but sin remains sin. They failed to learn that sin has destructive and deadly consequences;
it alienates us from God and from each other. Sin cannot be covered over; it
can have life-long consequences and it definitely has eternal consequences.
While reading chapters such as Genesis
38 causes us to be saddened by the sinful actions of others, these chapters
should alert us to the fact that we need to take our own sinfulness seriously,
to never let our guard down and to never try and excuse or justify sin. We
should learn from the poor examples and seek to avoid those same temptations.
Secondly, whilst we are saddened by this chapter, we should also be filled with
thankfulness. It is only by God’s grace that our fate has not been the same as
that of Er and Onan, for we all have given adequate cause for God to destroy
us, to strike us down. God in His grace has laid all our sinfulness upon His
Son, Jesus Christ, whilst we deserved to die for our sin, God the Son has died
in our stead. Furthermore, we have now been filled with God’s Spirit, so that we
can walk in obedience, be helped in times of temptation and receive the
strength to avoid sin.
Righteous Father, we thank You, that
You are a holy and just God, who deals with sin and who will by no means clear
the guilty. We thank You that there is full, fair and final justice with You.
We also worship You for You have laid our trespasses, iniquity and guilt upon
Your Son, who has suffered and died in our place. Thank You that You have
filled us with Your Spirit and given us Your Word. We pray that You would help
us daily to see the ugliness of sin, renounce worldliness, resist sin and
train ourselves for godliness. Amen
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