OAKRIDGE BIBLE CHAPEL

When Sin Gets In (Genesis 38:1–30)

If a Christian remains exposed to the harsh elements of sin for an extended period of time, signs of the life we have in Christ can all but fade from detection. We become less pliable, less useful, and less sanctifiable. And yet, dealing with sin is an inevitability for us all. Is there hope for the believer caught in sin? Can God resuscitate and use a once-unrepentant heart for his glory?

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Introduction

On the night of February 24, 2001, a one-year old girl named Erika wandered out of her house and into the Edmonton winter wearing only a t-shirt and diaper.

Her mother woke around 3am, confused as to why her baby hadn’t yet asked to be fed and, after a frantic search, found her daughter in the snow outside, curled up in a ball, totally frozen. Her legs were stiff, her body frigid, and all signs of life appeared to be gone.

Little Erika was rushed to the hospital where a team of resuscitation specialists worked to warm her body and restart her heart. 

To the amazement of all, the child recovered with no apparent signs of brain damage and doctors gave her a clear prognosis.

When God’s people sin, our heart grows cold, hard, and increasingly unresponsive.

The author of Hebrews warns believers: “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily … so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

If a Christian remains exposed to the harsh elements of sin for an extended period of time, signs of the life we have in Christ can all but fade from detection. We become less pliable, less useful, and less sanctifiable.

Sin is our enemy. And while the war with sin has been won by Jesus Christ through his death and resurrection and we eagerly await the inevitable and fast-approaching day when it will be finally dealt with, there are still days now we seem to lose the battle, days we wander outside exposed, forgetting to dress ourselves with the armour God has provided us.

All Christians have in the past, are in the present, or will in the future put themselves in this precarious situation. 

That being so, the question becomes, Is there hope for the believer caught in sin? Can God resuscitate and use a once-partially-frozen and sinful heart for his glory?

Today, from Genesis 38, we’re going to find that the answer to both of those questions is “Yes.”

Genesis 38 presents Judah, brother of Joseph, descending tragically into sin, hitting rock bottom, and then, amazingly, ascending in usefulness by God’s grace.

This chapter reminds us, not only of the seriousness of sin but also of the graciousness, mercy, and sovereignty of God.

We begin by witnessing Judah’s descent into sin. And it’s a steep fall.

The chapter begins with the words, “At that time,” prompting us to ask the context-setting question, “At what time?”

In chapter 37 we were introduced to Joseph, son of Jacob, who was hated by his siblings because his father obviously loved him the most. Fuelled with jealousy, the brothers, lead by Judah, sold Joseph into Egyptian slavery to get rid of him, passing him off as dead to an inconsolable father.

That’s the time at which chapter 38 begins.

At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah. There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and made love to her; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him. 

Judah betrayed Joseph in chapter 37 and now, in chapter 38, we see his continued descent into sin as, in the middle of his father’s grief, he leaves town. He abandons his family, lodges with foreigners, and marries a Canaanite

That Judah took a foreign wife was an act of rebellion against God. Why?

Because ever since the prophecy of Genesis 3:15, God’s people had been on the lookout for the fulfillment of the promise that one day a woman would give birth to a Son who would kill sin’s architect and break sin’s curse.

Later, in Genesis 12, God put a spotlight on a specific family—the family of Abraham—and said, “My Promised Deliverer is coming through them.”

Ever since then, genealogical purity was a priority. 

To intermarry was to essentially water-down the very line through which God said he would fulfill his world-blessing promise. To marry someone outside of God’s chosen people group, in a way, it was to spit in the face of God and declare, “We don’t believe your promise” or “We don’t need your Messiah.” It’s a big deal!

And that’s what Judah did. Not only did he abandon his father who was in grief, a grief he played a significant role in causing, but in marrying a Canaanite woman he was also selfishly turning his back on the promise of God.

And, as is often the case, sin begets more sin (v. 6).

“Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death. 

“Then Judah said to Onan, ‘Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.’ But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.”

Judah’s first-born, Er, is so wicked, that God kills him. We don’t know exactly what he did, just that it was deplorable in the Lord’s sight. This leaves his wife, Tamar, a childless widow.

Now, in spite of his sin thus far, Judah hasn’t totally turned his back on the ways of God related to the great promise.

Why do I say that? Because of the command he gives Onan, his second son, to “do his duty” and give his brothers’ widow a child. 

This seems odd to us, no doubt, but it was a God-given mercy at that time for three main reasons.

First, because it offered social and economic protection to the woman, ensuring they would have someone to care for them as they aged.

Second, the child would carry-on the name of the dead brother throughout the history of the family.

Third, and most pertinent to our current passage, it gave the widow an opportunity to participate in the lineage of the Messiah. 

For any woman in Abraham’s family to not have children and, more specifically, to not have a son, was shameful because they were unable to contribute to the line that would bless of the world with this Child promised in Genesis 3. They were relegated to the sidelines. 

So, God would protect this vulnerable demographic—childless widows—in a way later articulated by Moses in Deut 25:5–9: 

“If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son … Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. 

However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.’ Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, ‘I do not want to marry her,’ his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, ‘This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.’”

Intense! 

This law ensured that a widow was taken care of economically, socially, and spiritually as they could play a role in the Messianic line and the growth of the nation of Israel.

This was Tamar’s situation. Judah does the right thing in sending Onan to help her carry on Er’s line.

But Onan proves he can give Er a run for his wicked money and refuses Tamar that right and actively avoids her becoming pregnant. 

Instead, he uses her for his own selfish pleasure, perhaps wanting to avoid having to eventually share his inheritance with a potential nephew. It’s wicked and, like with Er, the Lord puts Onan to death.

While we can’t always blame parents for how their children turn out—they are free-willed beings—this passage is using Judah’s sons as illustrative commentary on his own descent into sin, a fall that continues with his treatment of Tamar in verse 11.

“Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, ‘Live as a widow in your father’s household 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 household.”

Married to an evil man, widowed, childless, and abused, Tamar is now blamed by her father-in-law for the deaths of his two sons.

Whether Judah was ignorant of his sons’ evil—an absentee father—or was ignoring their evil—an incompetent father—he doesn’t blame his boys for their deaths. 

Instead, it’s Tamar’s fault. She’s a black widow. “I’m not giving her my third boy! He’ll end up dead as well!”

So, instead, Judah shirks his responsibility to her and ships Tamar off back to her father’s house. And he send her away with a false promise of eventual marriage to Shelah, his third son.

This promise of Shelah to Tamar is sheer wickedness as well because it’s essentially a betrothal that doesn’t release Tamar to re-marry, but we know because the narrator tells us, that Judah has no intention of keeping up his end, and is, therefore banishing Tamar to a unending state of relational ambiguity.

The descent into sin continues for Judah (v. 12).

“After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him.”

“When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,” she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife. 

“When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, ‘Come now, let me sleep with you.’ 

“‘And what will you give me to sleep with you?’ she asked. 

“‘I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,’ he said. 

“‘Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?’ she asked. 

“He said, ‘What pledge should I give you?’ 

“‘Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,’ she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.”

We’ll return to Tamar’s clever plot in a moment, but for now notice the downward spiral of sin on which Judah has descended: 

This member of the chosen people of God through whom God promised to bless the whole world betrayed his brother, abandoned his grieving father, married a Canaanite woman, raised sons that perhaps reflected his sinfulness, mistreated the vulnerable Tamar, and now, solicited prostitution. It’s a long fall.

One author has said, “If you’re not living in awe of God, you are left with no higher agenda than to live for yourself.” 

And that’s what we find Judah doing here. 

With a disregard for the promise of God and his involvement therein, his selfishness takes over and sin runs rampant.

Judah has wandered out into the winter night of sin and, while perhaps it didn’t seem so cold at first, he’s now almost unresponsive.

But this is how sin in our lives works, doesn’t it? When our selfishness eclipses God’s commands for us, sin is the result. 

“I know God has said this, but I really want that! I understand God has commanded this, but he also wants me to be happy, right?” We can be creative in dressing up our selfishness to look like righteousness, but ultimately it’s lipstick on a pig. It remains selfish sin.

And when sin creeps into our lives, gets a foothold, it then seeks to pull us down away from God like an open drain in the bottom of a water-filled bathtub.

Judah, with himself at the centre of his world, descended into sin. 

But the thing about a rapid descent is that, at some point, you end up hitting rock bottom (v. 20).

“Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. He asked the men who lived there, ‘Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?’ 

“‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,’ they said. 

“So he went back to Judah and said, ‘I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’’ 

“Then Judah said, ‘Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.’  

At first, Judah tries to keep his shameful act secret, sending his friend to deliver what he had promised to who he thought was a prostitute. 

But his friend can’t find the woman and nobody around town can help, and so he returns and reports to Judah who, in hushed tones, suggests they simply drop the issue, lest he become exposed and become a laughingstock around town. 

“After all,” he reasons, “I kind of did what I said; I tried to bring her the goat. So let’s keep it between us.” But, in spite of all his efforts, Judah’s selfish sinfulness gets exposed (v. 24).

“About three months later Judah was told, ‘Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.’  

“Judah said, ‘Bring her out and have her burned to death!’”

Tamar, given to marry an evil man, was used by her brother-in-law, lied to by her father-in-law, and sentenced to a perpetual holding pattern under a false promise is suddenly thrust back into Judah’s consciousness. 

She’s sinned, apparently. After three months, the pregnancy is obvious.

According to Leviticus 18 and 22, punishment for such a crime was to be brought out and stoned to death by the city elders.

Instead, we find Judah acting as the judge and jury, demanding she be burned to death, a punishment the Mosaic Law would later reserve for the most egregious offences (Lev 20:14; 21:19). 

Judah’s response is compassionless. There’s no trial, no deliberation, no conversation with Tamar. It’s a pious, self-righteous snap judgement. 

Although, at this point, at the bottom of Judah’s descent into sin, perhaps we’d expect nothing less.

(v. 25) “As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. ‘I am pregnant by the man who owns these,’ she said. And she added, ‘See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.’” 

Tamar’s trap, having been set months ago, now snaps shut. 

As she’s marched toward execution, she knowingly sends ahead the three items that could only belong to Judah, for him to examine and, no doubt, recognize.

You see, the down-payment Tamar had requested from her father-in-law at their last meeting was significant. His seal, cord, and staff were the ancient near east equivalent of all Judah’s credit cards and personal ID. 

In fact, not only did they identify who Judah was, but they also identified to which people he belonged. They were his tangible association with his family, the ones he had betrayed and abandoned earlier. 

By voluntarily handing them over to a prostitute, Judah was essentially disassociating himself from his family—the family through whom God promised to bless the world.

And, while Judah is playing fast-and-loose with his connection to Abraham’s line, Tamar, a Canaanite, is working to propagate it. 

She, a foreigner, is working to guard the future of God’s people while Judah, a member of that family, is casually throwing it away for momentary selfish pleasure. 

This is rock bottom and, to his credit, Judah sees that.

(v. 26) “Judah recognized them and said, ‘She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.’ And he did not sleep with her again.”

Judah’s sin is exposed and his unrighteousness is revealed to all, including himself. 

In a moment, he sees the err of his ways. He knew what his responsibilities had been and he knows he has fallen short of faithfulness. He hit rock bottom.

Sometimes that’s what it takes in our lives, isn’t it? Sin can build and build and can, for a season, remain ignorable or justifiable, but eventually it can become unbearable.  

The story is told of a certain Haitian man who wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted to buy it but couldn’t afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house to the man for $1,000, but with a stipulation. The owner would sell the house, but he would keep ownership of a large nail that protruded over the front door. 

Several years later, the original owner decided he wanted to buy the house back. 

Understandably, the new owner was unwilling to sell. So, the original owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog in the street, and hung it from the nail he still owned. Soon the house became un-livable, and the family was forced to sell to the owner of the nail. 

The storyteller concludes: If we leave the devil with even one small nail in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it. 

And we add today, if he’s allowed to do that, like Judah, we may soon find ourselves overwhelmed with the stench of our own sin.

This is a sad, tragic chapter. 

But, as the night is darkest before the dawn, so grace is brightest against the blackest sin. And even here, in a depressing pit of depravity, we find an extravagant demonstration of God’s love, patience, and sovereignty. 

Though this passage describes Judah as descending in sin and hitting rock bottom, as we close today I want us to also marvel at his ascending by grace.

You see, as we zoom out to consider his whole life, we see that Judah, after hitting rock bottom in Genesis 38, is never the same man again and, humbled by his sin, leads a life that God uses in hugely significant ways.

By God’s grace, Judah would become an agent of blessing to family.

Years after the scene of chapter 38, Jacob’s family is put in a precarious situation. In order to survive a severe famine they are being told they must bring their youngest, Benjamin, to Egypt. 

It’s tense and, with Jacob still grieving Joseph’s apparent death, there’s great hesitation. But listen to what Judah says to his father, yes, the father he had abandoned at the beginning of our text today:

“Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die. I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life” (43:8–9).

It sounds like a different guy! 

Later on in chapters 44 and 45 it would be Judah’s heartfelt, selfless plea before Joseph that brings their long lost brother to tears, moves him to identify himself, and sparks a family reconciliation.

You see, after he hits rock bottom, Judah is used by God significantly to bless his family. 

But it doesn’t stop there. 

By God’s grace, Judah would become an agent of blessing to his nation.

At the end of the book of Genesis, Judah’s father, Jacob, is dying. And in his final days he calls his sons to him and prophesies over each of them, revealing what God is going to do in and through their individual families. 

Here’s a sample of what God says to Judah through Jacob:

“Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you.”

Again, is this the same Judah as we saw today?

Not only does Judah selflessly lead his family for the remainder of his life, but the tribe of Judah, his descendants, would lead the other tribes and would produce the majority of Israel’s future godly leaders. 

You see, after he hits rock bottom, Judah is used by God significantly to bless, not only his family, but his nation for generations to come.

But it doesn’t stop there either!

By God’s grace, Judah would become an agent of blessing to the world.

Returning to Jacob’s deathbed prophecy at the end of Genesis, we find it includes this statement regarding Judah:

“The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.”

An eternal, global ruler is promised to the line of Judah. Who do you think that is? 

The promised Deliverer; the long-awaited fulfillment of Genesis 3:15; the King of kings. 

Here God is narrowing the spotlight he shone on Abraham’s family in Genesis 12 and he’s pointing it at the tribe of Judah. All eyes on this family! It’s from them the Messiah is going to come!

Consider the final verses of our chapter today.

“When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, ‘This one came out first.’ But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, ‘So this is how you have broken out!’ And he was named Perez. Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah.”

Tamar gives birth to Judah’s twin sons: Perez and Zerah. These are children conceived in the midst of a downward spiral of sin and who’s birth announcement was at rock bottom. 

And yet, they are the first recorded grandchildren of Jacob and, listen to the genealogy in Matthew 1:

“Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers (Joseph isn’t even mentioned!), Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar …” 

Genesis 38 is basically included here! The genealogy continues from Judah to boast names like King David, King Solomon, King Josiah, before concluding with

“Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.”

As deep as Judah descended in sin and as hard has he hit rock bottom, God graciously picked him up and used him for his glorious purposes, to be an agent of blessing to his family, to his nation, and to the whole world by being the family that would eventually produce the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who would defeat sin through his perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection. 

And if God can work in and through a man like Judah, he can work in and through people like you and I as well.

Please know, those of you who are listening, that you are never beyond the reach of God’s redemptive and empowering grace. 

He is the resuscitation Specialist, and even if we are frozen by sin, hearts hard and unresponsive, God can bring us back, lift us up as trophies of his sovereignty, mercy, and power, and unleash us into the world to be conduits of his blessings to the people around us.

You are never beyond the reach of God’s redemptive and empowering grace.

I want to leave us with three implications for our consideration today. Three commands that Genesis 38 places upon your life and my life to think about.

First, take sin seriously

It is a flesh-eating disease. It consumes, spreads, and kills. God hates it all. It is an affront to his holiness. Take it seriously. 

Our culture preaches the opposite message. We live in a world that calls evil good, flaunts sin, justifies sin, excuses sin. 

May it not be so for the people of God. 

Take sin seriously. Prayerfully and diligently search for it in your life with an open Bible in hand as your God-given diagnostic tool. Hunt it down, dig it out, and call it what it is: Treason against the King of the universe. 

Ignoring sin is like ignoring a cavity; all that does is allow the rot to spread. Take sin seriously.

Second, deal with sin actively

Once, by God’s grace, you’ve seen sin in your life, don’t ignore it. Don’t bury it in your subconscious. Bring it to light. Expose it. Confess of it, repent of it, share it with a trusted friend, invite input and accountability. This is how we kill what we’ve found. Deal with sin actively. 

Jesus said hyperbolically, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off,” highlighting both the seriousness of sin and the intensity with which we must address it. Deal with sin actively.

Third, embrace grace totally. As you take sin seriously and deal with it actively—depending on the Spirit of God throughout the process—let’s never forget to embrace grace totally. 

As offensive as it is to God for a Christian to live in unrelenting, unrepentant sin, it’s also offensive to not celebrate the grace he’s extended to us in his Son. 

John Newton once wrote: 

Thus, while His death my sin displays
In all its blackest hue,
Such is the mystery of grace,
It seals my pardon too.

If you have believed in Jesus Christ for the gift of eternal life, you … are … saved. 

You’re sins—past, present, and future—have been paid for. You will live with him forever in a glorified, sin-free world. 

Allow that gracious, beautiful reality to drive you to joy-filled, hope-filled, grace-filled life of faithfulness.

Thank him, love him, die to selfishness for him, bask in his inexhaustible forgiveness, and trust in his irrevocable promises.  

Friends, let’s take sin seriously, deal with sin actively, and embrace grace totally.

Sir Edwin Landseer was one of the most famous painters of the Victorian era. 

One day as he was visiting a family in an old mansion in Scotland, one of the servants spilled a pitcher of soda water, leaving a large stain on the wall. 

While the family was out for the day, Landseer remained behind. Using charcoal, he incorporated the stain into a beautiful drawing. When the family returned they found a picture of a waterfall surrounded by trees and animals. He used his skill to make something uniquely beautiful out of what had been an unsightly mess.

As we’ve seen today, Judah did a lot of spilling in his life
 … and so do I
 … and so do you. 

Sin makes unsightly messes. 

Yet, just as he did for Judah, God can demonstrate his power and grace to create something beautiful in spite of our sin, something that glorifies himself, and blesses those around his people. 

He is the great Resuscitator, the great Artist. He is our great and gracious God who is worthy of all praise.

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Josiah has served the Oakridge Bible Chapel family as one of its elders and one of its pastoral staff members since September 2018, before which he ministered as an associate pastor to a local congregation in the Canadian prairies. Josiah's desire is to be used by God to help equip the church for ministry, both while gathered (edification) and while scattered (evangelization). He is married to Patricia, and together they have five children—Jonah, Henry, Nathaniel, Josephine, and Benjamin.

Josiah Boyd

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