When God’s plans hang by a thread, it’s good to recall that He hung the world on nothing!
In Genesis 38, the scene shifts from Joseph in Egypt back to the family at Hebron. Specifically it deals with Judah, the one who had taken leadership from Reuben, the presumptive firstborn, but who was disqualified since he “defiled his father’s bed” (1 Chron 5:1). Why is this chapter so important? Because through Judah the line of kings would come, especially “the Root and the Offspring of David” (Rev 22:16), our Lord Jesus. We won’t go into all the details, but Judah’s eldest son was given a wife named Tamar. But, we read, “Judah’s firstborn…was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him” (38:7). This is the first record of a man who was so wicked that God withdrew his life. Thus Tamar was left a widow. Now at that time there was a practice called Levirate marriage where the brother of a deceased man was obliged to marry his brother’s widow and “raise up a name to his brother” (Deut 25:7), providing a son to carry on the line. Judah instructed his second son to do this, but he “knew that the heir would not be his” (Gen 38:9), so interrupted the process. The result? He also died under God’s judgment! A third son was not yet of age, but when he was, Judah neglected his responsibility. So Tamar, disguised as a prostitute, stood by the road as Judah came by. The scheme worked, with Tamar asking for Judah’s signet and staff as guarantee of payment. She was soon pregnant. When Judah heard, he led the effort to have her burned! That is, until she produced his ID! It is a turning point when Judah confesses, “She has been more righteous than I” (v 26). Tamar ended up having twins, and her son Perez, who appeared second, put Tamar by matchless grace right into the lineage of Christ (Mt 1:3)!