Genesis 38 — Sketch
Standing Up to the Patriarchy
Bid Idea:
Jacob’s son Judah has three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah.
Judah gets a wife for his son Er. Her name is Tamar.
Er is “wicked,” so God kills him.
According to custom, it is Onan’s duty to sleep with Tamar and produce offspring for Er.
Onan would go to bed with Tamar, but he “spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother.”
God sees Onan’s trick and kills him as well.
Judah decides to break custom and not give Tamar to Onan’s younger brother, Shelah. This forces her to go back home and live as a widow.
Judah’s wife dies.
Tamar hears Judah is traveling, so she disguises herself as a prostitute — with her face covered — and puts herself in Judah’s path.
Thinking she’s a prostitute, Judah sleeps with her in exchange for a goat.
Tamar makes Judah give her his staff and his seal and cord as collateral until the goat comes.
Later, when Judah brings the goat, he cannot find “the prostitute."
Judah finds out that Tamar is pregnant and demands that she be burned to death for prostitution.
Tamar reveals his seal and staff and says, “I am pregnant by the man who owns these.”⠀
- Judah realizes Tamar was the woman he slept with and declares that she is more righteous than he is.Tamar gives birth to twins.
When one twin puts his arm out, the midwife ties a red string to it to mark him as the firstborn, but then he pulls his arm back in, and his brother is born first. The twins are named Perez and Zerah.
Jesus in This Chapter:
Though Tamar was innocent, she made herself into a prostitute. The result was that Judah’s sin lost its power against her, and she was restored to the position of a wife. Jesus, though innocent, made Himself into our sin and defeated it. He was then restored to His place in Heaven.
Tamar's firstborn is actually born second. Jesus is “the firstborn,” but He took our place on the cross so that we could receive His righteousness.
(Originally drawn August 18, 2010)