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YOUNG MAN IN A HURRY!
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24
Genesis 38:1-11

Psalm 22:1-10

 

'Teach me, O LORD,

the way of thy statutes…”

 

YOUNG MAN IN A HURRY!
 
When Judah left home, it is computed that he was a late teenager, unlearned and raw in the weightier things of life. He joined himself to Hirah, an Adullamite. Next, he married a Canaanite woman called Shuah who bore him three sons: Er, Onan and Shelah. ln all this, did Judah seek the counsel of his father or brothers? Apparently not, for his only close associate at that time was Hirah. Judah married young and in a hurry. When his eldest son was marriageable, he found him a wife and quickly got them married too. Judah was always in a hurry!
 
The record tells us, “And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him” (Gen 38:7). His wickedness remains a mystery. The practice then was for the dead man’s younger brother (if he was unmarried) to marry the widow and raise children on behalf of the deceased. Judah therefore ordered the second son, Onan, to marry the widow Tamar. Onan however refused to have any children by Tamar and so he spilled his “seed” on the ground. This was an offence against the purpose of his marriage, against Tamar and against his own body. So the LORD slew him as well.
 
Seeing his two elder sons dead, Judah feared to give his youngest son to Tamar, in case he would also lose his life. He therefore dispatched Tamar to her parents’ home, making the excuse that Shelah was too young. This action by Judah left Tamar a frustrated widow, vainly waiting for her prospective husband. Tamar was twice widowed. Both husbands were slain by the Lord for their wickedness.
 
Judah had no intention of letting Tamar have his third son for fear that he, too, might be struck dead. Judah was so spiritually down that he had not perceived that his two elder sons had been slain not because of Tamar but because of their sins. When Tamar saw that Judah was not honouring his word, she proceeded to force the issue.
 
THOUGHT: “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” (Prov 11:14)

PRAYER: Lead me to godly counsel who will point me to Thee, Father.

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