Genesis 38:11 "Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, "Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: "for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did" And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house."
Judah is starting to get the picture; God is going to kill all of his boys that came from his Kenite wife. This is also an indication of why Judah did not give his youngest son, Shelah to Tamar, when he became of age.
Genesis 38:12 "And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite."
This Canaanite wife died and in Judah's mourning, he turns again to the Canaanite [Adullamite] friend, Hirah for comfort. Sheepshearing time was a time to work off his emotions.
Genesis 38:13 "And it was told Tamar, saying, "Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep."
Tamar knows that she has been forgotten by Judah.
Genesis 38:14 "And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife."
Judah was unfair to this woman, and Tamar has a way of getting even with him. However we must remember that this is God's divine intervention. In the distance future, it will be Jesse, and David, that the Christ child will be born, and it will not be from a Canaanite family, but the true line of Judah.
Genesis 38:15 "When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face."
She simply covered her face.
Genesis 38:16 "And he turned unto her by the way, and said, "Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee;" (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, "What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?"
Genesis 38:17 "And he said, "I will send thee a kid from the flock." And she said, "Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?"
Judah made and offer, and now Tamar wants something of Judah's' to verify that the offer was from him, and personal to him. This is for proof for who the father would be, should she have a child by the affair. However, Tamar knew the father would be, and it was all part of her plot to deceive Judah.
Genesis 38:18 "And he said, "What pledge shall I give thee?" And she said, "Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand." And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him."
The signet is the family crest, that is the seal of the family wealth. It is what is used to do the family business with. The staff is the rule and the rod of the family, it is the birthright. That is what is asked for, and that is what she got. Judah was willing to give the value of the birthright, and the family wealth over to what he thought was a harlot, for the sake of a one night stand. Judah is showing that he is not to responsible of a person.
This act shows us his true character and human weaknesses, and is the same that was present when he was willing to sell his brother Joseph to the Ishmeelites for less then the price of a slave.
Genesis 38:19 "And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood."
Genesis 38:20 "And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not."
Judah was willing to send the kid to this woman, but he doesn't want to be seen in public trying to get back the family crest, and bracelet. It could be embarrassing for a man of his position, seen chasing after a harlot. Judah did not know that it was his own daughter in law, Tamar.
Genesis 38:21 "Then he asked the men of that place," Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side?" And they said, "There was no harlot in this place."
Genesis 38:22 "And he returned to Judah, and said, "I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place."
In fact there wasn't a harlot there, for Tamar was not an harlot.
Genesis 38:23 "And Judah said, "Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her."
If he couldn't find this woman, he told Hirah, then lets just hush it all up, and keep quiet about it. I kept my end of the bargain, yet she has disappeared, let her keep bracelet, seal, and staff.
Genesis 38:24 "And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, "Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom." And Judah said, "Bring her forth, and let her be burnt."
After the looseness and wildness of this old whoremonger, then making a statement like that, tells how low Judah had sunk. It is starting to show us just what type of man Judah was. He sold his brother into slavery, married down into the heathen people, and went whoreing after strange women; and that is who he thought Tamar was. He is worse than Esau, yet God would select Judah to be the one that the Christ child Jesus would come through.
He gave away his birthright [signet] to a harlot, which was an act of refusing the Covenant that God gave to his father Abraham, and then he becomes self-righteous with his daughter in law. Judah has wronged Tamar by withholding the third son, by law a commitment, but if he had, God would have probably killed him too, for God would not have allowed Tamar to marry that half-breed, and pollute the bloodline of the perverted Canaanite that God so disliked.
As we study each of these great men of God, we see that each of them were human, with all the human weaknesses in their thought and actions, yet there will come a point in their lives when they come to their senses, and seek forgiveness. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all had their times of despair, just as Judah has here. Yet, they are all in our Bible to be part of God's plan, to give us instruction, and to help give us insight into the prophecies of all of God's Word. These Bible characters were just plain people, with faults like anyone else; however in Judah's case it's almost unbelievable when you see what this man did in relationship to the beautiful covenants that God made with his father Israel.
He followed in his uncle Esau's footsteps in playing with the heathen, and even marring one, in total disregard of God's instruction. Now Judah has gone one step beyond in announcing death on Tamar.
Genesis 38:25 "When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, "By the man, whose these are, am I with child:" and she said, "Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff."
Tamar was a pretty smart person, and when she came to Judah in her state of being with child, she had the signet, bracelets, and staff with her. Judah has pronounced the death sentence on the woman, when it was he that did the act.
Genesis 38:26 "And Judah acknowledged them, and said, "She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son." And he knew her again no more."
At least Judah was kind enough that he admitted that they were his. Judah is overlooking the fact that he did know her again, for he knew her when the conception had taken place.
Genesis 38:27 "And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb,"
Genesis 38:28 "And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first."
The scarlet thread is the marking of the first born, with all the rights of the blessing, and duties that shall be passed on in the inheritance form their father. When this first little hand came forth the, the midwife got a little anxious, and gave the marking on the wrong child. This marking of the wrong child is called "the breach", and this breach will have a far reaching effect; even to our present generation.
The red thread can be traced through the "house of Ulster" within the families of the royal families of England, and also all of the other royal families of the Christian nations, including the Tzars of Russia.
