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Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heidzik.
So now watch this. Two of Judah's sons are dead. Doesn't say anything about him mourning, though I'm sure he was.
Sorrowful for it. I can't prove that, though. But notice now in verse 11, he's got a heads up now for this gal. Judah said to Tamar, His daughter-in-law. Remain a widow.
In your father's house until my son-in-law Shaylah is grown. He was young. For he said, lest he also die like his brothers. And Tamar went and dwelt. in her father's house.
So here's the deal.
Okay. He said, you know, sweetheart, Just go home and live with your dad.
Now he's thinking in his mind: no way is he going to get my third, she's going to get my third son. Because There's two down, there's only one to go. Number one died with her. Number two died with her. Maybe he didn't know the whole situation at the time.
If number three gets married to her, that could be the end of my family line.
So just go home and live with dad, but he uses as an excuse: well, when my son gets older, then. then that's another story. He had no intention of fulfilling that vow.
Now It says. Tamar went down and dwelt in her father's house.
Now in the process of time The daughter of Shua Judah's wife died. And Judah was comforted. That is, he went through the process of grieving and coming out the other end, comforted after that. And so he went up to his sheep. up to his sheep shearers at Timna And his friend Hira the Adulamite, we remember him at the beginning of the chapter, his pagan friend.
The Adulamite. He goes, you know what? My wife's dead. It was a tough go. I feel better now.
I'm going to go visit my pagan friend. The Adulamite. Hyra. And it was told Tamar, saying, Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear sheep.
So She took off her widow's garment, and Covered herself with a veil. wrapped herself and sat in an open place. which was on the way to Timna, For she saw that Shelah was grown, And she was not given to him as a wife. When Judah saw her, He thought she was a harlot. That's how she dressed.
She disguised herself. She took off the morning garments that she had been wearing. because she had covered her face. It seems that she dressed as if she were a temple prostitute, knowing the kind of character that her father-in-law had.
Now, a temple prostitute, as I'll mention just in a few verses, was a common Canaanite form of worship. The way that many of the Canaanite temples got converts was through their prostitutes.
So it was said to worship. You would be a worshiper if you join yourself to a prostitute. Young men who are out in the fields are thinking, boy, I like this church. You know, I'll join that one. Sure, no problem.
And they got a lot of their converts that way through these gals. She covered her face. Verse sixteen: Then he turned to her by the way. and said Please let me come into you. In other words, I seek your sexual favors.
for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And so she said, Well, what will you give me? that you may come into me.
So here she is dressed up, Her intention is to maintain the family inheritance. She's thinking, I'll be out of this family. I have no children.
So to keep the lineage of that family. She disguises herself so that Judah himself will impregnate her. It's warped, I know, but follow the story.
So she says, What do you give me? You know, you're asking for this favor. What will you give me? How much will you give me? He says, I'll send you a goat.
From the flock. And so she said. Will you give me a pledge until you send it?
So she's going to get his goat. But Until she does, she doesn't want the wool pulled over her eyes.
So They strike a deal. I'll give you a goat.
Okay, great.
Well, you don't have a goat with you. You're here, but. What will you give me as a promise until I get your goat? And he said. What pledge shall I give you?
And so she said, Your signet. And chord? and your staff that is in your hand. And then he gave them to her, and went into her, and she conceived by him. A signet is a ring.
And the ring was used to stamp Within wax or clay, let's say you were to buy something. And you wanted to Give your signature, so to speak. You would take your ring and you would impress it in wax or you would impress it in clay, and that was used for letter correspondence, that was used for transactions. and the ring, that signet, was often worn around the neck with a cord.
So he takes the ring off which is on the cord, gives it to her, and the staff that is in her hand.
So It's sort of like giving his credit card, his Visa card tour. What shall I give you? I don't have any cash. Do you take Visa?
Well, no. Tell you what. Give me your signet because really, that is effectively like your personal credit card, your signature, your ability to buy.
So he goes, good, no problem, gives it to her. And she conceives. Verse 19.
So she arose and went away and laid aside her veil. and put on the garments of her widowhood. And Judas sent the young goat by the hand of his friend, The Adulamite to receive his pledge from the woman's hand, but he did not find her.
Okay, so let me just fill in this blank. We're dealing with a Canaanite culture. And the Canaanite culture Has many of its worship practices from the Mesopotamians where Abraham came from. And over there, the whole idea of temple co-prostitutes developed, and they were all about fertility.
So this is how it worked. The idea was that the prostitute Was emblematic of the goddess Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. She represented Ishtar. And so, before somebody would plant their fields with seed or have their flocks mate. Before that time, they would often go to these temples.
And seek the woman, the prostitute, who would be emblematic of Ishtar. And the idea was the recreation of the divine marriage of the gods. And with that, it was believed that one's Livestock. Crops would come out in abundance. And so it was common to see these cult prostitutes scattered throughout the land, but notice we're dealing with Judah.
The um The lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Different worldview, different God called out from that stuff. And the Ejudah looks so much like the Canaanites in his practice. in his marriage to Shua the Canaanite? in his false worship, utilizing prostitution.
So he's become very much like them.
So, anyway, he's gonna keep his end of the bargain and look for the gal to give his goat to. And so, verse 21, he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot who is openly by the roadside? They said, There was no harlot in this place. We don't know what you're talking about. We can't remember any.
Harlot.
So he returned to Judah. and said, I can't find her. Also, the men of that place said there was no harlot in that place. And then Judah said, Let her take them for herself. lest we be shamed, for I sent this young goat And you haven't found her.
I'll let her just keep it. It doesn't need to be exchanged at this point. I don't want to make it public because of the shame that'll happen. It came to pass about three months after that.
Now, watch how the chickens come home to roost. That Judah was told, saying, Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the harlot.
Furthermore, she is pregnant. She is with child by harlotry.
So Judas said, Bring her out. and let her be burned. Wow. It's amazing how bad our sin looks on someone else. It's amazing this guy.
He's the guy that gets her pregnant. And then somebody says, your daughter-in-law is pregnant. Oh, I can't believe it. Burn her! Burn her?
You turkey. You know what this reminds me of? It reminds me of somebody else who saw his sin on somebody else, named David. David gets a girl pregnant that he lusts after, kills her husband. Nathan the prophet.
Finds out about it and goes to King David and goes, David, I've got a problem.
Well, what is it I can solve problems?
Well, There were two men that lived in one city, one was rich and one was poor. David's going, yeah, okay, go on.
Well, the rich man owned exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man only w owned one small little lamb, a yew lamb. This cuddly, sweet little lamb that was a family pet. In fact, This lamb slept in his bed. drank from his cup and ate of his own food.
It was like a daughter to him.
Well, that's interesting.
Well, so what's the story? Nathan goes, okay, so there's what happened. The rich guy had a friend come and visit him. And instead of taking one of his many flocks and killing it and preparing it for a meal, he finds that one little ewe lamb that that one poor man in that town owned, stole it, killed it, and prepared it as a meal.
Now, David gets totally Bummed out, livid, angry, incensed. And he said, That man will surely die. Over a lamb. He's gonna die, kill him! And then Nathan points his prophetic finger at David and says, You are that man.
Thus saith the LORD, David. God has given you so much. He's given you wives. He's given you a kingdom. And if that weren't enough, he'd given you so much more.
But you sinned against the Lord. In taking the wife of another man like that ewe lamb. When you had so much and so many others, and you took that man's wife and you killed that man. And then finally, David fessed up. But boy, did his sin look bad on somebody else in that little story that Nathan told him.
And so here with Judah. His sin looks really bad on his daughter-in-law. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, the 1960s promised us an explosion of love and brotherhood. But instead, they delivered a nation in turmoil, confusion, and moral decline.
Fortunately, God has the solution for our damaged families. And in Beyond the Summer of Love, Relationships in the Real World, Pastor Skip Heitzek gives a biblical guide for marriage and families that can help restore relationships which have been damaged by sin. Beyond the Summer of Love is our thanks for your gift of at least $25 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your resources when you give $25 or more today to help reach people around the world with the good news of Jesus through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip.
Notice what happens. Verse 25. When she was brought out, she sent to her father in law, saying, Huh. By the man. to whom these belong I'm with child.
And she said, please determine whose they are: the signa, the cord, and the staff. Uh Burn her. And so she comes before him, you know, obviously, I guess, to. Get her sentence, I guess, her burning. And so she goes, you know.
Before you Sentence me to death. Just you ought to know that. the father of this child is the one who owns this stuff. Maybe you can figure out Whose ring this is, you know, has this one with the big honkin' J on it. Shows it to him.
Judah.
So Judah acknowledged them and said, She has been more righteous than I. What a statement. Because I did not give her to Shelah my son. and he never knew her again. And it came to pass.
At the time for giving birth, that behold twins. were in her womb.
So it was. When she was giving birth, The one put out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, This one came out first. Then it happened as he drew back his hand that his brother came out unexpectedly. And she said How did you break through? This breach be upon you.
Therefore his name was called Perez, breach, or breakthrough. Afterward, his brother came out, who had the scarlet thread on his hand. And his name was called Zerah.
So here's the story of Judah and his family and his sinful legacy. Marries the Canaanite cutie, has three boys, two of them die. He gets a harlot pregnant, which happens to be his daughter-in-law. And with every Turn of the phrase, he becomes more and more like the Canaanites around him. Rather than different from them, not standing out from them like Joseph did, but like them.
Socially and spiritually, compromise, syncretistic, taking on the form of the culture around it. In contrast to that, we have Joseph, where His story resumes in the very next chapter.
Now, before we get into that chapter, I mentioned the genealogy of Jesus Christ and Judah being in it. It probably is good to briefly look, or I'll read to you, just a few verses in Matthew chapter 1. Verse 1. The book. Of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
The son of David The son of Abraham.
Now we have a genealogy. That's how Matthew opens. Why? Because to the Jew. Genealogies were high priority.
Especially if you're dealing with A messiah. You better prove the Messiah's Pedigree goes all the way back, not just. To Abraham, But to King David himself. And so the genealogy is given, but notice the listing: Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot Judah. and his brothers Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar.
Peraz begot Hezron, Hezron begot Ram.
So we have in the genealogy of the Messiah, the Son of God.
Someone who is born by insexual birth, insexual relations within a family. and it's recorded in the genealogy of Christ. Ram begot Abinadab. Abinadab begot Nashon. Nashon begot Salmone.
Salmone begot Boaz. By Rahab. Boaz begot Obed by Ruth. Oh, bad begot Jesse. Jesse begot David.
The king.
Now you have, interestingly enough, In a Jewish genealogy. Not just this illegitimate birth. But you have women named. very taboo for Jewish genealogies. Women had no legal rights.
They were kept out of genealogical records. In fact, A prayer was discovered in ancient literature prayed by some. Narrow-minded ancient Jewish people, Jewish men, who would wake up. And part of their morning prayer regiment was: Oh God, I thank you that I'm not a slave. A Gentile or a woman.
But notice the kind of people that are in the genealogical record of Christ. It's as if somebody scoured through the Old Testament to find the most unlikely people and said, Let's put them in there. Of course, it was God the Holy Spirit orchestrating it all. Here's my point: if you think that because you have failed, And maybe you have. We all have.
And you think, boy, I've squandered my life, boy, I've wasted my life, boy, I've made bad decisions. It's good that you're honest. It's good that you confess it, but can I just say that you are probably in good company? The Bible's filled with characters like that, that God graciously. got a hold of and used sometimes in spite of who they were.
They're in the genealogical record of Christ, and that's the importance of chapter 38 of Genesis.
Now to chapter 38. 39. Back to the story of Joseph in Egypt.
Okay. While chapter 38 is going on, chapter 39 is going on in Egypt.
Now, By reading chapter 38, we have years going by. And Joseph isn't around. And so during that time, during this chapter, 38, you're wondering: so, what's going on with Joe? What's the Lord doing in Joseph's life? Here's the short answer.
What the Lord is doing in Joseph's life. is developing Joseph's faith. Joseph had faith. He trusted in the Lord. But remember, he was quite naive.
He had faith in God, but in its very Nascent, primitive beginning stages. Like a seed, it needed to grow. And the way often the Lord develops our faith, you're not going to like this. is by pain. Pain.
If your boss gives you a raise tomorrow, and makes you the vice president of the company. Your response is probably going to be, thank you, Lord. Lord, I just want you to know I love you. And I sure trust you. If tomorrow, however, your boss says, We don't need you, we're cutting back on salaries, you're laid off.
I wonder if your response is going to be, Lord. Thank you. Lord, I sure do love you and you know I trust you. No, your faith is really On trial at that moment. Do you really believe God despite the circumstances, or do you only trust God when life is good?
17-year-old boy who loves God intently.
now needs to go through some development. His faith needs to get deeper. And that comes by pain.
Somebody once said: a Christian is like a tea bag. He's not worth much unless he's been through some hot water. And so now you're seeing the hot water that Joseph is immersed in. in chapter 39. And it's a contrast, as I said, to chapter 38.
Chapter 38 highlights the wretched morality of Judah. Chapter 39 highlights the rock solid integrity of Joseph. his younger brother.
Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. and potavar An officer of Pharaoh, who Captain of the guard, an Egyptian. bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. And the LORD was with Joseph. And he was a successful man.
And he was in the house of his master. The Egyptian. Joseph Sold as a slave. bought by a slave owner named Potiphar. God blesses him.
He's successful. He does his job. Obviously with all of his heart. Obviously not complaining. obviously with joy, because everything he does, people notice Boy God, it se seems like there's something different about him and they discover After he testifies.
Oh, it's the Lord that he believes in. That is blessing you and prospering you. You know, I wonder. If I Had an experience like Joseph. I'm taken down as a slave to Egypt.
Through no fault of my own. I wonder if my response would be, and I bet it would be something like this. This is a bummer! This is the devil. The devil is trying to ruin my life.
Or How could God allow this to happen? Or God, what's up? I've got so much talent. It's so wasted here. Why would you allow my talent, my creativity to be wasted here?
I wonder if that would be my response, or if. I would say, like Joseph obviously said.
Okay, I'm a slave in Egypt.
So I'm going to be the very best slave. that Egypt has ever seen. They ain't seen no slave like me. And he gave his heart to it. I want to make this point.
Wherever you find yourself tonight, you could chafe against it and you could focus on your vulnerability or you could focus on God's sovereignty. And you could look at the task, look at the place you are in life, and say, I am going to. Take this as the will of God, and I'm going to do what I do to my very best. Oh, but skip. You don't know.
All I do is I I I push a broom where I work. I couldn't get a job doing anything else, so they hired me as the janitor. I just pushed a broom all day. Then, why not say, I'm gonna be the best broom pusher this company has ever seen? How about that?
Joseph a slave. God was with him. He was a successful man. and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skiff Heitzig.
We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you understand and follow God's plan for your relationships. Beyond the Summer of Love: Relationships in the Real World by Pastor Skip Heitzig is our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copy when you give $25 or more. Call 800-922-1888.
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Make a connection! Make a connection, let the food. Of the crossing cast your burdens on his way. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
