{"id":20976,"date":"2023-06-15T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotion15-june-2023"},"modified":"2023-06-15T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T05:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-15-june-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-15-june-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion\u00a015 June 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genesis 38<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and settled near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; he married her and went in to her.  She conceived and bore a son; and he named him Er.  Again she conceived and bore a son whom she named Onan.  Yet again she bore a son, and she named him Shelah. She was in Chezib when she bore him.  Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar.  But Er, Judah\u2019s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death.  Then Judah said to Onan, \u2018Go in to your brother\u2019s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her; raise up offspring for your brother.\u2019  But since Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, he spilled his semen on the ground whenever he went in to his brother\u2019s wife, so that he would not give offspring to his brother. What he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also.  Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, \u2018Remain a widow in your father\u2019s house until my son Shelah grows up\u2019\u2014for he feared that he too would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went to live in her father\u2019s house.<\/span><\/p>\n

In course of time the wife of Judah, Shua\u2019s daughter, died; when Judah\u2019s time of mourning was over,  he went up to Timnah to his sheep-shearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. When Tamar was told, \u2018Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep\u2019,  she put off her widow\u2019s garments, put on a veil, wrapped herself up, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. She saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had not been given to him in marriage.  When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a prostitute, for she had covered her face.  He went over to her at the roadside, and said, \u2018Come, let me come in to you\u2019, for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, \u2018What will you give me, that you may come in to me?\u2019  He answered, \u2018I will send you a kid from the flock.\u2019 And she said, \u2018Only if you give me a pledge, until you send it.\u2019  He said, \u2018What pledge shall I give you?\u2019 She replied, \u2018Your signet and your cord, and the staff that is in your hand.\u2019 So he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.  Then she got up and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to recover the pledge from the woman, he could not find her. He asked the townspeople, \u2018Where is the temple prostitute who was at Enaim by the wayside?\u2019 But they said, \u2018No prostitute has been here.\u2019  So he returned to Judah, and said, \u2018I have not found her; moreover, the townspeople said, \u201cNo prostitute has been here.\u201d\u2019  Judah replied, \u2018Let her keep the things as her own, otherwise we will be laughed at; you see, I sent this kid, and you could not find her.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

About three months later Judah was told, \u2018Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the whore; moreover she is pregnant as a result of whoredom.\u2019 And Judah said, \u2018Bring her out, and let her be burned.\u2019  As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, \u2018It was the owner of these who made me pregnant.\u2019 And she said, \u2018Take note, please, whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.\u2019  Then Judah acknowledged them and said, \u2018She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.\u2019 And he did not lie with her again.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the time of her delivery came, there were twins in her womb.  While she was in labour, one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a crimson thread, saying, \u2018This one came out first.\u2019  But just then he drew back his hand, and out came his brother; and she said, \u2018What a breach you have made for yourself!\u2019 Therefore he was named Perez.  Afterwards his brother came out with the crimson thread on his hand; and he was named Zerah.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflection<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This story is full of deception.  Onan avoided his duty to provide heirs for his dead brother (and so provide security for Tamar).  Judah saw Tamar as unlucky, a husband killer, and refused to honour custom and allow her to marry Shelah on Onan\u2019s untimely death.  Tamar used deception to get justice and security.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Tamar is the trickster who uses wit, guile, and her body to gain her rights.  She had been promised security in marriage in a tradition in which brothers had to take their widowed sister-in-laws in marriage.  Judah\u2019s refusal to allow this left Tamar in poverty and shame.  Having nothing but her cleverness and sexuality she tricked Judah and recovered control; no longer being content to return to her father\u2019s home she sought out Judah – knowing his proclivities of old one suspects – and turned the tables on him.  The story makes Judah out to be an old fool: he didn\u2019t recognise his daughter-in-law and refused to fulfil his obligation to her –  but did try to fulfil the debt he owed to a prostitute.  He pronounced judgment on a crime he, himself, committed and, as a patriarch, was careless with his badges of office which he gave to someone he thought he\u2019d not ever met before.    <\/span><\/p>\n

We admire the cunning of Tamar who had to find justice using the few tools she had available to her.  We are repelled, but not surprised, by Judah\u2019s hypocrisy.  We long for a world where women don\u2019t need to sell themselves for security, where men don\u2019t evade their responsibilities, and where deceit and deception are things of the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prayer<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

O God, nothing surprises You about how we behave.<\/span>
O God, nothing shocks You about the ways of our world.<\/span>
O God, help us all to find security and justice with dignity.  Amen.<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Genesis 38 It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and settled near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; he married her and went in to her.  She conceived and bore a son; and he named him … <\/p>\n

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