Daily Dose of Hope September 30, 2026 Scripture: Genesis 38 Prayer: Holy God, We come before you this morning in awe of your blessings and love. Thank you, Lord, for the ways you continue to guide our lives. Lord, we are desperate to know you better. In these next few moments of silence, Jesus, please speak to us. We need to hear your voice... In Your Name, Amen. Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. We are doing a deep dive into the book of Genesis, followed by the book of Exodus. Today's reading is Genesis 38. The story takes a break from Joseph and turns to Judah, his older brother. Judah was a businessman of sorts, he leaves his home and family for financial reasons we assume. He moves away from his Hebrew roots to a Canaanite town. Not surprisingly, he ends up marrying a Canaanite woman. Why is this an issue? As we have mentioned before, the Canaanites worshiped other gods. There was no way this wouldn't seep into the family life of Judah. The whole chapter sees Judah's moral decline. Judah arranged for his oldest son, Er, to marry a young woman named Tamar. But Er was a wicked man in the Lord's sight, so the Lord took his life. Judah told Er's younger brother Onan to marry Tamar. At the time, they practiced Levirate marriage, which meant if a man died before he produced a male heir, then the next oldest brother would sleep with his sister-in-law to try to produce an heir. The baby would then be considered a child of the dead brother. This may sound weird to us but it was one of several systems that God put in place to ensure that the most vulnerable segments of society would be cared for. Onan didn't want to have a child who would not be his own heir. So whenever he had sex with Tamar, he spilled the semen on the ground. This prevented her from having a child who would belong to his brother. And the Lord considered Onan evil for doing this, so he killed him too. Judah decides he doesn't want to risk his third son with Tamar. If Shelah dies, then Judah will be without heirs, and any inheritance he may gain from Jacob will be lost. So he misleads Tamar into waiting until Shelah is grown up. I'm not sure that we can understand the significance of this. This was a grave sin, denying Tamar the ability to have a husband, a male heir or any kind of meaningful life. He doesn't release her from the marriage -he tells her to go live as a widow which means she could not remarry - but he doesn't offer her the option of his third son. Tamar is in a no win situation here. Doomed to live a life of poverty and/or prostitution. Tamar has taken matters into her own hands. Judah has basically abandoned her. Years have gone by, Shelah the third son is definitely marrying age and Judah has never sent for Tamar. She knows he isn't planning to, nor is he planning to release her from living as a widow. She knows that her fate isn't good unless she does something drastic. So she takes off her widow's clothing and dresses like a prostitute. She hangs out where her father-in-law will see her and he propositions her. So, this gives us more insight into Judah's character. Maybe he frequented prostitutes, Tamar must have somehow known that he would be willing to solicit her. And Tamar ends up pregnant. Judah finds out and he is ready to execute Tamar. In the end, when Judah finds that he was the guy who got his daughter in law pregnant, he declares her righteous. Even though she was deceptive, she was the one who managed to continue to family line.) Okay, so this whole scenario seems dysfunctional, right? Evil sons, so evil that God kills them. A conniving father-in-law who doesn't care for the well-being of his daughter in law or his family line. A desperate daughter in law who pretends to be a prostitute so her father-in-law can get her pregnant. It all sounds a bit weird. So, what are we to make of this? Why was this included in God's whole story of redemption? Here are some thoughts: o Judah leaves his family, leaves all Godly influence, and moves to Canaan. The further we move away from Godly community, the further we will move from God. There is a purpose in gathering with other believers, having a community of worship. We are a forgetful people and we need to be reminded who and whose we are. Judah clearly forgot this. o The culture of the near east during this time period left much to be desired. Women, children, foreigners were highly vulnerable. They had zero social status and could easily be abused and maligned. God put some structures in place to ensure the care of the most vulnerable - Levirate marriage, gleaning; the prophets spoke out about mistreatment of the poor, the Old Testament clearly speaks of taking care of widows and orphans. Jesus walked closely to the poor, the needy, the oppressed, the outcast. Clearly, God cares for those who are needy and vulnerable and the expectation is that we will as well. o Finally, this story really demonstrates how God uses broken, messed up people to achieve his purposes. Judah was far from Godly. Tamar, though God called her righteous and she was certainly courageous, she was still a bit deceptive and scrappy. And yet God chose these two people to carry on the line of Jacob. It was the union of these two flawed individuals that produced an heir in the direct line of Jesus. If you look at Matthew 1, Tamar is the first of four women specifically mentioned by name in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. God could have chosen anyone...but he chose them. I love this because it demonstrates how God uses sinful people, flawed people, broken people, people with baggage, people who have failed, people who weren't the best and brightest, imperfect people like you and me, to achieve his purposes. We may not have a great past. We might not even have a super present, but he wants to use us, flaws and all, to expand his Kingdom, to carry out his mission in the world. Blessings, Pastor Vicki
