"Judah Went Down"

    “And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.”

    If you read the Scriptures carefully, paying attention to what you read, you will sometimes come across a passage which seems totally out of place. When you do, do not just glance over it, or ignore it. That which seems out of place in the Word of God is put where it is to get our attention, to teach us something extraordinary.

    Without question, anyone reading through the Book of Genesis, as he reads chapters 37, 38, and 39, and on to the end of the Book, has to stop, scratch his head, and ask – “What do the events in chapter 38 have to do with the story of Joseph’s betrayal, imprisonment, and exaltation?” The events recorded in this chapter have very little, if anything, to do with the history of Joseph. These thirty verses interrupt the history of Joseph. They seem to have been thrown into the story haphazardly. At first glance, the whole passage seems out of place. But that is not the case.

    These thirty verses were given by Divine inspiration. Moses wrote this narrative exactly as God the Holy Spirit directed him. And the things here recorded “were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). May God the Holy Spirit, who inspired Moses to record this piece of sacred history, inscribe upon our hearts the lessons he here teaches.

    We are told, in verse one, that “Judah went down.” However, his descent and degradation, shameful as it was, was the bleak, black backdrop upon which the Lord God would display the wondrous glory of his grace. Here we see sin abounding, and grace super-abounding. What we have before us in this chapter is much, much more than a story of sin and degradation. This is a story of grace, marvelous, free, sovereign, amazing grace.

    The first thing, the most obvious thing, set before us in this chapter is the utter depravity of our race. Since the fall of our father Adam, one thing has always characterized the human race. One thing can always be counted on as a matter of certainty. One thing can be seen in the course of every son of Adam, in the life of every mortal, in the history of every family. There is one black mark by which every man is identified, one odious characteristic by which our race is identified, one horrible plague by which every heart is corrupted and every life is defiled. That one thing is sin. Sin is what we are. Sin is what we do. Sin is the thing that dominates our lives by nature. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” We are all, by nature, “children of wrath,” a people deserving the wrath of God. We are a race of evil doers.

    This is a fact which history verifies. The total depravity of man is verified in every news paper in the world every day. Preachers, like politicians, like to flatter people, and talk about man’s innate goodness. But the Word of God speaks not of man’s innate goodness, but his innate vileness. It is written, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”

    Though Judah was a chosen sinner, one predestined to eternal life, a man in the direct lineage of Abraham, one to whom the Lord God had sent the light of Divine revelation when very few were given such light, Judah proved himself to be a wicked, sinful, depraved man. We are not told how or why it came to pass, but this chapter opens by declaring that “Judah went down from his brethren” (v. 1)

    In direct violation of the revealed will of God, Judah chose to abandon the family of Abraham, the people of God, and took for his choice companion an Adullamite, by the name of Hirah. No doubt, he felt fully justified in his actions. He could easily vindicate his choice before any man. But I assure you, the path of compromise is the path of sorrow. It is written, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” If you take fire to your bosom, you are going to get burned. If you sow to the wind, you will reap the whirlwind. Let’s see if Judah’s history does not verify this.

    He chose a pagan for his friend. Then he chose a pagan for his wife. His two oldest sons (Er and Onan), following the example of their father, were slain under the wrath of God (vv. 2-6). We are not told what Er’s wickedness was; but it was obviously something for which he was manifestly slain by the hand of God (v. 7). Onan’s sin, however is specifically described (vv. 7-10).

    "And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him. And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also."

    There have been many things written about Onan’s sin. Papists and others point to this as a proof text against birth control. But I am certain that God did not send this man to hell simply because he spilled his seed on the ground. Onan, like Esau before him, despised the grace of God in Christ He perished because he did not believe God, because he would not have Christ

    That which was later written in the law of God given to Israel (Deut. 25:5), was already clearly established as the revealed will of God to the children of Abraham. If a brother died without children, his brother next to him was required to take his wife and raise up a son in the name of his dead brother.

    This, like all other aspects of the law given to Israel, was a messianic law, a prophetic law, pointing to the person and work of Christ. It was given to none but Israel. It applied to none but Israel. It was given to Israel, to Abraham’s children, because the Lord God promised to send his Son, the Messiah, our Redeemer, through Abraham’s seed. The promised Redeemer, the promised Savior, in whom all blessedness is found, and the heritage of grace in him, was the birthright of the firstborn son.

    When Onan refused to raise up a child in the name of his brother, he showed contempt for God’s covenant, despising God’s Son. Just as Esau before him, Onan snubbed his nose at God’s goodness and grace in Christ. It was for this that God killed him. God almighty has not changed. He still sends men and women to hell for snubbing their noses at his Son.

    After the death of his first two sons, Judah promised Tamar that as soon as his third son, Shelah, was old enough, he would marry her. But, in verse 11, we are told that it was a promise he had no intention of keeping.

    In verses 12-23, we read of Judah’s shameful sin. It is here recorded as a warning beacon to all. What could be more terrible than the record here given of Judah and his family? Here is a man brought up in the midst of a favored people, blessed with godly influences, surrounded by examples of grace from his youth. Yet, Judah chose the rebel’s path. The consequences of his actions are glaring. His sons were slain under the wrath of God. Still, Judah goes on, walking after the lusts of his flesh.

    Between verses 11 and 12 many years had passed. Judah’s wife died and Shelah was grown, and Judah After the death of his wife, Judah took his Adullamite friend with him to see about the shearing of his sheep. Tamar disguised herself as a harlot. Judah hired his daughter-in-law as a prostitute. He sent his companion in ungodliness to pay his harlot and retrieve his signet, his bracelets, and his staff. When Hirah could not find a harlot in the place, Judah thought the matter was over. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “That’s that. Let her take those things and forget the matter, lest we be ashamed.” This man who had no regard for the holy Lord God, did not want men to know what he had done, lest he lose face with mere mortals! But the story was not over.

    When Judah heard that Tamar was pregnant, he was enraged, and said, “Let her be burned.” That is to say, “Let her wear the mark of a whore (Lev. 21:9), so that all seeing her will know what kind of woman she is.” – What hypocrisy! -- What self-righteousness!

    At last, Judah acknowledged and confessed his sin "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. 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. 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."

    This seems to be the time of Judah’s conversion. I say that not only because he acknowledged his sin. He really had no choice in that matter. He was caught red-handed. But he did more. He stated plainly that Tamar, though guilty of incest, knowingly so, (which is certainly a worse crime than fornication with a prostitute), had acted more righteously than he.

    How can that be? It appears that Tamar realized and believed the promise of God concerning the gift of his Son through Judah, the promise that up to this point Judah and his sons had despised. Being denied marriage to Shelah, she was determined to have Christ, no matter the cost. Her actions remind me of another woman who hazarded her honor that she might have the Kinsman Redeemer, who was the only hope and refuge of her soul (Ruth 3:8-9). Obviously the people who were present when Boaz took Ruth for his wife saw the same parallel (Ruth 4:11-12).

    Tarmar’s incest cannot and must not be justified, or glossed over as an insignificant thing. What she did was horribly evil. Yet, Judah declares here that her actions were more righteous than his. In doing so, he acknowledges and confesses his sin and the gospel of God. And those who do that are forgiven sinners. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9). It seems to me that when Judah spoke of Tamar being more righteous than he, he was saying, “This woman, though she and I have both behaved shamefully, believed God who I did not believe.”

    Genesis 38 is, also, a plain declaration that Divine election is a matter of pure, free grace. Judah was chosen as the object of God’s grace simply because God loved him. There was nothing good, noble, or righteous about this man by nature. Every choice he made was evil. He was not seeking the Lord, but serving the lusts of his flesh, when God stopped him in his path to destruction. Judah was no better than his sons; but God chose Judah. Judah was no more upright than his Adullamite friend, Hirah; but God chose Judah. This chapter was written to teach us, forcibly and plainly, that salvation is by grace alone. – Not by man’s will, but by God’s will. – Not by man’s work, but by God’s work. – Not by man’s worth, but by Christ’s worth. That which distinguished Judah from his neighbors and his own family, and that which alone distinguishes God’s elect from the rest of the world is the distinguishing grace of God (1 Cor. 4:7; 1 Cor. 1:26-31).

    A third thing displayed in this chapter is the absolute immutability of God’s purpose. God had purposed from eternity that his Son would come into this world through the line of Judah. So it must be; and so it was. As surely as this chapter records the faithlessness of man, it records the immutable faithfulness of our God. God is always faithful to his purpose; and his purpose is the purpose of grace

    We read in Matthew 9:10-11, that "as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?” In his exposition of Genesis 38, Ralph Bouma wrote, “Not only does our Master eat and drink with publicans and sinners, but the twelve gates of heaven are named for them to encourage the chiefest of sinners to come unto Him (Rev. 21:12)”

    Here again, we see the wondrous mystery of divine providence. Once more, God overruled evil for good (Ps. 76:10; Rom. 8:28). Our God is always behind the scene. All the vast machinery of providence is under his control, absolutely. His finger directs all the circumstances of the universe. He who is Lord of all is above all, rules all, and uses all for the good of his people, the glory of his name, and the accomplishment of his purpose of grace in Christ. How sweet, how blessed, how comforting it is to the believing heart to trace all things back to the will of God our Father! All angels, men, and devils are his servants and execute his purposes precisely (Rom. 8:28-30; 11:33-36).

    Not only does this chapter give us a genealogical record of Christ’s ancestors, it shows us that our Savior’s glory as a man was native to himself. It was not a glory derived from his ancestors. The Jews proudly boasted that they were not born of fornication (John 8:41), though in fact that is precisely how the nation was born. Our Savior’s glorious righteousness as a man was not derived from his family tree, but was the glory of his own sinless nature and his own perfect obedience as our Substitute (John 17:4-5).

    As God dealt with Judah, so he deals with all his elect in grace, free, sovereign, saving grace (Eph. 2:1-4). Genesis 38 stands before us as a most blessed display of God’s amazing, free grace to sinners in Christ. Instead of casting Judah and Tamar into hell for their sin, God had chosen not only to save them, but to make them the direct progenitors of Christ. God’s grace is not frustrated and cannot be frustrated. That which appears to be a hindrance to grace is but the instrument of grace. The Son of God, the Lord of Glory not only came down here to save sinners, he purposed from eternity to identify himself with sinners even in his ancestry through the tribe of Judah (Ruth 4:12-13; Matt. 1:1-3; Heb. 7:14). This is now, and shall forever be, the theme of his everlasting praise..

    "The Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing” (Rev. 5:5-12).

    The history of Judah is written for us in these 30 verses of Inspiration to teach us that where sin abounds, grace super-abounds. In election, in redemption, in providence, in forgiveness, and in blessedness, our great God, in his great grace, rises above and over rules the sin and folly of man for the salvation of his elect and the glory of his own great name. Yes, he rises above and over rules our sin and folly for our salvation, to the praise of the glory of his grace. And when he gets done, every creature in heaven, earth, and hell will see the wonder of his work and praise him for everything that has been. "Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake" (Ps. 115:1).