Tonight, I'm going to be speaking
from Hebrews chapter three. I've entitled the message today.
And there are two false refuges that men seek to hide in. One is yesterday and the other
is tomorrow. Those are the two false refuges
that we all seek to hide in. And I've entitled this message
today. I've entitled this message, Judah, Tamar, and the Gospel. Look in verse 36 of chapter 37, and the Midianites sold him,
Joseph, into Egypt and to Potiphar. an officer of Pharaoh's and captain
of the guard. Now look in chapter 39, verse
one, and Joseph was brought down to Egypt and Potiphar, an officer
of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the
hands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down. Now, the
story of Genesis 37 and 39 of Joseph being sold flows seamlessly without chapter
38. And yet God, the Holy Spirit,
has authored this bizarre, sordid story to teach
us in an almost shocking way of His gospel. Let's read this
chapter together and you'll see why I say this. I don't know
how many times when I have read this passage of scripture, I
thought, why is this here? And it came to pass at that time,
that time that, uh, Joseph was sold, that Judah went down from
his brethren and turn into a certain, a Dolomite whose name was Hira.
And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose
name was Shua, the Canaanite. This woman's name is never given.
And he took her and went in unto her and she conceived and bare
a son and called his name Er. And she conceived again and bare
a son and she called his name Onan. And she yet again conceived
and bare a son and called his name Shelah. And he was at Chezeb
when she bare him. Judah was at this other place.
He wasn't present at the birth of Shelah. And Judah took a wife
for heir, his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. This woman's
name is included in the genealogy of Christ. And she's the first
woman named. The Christ came through this
story. This gives us some idea of the
importance of this. Verse seven, and there Judas
firstborn was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord slew
him. And Judas said unto Onan, go
into 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. The first two boys are
killed by the Lord. Then said Judah to Tamar, his
daughter-in-law, remain a widow at thy father's house till Sheila,
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. I don't believe he had any intention
of giving this third son to this woman after what had happened.
I mean, my first two boys are dead, must be her fault. Verse 12, and in process of time,
the daughter of Shewaz Judah's wife died, the woman who bore
the three sons, and Judah was comforted and went up into his
sheep shears to Timnath, he and his friend Hira the Adullamite.
And it was told Tamar, saying, behold, thy father-in-law goeth
up to Timnath to shear his sheep. And she put her widow's garments
off from her and covered her with a veil and wrapped herself
in it in an open place, which is by the way of Timnath, for
she saw that Shelah was grown and he was not given unto wife.
When Judah saw her, He thought her to be a harlot
because she'd covered her face. And he turned unto her by the
way and said, go to, I pray thee, let me come into 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? And he said, I'll
send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, wilt thou give
me a pledge till thou send it? And he said, what pledge shall
I give thee? And she said, thy signet, thy seal, your identification. and thy bracelets and the staff
that's in thy hand. And he gave it her and came in
unto her and she conceived by him. And she arose and went away
and laid by her veil from her and put on the garments of her
widowhood, once again. 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. Then he asked the men of
that place, saying, where is the harlot who was openly by
the wayside? And they said, there was no harlot
in this place. And he returned to Judah and said, I can't find
her. And also the men of the place said there was no harlot
in this place. And Judah said, let her take it to her, lest
we be shamed. Behold, I sent this kid. Now
it's not found her. He said, let her have it. 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's with child by whoredom. And Judah said, bring her forth
and let her be burnt. Can't help but wonder where the
man was supposed to be that was involved in this, but he's not
even brought up. Bring her out. Let her be burnt. When she was brought forth, she
sent to her father-in-law saying, by the man whose these are, I'm
with child. And she said, discern, I pray
thee, whose are these? The signet and bracelets and
staff. And Jude acknowledged them and said, she hath been
more righteous than I. Because I gave her not to Sheila,
my son, and he knew her again no more. And it came to pass
in the time of her travail that, behold, twins were in her womb.
Now remember that Christ is going to come through this union. And
it came to pass when she travailed that the one put out his hand
and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread
saying, this came out first, trying to mark the firstborn.
And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold,
a brother came out. And she said, how's thou broken forth? This
breach be upon thee. Therefore, his name was called
Phares. And, behold, came out his brother
that had the scarlet thread upon the hand. And his name was called
Zerah." Judah, Tamar, and the gospel. This is one of the more sordid
stories in the Bible. And if you're like me, you've
wondered, why is this here? Why would such a story be presented? And why would it interrupt this
beautiful story of Joseph? Now, Judah is the man through
whom Christ the promised seed would come, the lion of the tribe
of Judah. Tamar is the first of five women
mentioned in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we
see the circumstances she had her child from. There is also
Rahab the harlot. There's Ruth. There's Bathsheba
and Mary. Those are the five women mentioned
in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this gives
us some idea of the significance and the importance of this story,
because the Christ, the son of God comes through this union
that God, the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to record. I love, uh,
Scripture it's evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah. Christ is called the Lion of
the tribe of Judah. He's the one who took the book
from the right hand of him that sat upon the throne in answer
to Judah's prophecy in Genesis chapter 49. And this is where
Veraz was born and the Christ came through him. It was Judah,
I think interestingly, who came up with the idea to sell his
brother Joseph. Look in Genesis 37 verse 26, and Judah said to his
brethren, what profit is it if we slay our brethren and conceal
his blood? Come, let us sell him to the
Ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him for he is our brother
and our flesh and his brethren were content. It was Judah's
idea to sell him. Now, maybe he had a good motive
in this. Maybe he wanted to deliver him
from his bloodthirsty brothers because he knew what they would
do. And that is why he came up with this idea. I'm not sure,
but I think this is interesting. Guess what Judas means in Hebrew. Judas and Judah are the same
name. Judah sold his brother. Judas sold, betrayed Christ with
the price of a slave. Now, as we read this passage
of scripture, we know Judah was not chosen because of his innocence. He was a sinful man, and that's
evident from this story. And as a matter of fact, Judah
was just as bad as Judas. Iscariot. And so are you and
I, my dear friends. So are you and I. Chapter 38, verse 1. And it came
to pass at that time that Judah went down from his brethren.
He left them. He went into a heathen land Maybe he thought, I want
to get away from these guys. He saw how evil they were, how
bloodthirsty they were, what they were going to do to his
brother, and he left them. And he turned into a certain
Adulamite, whose name was Hira. And Judah saw there a daughter
of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shua. And he took her,
and he went into her. She's not even named, but Judas
saw her, took her, and went into her. That certainly sounds like
aggressive behavior. And she became his wife. Verse three. And she conceived and bare son,
called his name Eir. She conceived again and bare
son and called his name Onan. And she yet again conceived and
bare a son and called his name Shelah. And he was, Judah was
at Jezeb, which, when she bare him, he wasn't even there. And
that place means false, lie. It appears at this time, Judah
was in a false place. Have you ever been in a false
place? A place that's a lie? Judah was at this time. He wasn't
even there to name his son when his son was born. He was an absentee
father at this time. Verse six. And Judah took a wife
for his heir, his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. Here we
have the introduction to Tamar. Judah selected this woman to
be, or this woman to be a wife to his firstborn son. Verse seven,
an heir Judah's firstborn was wicked in the sight of the Lord.
And the Lord slew him. Now, we're not told what he did,
but we're told what the Lord did. The Lord slew him. And you
can't help but see when the Lord judges someone instantly in an
unusual way. In the scriptures, it's usually
for religious sin. Did you know that? Nadab and Abihu offer up strange
fire to the Lord that the Lord didn't command. Fire comes down
from heaven and consumes them. Uzzah reaches forth and touches
the ark, which he was forbidden to touch. God killed him on the
spot. Uzziah presumes to be a priest. God strikes him with leprosy.
Generally, when people are judged instantly, it's for some kind
of religious sin. Now we're not told that that's
what he did, but we see what the Lord did to him. Verse eight,
and Judah said to Onan, go into thy brother's wife and marry
her and raise up seed to thy brother. That was the way it
was done back then. And Onan knew that the seed should
not be his and it came to pass when he went in to his brother's
wife that he spilled it on the ground lest that he should give
seed to his brother. Now there, I looked up on Sermon Audio and
there are very many sermons on that passage of scripture forbidding
any kind of birth control because of that. Is that what it means? I doubt it. I doubt it. I think
that Onan knew that the child would not be his. And he thought,
if I don't have a child, I'll get a bigger inheritance when
my dad dies. And I think that he had some kind of evil motive
in it, no doubt. And the thing, verse 10, the
things which he did displease the Lord, wherefore he slew him
also. Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law,
remain a widow at thy father's house till she let my son be
grown. where he said, lest peradventure, he also as his die as his brethren
did. Tamar went and dwelt in her father's
house. Now I don't believe that Judah
had any intention of giving his third son to this woman. I mean,
the first two die, the third probably will. This has something
to do with her. I'm keeping him away from her. And you understand
his thinking in that, after your two sons being killed, being
with this woman, somehow it's her fault, he thinks. Verse 12,
and in process of time, the daughter of Shua, Judah's wife died, the
woman that bore the three children and her name is never given.
And Judah was comforted. The time of mourning was over
and he went up into his sheep shears to Timnath. He and his
friend hired the Adullamite, the heathen, and the time of
sheep shears. What is the significance of that?
Well, everything I read says that's a festival. That's a festival. It's a time for everybody to
have a good time. It was a party. It was a festival.
Do I get that from the scriptures? No, but everybody that I've read
said that's what that was. Verse 13. And it was told Tamar,
saying, behold, thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnath to shear
his sheep. Now, she hadn't seen him in years. She knew who he
was. She knew what the promise was.
And she comes up with a very deceptive plan. And she put her
widow's garments off from her. Who knows how long she'd been
wearing them. And she covered her with a veil. and wrapped
herself and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath,
where this festival was going on. For she saw that she was
grown and she was not given unto him to wife. She saw that Judah
had not done what he promised he would do. And she knew something
about his disposition, evidently. Verse 15, when Judah saw her,
he thought her to be a harlot. because she'd covered her face.
He thought she was just a temple prostitute. And he turned to
her, by the way, evidently she knew he would probably act like
this, 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 to me?
What are you gonna pay me? And he said, well, here's my
pay. I'll send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, well,
thou give me a pledge till thou send it. I need a pledge. I need
to make sure you're going to do this. I'm not just going to
take this on face value that you're going to send me a kid
from the flock. Give me a pledge. Give me some proof. Give me some
something to let me know I'm going to have this. Verse 18,
and he said, what pledge shall I give thee? And she said, thy
signet, thy bracelets, and the staff, that is in thy hand. Now, Signet was a seal of identification. This is his identity. The bracelet
was the string that held it in place on his neck, and the staff
is what he walked with. This would be similar to you
giving somebody your driver's license, your passport, and your
social security number. You wouldn't do that, would you?
There'd be identity theft. But this is what he is giving
her as a pledge. He is giving her his identity. And he gave it her, and came
in under her, and she conceived by him. I think that was her
plan all along. She wanted to have a child. She wanted to have the heir.
She wasn't going to get it from Sheila. She deceived him, made
him think she was harlot and took his identity as a pledge. Verse 19, and she arose and went
away and laid by her veil from her and put on the garments of
her widowhood. And Judah, I guess after he gets
back home, sent the kid by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite,
to receive his pledge from the woman's hand. I want my identity
back. I want my passport back. I want all these things back.
And he asked for them back. Then he asked the men of that
place, saying, where is the harlot that was openly by the wayside?
And they said, there was no harlot in this place. And he returned
to Judah and said, I can't find her. And also the men of the
place said there was no harlot in this place. And Judah said,
let her take it to her. Let her have it then, lest we
be shamed. Behold, I sent this kid. Now
it's not found her. So let her have that identity.
Verse 24. And it came to pass about three
months after that it was told Judah, say, Tamar, thy daughter-in-law
played the harlot. also behold she's with child
by whoredom." And Judah said, bring her forth and let her be
burnt. Let her be burnt alive for this wicked conduct on her
part. Judah is an example of wherefore
thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judges
for you that judges doest the same things. Judah looked at
this wicked woman and said, Burn her. That's what she deserves
for committing such grotesque, flagrant sin. Let her be burnt
at the stake. And he is the one that got her
in this condition in the first place. A lot like me and you. We can be very hard on other
people for their sins, but we're justified. We're okay. We had a reason. Verse 25, when she was brought
forth to be burnt, she said to her father-in-law, by the man
whose these are, I am with child. And she said, discern, I pray
thee, whose are these, the signet, bracelets, and staff? And Judah acknowledged them and
said, she's been more righteous than I. She was wrong in what
she did, but I was wronger. I was wronger. Because that I
gave her not Shelah, my son, and he knew her again no more.
And it came to pass in the time of her travail, when she was
going to bear the children from Judah, that behold, twins were
in her womb. And it came to pass when she travailed that the one
put out his hand and the midwife took and bound upon his hand
a scarlet thread. Remember the scarlet thread in
the story of Rahab, the harlot, the scarlet thread that separated
her from everyone else. Same word, this scarlet thread
goes throughout the book of redemption. And it came to pass as he drew
back his hand that behold, his brother came out and she said,
how has this broke forth? This breach be upon thee. Therefore,
his name was called Fares. He was the firstborn, not the
one with the scarlet thread. And afterward came out her brother
that had the scarlet thread upon his hand. And his name was called
Zerah. From this sordid, unclean story,
we have the first woman mentioned in the genealogy of the Lord
Jesus Christ, Tamar. And no one can justify the sin
that's recorded in this story. Judah himself certainly does
not appear to be an innocent man, the way he left his brethren
and went to Canaan, he knew that that was forbidden. You'll remember
how his grandparents and his parents got so upset when his
grandfather and father went to Canaanite women and they wanted
that changed. That was wrong then, and maybe
Judah justified himself We're all good at that, aren't we?
We can justify and vindicate everything we do. He thought,
I need to get away from these guys. And he went down away from
his family. And then the way he sees this
woman, he saw her, he took her, he went into her. He seems to
be a man controlled by that sort of thing. And then he refuses
to give his third son to Tamar after seeing these first two
boys killed. I mean, you understand that,
he thought, but it was still wrong because that was the custom
at that time to raise up seed to your dead brother, and he
wouldn't do it after that. Tamar doesn't take a rocket scientist
to see what a deceitful woman she is. She sees she's not given
the son, and she deceives her father-in-law. She acts to be
a harlot, dresses herself up, keeps her identity disguised.
She knew exactly what she was doing, and she knew what she
wanted out of this. She wanted a baby from her father-in-law.
Now, this is evil. It's wrong. There's no way any
of this conduct can be justified. And then she gets his identity. You can be
sure that she planned this out, asking for his signet. That was
a seal. That's how Judah identified himself. Even the rope that kept it around
his neck and his staff to walk by, she wanted his entire identity
as a pledge. He gave it to her. His hypocrisy
is exposed in such an unusual way when your daughter-in-law's
a child. Bring her out and burn her. Put
her to death. Why, you're the one that brought
her into this position, but nothing is said about that. I think it's
interesting. A lot of times in the scripture,
the woman's brought out and exposed. The man stays covered. That's human being, human nature's
sinful covering. of things. Bring her out and
burn her. And then, first of all, how's
the gospel in this? Well, number one, it's through
the seed. Through the seed. The genealogical
seed. This is Abraham's seed. This
is Jacob's seed. This is Isaac's seed. The Christ
comes through this union. But here is what I believe the
gospel is so clearly in this passage of scripture. Verse 18,
what pledge shall I give thee? What's a pledge? What's a guarantee
of something else? You give the pledge. It's the
earnest money. It's the pledge. What pledge shall I give thee
that will make sure you get the kid? What pledge shall I give
thee? And she said, thy signet, thy
bracelets, and thy staff that's in thy hand, and he gave it her,
and came in to her, and she conceived. Now, what kept this woman from
being burnt alive? You know one thing. She had Judah's
identity. That's what kept her from being
burnt alive. When she was brought out to be
burnt, she brought out that signet, she brought out that bracelet,
she brought out that staff, and she said, whose are these? And
Jude acknowledged, they're mine. She's more righteous than I.
And that doesn't mean she was a righteous woman in and of herself.
What she did was wrong, but Judah's confessing what I did was wronger.
What she did was wrong, but what I did was wronger when I didn't
seek to give her my son that the seed would be continued. What kept her from being burned? She had Judah's identity. Now what is gonna keep me from
being judged by God and sent to hell and destroyed and burn
up? I have Christ's identity. That is the gospel. I have Christ's identity. Now how in the world would I
have Christ's identity How can that be? Because he took my identity. What do you mean by that? Well,
turn with me to the 69th Psalm. Psalm 69. I want to read verse 21. They gave me also gall for my
meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Now who
is speaking? The Lord Jesus Christ. And this
is preeminently a psalm of the cross. And we see that from those
words. Look in verse nine of this same
Psalm. For the zeal of thine house hath
eaten me up. And we know from John chapter
two that the disciples understood that these were the words of
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is Christ speaking as he
is in all the Psalms, but particularly we see it very clearly here in
Psalm 69. Verse one, Psalm 69, save me,
O God, for the waters are come into my soul. I sink in deep
mire. where there's no standing. I'm
coming to deep waters where the floods overflow me. I'm weary
of my crying. My throat is dried. Mine eyes
fail while I wait for my God. They that hate me without a cause
are more than the hairs of my head. Remember the Lord quoted
that in John chapter 15. They hated me without a cause. That's a quotation from Psalm
69. This is the Lord speaking. They hate me without a cause.
are more than the hairs of my head, they that would destroy
me, being mine enemies wrongfully are mighty, then I restore that
which I took not away. This is Christ speaking. Now
look what he says, O God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my
sins are not hid from thee. Notice he does not say, O God,
thou knowest Todd's foolishness, which has been charged to my
account. He does not say Todd's sins which
were imputed to me. He says thou knowest my foolishness. He took my identity. My sins
are not hid from thee. He took my identity. 2 Corinthians 5. Verse 21, for he God the Father hath made Him,
the Lord Jesus Christ, to be sin. Notice that to be is in italics,
for He hath made Him sin. Hence, He says, my sins. Not Todd's sins imputed to me,
my sins. For it made him sin for us who
knew no sin. He never sinned. He knew no sin. In Him is no sin. He never committed
a sin. Even when He was made sin, He
never sinned in His person. Why? That we might be made the
righteousness of God. There's His identity. That we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. Now just as truly as he took
my identity, I'm given his identity. It's what the Bible calls justification. We are made the very righteousness
of God. Christ's righteousness is my
identity. My fingerprints aren't on this
in any way. Christ's righteousness is person. is my identity. What kept Tamar from being burnt
at the stake? She had the identity of Judah. And these twins that are born,
what a powerful time for the gospel. The first hand comes
out, This is the firstborn, tie the string, the scarlet thread
around it, the hand pulls back in and there's a breach that
takes place. The one with the string was not the firstborn,
Phares comes out first through whom the Christ would come and
the other followed with the blood redemption sign. Conclusion. The only identity that I have
that would make me acceptable before God right now is the identity
of Jesus Christ the Lord. My fingerprints do not touch
this. If my fingerprints touch it,
it's no good. My walk is his walk, his staff. That is my identity. Now I want to ask you a question. Are you satisfied to have his
identity only? Nothing comes from you. Are you satisfied? with that,
or do you want a little of what you have done? You'd like added to his identity,
your experience, your growth, your progress, your understanding, your will, your acceptance, of
the offer, but just a little bit, just a little bit. Or do you want to have his identity
only? Nothing more, nothing less, nothing
else. His identity only. One last scripture, turn with
me to Philippians chapter three. Verse seven. This is Paul speaking and he
says, but what things were gained to me? Things that I counted
as positive, beneficial, his religion. You can read about
it in verse four. Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof
he may trust in the flesh, I more. circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the
Hebrews as touching the law, a Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting
the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law. Blameless. But what things were gained to
me that I thought would be to my benefit, Those I counted loss,
garbage for Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him. Not having my own righteousness. Not having my own identity. Not having anything that has
my fingerprints on it. Which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ. Notice he doesn't even
say my faith in Christ. The faith of Christ, his obedience,
his perfection. The righteousness which is of
God by faith. Now, are you willing to be saved? by his identity only. I don't want anything else. Nothing in my hands I bring. Oh, people, I want to give God
this. I wanna give God that, I wanna
give this, I wanna, nothing in my hands I bring simply to thy
cross I cling. Now in this strange, sordid story,
we're given the essence of the gospel. I'm saved by Christ. only. Let's pray. Lord, we stand amazed at thy
word. And Lord, we would like Paul
win Christ and be found in him. Not having our own righteousness,
which is of the law, which is nothing more than filthy rags.
but to be saved by the faith of Christ, the righteousness
of God, which is by faith. Lord bless this message for your
glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.