'Abraham was the father of Isaac,
and Isaac the father of Jacob,
and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar...'
Matthew 1: 2,3a
I am not a big history buff, that would be my husband. I appreciate history but have never really taken the time to listen, study and most importantly learn from it. Someone once said, "if you can control what people believe about the past, you can affect how they experience the present and shape how they will view the future." This is not a political blog, but I will say that the censoring of our children's history books in the school systems is a major travesty. By altering our nation's and world's history to suit secular belief out of 'tolerance' to other cultures and beliefs is sad, unfair (to our children) and downright wrong.
I appreciate the truth of God's Word immensely. It ministers to my heart in the darkest times and God and His Word never change. Genealogies are a part of the Word however that I have always skimmed through, if not skipped over entirely. I have never been convinced of their importance and nearly all of the names are impossible to pronounce. I would rather get to the stuff that will affect my life. A list of obscure names is surely not that, therefore I have always moved on. Not this time. There is a genealogy (I say 'a' because I have yet to really study the others) that if you allow it, could change your life. Let me explain.
I have served in many capacities within the church, but Senior High has captivated my heart. The raw confession of a high schooler gets me every time and seeing what God is doing and what Satan is scheming amongst these young people is what keeps me in the ministry. I had a girl look me in the eyes and say, "Tiffany, you don't know where I have been, what I have done or who I have become as a result. Your Gospel is great, but I know it's not for me because there is no way that your God would want me." The brokenness was evident and her stoic demeanor to mask the pain was impressive at best. Oddly, I found my answer for her in, of all places, a list of obscure names in the first chapter of Matthew.
I am not sure why, but the names of women are typically omitted. I don't believe that God created women as a lesser being but in general, you will not find a woman's name listed in a genealogy. As I read through the genealogy of Jesus, the Holy Spirit stopped me each time I read a woman's name. I would encourage you to take some time to read Matthew 1 and if you count with me, you will see 5 names of females listed, one of them being Mary, the humble teenage girl that gave birth to our Savior. The other 4 may not mean anything to you, but I am hoping to change that and give you hope in the process.
The first female I read was Tamar (tay-mar). I have heard that name but knew nothing about her. You can find her story, her remarkable story, in Genesis 38. I know the culture was quite different than the culture today, but as I read her story I was astonished. The pain that this woman lived with blew me away. The Bible does not speak of the shame or the pain, but as a woman I know it was there. As you read through this remarkable story on your own, I pray the Spirit would speak to your heart. In the meantime, I will do my best to paraphrase.
Judah took a wife for himself and by her had three sons. His first son, named Er, was given a wife name Tamar. Er turned out to be a bad seed, a wicked man whose wickedness God only tolerated for so long before killing him. Judah, Tamar's father-in-law, told his next son Onan to "go into her and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her and give her a son". You see, in this day in age, a woman's value was derived form the children she bore, namely the sons. So, Onan did as he was told, kind of. The Bible says he wasted his semen in the ground. I know it sounds crude, but as I read this I was shocked. Basically, Onan used Tamar to fulfill his lustful desires and had no desire to dignify her at all. Rather, right before climax, he dishonored her continually by pulling out and allowing his semen to go to waste so as to purposely withhold children from her. As I mentioned before, a woman's dignity and value was found in the children she bore, and the fact that Onan was purposely withholding this from her, was the most hurtful thing he could do to her. True to God's faithfulness, He only tolerated the wickedness for so long, before he struck Onan dead as well. Judah, having struck out twice, still has no grandsons. He commands Tamar to wait for his last son Shelah (God only knows how long this would be!), so out of obedience, she remained. The day came when she thought Shelah was of age, so she removed her widow's clothing and replaced it with a veil. She went and sat at the town gate and waited patiently. Judah comes walking along (keep in mind--this is her father-in-law) and sees her, thinking she is a prostitute. Apparently, he has some sexual 'needs' at this time and solicits her services. Being a submissive woman, she complies but receives his signet, his cord and staff in the process. She becomes pregnant--with twins--and three months later, Judah is told that Tamar has been immoral and she is pregnant as a result. He summons her with the intent to put her to death by burning (no, I am not making this up!). She sends the signet, the cord and the staff ahead of her and says, 'I am pregnant by the owner of these things. Identify the man.' Judah realizes that they are his, and that his sexual rendezvous in the lust of the moment was not with a prostitute but rather by with his daughter-in-law! She gave birth to twins, named Perez and Zerah, and it is Perez that would join the lineage of our blessed Savior, Jesus Christ.
Whew! Let that settle for a moment. First, a woman's name in fairly insignificant. When we see the name of a female listed, it means something. Tamar's name is the first female listed in the lineage of Jesus. Let's keep in mind that this lineage was chosen before the creation of the earth. God knew that His creation would turn away from Him, fall prey to sinful desires and desperately need a Savior. From the beginning of time, we see God setting the stage for the entrance of His Son, Jesus Christ, into this lost and fallen world. Everyone spoke of this coming Savior, but no one anticipated how God would do this. Humanity anticipated a king in all his splendor coming from a royal and dignified line. Rather, our Savior came through a teenage girl, in a barn surrounded by cattle, through a line of people littered with scandal, pain, prostitutes and murderers (we'll get to that later). What does this mean to you and how does this speak to the pain of my senior high girl? God does not require perfection, just willingness.
What blesses my heart the most was God's awareness of Tamar's pain and lack of dignity. I can't imagine what it would be like to a.)be married to an evil man then b.)raped continually by his brother and then c.)be solicited by my father-in-law only to then finally get pregnant and bear his children. Yuck. No thank you. I don't know how Tamar's story ended, but I do know that in spite of her pain and her shame, God had an ultimate plan. He was preparing the way for the birth of His Son, the Savior and Redeemer of all that which is lost and depraved. What better way to do this than to use that which is lost and depraved to do so. Nothing is mistake. There is no pain, no sordid story, no shame, that God can not use for His glory and our blessing. Why didn't God send His Son through a royal bloodline rich in history and beauty? Because there is no such thing. Every line is made of sinful people, people riddled with selfish ambition, lustful desires and greed. As we take a closer look at the very lineage of Jesus Christ, the only perfect human, it is important that remember that God had a purpose in the people He chose for this Royal line. He is speaking to our brokenness. If He can use a woman with no dignity, husband or 'value' to help usher in our Redeemer, then just maybe, He has a purpose for your pain and life as well.
<><tce
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