1 00:00:00,001 --> 00:00:08,520 Amen. Alrighty, if you got a Bible, turn that baby to Genesis chapter 38. I just want you 2 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:19,200 to know this is a little risque. So, if you got little ears in here, you might want to 3 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:29,720 plug them or find something different for them for a minute. It's pretty wild, this 4 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:39,920 chapter. We left off last time in Genesis 37 when Joseph's brother sold their little brother, 5 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:47,300 did not listening to his cries. However, this one older brother, Judah, he had the bright idea, 6 00:00:47,300 --> 00:00:53,360 "Well, let's don't kill him." Right? Bless his heart. "Let's don't kill him. Let's just sell him." 7 00:00:53,360 --> 00:01:04,240 And so, you know the story. They sell him and he's in shackles and he's on his way to Egypt. And then 8 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:11,920 we have a detour. All of a sudden, we're in chapter 38 and it's just strange because we 9 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,640 think we're going to follow the life of Joseph when we're going to, but there's a little bit 10 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:24,880 of a detour here in chapter 38 and it's Judah. And so, let's pray and we'll look at this bizarre 11 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:33,920 chapter. Father, thank you for your word that is, it is truth. And Lord, you don't pull any punches. 12 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:41,760 And we thank you for that. We thank you that you call a spade a spade here and you pull back the 13 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:47,360 veil and you show us everything that is truly in the heart of man. And that we know that apart from 14 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:54,400 you, Lord, we can do nothing good. And in and of ourselves, Lord, there's nothing good in us. We 15 00:01:54,400 --> 00:02:00,400 are desperately wicked. And so, we pray for your anointing, pray for your touch, Lord. You bring 16 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:07,640 a goodness to us that we otherwise don't have. And so, just take this word and maybe encourage, 17 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:15,920 maybe convict, but use it, Lord, for your glory and use it to give understanding to your people, 18 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:21,400 myself included, Lord. And so, we love you. We praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. 19 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:29,280 So, here we are. If you have a Bible, we're going to take this off in six to 10 verse chunks. And 20 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:36,360 I'm going to start with the first 10 verses here in chapter 38. It says, "It came to pass as at 21 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:42,840 that time that Judah departed from his brothers and visited a certain Adulamite whose name was 22 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:51,800 Hera. And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shewa. And he married 23 00:02:51,800 --> 00:03:00,120 her and went into her. And so, she conceived and bore a son and he called his name Er." There you 24 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:11,120 go, moms. If you're going to have a boy, "Er." "She conceived again and bore a son and she called 25 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:20,960 his name Onan." This is Onan the barbarian. Just kidding. That's pretty bad, wasn't it? Okay. "And 26 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:32,000 she conceived again and bore a son and called his name Shalah. And he was at Chezib when she bore 27 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:43,880 him. Then Judah took a wife for Er," he grew up quick, "his firstborn and her name was Tamar. But 28 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:52,000 Er," Judah's firstborn, "was wicked in the sight of the Lord and the Lord killed him. And Judah said 29 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:59,840 to Onan, 'Go into your brother's wife and marry her and raise up an heir to your brother.' But 30 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:10,080 Onan knew the heir would not be his. And it came to pass when he went into his brother's wife that 31 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:17,480 he admitted on the ground, lest he should give her, give an heir to his brother. And the thing 32 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:27,760 which he did displeased the Lord, therefore he killed him also." God's not afraid to kill you. 33 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:37,800 And you know, we see in other places where the Lord had killed people, but just backing up to 34 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:42,900 the beginning there, Judah says he'd departed from his brothers, right? He says like, "This 35 00:04:42,900 --> 00:04:51,240 drama is, this family drama stuff is way too much for me. I'm out." Right? Dad's upset. He's telling 36 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:56,640 us that he's going to mourn until the day he dies. He's going to mourn the loss of Joseph. And he 37 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:03,920 won't be comforted. And Joseph's demise was in our hands. And now I got to live with this guy. 38 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:09,600 I'm just gone. I'm out. And so Judah moves to the north. No doubt when they were herding sheep and 39 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:14,640 stuff up there, he saw certain places that he might have kind of liked. And it was in Canaan, 40 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:23,320 and he went up there and he sees some Canaanite hottie, and he marries her. And we know that as 41 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:31,120 we have gone through the book of Genesis, that was a no-no, right? The heart of Isaac and Rebecca was 42 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:38,360 grieved when Esau married Canaanite women. Why? Because their worship was so perverse and so 43 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:44,480 wicked. They were into all kinds of dark stuff spiritually, and they knew that it would drag him 44 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:54,120 down. Because girls, you've got the power, man. Right? And women seem to be more spiritual or 45 00:05:54,120 --> 00:06:00,920 have a desire for more, have a greater desire for spiritual things more so than men. And we see 46 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:07,840 King Solomon and all his wisdom and his greatness and his Achilles heel was foreign women that 47 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:17,520 worshiped a God different than Yahweh, the God of creation and the God of Israel. And so Judah, 48 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:29,600 he's out. And when you go out and you leave the blessing of God and you're out from under that 49 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:35,320 and you go do your own thing, when all hell breaks loose, please don't blame God. That's on you. 50 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:42,480 'Cause the Lord would have you be close to him and he would have you be under the spout where 51 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:52,800 the blessings flow out. And Judah, no doubt, had seen his dad's relationship with his God. And so 52 00:06:52,800 --> 00:07:01,960 he goes to the north and finds that place. He settles in and no doubt he's trying to run from 53 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:10,640 trouble. But have you noticed when you run from trouble, that seems to be all you find? Maybe is 54 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:17,120 this 'cause the trouble's right here in your own heart. You can't run from it, right? You can't 55 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:28,540 cover it up with some strong whiskey or some drugs because it always seems to come back to the 56 00:07:28,540 --> 00:07:36,840 surface. Trouble does. What you have to do is you have to face your trouble, confess your trouble 57 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:45,080 to the God of heaven who can actually do something about it. And he can give you a reprieve from your 58 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:51,680 trouble. The Bible says if we confess our sin, God's faithful and just to forgive us our sin 59 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:57,520 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But it just, if you don't and you try to run from it, 60 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:03,400 you can run, but you cannot hide because your own wicked heart goes with you everywhere you go. 61 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:11,800 And so he meets this girl, "Hey, maybe I'll just settle down right here in Canaan land and see how 62 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:19,360 it goes." So sure enough, his little, some commentator believes she's a common law bride, 63 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:24,960 right? He just lays with her. She gets pregnant, has a boy, calls him Ur. The first one, it says 64 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:33,280 that he was wicked. Doesn't tell us what he did, just that he was wicked. Is that you? That's me. 65 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:40,840 Desperately wicked, right? The heart of man. It's funny as a pastor how I feel like I have 66 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:49,600 to constantly hammer on this thing, the depravity of man, because people just want to think that 67 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:58,260 man is basically good. Man is not basically good. You're not good. I'm not good. Our babies 68 00:08:58,260 --> 00:09:14,040 aren't good. And usually they display that quite early in life. Selfish little boogers. But it just 69 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:23,000 says, "God set up, you're wicked, I'm killing you." Does he have the right to do that? Right? 70 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:28,500 Absolutely, he has the right to do that. God has the right to kill you or I. Are we not his 71 00:09:28,500 --> 00:09:36,760 creation? Right? I just read it this morning, and this morning's reading in Isaiah. What right has 72 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:46,940 the thing that is made have the right to question him who made him? You have no right to question 73 00:09:46,940 --> 00:09:53,640 the one who made you. Right? You don't have that right. God reserves that right to himself, 74 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:59,760 just like a potter does the clay. The potter can build a beautiful pot, killing it, everything, 75 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:03,980 look at it for a while and think, "I don't like that no more. I'm going to squish it into dust 76 00:10:03,980 --> 00:10:11,900 and start over." He has the right to do that. And God has that right as well. People don't like that. 77 00:10:11,900 --> 00:10:19,320 Well, that ain't fair. What do you mean it's not fair? God's not about fairness, he's about justice. 78 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:26,600 What's just? And the Bible says that we're all under condemnation, and that's why Christ came, 79 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:34,600 because we're all under condemnation. Whoever has the Son has life. He who does not have the 80 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:42,200 Son does not have life, but he is condemned already. Why? Because we fall short of God's glory. You and 81 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:52,320 I, we sin. We come out of the birth canal that way with a sinful bent. I've seen it over and over and 82 00:10:52,320 --> 00:11:01,460 over again. And myself, and my wife, and our children, you know, your children, they're double 83 00:11:01,460 --> 00:11:09,860 bread sinners. Right? Just in Western terms. Double bread, that's right. They got sin on both sides. 84 00:11:09,860 --> 00:11:22,720 And so he kills this one son, and then it says, "And Judah said to Onan, 'Go into your brother's 85 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:29,360 wife and marry her and raise up an heir for your brother.'" And this is, he's invoking the, 86 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:36,980 what they called the lever right bow, rather the lever right custom, which was for a brother to 87 00:11:36,980 --> 00:11:45,260 take his dead brother's wife to have relations with her, that he would raise up an heir or a son 88 00:11:45,260 --> 00:11:52,540 for his dead brother. And it was in many of the cultures then, we see it established in the book 89 00:11:52,540 --> 00:11:59,320 of Deuteronomy and in the law, when God gives a lot to Moses, that it was the same idea. And praise 90 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:14,000 God for it. Because through that custom is where Jesus came from. And it was through the Moabite 91 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:23,820 woman, Ruth, and Boaz, the kinsman, redeemer. And it's found in Ruth chapter three. I'm just gonna 92 00:12:23,820 --> 00:12:30,840 read it to you, kind of what goes on there. Some of you know this story. Naomi and her husband, 93 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:39,640 Limelik, and their boys had moved to Moab, Limelik, and the two boys died. And Ruth comes back to 94 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:49,040 Israel and to Cain, the promised land, and Ruth comes with her. And there's no heir whatsoever. 95 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:59,040 And so Boaz is the closest relative to Limelik and the boys, and so he finds Ruth. And here in 96 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:06,600 verse 10, it says, "Moreover, Ruth the Moabites, the widow of Malon, I have acquired as my wife, 97 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:12,920 to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not 98 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:19,400 be cut off from among the brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witness this day, 99 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:25,160 and all the people who were at the gate." And the elder says, "We are witnesses. The Lord make the 100 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:31,800 woman who is coming to your house," listen, "like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of 101 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:38,240 Israel. And may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. May your house be like the 102 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:45,640 house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah because of the offspring, which the Lord will give you 103 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:52,040 from the young woman." And so he was going to raise up an offspring and actually be a grandson 104 00:13:52,040 --> 00:14:03,000 to a Limelik. And it's a powerful thing when it's done right. But when you got people in play that 105 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:09,440 don't love God, that don't respect God, that won't do things God's way, man, do you got problems. 106 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:17,080 Have you found that in your own life? You try to go do something and you kind of forget to seek the 107 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:22,880 Lord. It just kind of sounds like a good deal, you know. Might pad your pocket a little bit, and you 108 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:29,040 get into it and you just, things go crazy. Things go awry. People are cheating you and you're just 109 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:43,000 going, "Wow, why did I do that?" And so these guys are people who are actually trying to practice a 110 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:49,520 custom that God can bless, but because their heart is so wicked, he can't do it. The Bible says that 111 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:57,440 God is angry with the wicked every day. And that's people who are bent on it. Now I believe that I'm, 112 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:02,880 that I have a wicked heart. I believe there's a goodness there because of what Christ has done in 113 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:09,400 my life. And he brings a goodness to me. But I know that apart from him, like Paul said, right, 114 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:16,680 apart from God, there's, there in me, there's no good thing. And this guy, it's like he gives 115 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:25,200 himself to this onan. And so he's willing to have sex with his dead brother's wife, right? We see 116 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:30,640 back over in Genesis, and I didn't mark it, so it's going to take me a second to get there. But 117 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:39,000 it says, "And Judah said to Onan, 'Go into your brother's wife and marry her and raise up an 118 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:46,640 heir to your brother.' But Onan knew that the heir would not be his. And it came to pass when he went 119 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:55,320 into his brother's wife that he admitted on the ground." That's, that's kind of gross, but that's 120 00:15:55,320 --> 00:16:02,880 in the Bible. I got chastised. I got chastised in a letter from a woman because I said consummation 121 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:20,960 from this pulpit. I wish she was here today, because it's gonna get worse. So, and this is a 122 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:27,840 bizarre verse. I remember before I was a Christian, an old man telling me, he made reference to this, 123 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:38,220 this right here. And, and he was justifying his own infidelity to his wife. He says, "You know, 124 00:16:38,220 --> 00:16:46,960 the Bible says that it's, it's better to have sex with a whore than to put it on the ground." And 125 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:53,560 I'm going, "What? Where does the Bible say that?" And this is the, this is the text that he was 126 00:16:53,560 --> 00:17:00,840 trying to justify that with. That's not true. That's not what this is talking about, right? Or 127 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:15,300 some in Christian circles, they will use this to condemn the, the act of masturbation. I just said 128 00:17:15,300 --> 00:17:38,460 it in church. Yeah, I did. And was somebody clucking? And so, then a bunch of teenage boys 129 00:17:38,460 --> 00:17:46,280 read this and they go, "We're all dead." Right? "We're all dead." But that's not what it's talking 130 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:56,800 about either, right? That's not what it's talking about. And, and so this guy doing what he did, 131 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:07,800 it was what was in his heart. He despised, he despised the idea of raising up an heir for his 132 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:16,820 dead brother. He despised that idea. That, that life-giving, right, plan that God enacted later 133 00:18:16,820 --> 00:18:24,520 in the law, that that dead man would have an heir that would be raised up. And he despised that in 134 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:33,940 his heart. He despised the life of a child coming into the world. And some have used this, this 135 00:18:33,940 --> 00:18:42,100 verse also as family planning methods, right? And so, and none of that holds water. What God 136 00:18:42,100 --> 00:18:51,240 looks at, what he looks at here today, right, is not necessarily what you've done, but the heart 137 00:18:51,240 --> 00:19:00,160 at which you do it. God looks at the heart. The Bible says man looks at the outward, right? 1 138 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:06,560 Samuel 16 verse 7. Man looks at the outward, right? And men have looked at the outward of 139 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:12,120 this particular scripture and they've twisted it all up, right? There's no more twisted scripture 140 00:19:12,120 --> 00:19:26,200 than Genesis 38. Sounds like a rock group, right? Twisted scripture. But it's because, 141 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:32,720 it's because this guy's heart was so terribly wicked that not wanting, and it says because he 142 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:40,080 knew, he knew the heir would not be his. And this thing, which he did, displeased the Lord, 143 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:48,640 therefore he killed him also. Now, this is the first place that we see God himself literally 144 00:19:48,640 --> 00:20:00,920 killing somebody, right? Later, you'll see it in Acts chapter 5, I believe it is, where Sapphira 145 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:06,480 and Ananias, Ananias and Sapphira, where God killed them for lying to the Lord, right? And 146 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:15,240 when God kills somebody, it usually gets people's attention. And that's what the Bible says, that 147 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:27,560 it struck fear in the people's hearts. And so, the Lord kills both of his sons and he has a third son, 148 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:39,360 right? That he don't end up giving to Tamar, this woman. And, you know, I guess you would be 149 00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:46,320 suspicious after two of your sons had been killed by the Lord with this woman. In verse 11, it says, 150 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:52,080 "Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, 'Remain a widow in your father's house till my 151 00:20:52,080 --> 00:21:00,440 son Shala is grown.' For he said, 'Lest he also be like his brothers.' And Tamar went and dwelt in 152 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:05,880 her father's house. Now, in the process of time, the daughter of Shewa, Judah's wife, died. And 153 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:14,080 Judah was comforted and went up to his sheep shears in Timnah and he and his friend, Hira and the 154 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:19,720 Edulamite, the Edulamite, and it was told Tamar saying, 'Look, your father-in-law is going up to 155 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:26,760 Timnah to shear his sheep.' And so, she took off her widow's garments, covered herself with a veil, 156 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:35,560 and wrapped herself and sat in the open place which was on the way to Timnah. For she saw 157 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:42,160 that Shala was grown and she was not given to him as a wife. And when Judah saw her, he thought she 158 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:48,760 was a harlot because she had covered her face. And then he turned to her, by the way, and said, 159 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:56,260 'Please let me come into you.' For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. So she said, 160 00:21:56,260 --> 00:22:02,480 'What will you give me that you may come into me?' And he said, 'I will give you a young goat from 161 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:08,640 the flock.' And so she said, 'Will you give me a pledge till you send it?' And he said, 'What pledge 162 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:15,960 shall I give you?' And she said, 'Your signet and cord and your staff, that is in your hand.' Then 163 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:21,920 he gave them to her and went into her and she conceived by him. And so she arose and went away 164 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:32,120 and laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood." Sterling, the guy that does 165 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:36,880 the camera back here, he always comes up to me, "Okay, Scotty, what's the title of your message?" 166 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:51,400 And I said, "The title of my message today is Judah, comma, really? Question mark." This is 167 00:22:51,400 --> 00:23:00,360 some wild stuff. These people are sinners, right? And so Tamar, right, she's trying to get even. 168 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:09,160 Isn't that amazing how sometimes our sin, when we see it on somebody else, how bad it looks? Right, 169 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:14,840 she's trying to get, "He should have given me his other son by now. He's grown and he's not." So 170 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:19,480 she plays the harlot, dresses up like a harlot. She's impersonating a harlot. She's not really 171 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:24,320 a harlot, but she's impersonating a harlot. And actually she goes through the act like a harlot 172 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:38,160 would. And it's just like, "Oh, what tangled webs we weave." And so Judah Caesar, his wife has died. 173 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:48,400 And for some reason he thinks it's okay to go into a harlot. You know, the psyche of people 174 00:23:48,400 --> 00:24:00,040 sometimes just fascinates me how they can justify these things, especially sexual things. It's just, 175 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:06,440 it's bizarre. I know guys that have gone through a divorce and they because they think, "Now because 176 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:12,320 I'm not married, I'm okay to sleep with whoever, right? I'm not committing adultery." No, you're 177 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:20,520 fornicating. What's the difference, right? "Well, I am a consulting adult." Since when is it okay for 178 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:30,960 consulting adults to be perverse and to do wicked things? Sexuality God has put within the confines, 179 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:42,080 right, of marriage. Hetero marriage, I might have to say nowadays, right? A man and a woman in a 180 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:52,760 covenant relationship, that's where sex is acceptable. And some people know, "We can just 181 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:58,960 shack. We can just play the game." No, you're not in a covenant. God is a God of covenant. He 182 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:03,960 established the covenant. He said, "This is what you do. You commit your covenant, you consummate 183 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:13,800 that order." Right? It's not rocket science. And it's blessed by God. God blesses the sex act when 184 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:20,760 it's done his way, right? He loves it because of what it produces. He loves babies. God loves 185 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:34,560 babies, right? God's not into this population control thing, right? He loves babies. So we 186 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:40,920 just get all twisted up. If people would just read God's word and try to align their life, 187 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:45,200 you're not going to do it perfectly. You're sinful. You're going to stumble. You're going to fall. I 188 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:51,080 understand that, right? I'm not coming down on people, on sinners, because I'm coming down on 189 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:57,120 myself if I do, because he knows to do good and does not do it. To him it is sin. I understand 190 00:25:57,120 --> 00:26:03,560 that. But it's our pursuit. And it's the heart that God is looking at. Just like he looked at 191 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:10,440 this man's heart and he saw in it, he saw no good thing. Not even a desire to know God or to do 192 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:16,520 things God's way. And yet there was great blessing available to him, just like there is to you and I, 193 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:27,880 if we do things God's way. So here's Tamar. Obviously she wants to have a child, right? 194 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:36,880 And that culture was very much a sign of success to have a little one, especially to raise up an 195 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:46,800 heir, a son. And so she makes a deal. And another goat's involved. These goats keep being involved 196 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:55,000 in all these, you know, all the scuttlebutt that goes on in these families, right? Whether it's 197 00:26:55,000 --> 00:27:01,640 Isaac, or excuse me, whether it's Jacob deceiving Isaac or Jacob's son's deceiving him with the skin 198 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:17,480 of a goat. Now Tamar has duped Judah into this act and, poor goat, right? But she wanted a pledge 199 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:25,040 to make sure she got the goat. And so she got his signet and cord. The signet was Judah's, 200 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:30,960 it was like his signature signet, right? It's like his signature. And they could press it into clay 201 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:37,600 and then it would harden and that would be the sign of ownership. And then the cord was usually 202 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:45,440 personally identified as well. And then his staff. So all three of these things, all pointing to 203 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:50,720 Judah. Many believed that the signet mark could be on the staff as well, but it was his sign of 204 00:27:50,720 --> 00:28:00,520 authority. His staff was his authority. And so he gave all three of them to her. And 205 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:09,280 she took them and then disappeared. She didn't keep doing that, right? She had a point she was 206 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:21,080 gonna prove and she did it in a deceitful and a seductive way with her father-in-law. Because 207 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:33,840 he thought she was a prostitute, but she wasn't. And so verse 20 says, got it here somewhere. 208 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:41,000 "And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend, the Adulamite, to receive his pledge from 209 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:46,920 the woman's hand. But he did not find her. And then he asked the men of that place saying, 210 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:54,440 'Where is the harlot who was openly by the roadside?' And they said, 'There was no harlot 211 00:28:54,440 --> 00:29:01,040 in this place.' So he returned to Judah and said, 'I cannot find her.' Also the men of the place 212 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:08,600 said, 'There was no harlot in this place.' And then Judah said, 'Let her take them for herself, 213 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:16,200 lest we be shamed. For I sent this young goat and you have not found her.' And it came to pass about 214 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:21,600 three months after that Judah was told saying, 'Tomorrow your daughter-in-law has played the 215 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:28,000 harlot. Furthermore she is with child by her harlot tree.' So Judah said, 'Bring her out and 216 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:40,600 let her be burned.'" So now he's faced with his own sin, notice, but he wants the judgment to be 217 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:47,840 on her and wants her to be burned. And there it is again. Our sin always looks so much worse on 218 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:58,600 someone else. So he goes to pay up, right? Kudos, he's gonna pay, gonna give her the goat, but can't 219 00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:06,160 find her. And so then he finds out she's pregnant from harlot tree. And so it's okay for him to be 220 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:13,440 with a harlot, but it's not okay for her to be a harlot. She needs to be burned to death. And that's 221 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:28,600 just the way we are. And his condemnation was actually pretty short-lived, right? Bless her 222 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:35,480 heart, she kind of crossed her T's and dotted her I's when she got the signet, the cord, and the staff. 223 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:43,000 And so verse 25 says, "When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law saying, 'By the man 224 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:50,600 to whom these belong I am with child.' And she said, 'Please determine whose these are, the signet, 225 00:30:50,600 --> 00:31:02,920 the cord, and the shaft.'" And the staff. And so he is exposed and he knows it. And I think that's 226 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:10,840 a very important point. When you're exposed. When you're exposed for your sin and you know it, 227 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:20,000 what do you do? What do you do with your sin? Years ago I had some people with some little packets, 228 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:25,160 little booklets that stopped by my door at my house. Actually, no, I was going hunting. That's 229 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:28,600 what it was. And I had stopped at this parts store, it was early in the morning. And these 230 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:33,280 two come up with their little pamphlets and started asking me about the end of the world 231 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:41,200 and all these things. And I said, "Well, I'm ready for the end of the world." I said, "Jesus has 232 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:47,280 forgiven me our sin." I said, "What do you do about your sin?" And they didn't have an answer 233 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:54,840 for me. I said, "Obviously you believe you sin, correct?" "Well, yeah, but we just believe our 234 00:31:54,840 --> 00:32:04,720 good works will outweigh our bad works." I don't work that way. But when you're busted and when 235 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:10,840 you're confronted with your sin, what do you do? Right? The Bible tells us that we're to repent, 236 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:16,080 we're to turn from it. Right? That's what repentance means. It means to change directions. 237 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:25,840 And Judah seems to understand that here in verse 26 when he says, "So Judah acknowledged them," 238 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:31,680 right? His signet, his cord and his staff, "She has been more righteous than I. I, 239 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:43,080 because I did not give her to Shilah my son and he never knew her again." Busted. You got me. I've 240 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:50,040 sinned. This is wrong. I don't know if he said, "Please forgive me," but he never approached her 241 00:32:50,040 --> 00:33:02,280 again. Though he didn't know it was her to start with. And so I think Judah is being shaped by this 242 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:10,560 chapter. Right? I don't know about you, but I know that my failure when acknowledged God can use it 243 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:16,880 together for good. Right? When I acknowledge my failure, God can use it together for good in my 244 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:22,960 life. And doesn't mean there's still not going to be consequences. That just comes with the territory, 245 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:30,960 the wages of sin is death. But there's something very powerful about acknowledging and being 246 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:38,080 forgiven. It says in verse 27, "Now it came to pass at the time for giving birth that behold, 247 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:44,560 twins were in her womb. And so it was when she was giving birth that the one put out his hand, 248 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:50,840 and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand saying, 'This one came out first.' 249 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:57,960 Then it happened as he drew back his hand that his brother came out unexpectedly. And she said, 250 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:06,120 'How did you break through this breach be upon you? Therefore his name is called Perez.' Afterward, 251 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:13,360 his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand and his name was called Zara." And 252 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:21,320 that's the end of this chapter. And like I've said before, when you go through chapters in the Bible 253 00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:30,420 like this, you always look for Jesus. Right? Christ is on every page. He really is. And in 254 00:34:30,420 --> 00:34:35,880 every story. And in this story you say, "Well, where could Jesus be in this story?" Look at all 255 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:45,280 this sin. Look at Ur. He was wicked. Onan, he was wicked. Tamar, she was deceptive. Judah was just 256 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:57,360 a dog. Right? He's just a dog. And yet the results from these people's lives come good news. You know 257 00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:06,720 what gospel means? The good news. It comes from this very thing, though Onan wouldn't do it, 258 00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:15,760 and Judah in his desires and passion after his wife died causes him to go into a harlot that 259 00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:23,840 actually would get pregnant with twin boys, and the Messiah would come from one of them. In fact, 260 00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:33,360 I'm convinced that Jesus is pictured in both these boys. Zara and Perez. Zara, it's interesting. 261 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:43,760 Zara means dawn. Seeing the light, but not seeing the sun. Right? So the hand comes out. Only 262 00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:51,320 partially is this baby born, and they put a scarlet thread. I don't know if you've ever kind 263 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:56,200 of done his study throughout scripture on the scarlet thread. It's picturesque of the blood 264 00:35:56,200 --> 00:36:01,760 of Christ that was shed for you and me. Right? And so they put the scarlet thread around the 265 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:08,600 little boy's hand, and he brings it back in. And then all of a sudden his brother wrestles, 266 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:15,000 and he gets out in front of him. What, symbolically, what does this mean? What do you think 267 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:22,840 about Jesus? Jesus, when he came, he was veiled. God was veiled in the flesh. Oh, I had a phone 268 00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:30,280 call. What day was that? Friday. I had this phone call Friday. This guy's trying to convince me that 269 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:40,280 Jesus is just the son of God. He's not God. Man, did I get mad. Felt like punching my telephone. 270 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:47,600 Take that. His name was Nelson. Right? And he's one of them. He's so much smarter than me. Right? 271 00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:55,620 The guy's just brilliant. But he's way off on his theology. He's greatly mistaken, not knowing the 272 00:36:55,620 --> 00:37:04,360 scriptures or the power of God. So I don't even know why I was telling that story, but... About 273 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:11,280 who Jesus is, right? Jesus in his humanity, he was veiled. We only seen a little part of him. As he 274 00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:16,320 went to the cross as a man, you know, marred more than any man, Isaiah tells us, that you could not 275 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:23,000 even recognize him as a human being on the cross. Right? And so the thought is, he's just a man that 276 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:31,600 died and went into the ground. That's the picture of Zara. We just had a glimpse of him. But then, 277 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:42,720 like Perez, he breaks through. Right? Jesus breaks out of the womb of the tomb. Like that? I borrowed 278 00:37:42,720 --> 00:37:50,640 that from John Corson. I'm sorry. But he did. He burst forth, right? And we see who he really is. 279 00:37:50,640 --> 00:38:01,920 Right? That he's God. That Jesus Christ is God. He's the death conqueror, the death eater. Death 280 00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:08,240 has no hold over him. Death has no hold over anyone who puts their faith and trust in him. Right? 281 00:38:08,240 --> 00:38:15,760 And so that's the picture of these two boys. It's powerful, actually, in Colossians chapter one. I 282 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:22,360 just wanted to read it to you here in my Bible. And it's starting in verse 15. It says, "He," this 283 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:30,400 is talking about Jesus, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For 284 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:35,520 by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, 285 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:41,840 whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through him and 286 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:47,920 for him." I wish I would have read this to Nelson when I talked to him on the phone. "And he is 287 00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:53,680 before all things and in him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who 288 00:38:53,680 --> 00:39:01,880 is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence." 289 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:10,040 He's the firstborn from the dead. It says it also in a verse in Revelation that I always use 290 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:16,960 at funerals, but sometimes I forget about it. And it says in verse five of Revelation chapter one, 291 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:22,880 "And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler over the 292 00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:28,960 kings of the earth, to him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and has made us 293 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:34,640 kings and priests to his God and Father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Amen? 294 00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:44,640 Amen. And that's right here in this wild, crazy chapter in Genesis. Jesus just jumps off of the 295 00:39:44,640 --> 00:39:55,800 page in these two boys, Zara and Perez. Now people would say, "Well, Scotty, I think you're reaching. 296 00:39:55,800 --> 00:40:03,040 You're reaching just a little bit there, buddy." But when you look at, I'm just going to turn there 297 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:11,560 real quick in closing. In Matthew, it gives the genealogy of Jesus and what's powerful, 298 00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:21,680 it's the only place in both the genealogies of Christ where brothers are mentioned. And that is, 299 00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:27,600 it says, "Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot Judah and his brothers, 300 00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:35,520 Judah begot Perez and Zara by Tamar." Here they are in the genealogy of Christ, these two boys, 301 00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:48,000 right? Both pointing us to the Lord Jesus. And so you wonder how God can bring any good out of your 302 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:55,560 life, even in the messes you've made. If you'll give it to him, he can, right? Because he can make 303 00:40:55,560 --> 00:41:02,320 chocolate cake out of any kind of ingredients, right? And I know some of ours are stinky and 304 00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:08,120 smelly, you know, more like a skunk signed in, but God can bring something beautiful out of it. 305 00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:19,760 But we got to yield. We got to be willing to do it His way. It truly is a surrender, you guys. And 306 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:28,960 not just a little bit. It's all. That old saying, "I surrender all." And I mean, you have to be 307 00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:35,080 careful when we sing that song. Because if you sing it and don't mean it, it might kill you. 308 00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:43,600 Might just kill you. Right? Because that's what Ananias and Sapphira did. They said, "Well, 309 00:41:43,600 --> 00:41:47,400 let's just tell, you know, we sold it all, but let's tell them we're gonna give it all to them, 310 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:51,960 but we're gonna hold quite a bit back. We're just gonna give them." You know, Peter says, 311 00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:58,480 "What are you doing? You think you can get away with something like that? You haven't lied to 312 00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:11,800 men. You've lied to God. And God don't know that you're lying to Him?" Point well taken, right? 313 00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:30,040 Just know that the Lord came for people like Ur and Onan and Tamar and Judah and you and me. 314 00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:40,920 That's why He came. And He can make it all good. And that is the joy of this Christian life that 315 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:47,080 God can take the messes we make, and if we will humble ourselves, He will truly bring something 316 00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:54,320 beautiful about in your life. But you just got to be willing to do it His way. Let's pray. Father, 317 00:42:54,320 --> 00:43:01,640 thank you for just being real, Lord. And we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 318 00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:13,360 We've all despised the blessings of others. And Lord, we've even taken your name in vain, 319 00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:20,560 thinking we're doing something good or something for you, not realizing that everything that's 320 00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:27,600 been done has been done for us, that we might have life and that everlasting. So Lord, I just 321 00:43:29,120 --> 00:43:37,000 ask that you would just remind us that you're in the business of righting all those wrongs, Lord, 322 00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:44,640 and that as we humble ourselves before you, Lord, you're drawn to us and you want to give us your 323 00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:49,960 spirit and you want to help us to live this life that you've called us to, a life of surrender, 324 00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:57,560 a life of forgiveness, a life of love that we don't possess in and of ourselves. We need it 325 00:43:57,560 --> 00:44:06,720 to come from you and from your Holy Spirit. And Lord, I just love the picture of you in this 326 00:44:06,720 --> 00:44:13,360 passage, Lord, these two boys that breaking through, Lord, you've broken out of the grave 327 00:44:13,360 --> 00:44:24,080 to give us a future and a hope. You've shed your scarlet blood upon Calvary's cross to wash us as 328 00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:34,160 white as snow that truly were reconciled by your cross. We're reconciled to God and we praise you 329 00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:40,000 and we want to love you for that, Lord. So I pray that you would give us that humility. Maybe some 330 00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:45,600 need to come and just be prayed for today, Lord. They need to get their life right with you. I pray 331 00:44:45,600 --> 00:44:50,480 that you'd give them the boldness to come up to the prayer team and seek that out or myself or 332 00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:56,160 anyone else, Lord, for that matter, that you would draw all of us to yourself as you are lifted up 333 00:44:56,160 --> 00:45:01,920 and as you were lifted up on that cross for the salvation of the whole wide world. Lord, may we 334 00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:07,040 look to you, the author and finisher of our faith. We pray it in the mighty powerful name of Jesus. 335 00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:07,560 Amen. 336 00:45:07,560 --> 00:45:08,400 Amen.