Now we come to this 38th Chapter today.  And very candidly it reveals the sin of Judah.  First of all, it leads me to say that the sons of Jacob were certainly not very much of a comfort to him.  It looks as if all the sons were problem children, and I think they were with the exception of Joseph and Benjamin.  And, of course, there was a great heartbreak connected with Joseph.  And this reveals to us that Jacob did spend too much time in Paden-aram, accumulating a fortune rather than teaching his children.  

And he was just a little different from Abraham.  You’ll remember that God said of Abraham “For I know him; that he’ll command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him.” (Genesis 18:19)  Old Jacob didn’t do that, Friends.  He was so busy down there contending with Uncle Laban, he didn’t have much time for those boys, and that was highly tragic because each one of them seemed to have gotten involved in something that was very, very sinful.  

But why are we told about Judah here?  Especially at this juncture?  Well, there’s a two-fold reason.  I suggested last time one of the reasons is that these names that are here—we’ll look at them in a moment—they happen to be in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus that opens the Gospel of Matthew.  It, very frankly, reveals that He came down into the human family.  It’s a sinful line, but this is the way He came.

And then there’s another reason for this, especially at this time.  Because beginning in the next chapter we go down to the land of Egypt, and Joseph goes ahead as he very clearly detected from the fortuitous concurrence of circumstances in his life that God had sent him down there to prepare the way for the coming down of the children of Israel.  Not so much for a then famine, but to get them out, actually, of the land of Canaan from, actually, the abominable Canaanites into the seclusion of the land of Goshen down in Egypt.  You see that had Jacob and his family continued on in the land of Canaan, they would have dropped down to the level of the Canaanites.  We find that these people here are an abomination and were an abomination and, even when the children of Israel came into the land, why they had a great influence upon them.  And so God is getting his people down there, and this chapter certainly reveals the necessity for it.

Now it’s Judah.  Judah is the kingly line, as we’ll see later on, but notice Judah.

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.

Now this is in Chapter 38, Verse 1.  Notice this.

And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.  (Genesis 38:2)

Now this is the story of Judah.  He went down to do business with a certain Adullamite.  And when he got down there, he saw this Canaanite-ish woman.  He had an affair with her.  

And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.  (Genesis 38:3)

And, believe me, that’s exactly what this man Judah had done; he’d erred or he’d certainly sinned.  

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 Chezib, when she bare him.  And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.  (Genesis 38:4-6)

And Tamar gets into the genealogy of Christ, by the way.  

And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him.  (Genesis 38:7)

Now look at this family.  It’s just loaded with sin.  

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 so he didn’t take her to wife, by the way.)  And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also.  (Genesis 38:8-10)

Now this is certainly something that fits right into the present hour when there’s such an emphasis on sex.  Believe me, the sons of Jacob put an emphasis there also.  Certainly Judah did, let’s say that.  We read then:

Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah 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.  (Genesis 38:11)

Now that was the custom that day that when a man died, his brother was to marry her.  And the two of them, actually, they refused to do it.  And they were smitten with death.  Now Judah tells her to go into her father’s house and wait.  He has another son that’s coming along.  

And now we read Verse 12.

And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.  13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.  (Genesis 38:12-13)

Apparently this deal that Judah had of going up to see this Adullamite with the name of Hirah was in connection with sheep; raising sheep.  Because now they have a tremendous flock together, and Judah goes up there to sheer them.  And Tamar, who’d been waiting all this time, she came to the conclusion that Judah was not going to give Shelah as her husband.  

And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.  (Genesis 38:14)

And this is, of course, the third son of Judah.  Now Verse 15.

When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. 

See, she’d taken off her widow’s garments, and now she’s dressed there, sitting by the wayside, her face covered, which was the custom of the harlots in that day.  

And he turned unto her by the way, 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 unto me?  (Genesis 38:16)

Now, you see, he’s propositioned the woman.  This is Judah.  And he’d done the same thing with her mother, a Canaanite.  It’s a very black picture, by the way.  It’s a very ugly story that we have here.  And Judah saw her; he thought she was a harlot.  So she saw an opportunity of taking advantage of him, and she did. 

And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?  18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine 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.  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.  (Genesis 38:17-20)

He came into the town.  He said, “I’m looking for the harlot that’s here.”

Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.  (Genesis 28:21)  

They said we don’t have one here.  Verse 22:

And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that 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, and thou hast not found her.

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.  (Genesis 38:22-24)

That’s Judah. Ha!  May I say to you, this is your double standard.  God doesn’t approve of these things, Friend!  It’s here in His Word, but that doesn’t mean He approves of it.  The very fact that it’s here shows that He disproves of it.  This is not the way that He wanted His people to act!  And they’re acting just like the Canaanites, and He’s going to have to get them down into the land Egypt and segregate them there in the land of Goshen to get them away from this terrible influence that there was there.  This reveals the necessity for that.  Why this thing’s almost unspeakable that Judah is doing here.  The fact of the matter is he can see the sin in somebody else; can’t see it in himself.  

You remember Nathan went in to tell David a story about a fellow that had a little ewe lamb and the rich man with a lot of sheep took it away from him and killed the little ewe lamb.  Believe me, David was just like Judah here.  You could see sin in somebody else.  David said, “We’re going to get that man and we’re going to stone him to death because of that.”  He said, “I’d like to know where the man is.”  Nathan said, “You’re the man!”  It’s interesting we see sin in other people that we ourselves can’t see within our own being.

This man’s guilty.  In fact, a double charge is against him, and this thing that he’s done is unspeakable.  It’s his own daughter-in-law, and this is something that is the custom there among the Canaanites.  This is the way they live.  We think today this sex revolution that we’re having—and they talk about freedom of sex.  Well, My Friend, the heathen in the past all had the freedom of it.  That’s the reason they were heathen and that’s the reason that they lived as low as they did and finally were judged and removed from the scene.  The Canaanites are gone.  They disappeared.  God judged them.  That ought to be a message to any person, but a great many don’t seem to get it; even Christians today.  They say, “Well, I wonder why this is in the Bible.”  It’s in the Bible to warn you and me, Friends!  It’s in the Bible to let us know that God did not approve of it, and it will explain why God is going to get them off down into the land of Egypt.

Now when she’s brought before her father-in-law, why notice what happens.  Verse 25:

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.

You know when all of that was presented to old Judah, he was going to have her stoned.  And she said, “Well, I’d like for you to know who the father of the child to be is; the one who owns this stuff I’m showing you; that’s who it is.”  Judah looked at it.  He had to admit it was his.  Verse 26:

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 is something that was repulsive even to Judah.  But this is the way the Canaanites acted.  Ha.  This is the way they lived.  Don’t you see that God’s going to have to get His people out of that land and away from that?  And may I just pause this moment to make this application because these things happened unto them for examples unto us.  

Now I hear a great deal today that if you’re going to witness to this generation and if you can communicate to them, you’ve got to get down to their level.  I disagree with that.  God’s never used that method to witness.  God’s always under any circumstances asked His people to live on a very high and lofty plane.  Now I can well understand that somebody might have come along, one of these present-day theologians have come along and said to Noah, “Now, listen brother Noah, you’re spending all your time working here on this boat, and you ought not to be doing that.  We’re having a big party over here in Babylon tonight.  They just got in a new shipment of marijuana, and we tonight are really going to blow our minds.  We’re all going to pass around the grass, and we’re just gonna have a high ole’ time.  And we’re going to take a trip, and you don’t need to build a boat to take a trip.  We’re going to give you a trip.  Come on over.”  And Noah says, “No, I’m not.”  “Well, brother Noah, how do you expect to reach all the hippies of Babylon?  How you going to reach the Babylonian b-boppers unless you’re willing to come down and communicate with them?”  Fact of the matter is God never asked him to come down and communicate.  God asked him to give his message!  

That’s what we’re asked to give today!  And I’m firmly convinced that if God’s people would stand firm, and especially these men today that are so afraid they’ll lose the crowd; so afraid they’ll not have an audience to speak to, and they do everything in the world to get a crowd to speak to, and some of them are having their problems.  But God never asked us to compromise.  God asked us to give the Word of God!  

I remember hearing years ago the story about Dr. Schofield over in North Carolina.  He was invited over there to speak, and it was a rainy night, the first night he began.  And there’s a very small crowd there.  The pastor felt called upon to apologize to Dr. Schofield.  He reached over and he said to him, “I’m very sorry tonight there’s so few people here to hear a man like you.  We just regret it very much.”  And Dr. Schofield, he said, “Well, my Lord only had 12 men to speak to, and since he only had 12 men and never complained, may I say who is C. I. Schofield that he should complain about a small crowd anywhere?”  My Friends, that’s a lesson that this generation hasn’t learned.  We think it’s got to be big and there’s got to be a lot of people there or God’s not in it.  Maybe God has just called us to witness in these days.  Well, I have news for you – I believe that if the Word of God’s given out, it will have its effect.  It will certainly bring results.

And Judah went down and he sure communicated to the Canaanites, but he could not have gotten down more on their level than he did.  And look what it did; it brought tragedy.  Now we’re told, Verse 27:

And it came to pass in the time of her travail, 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, saying, This came out first.  And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.  And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.  (Genesis 38:27-30)

Now here are these names that we’ve looked at.  And I’d like for you now to go with me over to the first book of the New Testament, and let’s read here the first chapter, second verse:

Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; And on … And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; And Jesse begat David the king….

(Matthew 1:2-6)

And if you just follow it right on through, well, you find out here and “Jacob began Joseph, the husband of Mary of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.”  (Matthew 1:16)  This is the line into which the Lord Jesus cam, by the way.  And this is an evidence of the fact that God must now get his people down into the land of Egypt.  

All right, we’ll return then to the story of Joseph, because he’s already down there.  He didn’t go down willingly, but he’s down there.  He was taken down, and we saw at the conclusion of Chapter 37, the 36th Verse, the Midianites sold him –that is, Joseph unto Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.  

CHAPTER 39

JOSEPH IN THE HOUSE OF POTIPHAR

Now we’re going to find out that Joseph has been an altogether different kind of boy than Judah was.  I always have felt  that Joseph and Benjamin did [have] a great deal of teaching and instruction and personal attention that the other 10 boys never did get.  These were the only 2 that Jacob seemed to be interested in.  Now Joseph, because of the hatred and animosity of his brothers, he’s been sold down into the land of Egypt in the house of Potiphar, and he happens to be a very important soldier.  He’s in the military.  He had his office in the Pentagon of that day, and he’s part of the Brass.  He’s a prominent official, by the way.  

Now, let me read Chapter 39, Verse 1.

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 Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.

Verse 2:

And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

Now that’ll be as far as we can go today.  But that leads me to call your attention to something here that’s very important for us to know.  First of all, we have no record of God appearing personally to Joseph, and yet you see more evidence of the direction and leading of God in his life than any other person in the Book of Genesis.  God appeared to the other three patriarchs, but not to this man.  Why?  Well, it’s not necessary because the circumstances reveal the Hand of God in his life.  And right here at the very beginning we see it.  But yet, you see some terrible things happening to him.  And God will be in all of that by the way!  But we’ll have to pick that story up next time.