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November 26, 2025 

Today, we continue exploring the dramatic story of Tamar, the many-times great grandmother of Jesus.  

 After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him. 

 When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,” she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife. 

 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” 

 “And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked. 

 “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said. 

 “Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked. 

 He said, “What pledge should I give you?” 

 “Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again. 

Genesis 38:12-23 NIV  

 

As we learned yesterday, Tamar is a twice-widowed, childless woman at a time when this status automatically placed her in a desperate situation. Desperate times lead to desperate measures when Tamar realizes that Judah has not given her to his third son, her last hope for marriage and children. So, Tamar deliberately deceives Judah, disguising herself as a prostitute and placing herself along Judah’s path.  

Both Tamar and Judah make terrible decisions. It is easy for us to have sympathy and even justify Tamar’s actions. And we are certainly not her judges. But God clearly instructs that we should not lie or deceive one another (see Leviticus 19:11). So, let’s also be careful to call her actions what they are: sin. Tamar, like all of us, proves the truth of God’s Word, that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  

And yet God still includes Tamar in Jesus’ genealogy. Despite her deliberate deception and poor choices, God graciously names her and claims her as an ancestor of His Son. God can still bring about His purposes through the lives of fallen sinners.  

Now, through Tamar’s great grandson Jesus, God’s ultimate and glorious purpose is revealed! As we place our faith in Jesus, God brings redemption and righteousness to the lives of all of us who have fallen short of His standards. Praise the Lord! 

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  

Romans 3:22-24 

 

Questions for reflection and discussion:  

  • What bad choices have you made in your life?  
  • Have you confessed your sin to God and received redemption and righteousness in the name of Jesus? 
  • Take some time to thank God for His forgiveness, that covers even our worst choices, and His grace, that welcomes us into His family. 

Church Reading Plan: 1 Chronicles 22; 1 Peter 3