20260913 Genesis 38 Salvation Through Counter-Deception

Genesis 38 is one of those really strange chapters of the Bible. The first time I read the Bible, I was not quite sure why it was in the Bible or why it was between Genesis 37 and 39.

In Genesis 37-50, if any name stands out, it is the name of Joseph. We often call Genesis 37-50, the story of Joseph. In the rest of the Bible, we hardly hear of Joseph compared to his older brother, Judah.

I have stopped calling Genesis 37-50, the story of Joseph. I’ve started to call these chapters, the account of the sons of Jacob because Judah is just as important. Joseph is the exalted brother who suffers and is delivered to bring a blessing to many. The pattern of life offers us the pattern of the savior of the world who is to come. In the same narrative of Genesis 37-50, Judah also offers himself up for the blessing of many. In the larger story of the Bible, it is through Judah and not Joseph, that God blesses all the families of the earth through Jesus’ redeeming work. Genesis 37-50 combine the life of Joseph and the life of Judah to present a picture of the Messiah who is to come.

This is an overview of Judah. In the previous chapter, Genesis 37, Judah is the deceiver who sold his brother in slavery and lied to his father. Genesis 37-50 contains three times three textual units. In the three middle stories, Judah always has a prominent role. So, the three middle stories tell the story of Judah. Following his betrayal of his brother and his deception of his father in Gen 37, Genesis 38 is the first middle-sub-section about Judah. In Genesis 38, Judah marries a Canaanite and deceives his widowed-Canaanite- daughter in law. In contrast to Joseph in Genesis 39, Genesis 38 serves to portray Judah as a terrible person. In Gen 43-44, the second middle sub-section, Judah offers himself up as a substitute for his brother Benjamin. In the middle of the third section, Judah is elevated above his brothers. Jacob prophecies in Genesis 49, that it is through him that the Messiah will come. At first glance, Genesis 38 seems out of place. It is the first of three texts that presents the story of Judah’s sin, humility, and exaltation.

In addition, Genesis 38 has a crucial role in Genesis 37-50. It offers a key to understand Gen 37-50. Genesis 38 is what literary theorists call a “mise en abyme.” This French term refers to the artistic technique of placing a miniature version of the larger work somewhere inside of the work itself. The story of Genesis 37-50 is already told in Genesis 38 in the drama of Judah and Tamar. After reading Genesis 38, the reader knows how Joseph’s story will progress.[i] In Genesis 38, Judah deceives Tamar. Tamar counter deceives Judah and it is through this counter-deception that Judah’s lineage is saved.[ii] In the larger Joseph story, Judah is a deceiver. Joseph counter deceives his family to bring them to Egypt. It is through his counter-deception that he keeps his family safe.

So far, we have seen that what seems to be a strange insert is a key chapter for the story arc of Judah through whom the Messiah will come. We’ve seen Genesis 38 is key to understand Genesis 37-50. Now, I want to quickly show that it is a significant chapter in the Bible. Genesis 38 has parallels to the account of Lot and his daughters in Genesis 19 and the book of Ruth. In each, women take proactive steps to save the family line. There are scandalous or unconventional unions. Lot and his daughter, Judah and Tamar, and Ruth and Boaz are all part of the royal line of David and Jesus.

In Genesis 38, we will look at Judah’s deception, Tamar’s counter deception, and the saving of Judah’s lineage. As we go through this text, we will apply its message to our lives.

First, in Genesis 38:1-11, we see Judah’s Deception

Genesis 38:1-11

According to Gen 38:2, Judah, “saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua.” He took her and they had three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah.

So far in Genesis, to highlight sin, Genesis 3 language is used. In the same way, Eve saw and took the forbidden fruit, Here in Gen 38:2, Judah saw and took forbidden fruit. Judah was not permitted to marry a Canaanite.

In Gen 2:17, the warning was, the day you eat of it you will surely die. In Genesis 38, the theme of death follows in the next generation. For his first son, Judah took a wife. Her name was Tamar, which means tree or Palm tree. Then, Gen 38:7 is shocking. It reads, “Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord and the Lord put him to death.”

Gen 38:8-10 refers to what is called Levirate marriage, described in Deut 25:5-9. According to this practice, it was a brother's duty to raise up offspring for a deceased brother with his widowed sister-in-law.[iii] Onan, Er's brother refused and so according to Gen 38:10, like his brother, the Lord put him to death.

In Gen 38:11, Judah deceives his daughter-in-law, Tamar. He promised her his third son, but he had no intention of giving him to her. The narrator tells us, Judah was scared, his third son would also die. So far, Genesis 38 is full of Genesis 3 themes. There is seeing, taking, a forbidden tree, death, and fear.

Application

There are two lessons – idolatry, and the absolute holiness and justice of God.

Idolatry

Genesis 3 is the foundational chapter about sin in the Bible. The repetition of Genesis 3 language in Genesis is the author and God’s way of confronting us with our own sin to draw us to turn to God. What appears in every generation of Genesis remains true for us.

Genesis 2, before sin, presents the abundant life God created us for. He offered us life with him, a life of human intimacy where we would be naked and not ashamed. Marriage is an Edenic gift. God offered a life in which we would bear fruit, with children being an Edenic gift. God offered a life in which we would walk with Him, and through his guidance we would know what was good and evil. God’s word and his law are an Edenic gift.

Following Genesis 2, the seeing and taking that begins in Genesis 3 always seeks distorted Edenic gifts on human terms. They mark the pursuit of the good life on our terms. They are seeking false-Edens in our day to day. This is the very essence of idolatry. It is rejecting God’s Eden in pursuit of our own.

In Genesis 3, the seeing and taking distorts the Edenic gift of dependents on God for knowledge of Good and Evil. In Genesis 12, the seeing and taking relates to seizing the Edenic gift of safety while putting others in danger. In Genesis 16, the seeing and taking of Hagar, is seizing the Edenic gift of children on human terms. In Genesis 38, it is seeing and taking the Edenic gift of marriage on human terms.

The repetition invites us all to take the sin of Genesis 3 more seriously. It is not just about eating a piece of fruit. It reveals our lack of trust in God’s goodness. We long for Eden. We want to be known, loved, celebrated, safe. We want comfort and abundance. We want healthy children. We want to be naked and unashamed. The repetition throughout Genesis of the seeing and taking that echoes Genesis 3 reveals our idolatrous posture to serve ourselves rather than trusting God. We lack faith and settle for a false-Eden rather than the real thing.

In Genesis 38, our idolatrous pursuit of a false-Eden is manifested in Judah taking a Canaanite wife. The Genesis 3 language, "he saw" and "he took" that is followed by death is the author's way of saying Judah sinned. Judah married a Canaanite and his sons married Canaanites.

Genesis insists that those who are devoted to God must marry people who are devoted to worshipping the one true God. This lesson is repeated for each generation, for Isaac in Genesis 24, Jacob in Genesis 26-30, and Jacob's children in Genesis 34 and 38.

It is not that the Bible is anti-Canaanite. This principle is about worship and devotion. If we claim to be devoted to worshipping the Lord, if we marry, we must also marry one who is devoted to the Lord. This principle is repeated in the NT in 1 Cor 7:39. God commands Christians to marry Christians. Edenic marriage is a union that is created to celebrate God.

When we marry, we must take the faith of our future spouse seriously. God wants spouses to lead a family together, heading in the same direction in devotion to the Lord. Pursuing an unbeliever, reveals our deep longing for Eden, but it also reveals our idolatry of pursuing a false-Eden, in this case God’s good gift of marriage on our own terms.

This is a warning to those who want to get married without being a condemnation of those who are married to a non-believer, who are now call to love their spouse with Christlike sacrificial love.

As a church, we have a responsibility to enjoy God’s Edenic gifts, on God’s terms in such a way, that our desires for false Edens diminish as we enjoy the real thing. If Eden is first and foremost marked by the abundance harmonious peace with God, within ourselves, and with others, we must be a people that loves to be together. We must be a people that celebrates each other. We must be a people marked by deep friendships. We must be a people where hard stories can be shared, and we must be a people willing to grieve, mourn, lament, laugh, and celebrate together.

God made us for Edenic delight and intimacy. Our idols often stem from good desires that are misplaced. We must repent and turn to God. The Christian life is not just one of avoid things. In Christ, in the church, we can enjoy the gift of God, marriage, children, friendship, celebration, and grieving being known and celebrated, so that we become less tempted to “see” and “take” what is not for us.

Holiness

A second lesson from Genesis 38:1-11, concerns the death of both Er and Onan. Gen 38:7 and 10 are quite unique in the Bible. They report that Er and Onan did evil in the sight of the Lord and God put them to death. Some of us may be too quick, to conclude “God is unfair.” Others of us, may be too comfortable with God’s punishment of sinners. We are allowed to be troubled by these verses. Christian maturity is not a competition in which whoever accepts the most Bible without being troubled wins.

The Bible presents the Lord as the one who gives life and who takes life away. Verses like these reminds us that we are not our own. We belong to God. God created us for himself. We must worship God our creator and live according to the way he made us to live for his glory. If we deny our maker and do what is evil, we deserve death. We all sin, so we all deserve death. A mature Christian is troubled and convicted by Gen 38:7, 10. All Christians also all find comfort following Gen 38:7, 10. We already know from Genesis that we can be declared righteous by faith. The Christian good news is Jesus took our death on the cross, so that if we trust him, find refuge in Him by faith, we can have life.

Now, we do not erase Gen 38:7, 10 from our Bible. Rather, we now desire to be a community that fears God and obeys God. Other parts of Scripture lead us to rejoice in the Lord and find comfort in the Lord. Genesis 38:7, 10 stress God’s holiness so we must fear him and obey him.

Second, in Genesis 38:12-23, we see Tamar’s Counter-Deception

Genesis 38:12-23

Gen 38:12 continues the story with more death. Judah’s wife dies. Time passes and Tamar is waiting to be given Judah's third son, Shelah, in marriage.

Genesis 3 themes reappear To present the events as perverse or wicked. Tamar's name means Palm Tree so we have a tree. According to Gen 38:14, she took off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil. Like the deceptive devil veiled in a snake, or Jacob dressed as Esau, Tamar covers herself. Tamar sat at the “Entrance of Enaim” which could be translated, “Opening of the eyes.” All these parallels to Genesis 3 highlight that evil going on in this text.

Judah sees her and thinks she is a prostitute, he offers her a young goat to sleep with her, and gives her a pledge with his signet, his cord, and his staff. In Gen 38:20, when Judah sent the young goat to take back his signet, cord, and staff, the woman was nowhere to be found. The key point of this section is that Tamar conceived by Judah from their encounter according to Gen 38:18.

There is so much irony going on. In Genesis 49:9-10, to refer to Judah’s elevation above his brothers, Jacob refers to Judah’s ruler’s staff never departing from him and being between his feet. In Genesis 38, Judah gives his staff to Tamar. He is giving up his symbol of rule to her. Judah will rule, but it is through Tamar that Israel’s kings will come.

We also see in Tamar’s counter-deception and picture of things to come. First, Judah deceived Tamar. Now, Tamar counter-deceived Judah. Tamar’s counter deception leads to the royal line of David and Jesus. This counter-deception in Genesis 38 that saves, anticipates Joseph’s counter-deception to save. The same way, Tamar demanded a pledge, Joseph’s counter-deception will also involve a pledge as he holds one of his brothers captive. Good came out of Tamar’s counter-deception, we can expect good to come through Joseph’s future counter-deception.

Application

In Genesis 38:1-11, we explored our idolatrous hearts. Now, in Genesis 38:12-23, we see that sin begets sin.

Sin begets sin. Judah refused to keep his promise to Tamar. He left her in a vulnerable state where she had to fend for herself. She never should have been placed in this situation where she had to act deceitfully in the first place. When we fail to fulfill our responsibilities as colleagues, friends, parents,  we may also put those who depend on us in situations where they sin. Everyone is still responsible for their own sin, but our selfishness can contribute to other people’s sin. The biggest common denominator among gang members is fatherlessness. Our sins, leads others to sin. Parent’s greed, lust, and selfishness harm their children. Judah’s sin led Tamar to sin.

Our Obedience Protects us and Protects others I want to consider the opposite as well. Obeying God’s law leads to blessing. This is not the prosperity Gospel. This is not a promise that if you are obedient God owes you anything. The Bible offers story after story of righteous sufferers. John the Baptist was beheaded for being obedience. Jesus was crucified for his obedience. So this is not an absolute promise of any kind. Obedience does lead to blessing,  not, absolutely or unequivocally. Our text shows that sin begets sin. We must consider the opposite is also true.

The theme of Genesis 38 is the Edenic gift of marriage and the Edenic fruit of children. The Bible’s instructions for marriage are for our good. The Bible instructs Christians to marry Christians. It instructs Christians to keep sexual relations for marriage. The Bible also teaches marriage is a life-long commitment.

Everyone fails to perfectly live up to any of the Bible standards. Even if we keep God's law outwardly, we fall short of the Bible’s standards in our hearts. But study after study shows that these biblical standards are for our good, our well-being, and the good of society.

The data always suggests that limiting sexual relations for marriage, and then remaining in a stable marriage has positive outcomes for men, women, and children. Those who wait until marriage to become sexually active have the lowest divorce rates. Children whose parents have stable marriage have better educational outcomes. They also experience lower teen pregnancies.

I share this only to show that we have a good God who cares for us. I do not share this to condemn anyone. Or to invite you to do the right thing to expect God's protection from harm. God cares for us and his commandments are for our good.

We see God's kind wisdom through his instructions, but now for an even more important lesson in Genesis 38,  even sinners by God’s grace enjoy good outcomes. This text shows God's grace to sinners. While Judah sinned and it led to harm. God still works out his plans for good. This is what we can expect from our gracious God as well.

Third, in Genesis 38:24-30, we see Judah’s Lineage is saved and leads to the Messiah

Genesis 38:24-30

According to Gen 38:24, three months pass, and Judah learns of Tamar's pregnancy. Judah is self-righteous and says, “Let her be burned.” Judah will be condemned by his own words.

In the previous chapter, after selling Joseph, the brothers slaughtered a goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in the blood. They brought they robe to Jacob and said, “please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” In Gen 38:25 to highlight Judah’s own deceit, Tamar’s words are the same as Judah’s – “Please identify who’s these are.” At this point, Judah does the first noble thing in this account. He admits his wrong. He says, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.”

Gen 38:27-30 describes the birth story of Tamar’s sons. This birth story offers a metaphor for the whole chapter and Joseph’s story. When Tamar was in labor, “one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand.” Then he drew back his hand, and the other came out.

In this account, Judah has the place of privilege. He deceived and took advantage of Tamar, but Tamar counter-deceived and saved the day. Judah seemed like he had the upper hand, like Zerah who put his hand out first, but then Tamar is like Perez who came out first. In Joseph's story, we can anticipate where the story will go. While it looks like his brothers have the upper hand, Joseph will come out on top, elevated and in a place where he will bless his family.

Application

Righteousness of Gentiles

In this story, Tamar, the Canaanite is declared righteous. Though Israel takes the center stage in the Old Testament, the Bible is about God's blessing of the whole world. Non-Israelites enjoy God's blessing at every turn in the OT.

There was Eshcol and Aner in Gen 14 who were in a covenant with Abraham. We have Tamar in Gen 38, the Great mixed multitude that comes out of Egypt (Exod 12:38), Rahab from Jericho in Joshua 2, then Ruth the Moabite, or the Gentiles in the book of Jonah who are more righteous than Jonah.

The Hebrew Scriptures are the opposite of propaganda material, they make Israel look so bad, which highlights God’s grace and kindness. The righteousness of the Gentiles in the OT, reminds us Gentile Christians, that we were always part of God’s plan.

Oppression of women and Foreign Women

Genesis has revealed over and over Israel’s mistreatment of women and foreign women. We have seen it with Sarah, Lot’s daughters, Rebecca, Leah, Dinah, and now Tamar. We are blessed to be a blessing but when God’s people fail, Genesis reveals that God protects the vulnerable. These stories serve as a call to protect the vulnerable.

Hope

A third application of the outcome of Genesis 38, is that we can be a hopeful people. The pattern in Genesis 38 reveals what is to come. Through a counter deception, Tamar saved Judah’s line. In Joseph’s life, Joseph will also counter deceive his brothers to save them. This patterns anticipate the way God will save the world.

Jesus came in a lowly estate to counter-deceive the world to save the world. The Second Person of the Trinity, in all his glory, became a human being. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born to the virgin Mary, in a carpenter’s family. He did nothing to deserve any punishment. The Devil filled Judas to betray him over to be killed (Luke 22:3). Jesus allows humanity to execute him.

It was this very act of trying to destroy him that enabled the fulfillment of God’s plan for the blessing of the nations. Jesus’ betrayer and accusers acted with deceit. All along Jesus use their deceit to love his enemies.

Conclusion

If you were reading through the book of Genesis, And had just read Genesis 38, You may ask “What is this doing here?” This story is more than just an inserted story to give us the origin story of a descendant of Jesus. Gen 38 summarizes the rest of the Joseph story.

Judah deceived and abandoned Tamar to save his remaining son. Tamar counter-deceived Judah, and it was through this messy story that God provides the line of the Messiah, the savior of the World, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ. Like Joseph after him, and like Christ on the cross, God took what was meant for evil and turned it into the ultimate instrument of salvation.

The Bible reveals our sin, our deceit, our failure and calls us to trust God to enjoy the Eden he offers. As our text joins other texts in Genesis that highlight the mistreatment of foreign women by Israelites, the Bible calls us to care for the vulnerable. The Bible calls us to love but also reminds us that God is faithful when we are faithless. God's grace to sinners transforms us to live out as a blessed people called to bless others.

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[i] Tim Mackie on Genesis 38, in Joseph Class.

[ii] Gen 38:1 is very similar to Gen 39:1 to invite us to understand Gen 38 as a pattern of what will follow with Joseph.

[iii] The practice of Levirate marriage sounds strange, but in a patriarchal society that valued the place of the first-born son, it was important for the first-born’s lineage to continue. In addition, a widow without children was very vulnerable. She was not entitled to anything. This practice protected her status in the family to be taken care of.