The NEW TESTAMENT begins with the book of Matthew. Matthew was one of JESUS CHRIST’S disciples. He was a Jew and a tax – collector. The study of the book of Matthew reveals that he wrote basically for the Jewish community. His book begins with the genealogy of Jesus. This reveals his writing for the Jewish community. The OLD TESTAMENT reveals that the Israelites and for that matter the Jews had been a very unbelieving community. Though GOD showed innumerable miracles to the people at different phases in their life, yet they kept turning against GOD. Even after Jesus Christ came down to this earth as prophesied in the Old Testament, suffered, died and rose again just the way it said in the Scriptures, the Jews did not believe it. Thus, Matthew starts with the genealogy to show to the Jews that the scriptures that say that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah agree with Jesus’ birth in the family of Joseph and Mary.
With this backdrop the New Testament forges a link with the Old Testament thus maintaining the continuity. The first chapter of Matthew is perhaps the most skipped chapters basically because it speaks about the root of Jesus and nobody bothers about his forefathers and forefathers of forefathers. But it is unique as it teaches us to try and understand God’s plan in our lives and believe in God’s plan both in action and truth.
What catches my eye most in the first chapter of Matthew is the mention of only five women in the genealogy. Generally, the names of mothers are not mentioned in the genealogy; however in the genealogy of Christ five women have found place. Why? Have you ever tried to think about it? Bible is a wonderful book because it is not just a book but a story where everyone has a place. These five women, namely, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Uriah’s wife Bathsheba and Mary are the women in the history who played along with God’s plan and shaped history the way it is now. And for their co-operation they have been rewarded profusely by finding a place in the genealogy of Jesus.
Tamar bore a child for Judah. But Tamar was not Judah’s wife. She was Judah’s daughter-in-law. She did something that no ordinary woman would have ever dared to do. Genesis 38 tells that Tamar was married to Er, Judah’s eldest son. Since, Er was wicked in the eyes of the LORD, the LORD put him to death. Then according to the Law, Judah entrusted Tamar to his other son, Onan, to produce offspring for Er. But Onan acted wicked and spilled his semen as he did not want to obey his father. For this, God put him to death as well. Since, Judah’s youngest son was not old enough to produce offspring for his eldest brother; Judah asked Tamar to wait for him to grow old enough and sent her off to her father’s house. Imagine Tamar’s condition. During those days the worst thing that could happen to a woman was to be either barren or a widow. Tamar was both. At least she was considered both. But in her heart she knew that she was neither a barren woman nor evil and Er and Onan had died because of their wickedness. People spoke numerous things about her. They considered her cursed. Yet she was patient and waited for the day when Judah would call for her. Sadly though, Judah was a coward. He couldn’t stand against his brothers when they planned to kill Joseph; he couldn’t stand for Tamar when she was being ill-treated by his sons and he couldn’t fulfil his promise to Tamar because maybe he too believed that she was cursed. However, it was God’s plan to lift Judah up but how could God do it when Judah was a coward. The best thing about our God is that HE is a loving God and always gives us a choice. HE never forces us to do anything. But HE wanted a brave JUDAH. And Tamar becomes instrumental in making Judah a true leader.
She disguises herself as a prostitute and sleeps with Judah. At the same time, she is witty and brave enough to keep Judah’s cord, seal and staff as a pledge for a goat. When she gets pregnant, she is accused of prostitution. Then she sends the cord, seal and staff to Judah, who recognises them and says that Tamar is more righteous than him. It was the first time that Judah owned up a mistake later to become the leader of all tribes. Thus, Tamar was considered righteous as against being considered evil and cursed; she was no longer considered barren but became the one who provided the link to Jesus by becoming the mother of Perez.
She managed to do so because she said YES to God’s plan. When she would have contemplated having sex with her father-in-law, it would have been painful to her conscience. It she would have been found out, the plan would have failed and she would have further gone down in people’s sight. Yet, she risked everything because she had faith in God’s plan.
Many a times we see people doing wrong. We know it is wrong and we even feel that we ought to try and correct them. But unfortunately, we never try to know what God wants from us and never try to say a YES. We always think that someone else will do it. Tamar stands out for righteousness, patience and faith. Let us pray to God that HE may use us for the good of all mankind.
Let us pray:-
Heavenly Father, we thank you for bring out the life of Tamar before us and inspiring us by her courage, faith and patience that she was considered righteous and along with that she became instrumental in fulfilling your plan to make Judah a true leader. Loving God, we do not have any idea of what you have planned for us and for the world through us. But we want to be instruments in your hands to make a difference. We pray to you to speak to our hearts and enlighten us. And we pray that you speak to all the people in the world that we can all work together for your glory and for the good of all mankind. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, AMEN.
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