THE CONSEQUENCES OF UNGODLY LIVING

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"Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the Lord's sight; so the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, "Lie with your brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother." But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord's sight; so he put him to death also. Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Live as a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up." For he thought, "He may die too, just like his brothers." So Tamar went to live in her father's house." Genesis 38:6-11

It’s troubles me today to see the number of people who feel like it’s fine to live an ungodly life. They step through every day doing as they please, right or wrong, with no fear or consequence. The line between right and wrong ever more seems to be smudged or in some cases, erased all together. Yes, ungodliness seems to be the in thing these days…and what is even more troubling to me is that you’ll find even professing believers in Jesus Christ living a charade…looking convincing on the outside and when others are watching but are truly living apart from God when out of the spotlight and away from others.

You’ll recall yesterday that Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, decided to leave his Israelite kin and associate with the sinful, polytheistic Canaanites. His ungodly decision had serious ramifications…as we will see now as he bears children with his Canaanite wife, the daughter of Shua.

One truth about God is that He will not co-exist with sin. So as Judah partnered with sinfulness in Canaan, God was not in partnership in his relation. Subsequently, we read that Judah’s first son, Er, was wicked in the Lord’s sight. The child born from a sinful couple manifested wickedness in his adult life. Subsequently, the Lord would not bless him with carrying on the family line from his father after Judah had selected Tamar as his wife. Instead, the Lord "put him to death". We don’t know by what means this happened but all we need to know is this…a man who is wicked in God’s sight could face the consequence of death…and lose it all in the process.

With Er, the firstborn, dead, an important cultural responsibility fell on the second son, Onan. To honor the death of his brother and compensate for the fact that he had not lived long enough to bear a son, the next son in line was to sleep with his dead brother’s widow and then dedicate the son to his brother. In other words, the baby born of the second son would enjoy the same privilege as if he had been born from the firstborn. This custom was referred to as levirate marriage.

So Judah gave Tamar to Onan and when they had sex so Tamar would bear the son for Er, Onan would not allow his semen to enter Tamar, instead "spilling it on the ground." His act of disrespect and disobedience was "wicked in the Lord’s sight" so the Lord also put Onan to death. Once again, we don’t know by which means Onan died but all we need to know is this…a man who is disrespectful and disobedient to God’s will could face the consequence of death…and lose it all in the process.

It was this fear of losing it all that caused Judah now to error. Not realizing that his first two sons had died because of their wickedness, Judah drew the conclusion that Tamar must be responsible in some way. Maybe he thought she had some curse upon her that caused his sons to die when they were with her. Whatever his reasoning, scripture clearly tells us that he believed his youngest son, Shelah, would die "just like his brothers." So he made up an excuse to not allow Tamar to be with Shelah saying that his youngest son needed to grow up. So Judah told a lie and had misinterpreted what was really happened. Why? Because he did not consult the Lord. If he had, trust and know the Lord would have told him exactly why events had happened the way they did.

Also trust and know that the Lord would have told him to allow Tamar to be with Shelah. But that never happened…all because Judah failed to communicate with the One who is the source of all life’s answers. So decide to go it on your own and not consult the Lord on life’s matters and you will royally mess up your life situation. In a future lesson, we’ll see how Judah will pay for his unwillingness to ask for the Lord’s counsel. Know this…the Lord will not bless the life of one who is knowingly disobedient and insubordinate to Him.

Judah, selfishly protecting his son, condemns Tamar to a life of widowhood. Widows were often living in destitution in Old Testament culture. This is because they weren’t recognized as having any right to the property and possessions of their deceased husband and ended up often homeless and begging for sustenance. If they had no children to care for them, they were on their own…left to fend for themselves as best they can. In Tamar’s case, she was fortunate. She could return to her father’s home. I see this as the Lord watching over Tamar as she ends up being victimized by Judah and his sons. She will appear in a future lesson to show she is no pushover.
So the final thing to remember in this account is that when you decide to go it alone without God, your decisions might be harmful to another. There’s a danger in making decisions based on what’s in it for me. Too often, another suffers as a result. This was the case with Tamar.

Today’s scripture holds a message to those who live like there is no consequence for choosing to live contrary to the Lord and His will. God is saying loud and clear, "There ARE consequences for the wicked! There are consequences for the disrespectful and disobedient! and There are consequences for the untrusting" Unlike Judah and his sons, we had best get the message and make corrections now, before it’s too late.

In Christ,

Mark

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