Mothers Of Messiah-Tamar Of Canaan Series

Introduction: it’s a fact that our Lord Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary. It’s also true that Mary had a mother, and she had a mother, all the way back to Eve, the first mother. Of note, Eve was not only the first female ever created, and she was not only the first mother, she was also the first sinner in the Bible! Even so, she received the first ever prophecy of the coming Messiah.

Other women in the lineage of Messiah Jesus were the wives of Seth, Enoch, Noah, and others; then from Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah, wife of Jacob whose son Judah was the leader of the tribe bearing his name.

But how did Tamar, Judah's daughter-in-law become the ancestor of the Messiah?

1 She was part of Judah’s family in Canaan

Text, Genesis 38:1-6, KJV: 1 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. 2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her. 3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er. 4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan. 5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him. 6 And

Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.

Judah was the fourth son of Jacob and Leah, the daughter of Laban (Genesis 29 has the story of how Jacob obtained his wives). His only recorded words up to this point were the suggestion to sell Joseph, his brother, to Midianite traders for 20 pieces of silver—averaging 2 pieces for each brother. Somebody got a bargain but it didn’t seem to be Jacob’s sons.

After this, and only he knows why, he left his family for several years and lived in Canaan. The rest of the family remained in Hebron (Gen. 35:27) where, interestingly, Isaac was still living, over 20 years after Jacob had left. One can only imagine the time of reunion when father and son were together after so many years apart.

But Judah left and settled in Canaan. He found at least one friend, Hirah the Adullamite (68:1) and he also found a wife, the daughter of Shuah (her name is never given). She gave birth to three sons, but died several years later. It is worth remembering that Abraham and Isaac had both made it very clear they didn’t want their sons marrying Canaanite girls. Maybe Judah should have paid attention to that command!

At any rate, Judah and his family seemed to be making the best of things while they were all away from Jacob and the others. Nothing is said about how Judah made a living while he was there until some life-changing events happened: for him, and for his family.

And one of those events was a marriage! Judah and his wife were about to become in-laws, because Er, Judah’s oldest son, was going to marry a girl named Tamar. The text implies this was an arranged marriage, with Er having little if any say in the manner.

So, the marriage took place, and, maybe, all the parties involved hoped for a “happily ever after” for this new couple. Tamar seemed to accept this new husband and new life.

But that wasn’t true for Er.

2 She was widowed twice in a very short time

Text, Genesis 38:7-11, KJV: 7 And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him. 8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. 9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. 10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also. 11 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.

Several things are passed over in this section, such as how long Er and Tamar were married and just what Er did, or was, to be considered wicked in the sight of the LORD. In one sense, every person is wicked in God’s eyes because we’re all born sinners (John 3:18, 3:36; Romans 5:12). Er, however, must have either done or said something particular to receive that description and paid for whatever it was with his life. Any hopes or dreams Tamar might have had with Er died when he died.