Grace For The Guilty Series

(Tamar of Genesis 38)

Introduction – Two Women, One Story of Grace

There are two women in Scripture who share the same name — Tamar.

Both are Jewish. Both are royalty. Both are caught in situations that would make most people turn away in discomfort. And yet, both are part of God’s redemptive storyline.

When we talk about grace, we often talk about God forgiving the sinner — the guilty person who repents and finds mercy. That’s half the picture. But there’s another side — the grace that restores the sinned-against, the person who didn’t do wrong but had wrong done to them.

One Tamar shows grace for the guilty.

The other shows grace for the wounded.

Put them together, and you see the whole heart of God — a God who forgives sin and heals the brokenhearted.

Their stories are separated by several centuries, yet spiritually, they stand side by side at the foot of the same cross.

I. Tamar of Genesis 38 – Grace Through Scandal

Judah, one of Jacob’s twelve sons, had left his brothers and married a Canaanite woman. He had three sons — Er, Onan, and Shelah.

When the oldest, Er, came of age, Judah arranged his marriage to Tamar. Scripture doesn’t tell us much about her — no family background, no beauty description — just her name. But we do know this: Er was wicked in the Lord’s sight, and the Lord took his life.

Now, under levirate law, Judah’s second son, Onan, was supposed to marry Tamar to give her a child in his brother’s name. But Onan refused. He wanted the inheritance, not the obligation. He used her, but would not let her bear a child. And the Lord struck him dead too.

Twice widowed, Tamar is left in shame. In that culture, a childless widow had no security, no voice, and no standing. Judah promises his youngest, Shelah, but delays and stalls, sending Tamar back to her father’s house — a polite way of saying, Go disappear.

II. The Desperate Act of Faith

Time passes. Judah’s wife dies. Tamar hears that Judah will be traveling nearby to shear his sheep. And something rises in her — not lust, not vengeance, but a sense of justice and faith.

If Judah won’t keep his promise, she will find a way to secure the future of the covenant family line.

She removes her widow’s garments, veils her face, and sits by the roadside dressed as a prostitute. When Judah passes by, he does not recognize her. He sleeps with her, leaving behind his signet seal, cord, and staff as payment until he can send a goat.

Three months later, word spreads: “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the harlot and is pregnant!”

Judah burns with self-righteous anger. “Bring her out and let her be burned!” he orders.

But as Tamar is brought before him, she quietly sends a message:

“I am pregnant by the man who owns these.”

And in her hands are Judah’s seal and cord.

III. The Turning Point

There’s a long pause. You can imagine Judah staring at the items in shock.

The crowd waits. The old patriarch clears his throat and finally says words that shake the air:

“She is more righteous than I, since I would not give her to my son Shelah.”

That’s the hinge of the story. The proud man who deceived his father with a goat’s blood and a garment (back when he betrayed Joseph) is now confronted by a woman with a goat and a garment. God has mirrored his deception back to him so he can repent.

Grace enters the story through scandal.

Tamar gives birth to twins — Perez and Zerah. Perez becomes the ancestor of King David … and of Jesus Christ.

The story ends not in shame, but in redemption. Out of deceit and brokenness, God brought forth the line of the Messiah.

IV. Grace Through the Back Door

Judah’s Tamar teaches us that God’s grace doesn’t just come to those who have perfect stories. It walks through the back alleys of human failure.

She had been mistreated, misunderstood, and marginalized — yet God wove her courage into His salvation plan.

When Matthew opens his Gospel, he lists the family tree of Jesus — and right there in verse 3:

“Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar.”

Her name is forever in the genealogy of grace.

What does that tell us?

It tells us God does not edit out the messy parts of His family line.

It tells us that our failures, when surrendered to Him, become the very places where His grace shines brightest.

It tells us that redemption is not a straight line; it’s a cross.

V. The Gospel Pattern in Tamar’s Story

If you look closely, the Gospel is hiding right there in Genesis 38: