Read with Me
Genesis 38:1-5 (HCSB)
At that time Judah left his brothers and settled near an Adullamite named Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua; he took her as a wife and slept with her. She conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him Er. She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and named him Onan. She gave birth to another son and named him Shelah. It was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.
Listen with Me
After the incident with Joseph being sold into slavery, Moses takes what must have seemed to him like a detour in the narrative as he detailed a series of events in the life of Judah. Even though he did not realize it at the time, this series of events had deep ramifications for the genealogies of both King David and Jesus.
It had been Judah’s idea to sell Joseph to the Midianites instead of killing him (Genesis 37:26-27), and his guilt over that and over his father’s resulting descent into black grief caused him to move away from the core family and to strike out on his own. He hired on as a shepherd with Hirah the Adullamite, and while he was thus engaged, he saw one of the daughters of Shua (who is unnamed in the Scriptures) whom he chose as a wife.
This woman bore to Judah three sons in rapid succession: Er, Onan, and Shelah. Moses was given no information about the formative years of these boys, but in the end at least the two eldest proved to be of bad character, which left them liable to God’s judgment and punishment. The character of the sons is inferred to reflect Judah’s own poor character.
This series of events and the eventual reunion with Joseph caused Judah to take a serious look at his life, and what he saw moved him to repent and change. But all that lay nearly two decades in the future.
Pray with Me
Father, it is sad when we see our own worst traits reflected, and sometimes amplified, in the character of our children. But they simply reflect what they see in un in our unguarded moments. Lord, help us to take an honest look at ourselves. Help us to see ourselves as You see us, so that we can repent appropriately and so that You can work to mold us more and more into the image of Jesus, so that He is what we model in our lives, not only to our children, but to everyone around us. Amen.