Have you ever seen someone’s life change dramatically? In the Old Testament, Judah is a good example. It was his idea to sell his brother Joseph into slavery (Gen. 37:26). But by the end of the story, Judah offered to become a slave to save his youngest brother, Benjamin (Gen. 44:16–34). Genesis 38 helps explain how that change took place.

Judah’s oldest son married Tamar (v. 6). Due to an unspecified sin against the Lord, the son died (v. 7). Custom (and later Mosaic law) required that when a family member died leaving behind a widow without children, the brother was to marry the widow and have children in his name (Deut. 25:5–10). This would provide for the widow and preserve the name and inheritance of the deceased.

Following this custom, Judah married his second son to Tamar. Motivated by greed, this son refused to have children and died at the hand of the Lord (vv. 9–10). Judah sent Tamar back to her father’s house on the false promise that he would marry his youngest son to her at the right time (v. 11).

Tamar, realizing she had been deceived, took matters into her own hands. She dressed as a prostitute and when Judah propositioned her, she extracted his seal and cord as a pledge of future payment (v. 18). When Judah discovered she was pregnant, he called for her execution (v. 24). She sent his cord and seal to him and declared, “I am pregnant by the man who owns these” (v. 25). Judah immediately recognized his wrongdoing (v. 26). He would never be the same. One of the sons born out of this affair would be the ancestor of the future Messiah. We see how God can accomplish His purposes despite the most sordid circumstances (Ruth 4:18–22; Matt. 1:3).

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