Passing On The Family Culture

Genesis 38:1-11

“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. And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.

And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan. And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him. And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.” (Genesis 38:1-6)

After Jacob’s return from Padanaram and separation from Esau, other than their family, there was no one else around to associate with except the local people. Judah became friends with an dolomite named Hirah and went to visit him. While he was there he saw an attractive Canaanite girl and took her home to be his wife. Before long they had three sons.

II Corinthians 6:14 commands, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” Abraham had flatly refused to allow Isaac to marry a Canaanite girl, and Isaac had been upset when Esau married one, because of the danger of them causing their sons to turn away from God. Jacob doesn’t seem to have been troubled by Judah’s marriage at all.

“And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him. And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. 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. And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.” (Genesis 38:7-10)

We don’t know what kind of things Er did, but we know he was consciously and deliberately doing wrong, but he clearly had no respect for or fear of God. If he was like most who are deliberately evil, he gloated over getting by with it and thought it proved he was smarter than his brothers and cousins. While God gives numerous chances to repent, as he said in Genesis 6:3, “… My spirit shall not always strive with man,…” Er continued to the point God killed him because of his wickedness.

Deuteronomy 25:5-6 commands, “If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her. And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.” Judah directed Onan to fulfill this command after Er died.

Onan was willing to have sex with her but didn’t want to have a child by her, especially since it would be counted as his brother’s, so he withdrew just before ejaculation. This angered the Lord to the point of killing him as well, raising a lot of questions about modern birth control policies and procedures. Prior to the Rowe V Wade decision, it was generally accepted that if a girl got pregnant the guy who was responsible should marry her, and most birth control was developed to prevent such pregnancies. If she didn’t get pregnant, he had no further responsibility. This was directly contrary to Exodus 22:16, “And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.”

Under that old tradition, ensuring one would not have to marry required planning in advance. Rowe V Wade enabled one to eliminate the pregnancy after the fact, thus avoiding responsibility for marriage. Abortionists are not pro-choice, they are anti-responsibility. The choice is made when they indulge in the sex act, whether pregnancy results or not. That abortion is also murder compounds the sin. Recent child support laws attempt to force people to accept some of their responsibility.

Romans 14:23 states, “…for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Any form of birth control to avoid unwanted pregnancy is to some degree a refusal to trust God. To that degree it is sin. The same can be said of many of the methods used by fertility clinics. While most Christians are offended by sex change operations, believing it implies that God has no right to decide a person‘s sex, and many oppose abortion, few question birth control or fertility treatments. Much of the fertility clinic’s efforts are doing the same thing, denying God‘s right to decide whether we have children or not. Were the septuplets a blessing from God or a demonstration of rebellion, either by the doctors, or the parents?

“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.” (Genesis 38:11)

After Onan’s death, Tamar was still childless. Judah instructed her to wait for his youngest son to grow up. Knowing that God had killed both of the older ones for doing wrong, he feared Shelah might be like his brothers. After all, he had had basically the same training. Tamar complied with his wishes, going back to live with her parents.