When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman's hand, he did not find her.
Judah owes a young goat for a night with a veiled stranger, and he wants back the personal items he left with her as security. He sends a friend to settle the debt, but the friend comes back empty-handed — so what happens to a sin a man cannot buy his way out of?
The errand that failed
Judah wanted a clean, private deal. One writer shows how Tamar had already made that impossible:
L. M. GrantShe left the area at once and changed her clothes, going back to her widow's dress. So Judah sent the young goat, expecting to get back the pledge he had left. His messenger could not find the prostitute. He was even told that no prostitute had ever been in that place.
What the pledge was
The failed payment matters because of what stayed in her hands. The same writer says what she asked for, and what Judah handed over:
L. M. GrantHe promised to send her a young goat as payment for his immorality. She asked for some security, and he gave her three things that were clearly his own property. From that one occasion she conceived a child.
The friend he turned to
Judah does not go himself. He sends his friend from Adullam. One writer traces the trouble back a step further, to the day Judah left his brothers:
Edwin N. CrossIt is sad to watch Judah leave the relative safety and enjoyment of his brothers' company. His heart was already far from the joy of communion with his father. Now he takes this further step and leaves his brothers. We have seen this often with people whose hearts have grown cold. In time their feet follow where their minds already lean. A heart that has wandered from God is easy prey to the deceit and pressure of men. Someone who does not walk in fellowship with God will soon walk in friendship with the unconverted people of the world. In verse 1 we see that Judah must have had common interests with Hirah. In verse 12 he is called "his friend Hirah the Adullamite." James tells us that friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4), but a man set on doing his own will had no room for such thoughts.
Sowing and reaping
One writer reads the whole chapter under a single rule, and Judah's private dealings do not escape it:
Edwin N. CrossJudah chose to walk away, and the consequences will be serious. He will have to learn that he cannot please himself without reaping a harvest of sorrow. He has to learn that whatever one sows, that will he also reap (Galatians 6:7).
No cover for secret sin
Judah's plan depended on nobody knowing. One writer answers that hope from Scripture:
Hamilton SmithGod knows your most secret sin... Look into the word. You will find that God has usually shamed in this world those who counted most on secrecy in their sinning.
The pledge as evidence
The items Judah could not recover come back later as evidence against him:
Edwin N. CrossJudah is ready to condemn Tamar to be burnt, but she had secured a pledge from him. She now brings it forward as evidence, and everyone can see Judah's share in the sin. This is the way God works. An honest confession will secure His mercy.
Grace at the end of the line
Writers do not soften the chapter. They point instead to what God did with it:
William KellyJudah, the head of the tribe, had to admit the sad shame of Tamar. She was more righteous than he was, and he had sentenced her to die by fire. Yet through this guilty Judah, and through Tamar, came the One who cleanses from all sin by His blood. He will reign over the universe to God's glory.
Another writer finds nothing admirable in Tamar at all, and still marvels at what came of it:
The Bible TreasuryShe comes before me in this picture as a sinner and nothing else... But the wonder above all this is that this very sin brings her name into the Lord's genealogy. This sin made her the mother of Perez, one of the direct line in Christ's ancestry.
Summary
- Sowing. Judah left his brothers for other company. Every step that follows falls under one rule: a man cannot please himself without reaping a harvest of sorrow.
- Security. Tamar asked for security, and Judah handed over three items that were clearly his own. The debt could never be paid off in secret.
- Secrecy. The goat goes out with a friend and comes back unused. God has usually shamed those who counted most on secrecy in their sinning.
- Surrender. Tamar produces the pledge, and everyone sees Judah's part. An honest confession is what secures God's mercy.
- Sovereign grace. Through this guilty man and this woman came the One who cleanses from all sin by His blood. The very sin recorded here brings Tamar's name into Christ's family line.