Genesis 38:1-30; 1 Chronicles 2:3-6

This passage in a nutshell: Judah has three sons.  Tamar marries the oldest son Er who does some unspecified evil in the Lord’s sight and the Lord takes his life.  Tamar then marries the second son Onan so that Er might have a descendant.  However, Onan does not want his child to be Er’s descendant so he sleeps with Tamar, but commits coitus interruptus.  The Lord sees this as an evil thing so he kills Onan as well.  Judah then promises Tamar his third son when he comes of age, but Judah breaks his promise.  Tamar then tricks Judah into sleeping with her and she is blessed with twins.

The message that we can take from this passage is that we are called to care for the disadvantaged.  Tamar was widowed and as such was in a precarious position in her culture.  Judah had the opportunity to provide her protection, but instead lied to her and excluded her from his family.  Tamar was then forced to take some drastic and unpleasant steps to ensure that she was cared for.

We need to be aware of the needs of those around us.  We need to take care to remember the long term needs of those who have lost husbands or wives or parents or children.  The pain does not go away and we need to care for their physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs.  We need to take care to remember the needs of those who are having employment issues, how can we help them be successful.  We need to take care to remember the needs of those whom our  society has forgotten.  We need to defend the defenseless, and care for the vulnerable.  I need to step out of my house and love my community.

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