Dominate
Genesis 38:11 “Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, iRemain 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 kin her father’s house.:[1]
I. Command
A. Stay
B. Surrender
II. Control
A. Site
B. Situation
III. Condition
A. Sentence
B. Settled
Introduction: A great temptation when a preacher wants the Bible to say what he thinks it should say is to use only the text that agrees with what he wants to say. There are other times when the reason for a thing in the Bible is vague or there is something within the “white space” that causes thought for the reader to dig deeper for the many lessons within the Bible verses.
We have been studying Joseph, next to the youngest son of Jacob, in our evening services. Genesis thirty seven through fifty concerns Joseph, but in chapter thirty eight there seems to be a detour. In the middle of all of the exploits that happened to Joseph is a story of Judah and his manipulation of his daughter – in – law Tamar. Why?
When there is something such as this that causes a question the first inclination is to find the answer from someone more learned that you are. It doesn’t only happen here but many people say something like, “Well my Bible says.” The Bible says what it says. Many publishers include comments from people called commentators in between the pages of the Bible. The comments are not the Bible but are only inside the binding that also includes the Bible.
If you are truly a Christian then Jesus has imparted the Holy Spirit in you. You have within you the same ability to interpret the Bible that those who wrote those comments. Before you jump the gun and give up on the understanding that God has given you, please pray and ask for the Holy Spirit to guide your understanding. Then it is OK to see if others have had the same personal message that God has given to you. Otherwise you will believe what someone else told you to believe. The world is full of people that do that. We have more than the world.
This morning’s message comes with a warning. This is what came to me as I ponder why Genesis chapter thirty eight is in the middle of this about Joseph. It is a message that has been coming to me lately after all that God has allowed me to see personally. I have learned yet there is still much God has for me to learn before I can ever be the humble servant that He can use for His glory. Perhaps there is something in the message that will also touch you. That is my prayer.
The theme of this message today is faith in God alone. It is the theme that we have been concentrating on for a few messages. The title of this message is “Dominate” which is the result of the antithesis of faith. We have just come through a midterm election. With every election there are those who say that the results are wrong because somebody cheated. It’s always been the same story as long as I have known elections. Somebody who doesn’t have faith in the fairness of the election will either do something to dominate others into their way of thinking or they will challenge the results after the fact. There is little faith in the election process and we wonder why so few people actually vote.
When God elects us He alone decides the result of the election. He alone is omniscient. Therefore only God is capable of making a fair decision of who He will elects. He alone knows what the true result of His election of us will bring and he demands glory. That is why He created us. That is the only election that we Christians can have faith in because our lives depend on it.
We live in a nation that celebrates those who have fought to keep us free from tyrants that would rather oppress and dominate people. Friday was Veterans Day. We must always remember that those who died to give us the freedom to choose fought and died to give us the freedom to worship God. That is what this nation was delivered from tyrants to do.
Scripture: The focal scripture today is Genesis 38:11. Please stand if you’re able.
Prayer: Let us pray. Be seated.
Message: Between the end of chapter thirty seven and the beginning of chapter thirty eight is another white space. Chapter 38 begins with “and it came to pass.” How long time came to pass after Joseph was taken to Egypt until Judah went down to the Adullamite named Hirah? Why did Judah wind up in Addulam in the place that, years later, David would be hiding between King Saul and the Philistines? More questions; more reasons to study.
Judah took a wife. Judah took a wife for his first born son Er and her name was Tamar. Er was wicked and he died. Judah manipulated the situation for his other son Onan to be with Tamar to give him offspring but Onan did evil and he died. Onan didn’t want to father a child that would be attributed as his brother’s child. I guess he didn’t want to be manipulated but that didn’t end well for Onan.
That is when Judah commanded his daughter – in – law to wait for still another son to be old enough but nothing happened. What happened to Judah’s son Shelah? Tamar learned that he had grown up. She waited patiently. Could it be that Judah forgot like the baker forgot Joseph?
Judah’s wife died. Maybe he was in mourning and just forgot. Tamar didn’t forget. The manipulator got manipulated. Judah became the father to Tamar’s twins instead. When he finally learned what he had done he tried to make amends by paying her off.
The first child started to be breach born. His arm came out and the midwife tied a red ribbon to his arm but he pulled his arm back in. Zarah was the first to emerge. The KJV spells the name of the breach child as Pharez which in Hebrew is breach. What happened to Zarah? That’s another study for another time. Turn now to Matthew 1:1-3, “The abook of the generation of Jesus Christ, bthe son of David, cthe son of Abraham. 2 dAbraham begat eIsaac; and Isaac begat fJacob; and gJacob begat Judas and his brethren; 3 And hJudas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and iPhares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;” [2]
So there you have it. How many coincidences would have happened to allow Phares, or Pharez to be in the lineage of Jesus? All that Judah attempted to control was thwarted by what actually happened. Maybe the one of the morals of this story is that it is better to seek God’s will rather than attempt to control your own destiny. Joseph happened along and dreams came true. Judah attempted to control others so that his dynasty might be the way he engineered it to be and God’s will came true. Now we will look at Judah’s attempt to dominate others.
“Then Judah said!” Tamar was his daughter – in – law but now she is a widow. He didn’t ask; he said. He gave her a command even though she was not really his daughter – in – law anymore. Things were different back then they say but in the book of Ruth we learn from Naomi that the two widowed daughter – in – laws were released when their husbands died. It was Ruth’s decision to stay, not Naomi’s. Ruth did stay. She too was in the lineage of Jesus.
Tamar did what she was commanded to do. She surrendered her right to her freedom to do what she could to find another husband for herself. Not only that but she was commanded to go back and stay at her father’s house as if under house arrest. The site was commanded and the situation. No freedom! Can you imagine that happening today? It was as if she had been sentenced to a life of waiting for the whim of a father – in – law who wasn’t her father – in – law anymore. She was to wait until the sentence was settled by the death of a young man that she didn’t really have a desire for. That was the condition that Tamar allowed herself to be in.
You might say that she settled. Instead of balking and not allowing someone else to make her decisions for her, Tamar settled for what someone else said was her fate. Are any of us like that? What happened when the schools closed and the churches closed and everybody was told what to do? Did many question or did most settle? Did we ask God or did we believe what someone told us we must do? When was enough, enough? Is it ever enough for some? Finally Tamar finally figured out that nothing was going to happen after she learned that Shelah had grown up. Apparently she did want to give Judah offspring after all but she had to lie and cheat to do it. Was God’s hand in this sinful decision?
We would like for people to believe that God only works when we follow that which we know not to be sinful. We really don’t consider Romans 8:26-27 when we quote Romans 8:28, "26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for ewe know not what we should pray for as we ought: but fthe Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And ghe that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is hthe mind of the Spirit, ||because ihe maketh intercession for the saints jaccording to the will of God. 28 And we know that kall things work together lfor good to them that love God, to them mwho are the called according to his npurpose." [3]
That wonderful verse starts with three words, “And we know.” The truth is we really don’t know do we? The Holy Spirit does know and He is there to help us when we are in need of that which we cannot do for ourselves. When we attempt to manipulate our circumstances or our understanding of thing that sometime affect other, we are often found to be wrong.
It is then that if we ask that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. God searches our hearts and he knows the mind of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to God’s will. So if we know that then we also know that all things do and will work for those who are called according to His purpose. Not our purpose but His purpose. Not our will but His will. We are here for His will; His pleasure. More often than not we are pleasantly surprised.
Prayer:
Invitation: One thing for sure after this election is over; not everybody is satisfied. Maybe nobody here in this place today is satisfied. We live in what is called the information age. We like to know what is going on and what will be happening later on. We don’t seem to much care about what happened in the past because we refuse to learn from it.
One thing we can know for a fact. God is God and we are not. We cannot dominate Him and He will not dominate us. That is an amazing fact. What about predestination? Doesn’t He elect us for His purpose? Yes He does. He elects the way that we should elect.
After God understands the facts about us, and that is always, then He makes the decision about whom and what He will do with us. If we were omniscient maybe we would have fair and free elections.
Today we have seen decisions made in our nation. We will live with those results for a while and some of them might affect this nation for years. The election results didn’t come in all at one time. We had to wait for the results.
The invitation today is one that nobody has to wait for and it involves eternity. Are you ready to depend on God? Are you ready to let His will take precedence over whatever it is that you think you want to be your legacy? Are you ready to pray for the Holy Spirit to make intercession for you or are you going to continue to be influenced by what others think? That is your choice and yours alone. Please consider as we sing?
i Ruth 1:12, 13.
k Lev. 22:13.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 38:11). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
a Comp. Luke 3:23–38.
b Ps. 132:11. Isai. 11:1. Jer. 23:5. ch. 22:42. Luke 1:32, 69. John 7:42. Acts 2:30. & 13:23. Rom. 1:3. 2 Tim. 2:8. See ch. 9:27.
c Gen. 12:3. & 22:18. Gal. 3:16.
d To ver. 6, Luke 3:32–34.
e Gen. 21:2, 3.
f Gen. 25:26.
g Gen. 29:35.
h Gen. 38:27–30.
i Ruth 4:18–22. 1 Chr. 2:4–12.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Mt 1:1–3). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
e Matt. 20:22. James 4:3.
f Comp. Zech. 12:10. Eph. 6:18. See John 14:16.
g See 1 Sam. 16:7. & 1 Chr. 28:9. So Acts 1:24. 1 Thess. 2:4.
h ver. 6 marg.
|| Or, that.
i ver. 34.
j So 1 John 5:14. See 2 Cor. 7:9. marg.
k So ver. 32. 1 Cor. 3:21. 2 Cor. 4:15. Comp. Ecclus. 39:27.
l So Ezra 8:22.
m Jude 1. So ver. 30. See ch. 1:6.
n ch. 9:11. Eph. 1:11. & 3:11. 2 Tim. 1:9. See Acts 27:13.
[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ro 8:26–28). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
