Unexpected: Five Women in the Lineage of JesusSample

Tamar: Overcoming and Taking Risks

By Rebecca Rhee

Like Ruth, one of Jesus’ other ancestresses, Tamar knows what it’s like to fall from a high place to an abysmally low one. Married to Judah’s oldest son, Er, she likely would have benefited from the economic and social stability firstborns were afforded by their families.

Her security is short-lived, however, as Er and Onan die in quick succession and Judah dismisses her to live in her father’s house. Her fall does not stop there, and she temporarily exchanges her widow’s garments for a prostitute’s to obtain seed from Judah. Only by humbling herself in the extreme does she obtain her objective: offspring of divine promise.

Philippians 2:5–8 tells us that Jesus’ descent to earth was especially meteoric. Choosing to relinquish His equality with God, He exchanged the garments of His divinity for those of humanity, choosing to humble Himself “by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” His objective? The same as Tamar’s: to obtain offspring who would produce an ever-expanding family in the Kingdom of God (Isaiah 53:10).

In our current passage, we learn that Tamar is so determined to obtain the offspring due her that she takes at least three risks.

First, she dresses up like a harlot, banking on the fact that Judah has been widowed for some time and may be feeling his physical needs acutely.

Second, she stations herself at the gateway of Enaim, where she hopes to catch Judah’s attention.

Finally, she bargains with Judah until his identifying markers are hers—the lynchpin upon which her plan depends. She must produce them later to escape death and save herself as well as her unborn babies.

Questions:

1. Have you ever experienced a dramatic fall? Did you decide to pursue help, either by praying to God and/or speaking with a trusted individual?
2. In Hebrew, the name Enayim literally means “eyes.” Tamar’s choice to wait at the Gateway of Eyes seems a symbolic gesture—her attempt to control how others perceive her. Have you ever felt unfairly misperceived? How much would you risk to redeem your reputation?
3. Is there an exchange you can commit to pursuing: despair for hope, isolation for relationship, passivity for pro-activity?