SEEKING JUSTICE

• DAY 310
• FEAR FILE: TAMAR
• SCRIPTURES: GENESIS 38:12-26

And it was told Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face.

GENESIS 38:13-16

Tamar was wronged. She was an innocent woman who was a victim of circumstance and had gone through a whole lot in her life. First, she marries a wicked man. He was so wicked that God had to kill him. There is no way she didn’t experience his wickedness. Then she is remarried to a man who was using her. He didn’t want her to bear a son, so he doesn’t lose out on an inheritance that wasn’t his to begin with but he enjoyed having her in his bed.

As if that was not enough, she is treated as a black widow by her father-in-law and sent home. However, she is not freed. Judah could have either fulfilled the law himself and married her, or, since he was afraid, declared her a widow so could be free to remarry since she had no children. But he betrothed her to his last son, Shelah, when he told her to go home and wait for him to come of age. But he fails to keep to his word. So she was rejected and cheated.

Stuck

In that state she could not date, she could not remarry, she could not get land to till and fend for herself, and she belonged nowhere, not in her father’s house nor her husband’s house. This was the reality of women like her and she was not going to just roll over and watch them treat her unjustly. So she decided to take laws into her own hands. She then went ahead to position herself as a prostitute, sleep with her father-in-law, and bear twins for him.

This action may look courageous but it came from a place of hurt and fear. When we are cheated and unjustly treated, our response comes from what is in us fear or faith. We’ve probably seen movies where the main character is seeking justice their way because they were unjustly treated. I find it interesting that they so easily returned to the life they said they had left behind. Somehow they still had weapons, contacts, skills, etc. It just shows that it was still in them all along.

What’s In You?

For Tamar to consider prostitution, disguise, and deception and not any other way, tells of her faith. What way do you respond when you are wronged? Your reactions cannot contradict what’s in you. When your faith is not rooted in God you will seek justice your way. You will take actions you shouldn’t and you will end up in trouble. We cannot forget Tamar’s end. Judah took responsibility for her erroneous action when he said she was righteous and he was wrong. God redeemed her and she is listed in the lineage of Christ who came from the tribe of Judah.

Take a moment to examine what is in you. Are you rooted in faith or fear? Examine your last response to hurt and then pray the prayer of the psalmist from Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

Shalom.