And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.
After meeting Judah, Tamar arose and went away, laying aside her veil and disguise and putting on her widow's garments again to keep Judah from recognizing her. Her change of apparel and conduct, walking in an unaccustomed path, hid her identity from man, but time, place, speech, or apparel cannot obscure or darken God's sight, for His eye is always over His people and He knows who are His. The verse belongs to the account of Judah's sin, a horrible deed recorded not to encourage lust or excuse sin but to expose sin so that it may be shunned. The verse belongs to Joseph's history, which shows that God guides people rightly even when the route is indirect.
Tamar, who acted the part of a harlot with her father-in-law, is named by Matthew in Jesus' ancestry, and her son Pharez from that union is an ancestor of Christ according to the flesh, showing that His human ancestry included people marked by human weakness and sin. That sinful origin, together with a human ancestry through Jacob, David, Rahab, Solomon, and the wicked kings of Judah, would tend to concentrate in Christ all the weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which fallen human nature is subject. Christ therefore took flesh not of a sinless being but of deteriorated, sinful man, which was necessary so He could suffer death and sympathize with and succor tempted humanity. The inclusion of people with such troubled histories in Christ's genealogy offers hope to the fallen, even to those who have inherited strong sinful tendencies.
After meeting Judah, Tamar arose and went away, laying aside her veil and disguise and putting on her widow's garments again to keep Judah from recognizing her. Her change of apparel and conduct, walking in an unaccustomed path, hid her identity from man, but time, place, speech, or apparel cannot obscure or darken God's sight, for His eye is always over His people and He knows who are His. The verse belongs to the account of Judah's sin, a horrible deed recorded not to encourage lust or excuse sin but to expose sin so that it may be shunned. The verse belongs to Joseph's history, which shows that God guides people rightly even when the route is indirect.
Tamar, who acted the part of a harlot with her father-in-law, is named by Matthew in Jesus' ancestry, and her son Pharez from that union is an ancestor of Christ according to the flesh, showing that His human ancestry included people marked by human weakness and sin. That sinful origin, together with a human ancestry through Jacob, David, Rahab, Solomon, and the wicked kings of Judah, would tend to concentrate in Christ all the weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which fallen human nature is subject. Christ therefore took flesh not of a sinless being but of deteriorated, sinful man, which was necessary so He could suffer death and sympathize with and succor tempted humanity. The inclusion of people with such troubled histories in Christ's genealogy offers hope to the fallen, even to those who have inherited strong sinful tendencies.