Tamar is on a quest. Though she is a Canaanite, she cares about the line of the promised seed. By dressing as a prostitute and securing a pledge to protect her, she deceives her father-in-law into having sex with her. To our surprise, God blesses her plan. It is not a coincidence that she can conceive just at the right time. Life is a gift from the Lord. (She knows she has broken God's moral law. However, the Bible does not condemn her. It is Judah who comes under God's judgment.)
After three miserable months (besides morning sickness and hiding the baby bump would be her growing anxiety), she is discovered. Judah is livid. He demands the death penalty. The irony is that if Tamar is guilty, so is the man that she slept with. He doesn't realize it, but in condemning Tamar, he has condemned himself.
Just as the death sentence is about to fall, Tamar pulls out the pledge, the signet and the staff. We can just imagine the look of shock on Judah's face. But then the Lord performs a work of grace – Judah repents. He confesses, "She is more righteous than I." Judah had proved himself to be a cruel man. He had tried to kill Joseph and then sold him into slavery. He defrauded his daughter-in-law, refusing to obey God's Levirate law. He then committed adultery with her. But by chapter 44, it is clear he has been redeemed. The Lord has saved him. Judah demonstrates his love for his brothers and his father and offers to take the place of Benjamin.
Tamar is the heroine of our story. Because of her bold determination and quest for a kinsman-redeemer, she bears children for Judah. She is later praised in the book of Ruth and included in the genealogy of Christ.
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Kurt Snow serves as a ruling elder at Covenant Reformed Church of Sacramento (RCUS). He served as a member of the Board of Governors of City Seminary of Sacramento from 2000 to 2020.
