There are many sordid story's with many shocking facts shared in the Scriptures about God's people. One such story is the twisted account of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar? (Genesis 38:7-26) The story of Judah and Tamar is certainly not the most pleasant story in the Bible. In fact, most commentaries on the book of Genesis don’t spend much time on this chapter. After all, the story of Joseph (Genesis chapters 37-38), has a lot more preaching material and great spiritual lessons!
Customs at the time of the Patriarchs were obviously much different than today. In some ways they may seem archaic, yet when it came to caring for women, the custom of the ancients was that that women were to be cared for, not used and discarded at the will of men. Tamar was one such woman. Through no fault of her own, Tamar was left to fend for herself because her father-in-law refused to follow the custom. In the end of this saga, Tamar would end up becoming one of just four women mentioned in the genealogy of Christ. (Matthew 1:2)
