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Bernard Gabbott - Sunday, 5 November 2023

Our Dysfunction and God's Grace

Genesis 38 really does stand out! For many, it interrupts the natural flow of Joseph’s story, it lays out the sordid life of a culture and a world we do not understand, and there seems nothing to redeem Judah in his behaviour towards God, his own family and Tamar, his daughter-in-law. In fact, you might get to the end of Genesis 38, throw your hands up, and cry out, ‘Who can save this family, which is the hope of the world?’ And, yet, this account is here for a very clear purpose. This is the account of Jacob’s family, and so a focus on other sons should not surprise us. Judah is the nominal head of the sons of Jacob, after the fall from grace of Reuben, Simeon and Levi. Judah’s nature and character is clearly on show here, contrasting with Joseph, and setting our lenses for reading the rest of Genesis. And whilst this is a foreign landscape, the promises of God are not foreign – his grace is evident, his judgement of sin is evident, his work in human nature is evident… and his promise to reverse the curse will emerge from this sordid episode – just read Matthew 1!

Scripture References: Genesis 38:1-30, Psalms 42:1-11, Ruth 4:18-22, Matthew 1:1-6

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