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~ Class Notes
Chapter Four ~ Lost to Legacy
Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 38:8.
“Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was __________.”
Let’s set the stage by discussing ________________.
Judah was the ______ son born to _____________ and his first wife, __________. He eventually became a leader of one of the _____________________ of Israel.
You may have heard some of the tales of Judah:
● Judah convinced his brothers to spare ___________________ life and instead sell him into _________________. (Genesis 37)
● Judah brought _________________ to Egypt to see _________________, thus reuniting the family of ______________. (Genesis 43)
● Eventually, the tribe of Judah led the other tribes on their march toward _________________________________.
● The tribe of Judah was the _______________ of the tribes, and included an estimated _________________ +/- people (according to the census).
We pick up our story when he stopped in Addulam. The Bible tells us that there Judah ______________________________, known only as the daughter of Shua.
Judah’s wife ___________________ and bore a ____________ to Judah. And they named him ________. Then she conceived again, and gave birth to ____________ who they named ______________. They conceived a third time, giving birth to a _________ named Shelah. (Genesis 38:2-5)
Judah arranged marriages for his sons. For his firstborn, as we are told in verse 6, he __________________________ his ________________ to a girl named Tamar.
Read verse 7. Judah’s firstborn son was so ________ that God _______________.
Read verse 8. Judah instructed his ________________, Onan to _____________ the widow Tamar and _______________ a ____________________________.
This practice is called a “levirate marriage”.
Read Genesis 38:9.
Let’s see what happened. Read Genesis 38:10.
Two sons of Judah were __________________ by the Lord, one for unspecified _________________________, the other for deliberately ___________________ against his ______________________________.
Read Genesis 38:11.
Back to Tamar… She took her father-in-law’s _________________. She went to her father’s house to _______________ for her _______________________ to be of age to marry.
Read Genesis 38:12. It had been a ____________________ amount of time. It was time to _______________________________________.
Read verse 13.
Read Genesis 38:14-19.
Cultic prostitution, which was acceptable by many pagan cultures including the Canaanites, was when a _______________________ would position herself by the __________________________ gate and wait to be _______________________. This act was a symbol of hope for _______________________________________.
She wanted his _____________, the _______________ it came on, and his __________________, also known as his _________________________.
When she asked for those ________________________, she was asking for ___________________ items that were clearly __________.
Read Genesis 38:20-23.
Read Genesis 38:24.
Judah, who was guilty of the ___________________ he was accusing her of, was ready to _______________ her for her _________________.
Read verses 25-26.
As soon as Judah saw ________________________ Tamar ___________________, he rescinded her ______________________________. Even though her __________________ scheme was immediately made clear, Judah _____________________ his part and took ___________________ for his actions.
Read Genesis 38:27.
She had ________________. The _________________ was named ___________________, which means “breach” or “pushing through” (reference verses 28-29). The second __________ was named _______________, which means “brightness” (verse 30).
Judah did not have _____________________ with Tamar again (v.26).
Tamar’s _______________________ came through the birth of those two boys. There isn’t much more written in the Bible about Tamar, but she is mentioned in the _________________________. Turn with me to _________________________.
Tamar is listed in the genealogy line of _______________________.
No matter what you are facing today, I hope it pales in comparison to what Tamar faced. If God can look past all of the muck of Tamar’s life and use her for His glory, as a branch in Jesus’ earthly family tree… well then, God can certainly redeem and use you.
Romans 8:28 says:
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
~Homework
For a printed copy of the notes above and some personal homework and reflection Click Here.
