Today’s featured passage is the Old Testament’s version of the Prodigal Son without the happy ending. If Judah would have remained loyal to his father Jacob as a shepherd, the passage below would have never happened. Nonetheless, Judah appears to have become bored, withdrew to a foreign land and began to indulge his sexual desires.
At that time Judah withdrew from his brothers and went to [lodge with] a certain Adullamite named Hirah. 2 There Judah saw and met a daughter of Shuah, a Canaanite; he took her as wife and lived with her. 3 And she became pregnant and bore a son, and he called him Er. 4 And she conceived again and bore a son and named him Onan. 5 Again she conceived and bore a son and named him Shelah. [They were living] at Chezib when she bore him. 6 Now Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn; her name was Tamar. 7 And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord slew him.
Depending on your personality type, if you begin to experience a stretch of bad luck and or a series of unfortunate events, you may start asking God, “why is this happening to me?” Meanwhile, the analytical tend to search for greater meaning by logically putting pieces together to comprehend what’s going on. Your answer is most likely some sort of curse, generational sin or life lesson that you reap what you sow.
Then Judah told Onan, Marry your brother’s widow; live with her and raise offspring for your brother. 9 But Onan knew that the family would not be his, so when he cohabited with his brother’s widow, he prevented conception, lest he should raise up a child for his brother. 10 And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; therefore He slew him also.
Perhaps, reading the words of Deuteronomy 28 will open your eyes to why bad things happen in life. The apostle Paul warns one church that you should prepare for spiritual attacks that often catch Christians off guard, Ephesians 6:10-12. Unfortunately, answers don’t always come right away. While Moses blames the deaths of Judah’s two sons on unholy tendencies, why bad things happen to good people isn’t always clear. Follow the advice of James 5:16 so healing comes quickly.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 