Hi, and thank you for joining me at 144Judah! I am so excited to bring to you this next part of Genesis. I feel like this has taken forever because I really like this part of the story. lol So, I have been patiently waiting to get here but it is so important to give you all of the info that I can on what I have read or know about this particular part of the story--especially since it is ISRAEL... or should I say, IS REAL... because people do not understand the connection about what Israel really is. I hope to convey to all of you what and who it is and why that is important! ESPECIALLY NOW! So, buckle in and get ready to learn all about the SONS of ISRAEL...
If you remember our last blog, we ended with Rachel's passing as she just had Ben-oni which was renamed Benjamin by Israel. Well, after this, things go from being about Israel (Jacob) to being about his children.
"And when they came to live in this land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and Israel heard it. now the sons of Jacob were twelve." Genesis 35:22
So, when I first read this I wasn't sure what the point was, other than maybe mentioning who Reuben was with because she would probably be pregnant with his child, but I figured I better see what other people were thinking as it was clearly over my head. God doesn't put anything in the bible without it having a significance. (so this means that he wasn't to be listed as firstborn anymore.)
And then I found this:
Genesis 49:3-4
"Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed: then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch"
1 Chronicles 5:1
"Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright."
But then in the next paragraph starts the lineage again:
Genesis 35:23-26 "23 The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:
24 The sons of Rachel; Joseph and Benjamin:
25 And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:
26 And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padan-aram."
And we are now in Genesis 35 with our studies. In this part, we learn that Joseph, Rachel and Israel's son, was Israel's favorite. In the bible it states because of how old Israel was when Joseph was born. At seventeen, Joseph is given a handmade coat "of many colors" as a gift from his doting father and that pretty much angers his brethren.
Now Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors (Genesis 37:3, King James Bible).
And around that same time, Joseph starts getting these dreams, which don't help either as he tells his brothers them.
After he tells them this dream that he has about how the sun (his father) and moon (his mother) and eleven stars (his brothers) gave obeisance (bow) to him, they get upset. Israel tells him to go check on his brothers and he leaves to do just that when this whole sinister plan begins.
They plan to kill him, but Reuben says, let's not kill him but just put him in this hole in the ground and leave him there. His plan was to go back and rescue him later and bring him to his father. Of course, he doesn't tell his brothers that.
Anyway, they throw him in a hole, eventually take his coat of many colors, rip it in half, kill a kid (baby) goat and dip the coat in its blood.
Reuben goes back to check on his brother when he sees that he is gone! When he had been away his brothers had sold him to some Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver. Reuben doesn't know this. (It was all Judah's idea because he didn't want to kill his brother either). *Ishmaelites-- ah... we see now that Abraham's first son with Hagar has his own people. We know that Ishmael was the father of many Arab nations.*
So, then they go back with the coat dipped in blood, and give it to Israel to witness, he confirms that it is his coat and that a wild animal must have ripped him apart. He tells his children that he will go to his grave mourning him.
Meanwhile,"...the Midianites sold him (Joseph) into Egypt, unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard." Genesis 37:36
So now, Reuben sinned and defiled his father's bed by sleeping with his handmaid, and then he sinned again by putting his brother in the hole.
And Judah had two big sins against his father: 1, he convinced his brothers to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of Silver, and 2, he let his father believe that Joseph was dead with the coat of many colors being brought back in the kid's blood.
And then of course, all of his sons to his handmaids sinned against Israel by letting him believe that his favorite son, Joseph, was dead, and by selling him to the Ishmaelites.
(These kids pretty much suck at this point)
Then the bible does a skip to Judah and his sons.
We learn in Genesis 38:2 that Judah met a Canaanite named Shuah. It says that he took her, and went in unto her.
"And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.
And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.
And she yet again conceived and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him." Genesis 38:3-5
We find out that God kills his first son, but it doesn't say why, other than he was wicked. His first son's name was Er. We read that Er was found a wife by Judah named Tamar, and since Er was now dead and there was no offspring produced, as Jewish custom, the wife now goes to the next brother (that is unmarried). So, Judah tells his son, Onan, to take Tamar and go into her so that her children may be his brother's. (So, the family line continues) Well... Onan doesn't like that, so he goes into her, but then spills his seed on the ground. He doesn't want his children to be his brother's.
So...God kills him. (He dishonored his family.)
Genesis 38:6
Now Judah acquired a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.
Genesis 46:12
The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
Numbers 26:19
The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but they died in the land of Canaan.
1 Chronicles 2:3
The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by Bath-shua the Canaanite. Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, who put him to death.
Click here for an excellent article on firstborns!
Just as we thought Judah's sons' stories couldn't get any worse, Tamar, the widow of now two of his son's, tricked him.
Now... God killed Er, and then Onan, and now Tamar still remained childless and a widow. So, as the custom goes she still is passed down...but Shelah, his youngest and only son at this point still wasn't old enough for that yet, so Judah tells her once he is, he is her's basically. So, she is to remain a widow until then.
"And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep. And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.
When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me? And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it? And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him. And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not." Genesis 38:12-20
I tell ya, these people are all about the tricks. So, Tamar tricked Judah by sleeping with him after his wife died, which is sick... and not only that, but she was his daughter n law, so wouldn't the baby that is made by him be technically his son's?
"And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from h er, and put on the garments of her widowhood. And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not. Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place. And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place. And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her. And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt. When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff. And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous that I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more." Genesis 38:19-26
So, now Judah sees why Tamar did what she did, but will no longer be with her. And in the next section we learn that she was pregnant with twins, and when the first baby was coming out, his hand was sticking out and she put a red ribbon around his wrist to show that he was the first born. And then, as he drew back his hand, his brother came out instead...
"And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez. And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah." Genesis 38:29-30
Which brings us to why... (Bible Search for Er's Firstborn Zerah/Twin of Pharez.) Remember there is power in a name...
According to the Hebrew Bible, Zerah is a name that means “dawning, shining, brilliance, or glowing” 1. It is a gender-neutral name, but it is primarily used for males 1. Zerah is also the name of a son of Judah and the twin of Perez in the Old Testament 1.
And then we have Pharez, who is the direct line to Jesus. "How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez".
The biblical meaning of Pharez is division, rupture.
Which... I also find interesting:
Jesus came for several reasons, according to the Bible12. Here are some of them:
- To fulfill the law1
- To divide1
- To call sinners1
- To serve and give his life1
- To proclaim good news1
- To seek and save the lost1
- That the world might be saved1
- To do the Father's will2
In the book of Genesis, Zerah is mentioned as the twin brother of Perez, both born to Tamar and Judah 1. The birth of the twins is significant because it was through them that families of considerable note in the most illustrious tribe of Judah arose 1.
The whole sequence of events surrounding the birth of the twins is strange and symbolic. Hands don’t normally come out first in childbirth, and then pulling it back in is curious. Why would a midwife be so anxious to label the first twin as to tie a thread around a child’s hand even before it’s fully delivered? Seeing anything other than a head should be cause for alarm. The scarlet color of the thread is also viewed by some as significant (often denoting royalty) 1.
One thing we can conclude is that the midwife must have seen this firstborn as the household heir (i.e. Er’s firstborn). If merely a child of Judah, it would be “behind” Shelah, and 1 Chronicles 4:21 notes many descendants of Shelah. If illegitimate, it wouldn’t be anything. This genealogy matters later. This means Judah confessed his sin fully to his household and also concluded that the firstborn counts as Er’s as per Deuteronomy 25:5-6. Also, the midwife’s curiously excessive attention to who is born first hints that she was under orders to track it 1.
It is interesting to note that Zerah is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:3 2.
REMEMBER, JESUS is the LION of the TRIBE OF JUDAH....
And now, we wait... I am working on the next part of Joseph's story now! I hope you have enjoyed this blog thus far! I am so glad that we got to see something cool happen in the line of Judah. The birth of the twins is super significant because the one that was marked as the first born was to be Er's child which would receive the birthright but he wasn't born first. Instead, he was marked with a red ribbon! By being marked with the Red Ribbon, set him apart to be Er's child. Which leaves the one that was actually born first, whose name means division, rupture! I am very excited to write more about Judah and his line as it goes down to our Lord and Savior YESHUA! (JESUS CHRIST)
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