Let us pray. When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, 'by the man whose these are am I with child? ' And he said, 'distern, I pray thee, whose these are, the signet, and bracelets, and staff. ' Genesis 38:25. Heavenly Father, as I move closer and closer to my destiny, I will not sign away my integrity for moments of pleasure. I will stand strong, even when the temptations of monetary pleasure try to lure me off my God-given assignment. I will not make the mistakes you made, and give away the gifts in my life that validate my identity, for I know that I can only walk in my power when I am unapologetically me. So God, today I choose to tap into your unlimited power that gives me the ability to conquer the mistakes of my past and step into the glorious future you have for me. Thank you, Lord, for redeeming my life and giving me hope for brighter days. In Jesus name, Amen. Listening to these daily prayers strengthens your relationship with God. Continue hearing from the Lord by listening to Today's Bible in a Year. Brought to you by Bibleinayear.

Com. Every year, Lent helps us remove distractions and focus on the Lord. This year for Lent, give up tossing and turning in your sleep by listening to Sleep Psalms with Bishop TD Jakes.

He is going to lay you down in green pastures and restore your soul. Join me and let the Lord be your shepherd tonight. Listen Listen to Sleep Psalms with Bishop TD Jakes on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.

Tamar and Judah. Before this story, we learned how Joseph was Israel's favorite son and was given a coat of many colors by his father. While Joseph was clothed with his father's favor, the other brothers were clothed with jealousy and hatred towards Joseph. Contemptably, they sold Joseph into slavery and lied to their father about his death. Now we will learn about the fourth brother, Judah, and his father's descent into dysfunction and God's faithfulness in it. Inspired by the Book of Genesis.

Hello, I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible in a Year podcast. In our previous reading, we saw how Joseph was the favorite son of Israel, his father, and how this favoritism and Joseph's own ego and arrogance had caused hatred to grow in the hearts of his brothers. The brothers conspired against him, first intending to kill him, but then selling him into slavery to a traveling band that carried Joseph off to Egypt. But as to the brothers, any thought of their troubles going away with Joseph was naive. In today's reading, we'll hear the story of one of those brothers, Judah. He was the ring leader in the evil plan, and now he'll set off to make a life for himself away from his family. What will unfold is a story of impatience, deception, and impulsive, indulgent actions that will leave a trail of hurt and death. But through it all, God will continue to work. Despite the sins of those involved, God will enact his beautiful plan of redemption. In today's story, you will see God's justice and judgment come upon those who displease him and disobey him. It is a powerful reminder that while God is slow to anger, there are times when he responds swiftly to those who sin against him.

We'll also see God extending grace and mercy to Judah so that through him God can bring into the world the one who will absorb God's righteous wrath and judgment once and for all. So now let's listen this reading from the Book of Genesis.

Judah, the brother who had devised the plan to sell Joseph into slavery, was determined to make a name for himself. He turned from his brothers and looked towards the Canaanites. There he had an Adolamite friend whose name was Hira. While he dwelled there, he met a daughter of Shurah, a beautiful Canaanite woman. Judah took her for himself, and the two bore three sons, Ur, Onan, and 'Shela. When Ur was of age, Judah found a wife for him, Tamar. However, he was not a man worthy of a wife or any blessing. Almost like a disease, 'er grew up with a wickedness in his heart. It plagued him, and an evil shadow was cast wherever he went. The Lord had allowed 'Er to experience an early death, leaving tamar a widow. Judah looked to his second-born son, Onan, 'Go into your brother's wife, make love, and have many offspring, for such is your duty as a brother-in-law. However, Onan knew in his heart that he would be having children for his dead brother, Ur. Yet the pleasure of Tamar's bedroom was too enticing for him to pass up. He had sex with her, but pulled out so they would not have children.

He used her, and it was wicked in the sight of the Lord. Onan Two fell to an early death, allowed by the hand of God. Tamar was now twice widowed and without children. She was forced to remain in her father's house until Judah's third son, Shella, was old enough to marry her. However, Shela was fearful to marry Tamar, for he had seen what happened to his older brothers. Time had passed and Judah's family was plagued with yet another death. As the tower of Babel in ancient times, the hope he had to build his own kingdom was slowly crumbling. Judah's wife had passed away, and he was left alone with his son, Shella. Judah went to Timna with his friend, Hira, to shear his sheep. Taking a trip with his friend would comfort him in his grief. Tamar, still childless, brooded and schemed alone. Shella was grown up, yet would not marry her. Bitterness and loneliness overcame her a dangerous pairing. She had heard Judah was traveling to Timna to shear his sheep, so she took her widow's garments off and covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself up to look like a prostitute. She sat at the entrance of Inayam, attempting to cross paths with Judah.

He saw her from a distance, having no idea who she really was. At the roadside, Judah gestured towards her and said, Come now, let me come in to you. What will you give me if I say yes, Tamar said in her most seductive and mysterious voice. I can send you a young goat from my flock, Judah replied anxiously. I see no goats with you. What will you give me as a deposit until it arrives, tomar negotiated, for she knew exactly what she wanted from him. Give me your signet ring, your cord, and your staff, things that can only be identified as yours. So the two agreed, and Judah unknowingly laid with his daughter-in-law. For momentary pleasure, Judah signed away his integrity. Tamar conceived that day and left with Judah's possessions. Later that night, she put her widow's clothes back on and waited Judah's return. Judah sent the young goat to where he had met Tamar. Confused when he didn't find her, he asked the men of the city where he could find her. Where can I find the cult prostitute who stood at the gate of Hanaiam? He asked the men. There is no cult prostitute at the gate of Hanaim, ' they said with a slight grin, knowing he had probably been tricked.

Judah returned empty-handed, irked and embarrassed. Three months had passed, and Tamar began to show she was pregnant. Words spread to Judah. People of the town had assumed she had been unfaithful and became pregnant apart from his sons. Judah's blood boiled at the news. Fuming, he sent men to retrieve her. Let her be burned, he shouted. Judah had lost nearly everything, and he would not allow his name to be tarnished even more. As she was being brought back out, she sent word back to Judah along with his signet ring, cord, and staff. She said, I am pregnant by whoever these belong to. Do you know who who owns these? Judah saw that they were his and conceded that he had been tricked. Truly, she is more righteous than I, Judah said with a sigh, I did not give Shella to be her husband, and now I am paying for it. Judah left Tamar alone after that and allowed her to live her life in peace. When the time had come, Tamar had twins, Perez and Zerah. Perez had a scarlet cord in his hand. Little did Tamar or Judah know that God would be active in redeeming their family's wickedness, trickery, and dysfunction.

From Perez, the promise of Abraham would continue. For he would be an ancestor of Christ himself.

It was Judah who devised the plan to sell Joseph into slavery. And as we begin today's story, we see he has moved on, seemingly unaffected and unrepentant of his treachery and cruelty towards his own brother, but also towards his father, Jacob. Judah decides to leave his family and go find a wife among the Canaanites, and he is successful in doing so. He finds a wife who gives him three sons. But just as Abraham and Sarah's struggle to conceive did not indicate an absence of God's favor toward them, the arrival of these three sons does not signal God's acceptance of Judah's choice to leave his community and marry a foreign woman. This is a very important lesson, not only in the danger of straying from the place where God wants you to be, it is also a reminder that temporary success or achievements are not necessarily a sign that we are in the will of God. Judah is intent on growing his family and indeed, his own kingdom. So when his eldest son, Ur, is of age, he finds a wife for her, a woman named Tamar. However, we are told that Ur is evil in God's eyes, and for this reason, God takes his life.

God's patience of our sins, God's forbearance of our sins is not always guaranteed indeed. And as a holy and perfect God who created us, our life can be taken by him in his judgment at any time. This is what happened to er. If we could think honestly about it, it is a fate we all deserve. We all deserve judgment because of our sin. How blessed and thankful we are for the grace and mercy of God that he is slow to anger and to punish. Judah is still intent on growing his family and making a name for himself, and he tells his second son, Onan, to take Tamar and make babies with her. But Onan is not interested in starting a family with this woman. He is interested only in the physical gratification of sexual pleasure. Onan uses and deceives her so that they cannot bear children from his seed. And for this deception, God once again enacts swift and ultimate judgment, sending Onan to an early great. Now, this passage is a sorted passage in many ways, but it is not a condemnation of sex for pleasure. This is one of the beautiful purposes for which God created and gave the gift of sex between a husband and a wife within the covenant of marriage.

Now, Judah is left only one son, his youngest, Shilah. Afraid that his son, too, will die, he sends Tamar to her father's home. He promises to let his son, Shilah, marry her when he grows older, but he never does. He simply abandons this widow in her sad state. When Judah's own wife dies, Tamar sees an opportunity to secure a future for herself. Showing poor judgment and even weaker character, Judah sleeps with Tamar, who was deceptively posing as a prostitute. She goes away with a baby conceived in her womb, but more importantly, with exactly what she needs to trap Judah, his symbols of authority. When her pregnancy is discovered, Judah, who does not know it was her he slept with, wants to have her burned for her transgression. But when Tamar produces his personal items, he knows he's caught, and he confesses. Judah recognized that he did not act as a man of his word, for he should have had his son, Sheila, marry Tamar as he had promised. Tamar's life is spared, and she gives birth to twin boys. And out of this terrible situation, this shortage situation, God would bring good that nobody could imagine.

For one of these sons, Perez, will be one of our Lord's ancestors. Once again, we see how God is working always for his good and for his purposes, that he is faithful even when we are unfaithful to him. His promises cannot and will not be broken. And Judah's life is a powerful reminder of this unchanging eternal truth. Dear God, thank you for showing us the danger of straying from the path of your will. Thank you, God, that when we sin, when we do not obey, when we do not act with integrity and sincerity, you can even bring good out of our situation because you can redeem and restore what is broken and lost. Thank you for always being a good God, a faithful God, a Holy God. In Christ's name, Amen. Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the pray. Com app and make prayer a priority in your life. If you enjoyed this podcast, share it with someone you love. By sharing this podcast, you can make a difference in someone's life. If you want more resources on how to tap into God's power for successful Christian living, be sure to visit jackgraham.

Org. God bless.

Every year, Lent helps us remove distractions and focus on the Lord. This year for Lent, give up tossing and turning in your sleep by listening to Sleep Psalms with Bishop TD Jakes.

He is going to lay you down in green pastures and restore your soul. Join me and let the Lord be your shepherd tonight. Listen to Sleep Psalms with Bishop TD Jakes on the iHeardRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.