Daily Devotional

“Judah acknowledged them and said, ‘She [Tamar] has been more righteous than I’ ” (Genesis 38:26). 

As a West Point graduate in 1843, Hiram was sent as an army officer to the new Oregon territory. He didn’t like his work or being separated from his family. He drank too much, struggled with depression, and finally resigned. He went home, tried his hand at business several times, and failed repeatedly. 

But when the Civil War broke out, he was asked to re-join the army. He did so well that he was promoted to be the top general of the Union’s forces. After leading the Union to victory, he was elected twice as President of the United States. The great comeback of Hiram Ulysses Grant, later known as Ulysses S. Grant, shone brightest in his memoirs, the best-selling book in American history at that time. 

History often glosses over the failures of great heroes. But the Bible does not hide the mistakes of its characters, including people who were supposed to represent God in their conduct. The story of Judah and his daughter-in-law, Tamar, in Genesis 38, appears as a disappointing interruption in the narrative of Joseph’s life. 

In this strange chapter, Judah, a son of the lineage of Abraham, stepped away from God’s plan and took for himself a Canaanite wife. The couple had three boys. The first son, Er, also took for himself a Canaanite wife named Tamar. But he was “wicked in the sight of the Lord” (verse 7) and died. The story goes downhill from here until finally, Tamar, through deception, became pregnant by her father-in-law, Judah, in order to obtain an heir in the family. She ended up giving birth to twin boys. One of them, Perez, was a forefather of Jesus. 

Though there are many less-than-perfect parts to this story, it was a turning point for Judah who acknowledged that Tamar’s motives were more righteous than his own. Tamar showed that anyone can make a comeback and become part of the family of Abraham and an heir of God’s promises. 

O Lord, thank You for patiently working with imperfect people. Please work in my life today.