Judah was the fourth son of Jacob and Leah. If his brothers, Simeon and Levi, were marked by cruelty, Judah was marked by avarice, ‘And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content’, 37. 26, 27. He was also marked by hypocrisy in the extreme as he, with the other brothers, lied to Jacob concerning Joseph’s true fate, 37. 35.
In Genesis 38 the moral result of what he had done works out in his life. He becomes involved with unbelievers, firstly a Canaanite trafficker, Shulah, and then he marries a Canaanitish woman, Shuah. So in this course Judah finds himself in a completely false position. We then have an account of his shameful treatment of Tamar, his daughter-in-law. Initially, he makes a promise to her which he never intended to fulfil, 38. 11. Then whilst away from home on a journey, after his wife had died, he succumbed to temptation and committed fornication with her. He then further compounds his sin by condemning her to death, when he himself had been guilty of the same thing. The only saving feature in this sordid affair is that when he was confronted with his sin he was prepared to acknowledge and confess it – an essential step on the road back to forgiveness, 38. 26.
The next time we read of Judah is some 22 years later. From what he says we have an indication that he has changed somewhat for the better, e.g. he shows himself truthful and prepared to act as surety for Benjamin, 43. 3-10. Later still, as spokesman for the brothers before Joseph, he shows that he is now completely changed. No longer marked by dishonesty and hypocrisy, he is prepared to sacrifice his own freedom in exchange for Benjamin’s, 44. 16-34. Joseph, touched by Judah’s tenderness and care for Benjamin, is now prepared to be reconciled to his brethren. This is true in the experience of every sinner in his approach to the Lord, for the sacrifices of a broken and contrite heart God will not despise, Ps. 51. 17.
