Tamar, stolen from her family, sworn marriage to the son of one of the children of Israel, not that this would have meant anything to her, being a pagan from Canaan and all that, but little did Tamar know that she would pay such an important role in God's plan to salvage the world.
After being betrayed by the very man that took her for her family, belittled to nothing but a castout, no use to anyone she took revenge on her abuser because that's what Judah was, he was an abuser and that child was start the line of Judah, the same line of Judah that gave rise to Jesus Christ, the saviour of the world.
This passage of scripture, although dark, is full of so much hope. Judah had backslidden so much, he was aware of the covenant, he was born into it, but he had taken no heed of it, God had already punished him for it by taking away two of his sons, and he was so scared that the same thing was going to happen again that he completely disregarded everything that he heard God say to him and went off and did his own thing, But as I said this is a story of hope and here's why.
Tamar: abused, misused and cast aside. That describes how so many of us can feel sometimes, that we're totally useless and that nobody would want us for anything. Yet look at how God managed to use Tamar, in her place of complete and utter despair after she had fully hit rock-bottom, God used her, albeit not in a completely wholehearted way, but it just shows that even in our bitterness and complete abandonment of sense and self that even those times can be used for good.
Judah: he had wandered so far away from the fold of God, that he hardly knew who he was anymore, but that didn't stop God from using him, for out of Judah came the greatest miracle that God has ever performed, His own son. Even if you feel like you've wandered too far from God or even if you've never walked with him at all, the story of Judah shows us that there is nowhere that we can wander that is too far from God's reach, no sin that we can commit is unredeemable all we need to do is return to God's side and repent wholeheartedly, for our God is an all-loving God and there is NOTHING that can separate us from His love.
Chezib, the place where this story takes place, means 'City of Lies', No matter what dire situations we find ourselves in, no matter how unsalvageable they seem, God will find a way to make things work together for your good, all we need to do is trust him wholeheartedly and surrender ourselves fully to His plan for our lives.
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| OUTFIT SHOWN: Coat: Wallis, Jeans: Jack Wills, Socks: Topshop, Boots: Schuh |
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