Judah’s youngest son Belah should have been the next in line. When his two brothers died a mysterious death while being married to Tamar, it was Belah’s turn to marry her. Middle Eastern practice in Judah’s time was to provide a new husband for a young widow without children, namely the brother of the deceased, to continue the family name. But since two of his sons were now dead, Judah did not take any chances on the only son he had left. So he postponed the wedding indefinitely. And with every passing year Judah did not get back with her, Tamar saw her chances dwindling of ever having a family of her own.

To get Judah’s attention, Tamar put herself in his path one day. She hid her face as she sat near the entrance of her village. The village entrance or the city gate used to be a public place where important business transactions were officiated and disputes were settled – all in absence of women. – This was entirely a men’s world. So, Tamar’s presence at the city gate indicated she was there to sell herself. Judah noticed her, and the rest was history.

All prostitutes have a sad story to tell, because prostitution is never a career choice but a vicious cycle initiated through rough life circumstances or bad decisions with ensuing drug addictions.

In our story Tamar became pregnant when she sold her body to Judah on that day when she sat veiled at the entrance of her village. Once Judah got wind of her pregnancy, he demanded the death penalty for her. This may seem outrageous to us today, but Judah simply followed the letter of the law. In the book of Leviticus we read (Leviticus 21:9):

“If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she also defiles her father’s holiness, and she must be burned to death.”

Never mind that Judah himself had sexual relations with a prostitute – so in all reality the same law should have been applied to him. However, once the truth about his involvement in the affair materialized, Tamar came under Judah’s protection. Her life was spared, and she ended up giving birth to twins.

Prostitution is not confined to the red light district. From God’s perspective, we all deal with prostitution to some degree; we either participate in it, or we abstain from it. Examples of prostitution could be anything, ranging from selling ourselves to maintain popularity, or to abandon our values to get a certain job and make more money. Whichever the trigger – once we are in this kind of mire, it’s hard to get out. This is well illustrated in the song “Hotel California”. Written by Don Felder, Glenn Frey and Don Henley, this song is about materialism and excess. California is used as the setting, but it could relate to anywhere in the world. Don Henley in the London Daily Mail November 9, 2007 said: “Some of the wilder interpretations of that song have been amazing. It was really about the excesses of American culture and certain girls we knew. But it was also about the uneasy balance between art and commerce.”

God’s intention is to free us from any form of prostitution. We don’t have to stay enslaved to money, business, and success in order to live what we depict as the good life. When the good life turns out to be a nightmare, God has freedom to offer, a freedom that is priceless. Can you imagine living a life without having to pretend to be someone else? God fully accepts you as you are; you do not need to play games with God. In a world of vanity and fake God is the genuine original. He is the real deal. So if you find yourself stuck somehow and somewhere, be sure to pray. God listens, and He is the way to true freedom.

 “Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
‘Relax’ said the night man,
‘We are programmed to receive.
You can check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!’”