Biblical Literacy with Casey #1. Prostitutes, Pulling Out, and ‘Family Values’

I want to increase biblical literacy in the Bible Belt, since it seems that most of our conservative legislators have never actually read their Bibles- or at least only read them selectively.

Today let’s talk about Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38. Tamar marries Judah’s eldest son, but he dies. As per biblical law Judah’s second son Onan is set to wed his sister in law and have a son for his dead brother, but he does not like the idea of fathering a child for someone else, so he spills his semen on the ground so as not to impregnate her. God kills Onan, and a lot of folks get this one wrong- it is not because he orgasmed on the ground. It has nothing to do with masturbation. He was supposed to fulfill a biblical obligation to his older brother, and he shirked his responsibility- so God killed him. If you think this is trite then consider property back then, but that is another tangent. Tamar is then promised to Judah’s third son, but he is too young to marry. So, she goes home to live as a widow until the young man comes of age… that is until Judah is back in town getting drunk with his Adullamite buddy at a sheep shearing party. Tamar seizes the opportunity to dress up like a prostitute with her faced covered, seduces her father in law, and has sex with him. Long story short- she gets her way.

Judah is the patriarch of his tribe, and according to the Bible there is a direct line from Judah to King David and from King David to Jesus Christ. So without her dressing up like a whore to have sex with her father in law we would not have the line of Judah- and possibly King David or Jesus.

This concludes today’s lesson in the “biblical” definition of marriage and family. God bless